Issue 66 Tacit Consent April 30, 2013

Tacit consent means implied consent. This term is used to describe when a person lives under a government’s rule of law. By merely living in that Country, that province, that community you are giving your consent to live under the laws made there.

What does Tacit Consent do?: its role, in respect to the relationship between the government and the governed, is to show that the governed is giving the government consent to rule them. This is why when you commit a crime in the United States you are subject to U.S. law and not laws of your home country. Without this basic principle a government could not function as people from outside the country coming in would not be subject to the law of the country they are visiting. Rather the visiting person would be subject to the laws of their own country making it very hard for law to be enforced. Thus, tacit consent eliminates such chaos and allows order to be maintained.

Exceptions: In certain circumstances laws may be bent thereby ignoring tacit consent. We normally see such a bending of the law when a very harsh punishment is going to be enacted upon a citizen of another country. For example, a person from America picks someone’s pocket in Saudi Arabia with the punishment in Saudi Arabia being the hand being chopped off. American officials can ask that an alternate punishment be enacted, which will usually be granted, as a show of respect between the two nations. Usually this bending is only for harsh punishments like the aforementioned example or death, but it is also sometimes used in minor circumstances when a high level official or that official’s child is in some sort of legal trouble in another country. More than likely in this case an apology is given and a restriction of travel or even the issue being swept under the proverbial rug.

Diplomatic Immunity: I list this separate from the other exceptions to the tacit consent rule as it is only for a special class of people. In this case diplomats have special immunity from very specific laws and there punishments. The rules and exceptions vary with time but usually minor infractions are ignored like parking tickets. High crimes like murder are usually prosecuted, but that is if you can catch the person before they return to their home country (which of course will protect them).

You may change your consent: Tacit consent is movable. If say you no longer like your own government and feel it has become oppressive, then you may leave. By leaving you leave your home countries laws and rules behind (save a few exceptions if you are still considered a citizen) and then subject yourself to the laws of an entirely new country. John Locke (the political philosopher) also explained that tacit consent interacts with the concept of "consent of the governed." Consent of the governed is when you give government permission to rule over you with its laws in the same way as tacit consent, but with one difference. If you do not wish to leave your country, cannot leave (whether willingly or un-willingly) and the government has become abusive, then you have the right to rebel. Yes you may strike down the tyrannical government and reform/restore it to its pre oppressive days or change it all together.

Conclusion: Our entire political system is based on the concept of tacit consent. It is what binds us to government and what allows us to the government (whether it is you moving somewhere else or the government being altered). Because of this, many globalists (those believing in one international community have seized upon the idea as a way grant citizenship in another country. In effect you would have to live in another country for a specified number of days; from there you are granted full citizenship and all the rights that come with it while extinguishing your previous citizenship. To a large degree this same concept is used in America when a person moves from one State to another, in this case it determines if and when the person will be allowed to vote in an election. It is most certainly a concept of government that is embraced each and every day, but is taken for granted. Even the concept of self determination (the right to choose how you are to be governed) comes from this principle. Without tacit consent we would have no enforceable laws that protect our rights as citizens and thus there would be only chaos.