Universal Code

It's coming any day now said the captain
It's coming any day now cried the priest
--Bruce Hornsby & the Range

Many people respond with some variation of, "Don't impose your morality on me!" when someone else seeks to use strong arm of government to enact some normative code. These normative codes are based on religious or secular beliefs of what is right and wrong.

Because diversity and variation are axiomatic, it should be expected that some object when others seek to impose beliefs by use of force.

However, there is one code that seems universal--that transcends any particular belief system. This is the code of natural rights. People have the right to dispose of their lives, wherewithal to produce, and their property as they see fit.

Not only are natural rights inalienable as Jefferson observed, but this is the universal code that transcends belief systems and 'social contracts.'

How do we know this? From a humanitarian perspective, this code prohibits the use of offensive force. Force can be used for self-defense purposes only.

From a utilitarian perspective, absent this code, people are busy defending their lives, liberty, and property against attack. While they are doing so, they are not producing. When they are not producing, standard of living does not advance. In fact, standard of living will fall, even collapse, if invasion becomes pervasive enough.

If people want to prosper and do so peacefully, then natural law becomes the one standard that all races, nationalities, religions, generations, et al. should be amenable to.  It forms the basis of durable law.