Libertarians believe in our exclusive ownership of our own lives and the equal personal ownership of others own lives. No one has the right to take the life of another, in whole or in part. We can voluntarily exchange some portion of our lives for some purpose or property we need or desire, but there is no right held by any person or entity to compel us to do so, not even for one moment. Thus, we have the absolute right to defend our lives and the property for which we have exchanged some portion of our lives.
This is the principle on which this country was founded, the signers of the Declaration of Independence declared that our rights and our lives were ours by the fact of our creation and that the King had no higher ownership(dominion) over our lives or property. This was a radical concept at the time. Even today, communists and socialists hold that the “collective” of the people has a higher ownership of some part of our lives. Theocrats, such as radical Islamists and some other sects believe that our lives belong to God, in one name or another. Libertarians reject those notions. One may choose to give his life to the common good, or to God, if he believes that to be his purpose, but no one has a right to compel us to accept dominion over our lives by anyone.
We believe that governments are created for the purpose of securing our rights, and that we voluntarily exchange a portion of our earnings, and thus our lives, to support the rule of law that protects our lives and rights, but that when government demands more of us than is necessary for that purpose, it has exceeded its authority.
We work, through peaceful persuasion, to restrain government to that authority we have consented to give to it in return for the benefits of the rule of law.
Tidewater Liberty 