NSmolenskiFan on Nostr: The world is perhaps only now beginning to appreciate the uniqueness of the American ...

The world is perhaps only now beginning to appreciate the uniqueness of the American Bill of Rights.

Instead of defining rights as the *positive* rights of individuals or groups, as do most other constitutions around the world, the Bill of Rights places *limits* on the power of government to restrict those rights. “Congress shall make no law …”

This is a night and day difference.

It means that, for example, even in democracies where freedom of speech is a constitutional right, “bad” speech can still be criminalized, and people can be put in jail for it. There is no constitutional mechanism to stop the state from carving out exceptions to rights.

If America can recapture its legacy of limiting the powers of government—arguably its most important contribution to political economy—it has the chance to flourish again.