Rule number one: Don’t hurt people.
Rule number two: Don’t take their things.
Rule number three: These rules apply to everyone.
Everyone means all people, all organizations including big
corporations and government. Everyone must obey the same morality because we
are all people mostly working cooperatively with others or individually. Merely
because we get together as a group, as a corporations, as a government, does
not give us the right to hurt people or to take their stuff.
Should the government be subject to the same moral
constraints as apply to private agents? It’s probably impossible to make
exceptions for government or corporations that do not eventually lead to harm
no matter how good our intentions. Exceptions keep increasing until their
results become obvious. We mustn’t start exceptions.
If no person is justified
in using coercion to achieve a particular goal, then no group of people, no
corporation, no government organization can be justified in using coercion to
achieve a goal. Thus, for example, if it would be impermissible for an
individual or private corporation to threaten to kidnap and imprison people for
consuming unhealthful substances, then it is also impermissible for the state
to do so.
If you don’t want to cooperate, just leave people alone.
