THE PRINCIPLE

Live and Let Live is a global peace movement inspiring the world. The Movement is organized around a fundamental principle we call the Live and Let Live Principle.  As greater numbers of people truly accept the Live and Let Live Principle, we will necessarily evolve towards a world predominated by both freedom and peace.  

 

The Live and Let Live Principle essentially holds that aggression is wrong. There is simply no way to achieve a free or peaceful world so long as the law permits people, groups, or governments to aggress against others.  With aggression outlawed, competent adults would be entitled to both define and peacefully pursue their happiness.  Competent adults should be in charge of their own lives, property, money, and time.  They have the right to be left alone or to peacefully and fairly contract with other competent adults regarding their property.  

 

A free society requires the proper balance between the rights of one person to do whatever they want with their property with the equally important rights of others not to be disturbed in their affairs by the activities of others.  This is the essence of freedom. 

   

People adhering to the Live and Let Live Principle agree that the initiation of force, fraud, or coercion is wrong in all cases.  It remains wrong even if the initiation of force, fraud, or coercion is employed to accomplish desirable moral goals.  It is not possible to aggress our way to a peaceful society.      

  

It isn’t only the actual initiation of either force, fraud, or coercion that violates the rights of others.  The substantial threat of such an initiation also violates another’s rights.  It is for this same reason that we recognize a justified act of self-defense even before an actual use of unjustified force.  That we don’t always agree on exactly which particular circumstances allow a justified act of self-defense doesn’t mean we fail to recognize the principle that one need not wait until another’s fist hits their face before such person can legally and properly act to prevent the aggression.    

  

As with self-defense, reasonable people sometimes disagree on what particular circumstances constitute a substantial threat of force, fraud, or coercion.  Because the Live and Let Live Principle is a principle, no particular set of words can fully capture its entire meaning for all circumstances. As such, it must be reasonably interpreted and applied to all the countless unique factual situations life presents.  Nonetheless, the only proper use of aggression is in response to either actual aggression or the substantial threat of an initiation of aggression.  

 

Like any principle, reasonable minds can and do disagree about the proper implementation of the Live and Let Live Principle.  For this reason, implementation of difficult issues is best left to individual communities to experiment within the competitive laboratories of competing free communities.  Like self-defense, despite good-faith differences in implementation, the Live and Let Live Principle remains valid.  Accepting the Live and Let Live Principle is the first step towards moving in the direction of a free, peaceful, and virtuous society and world.

  

The Live and Let Live Movement also promotes aspirational values such as tolerance, open-mindedness, voluntary kindness, rational thought, honesty, civility, and a commitment to pursuing truth.  We promote these live and let live values because they facilitate peace and human progress.  We champion Live and Let Live to maximize human happiness and to minimize human suffering. Minimizing the suffering of all sentient beings is an ethical goal of many in the Live and Let Live Movement.  

 

A virtuous society can’t effectively be mandated or legislated.  We must persuade our fellow humans to be enlightened and virtuous.  Parents, and not the government, must be on the front lines of teaching the next generation how to act towards others while living on the planet.  We urgently need to help each other to be better and more effective parents.

  

The Live and Let Live Movement does not take any particular position with regard to government except that whatever actions it pursues should be entirely consistent with the Live and Let Live Principle.  We welcome Anarcho-Capitalists, Minimalists, Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, Democratic-Socialists, Green Party Members, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists, and all others into our Movement so long as they truly accept the Live and Let Live Principle.  Although we promote live and let live values as an ethical matter, the Live and Let Live Movement is open to all who agree with the Live and Let Live Principle as a legal matter.  All peaceful moral views are welcome and respected.

  

Many people already subscribe to a Live and Let Live attitude.  At its core, it requires respect for the rights and sovereignty of other competent adults to both define and pursue their happiness.  This is especially important in circumstances where we strongly disagree with how other competent adults choose to define or peacefully pursue their happiness.  Defending the rights of other competent adults to peacefully engage in conduct we personally and morally disapprove of is the highest expression of a Live and Let Live attitude.

 

To the extent, societies have adopted the pro-freedom and pro-peace values espoused by the Live and Let Live Principle, freedom and prosperity have thrived.  As such, we seek to expand and accelerate the existing trend towards an enlightened and free world by peacefully and professionally advocating for the Live and Let Live Principle.  

  

People who espouse the Live and Let Live Principle come from all walks of life, racial backgrounds, socio-economic groups, and live in different places around the world.  They are a varied group.  Many are members of different political parties or are entirely non-political.  We view all humans as having equal status under the law regardless of their individual characteristics.    

  

The Live and Let Live Principle recognizes and respects the sovereignty of our fellow peaceful human beings.  We recognize and accept that intelligent humans hold good-faith differences on moral issues.  The Live and Let Live Principle is the least common denominator of moral issues upon which civilized people generally agree. Reasonable people don’t argue for the morality of initiating force against non-aggressors.    

  

Moral issues that don’t violate the Live and Let Live Principle ought to remain in the domain of persuasion and not imported into the law where they are forced upon all people.  The law generally shouldn’t intervene unless and until someone is alleged to have violated the Live and Let Live Principle.      

  

Most political questions can be resolved by simply analyzing the Live and Let Live Principle.  It yields a workable, fair, just, and reasonable paradigm from which we can resolve difficult issues.  Instead of focusing on less important or irrelevant differences that divide us, let’s focus on the positive values that unite civilized people, promote human progress and happiness, and allow us all the best opportunity to live our best lives. 

 

We invite you to join the Live and Let Live Movement. To life!!