Philosophy

The Fundamentals The Founders did not think about your rights as something the Government gives you. How they thought about rights is expressed across debates, letters, and even our Declaration of Independence (not a legally binding document, but illuminating none-the-less). Most people today think the Government gives us our rights. It’s probably taught this way in many schools across the US. “The 1st Amendment gives you the right to free speech…” ...

Abortion, Citizenship, and the Constitution: Why State Abortion Bans May Violate Federal Authority Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), states have regained the authority to regulate or ban abortion. But a novel constitutional argument suggests that in doing so, states may be intruding into a domain reserved exclusively to the federal government: the creation of U.S. citizens. This post outlines a constitutional theory that reframes state-enforced birth as a form of compelled citizenship creation, raising serious questions about federal supremacy, naturalization, and the limits of state power under the U.S. Constitution. ...

I noticed this poem in a book of poetry by Lizzie Magie, published in 1892. It captures the beauty in selfishness when your happiness is derived from helping others. All, all are selfish. There is not one who does not live himself to please. Life holds for each no other aim or object Than to gratify and satisfy his own ambitions and desires. We call those generous who deny themselves To give to others, But by those same denials They are taking greater pleasures than they give, For no one does or can give to another More happiness than he himself receives. Those are just who claim for others The rights they for themselves exact. Those are generous who would make for others The opportunities they wish themselves. The happiest are those who are to others kindest, And who cause most happiness to all. The great are those who make the world The better by their deeds. ...