The Basics of Public Common Law
While written from an American point of view, what follows will apply to most “common law” countries worldwide. This post aims to give you a simple, high-level understanding of public common law and the nature of de jure governments. Much detail will be left out to minimize confusion.
Please read the following two posts before reading this post:
In the previous post, The Basics of Private Law; How to Live in the Private, we took a brief look at private law common of I. This is the law that you set for your life and property and will include any agreements or contracts entered into with others of mankind, governments, or corporations. In this post, we will touch on public law common to a society of people and how those blends with private law common to I.
Contents
Public Common Law
As a consequence of the voluntary formation of mutually beneficial societies and the flawed nature of man, rules were developed over time to ensure the integrity of society and fair dealings with each of mankind. These rules became laws common to men and women in a society.
The public common law rested on two basic tenets; do no harm and honor your agreements but also encompassed a general respect for life, the rights to own property, trust (being good to your word), and honor (doing right by others) all of which helped to maintain the fabric of society.
These basic tenets were also rooted in common sense that any man or woman could easily understand and if expected to be treated equitably, would also adopt as the bedrock of their law common to I.
The common law was generally applicable to the living and rooted in the land (law of the land) and that of substance like gold and silver as true money. It deals with the real world and that which is considered lawful as opposed to the legal world of fiction and debt-based currencies.
Government by the People
As societies grew in size and complexity there arose an organic need to create more formalized and efficient ways to administer to the needs of the people and to create a fair and equitable way to resolve controversies.
From this need, de jure (by the right/will of the people) limited governments were created to serve the people, the true sovereigns of the society/nation. Particularly in America, unincorporated state governments were instituted via constitutions primarily to protect the people’s right to life, liberty, and property and address issues common to the people in other, limited, and defined capacities.
In a general sense, these governments were not erected to rule over the people or to tax and regulate their lives and property. In America, we were guaranteed a “republican” form of government which in essence meant neither the people by vote nor the government itself could deny to any man or woman the full complement of their unalienable rights to life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
Were this to be allowed then said rights would become privileges and the people no longer would be sovereign. Where privileges are defined as grants by governments and can be modified, taxed, regulated, or denied at any time for any reason. Rights on the other hand are antecedent to government. They are outside of government control, regulation, or taxation and cannot be denied by government.
To these ends, courts were created as a forum allowing men and women, absent attorneys, to resolve controversy and to seek remedy. Where judges ensured due process was carried out, remedy enforced and the ends of justice served so that societal balance could be preserved.
A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities. –Thomas Jefferson
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it. –Thomas Jefferson
Democracies have been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death. –James Madison
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. –Benjamin Franklin
Public-Private Interaction
While a man or woman living in their private capacity on his or her private lands has the right to make and enforce all manner of law particular to their lives, they do not, absent consent, have the inherent right to harm the life or property of others of mankind. The one limit on sovereignty in the context of belonging to a society of other sovereigns is to respect life and property of all.
Conclusion
Public common law is based on two major principles; do no harm and honor your contracts. It is the law of the living as opposed to legal fiction. It is the law of the land and of substance like gold and silver. Public common law is one of the few constraints on a sovereign men or women when interacting with other sovereigns. Limited governments including courts were established to serve the people through the basic tenets of public common law.