New Country!

You learn something new every day! I didn't know that the nation of Sealand existed. I had never heard of the place never mind knew it was "sovereign". So the next time you want to visit a foreign country, check out Sealand. But here is a tip...bring your own ladder or helicopter. If you are really fortunate, they might even make you the leader as I hear Sealand is looking for an enlightened one.

Mr. Thompson

Unit one test notes

Answer key

4th and 5th Locke parphrased

Sect. 87 In a perfect state of nature, man would rule himself so that he may have life, liberty, and estate; but as the

                the world is not perfect, we must create the political society that has the power to keep order so that

                property is preserved and offenses are punished.

Sect. 88 To be able to be part of the society, one must give up part of their own rights and be willing to serve the

                society so that the commonwealth, or political society, is empowered to make laws and enforce discipline,

                and you know, war and peace.

Sect. 89 Within the commonwealth, one man is not personally entitled to executive power; instead the political

                society is authorized to make decisions

Sect 95. No one person has any more power than anyone else and can't take away the freedoms of others.

 

Sect 96.  When a group of people come together as a community and they become one, they must act under the

                decisions of the majority as one.

Sect 97. Everyone needs to contribute to the community for the benefit of the majority or else the community will

                cease to exist.

123: A man will give up his freedom when he is in a free but unstable condition and wants to join those who are

                united to preserve their own property under less freedom.

124: In order to establish a proper society, laws must be put in place or man will be dishonest

 

125: A known/indifferent judge must administer punishment to avoid bias

 

126: Authority is necessary in order to enforce legal action so as to prevent insubordination

(Sections 127-131)
Because enforcing laws and punishments of others is inconvenient to one man alone, we create a legislative and                 executive power to perform these tasks for the common person.
In their natural state, all of mankind is one community; in this community, man has the power to do whatever he      sees fit for the protection of the community and to punish crimes committed against the community.
Man gives up himself and conforms into society so that the rest of society can benefit.
He needs to provide for himself and not enjoy the conveniences so that he can relate more to the other members of                 society.
When you are part of a government body, you must shake off the defends which make society unsafe and uneasy,     and do what is rightly directing your leadership approach towards providing peace, safety, and public good           of the people.

132- There are several different types of government with different methods of choosing rulers, however they all                 come together in the sense that one power should not remain for too long and that the community can                 replace the leader if they please.

133- Locke uses commonwealth in it's most basic term as it relates to an independent community not necessarily     as a government.

134. The legislative body and the government is extremely powerful but only with the consent of the people.

135. The legislative body does not have the power to destroy or take away the inalienable rights or liberties of

                man.

136. People come together as a group and give their natural power to the legislative power to protect them and

                dispense justice.

137. You cannot give one or a few men all of the power because it let's them do whatever they want and you do not

                have the right to defend yourself from them, instead you need checks and balances.

138. A man can't truely own property if someone else, even the legislative power, is able to take it away without

                consent.

 

199. Usurpation of power is acceptable as long as it doesn't go to the extreme of tyranny (using one's power                 beyond right).

200. The difference between a king and a tyrant is the first uses his power for the good of the people and the

                second uses it for his own gain.

 

201. Although a monarchy is the common victim of tyranny, it can also present itself in all other forms of

                government.

 

202. When appointed to a position of power, a leader is expected to possess greater wisdom than the average

 citizen and should act accordingly.

Periods 1+2 John Locke paraphrased

Sect. 87: There are "natural laws" which lead men to conduct themselves in a reasonable manner, but community laws are required to protect men from those who do not follow the natural laws.

Sect. 88: Men must decide the community laws amongst themselves and decide what the punishments will be, and they must have a force to enforce these laws to protect its people in times of war and peace; the best way to establish these things is to have different branches which people are assigned to.

Sect. 89: In a society, natural laws are overpowered by the laws the men have created, and the men must assign those to judge others who have broken those laws.

Sec. 95 The only way that someone can give up their natural freedom and independence is by agreeing to form a community for their safe, secure, and comfortable living. 

Sec. 96 Once a community is formed, the act of the majority passes for the act of the whole. 

Sec. 97 If those in the minority don't consent with the majority ruling they still need to follow the ruling in order for the community to still function as a whole.  

Sections 123-126 In order to create a society without chaos man must give up his freedoms for the greater good and the "preservation of their lives, liberties and estates". For a society to work an overall consensus needs to be established about the known law and standard of right and wrong. A fair justice system must have a judge and executioner that are indifferent without personal involvement. In order to assure that citizens make right their injustices the forced punishment is established and can only become worse is failed to obey.

Section 127-131 It is in human nature to live in society, and protect their property, thus the laws of government are established to satisfy both needs. Man has two powers in nature; they are to protect themselves and punish others. People will do anything to protect themselves, but must give up this right to live in society. Man must give up his right to punish because of the formation of government, and he must assist the government however possible. Even though rights are given up in the process, the formation of government is for the common good and will benefit all.

 

Sec 132: It is the community's responsibility to create their own form of government and alter it as needed.

 

Sec 133: John Locke defines common-wealth as any independent community, not a government.

Sections 134/135   There have to be laws for the sake of protecting society, but they must be assigned by a legislative power and consented by the people.  The legislative power should be the supreme power of the common-wealth, however it is not and cannot be an absolute power and cannot destroy, enslave, or impoverish its subjects.

Sections 136-138 Mankind must have Standing laws to maintain order and justice. These laws must be just and not be used to the advantage of the ruler. The freedom of property and the decision of what to do with people's property should not be taken away.

Sect. 199-202 1. Tyranny is the presence and use of power over a people for not the gain of those people but for ones own purposes.
2. The lawful king accepts the people as both his greatest weakness and his greatest source of happiness, while a tyrant thinks if the people merely as a means by which to procure wealth, power, and satisfaction.
3. Tyranny is not limited to a monarchy as anyone who obtains power becomes a tyrant when he uses his position to oppress or suppress the people.
4. When a person of power uses his authority to harm or oppress another, he is acting outside the power given to him by law, ceases to be a person of authority and can be challenged.

 

 

2016 Presidential election

What!  We are talking Nov. 2016 when it is only 2013....never early enough to start building your record on foreign and domestic issues. This article describes how the upcoming Congressional vote on whether to give the president Congressional authority to strike Syria will be the first real foreign policy test for the upcoming presidential election.

Mr. Thompson

You asked about Syria!

Several of you have asked and I am just guessing this topic will be one of the dominant topics of our semester together so here are the 9 things you need to know about the violence in Syria. If you want more info or just aren't real familiar with what is happening and why, this article is for you.

Mr. Thompson

There is no such thing as a paradigm shift

Think differently. 

APLG 4th and 5th period

For those of you confused about where the clip is linked...it is now linked sorry. Watch the 6+ minute video clip of President Obama's recent speech on Syria. Write a paragraph in which you respond to the speech incorporating your own paradigm of government from our Sept.5th class discussion. I am moving due date back to Sat. Sept 7th at midnight because of my blog secretary's stupity. (Sorry for those of you that accessed the blog and there was no link)

Enjoy, welcome back and great to have you in APLG,
Mr. Thompson