Contract of Non-Aggression

We, free people, in order to form a perfect union, prevent war and tyranny, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure blessings and liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do conclude and shall follow this Contract of Non-Aggression.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that there is no universal path to happiness, that there are no ends that justify aggressive force, that human freedom is inalienable from the freedom to err, and that only by observing such a contract can we guarantee and defend individual and collective freedom.

We acknowledge, in sequence, a sphere of free action into which no single person or organization has the right to encroach, neither arbitrarily, nor for the higher good. The guarantee of peaceful coexistence and prosperity is the presence of inviolable private boundaries.

Everyone is free to establish these boundaries him or herself, without violating the same voluntary establishment of boundaries by others. They pass through the body of a person and the property that he or she has acquired via the market, that is, as the result of the creation and succession of voluntary relations.

Because a person’s will is inalienable, it does not create legal obligations and may change at any time, for any reason, or without reason. The only thing that binds it is the boundaries of property. Changes in obligations occur only upon the transfer of titles to property. After such a transfer, each person must respect the newly defined boundaries.

Interactions with everything that lies within these boundaries are not aggressive only so long as they are performed with the consent of the owner. We affirm these boundaries, and we reject any violation of them, i.e., aggression.

Forgiveness is a great virtue and a noble way to dispose of one’s own freedom. But when a series of abuses and aggression reveals an encroachment on the self-ownership of a person and a desire to subjugate him or her to power, that person is authorized to oppose the aggression and establish new guarantees to ensure his or her future freedom and security.

Such is the current need, which forces us to conclude this social contract, the Contract of Non-Aggression. Non-aggression means to oppose processes detrimental to contractual parties, or their property, against their will.

The history of statist societies is a history of injustices and aggression that aimed to establish the tyranny of a ruling class over man. Therefore, we—libertarians—call on everyone who wishes to become our allies and to sign this Contract. We make a mutual vow, on which we stake our honor, life, and property, to maintain this Contract, with a firm belief in the value of human freedom and the desire to protect the victim from the aggressor.