Article 4

Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of every man has no bounds other than those that ensure to the other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights. These bounds may be determined only by Law.

Article 5

The Law has the right to forbid only those actions that are injurious to society. Nothing that is not forbidden by Law may be hindered, and no one may be compelled to do what the Law does not ordain.

Article 6

The Law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to take part, personally or through their representatives, in its making. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in its eyes, shall be equally eligible to all high offices, public positions and employments, according to their ability, and without other distinction than that of their virtues and talents.

Article 7

No man may be accused, arrested or detained except in the cases determined by the Law, and following the procedure that it has prescribed. Those who solicit, expedite, carry out, or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders must be punished; but any citizen summoned or apprehended by virtue of the Law, must give instant obedience; resistance makes him guilty.

Article 8

The Law must prescribe only the punishments that are strictly and evidently necessary; and no one may be punished except by virtue of a Law drawn up and promulgated before the offense is committed, and legally applied.

Article 9

As every man is presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it should be considered necessary to arrest him, any undue harshness that is not required to secure his person must be severely curbed by Law.

Article 10

No one may be disturbed on account of his opinions, even religious ones, as long as the manifestation of such opinions does not interfere with the established Law and Order.

Article 11

The free communication of ideas and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man. Any citizen may therefore speak, write and publish freely, except what is tantamount to the abuse of this liberty in the cases determined by Law.

Article 12

To guarantee the Rights of Man and of the Citizen a public force is necessary; this force is therefore established for the benefit of all, and not for the particular use of those to whom it is entrusted.

Article 13

For the maintenance of the public force, and for administrative expenses, a general tax is indispensable; it must be equally distributed among all citizens, in proportion to their ability to pay.

Article 14

All citizens have the right to ascertain, by themselves, or through their representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to watch over its use, and to determine its proportion, basis, collection and duration.

Article 15

Society has the right to ask a public official for an accounting of his administration.

Article 16

Any society in which no provision is made for guaranteeing rights or for the separation of powers, has no Constitution.

Article 17

Since the right to Property is inviolable and sacred, no one may be deprived thereof, unless public necessity, legally ascertained, obviously requires it, and just and prior indemnity has been paid.

https://www.elysee.fr/en/french-presidency/the-declaration-of-the-rights-of-man-...

Lisa Jones wrote on Jan 9^th, 2023 at 9:42am:


Did Methra attempt to mention FREE EDUCATION?

Oh the irony! And hypocrisy. And ignorance. Then again you wouldn't expect anything else.

thegreatdivide wrote on Jan 9^th, 2023 at 3:47pm:


Understaffed and underpaid are irrelevant to dignity and rights

In actual fact, NSW Health supplied a document for all staff regarding dignity, respect and privacy

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Performance/Pages/ct-8ways-booklet.aspx

Hardly any staff take notice of it. Public hospitals have very slack managers who afford themselves more rights than they do their patients. The Public health system is a law unto itself, so we need permanent rights to protect us when we become patients, and have a civil law automatically on our side without cost$ to the individual for the enforcement of those rights. In other words, we don't have to pay any legal expenses to get redress

But managers and their staff should be made to learn the above link off by heart, and be sacked if they don't comply with it

Bias_2012 wrote on Jan 10^th, 2023 at 12:09pm:


A silly comment; understaffed means people are left laying in their own faeces, as noted by the Royal Commision.

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A  document doesn't replace the work that is required to be done.

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More silliness; private hospitals are well funded and well- staffed, paid for by their wealthy patrons. All hospital staff are overwhelming dedicated to their tasks.

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They already know it.

So... we all have an "inalienable" right to dignity - except the public sector can't pay for it.

See the problem?   

Back to our search for equal - ie, belonging to all - "inalienable" rights (as opposed to rights defined in law eg the "right" to carry a gun......):

So far we have identified:   

1. "born free" (ie "liberty"),

2.  we have included "dignity", but have discovered the public sector can't always pay for it....

3. Free thought

4. Free speech, but obviously needs reasonable constraint...

5. Safety and freedom from capricious (non-legal) enforcement/oppression. 

Property is a non-starter as an "inalienable" (non-legal) right because people don't have equal access to property.

thegreatdivide wrote on Jan 11^th, 2023 at 12:55pm:


Right to your own property is not about equal access to property.  The idea of natural right to property was developed in the context of absolute monarchical power when the confiscation of property or confiscatory taxation were significant issues (see causes of the American and French  Revolution, th he revolutions of the 19th century,  taxation without representation, etc). All natural right theories were developed in the context of setting philosophical, moral limits to absolute and arbitrary monarchical/government powers.


(Marx was influenced by Locke's labour theory of property and developed his own labour theory of value on the basis of it. Locke saw labour as the basis of property acquisition, Marx as the basis of abolishing property rights. )

Frank wrote on Jan 11^th, 2023 at 2:29pm:


Correct.

But we are searching for the "inalienable rights" which are consequent upon being "born free and equal in certain rights" (owing to our 'natural humanity')

So obviously the right to personal property can only be a legislated right, not a natural right, because we don't all have equal access to property like we all have equal access - and a right to liberty

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For my part, I think the state should administer as much public housing as necessary to ensure everyone is safely housed - regardless of "rights".