tweto https://x.com/souljagoyteller/status/2085558616992444753
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Natural rights are what guides my politics. The social contract exists to both protect people and protect their rights, and governments should be toppled when they void said rights. The thing that separates man from animal is that God delivered us with the privilege of basic rights
other poster: where do these natural rights come from?
sami gold: 1. God 2. Human existence
Nah, people conflate the Mandate of Heaven with European Divine Right of Kings.
While they both seem to be using the divine to justify the legitimacy of the ruler, they differ in how they relate to said ruler losing legitimacy.
The Divine Right of Kings precludes any thought about removing the monarch as taboo and expects unconditional obedience.
The Mandate of Heaven is used to explain why certain rulers get overthrown by peasant rebellions and others don’t (either the peasants don’t even try, or they’re unsuccessful). Basically getting overthrown means losing the Mandate of Heavens, resisting the rebellion proves holding it.
The Mandate of Heaven ultimately says the legitimacy of rule comes from the consent of the ruled.