Crimes Against The Self

Can a human being commit a crime against their self? We know that one can hurt their self, purposely or on accident. I’m not talking about physical pain, I’m talking about punishable crime where only one human being is involved. Let’s take a look.

By definition, a crime is an action or omission that constitutes an offense of law that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.

So what is law?

By definition, law is a system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

So crime = breaking the law. Duh. Most people learn this at a young age. Some still don’t understand it. However, very few question ‘Why am I not the sole maker of laws that govern my body, my land and my belongings?’ The unfortunate and simple answer is usually that the masses of a “particular country or community” get to decide what the law is (they make the rules.) In the USA, it’s these 545 people.

Since others make the rules that govern crimes against the self, by definition the self cannot also make his own personal rules. Therefore the idea that the self has the freedom to do as he pleases on his land with his property is fictional. We know this because we’ve already established that others make the law and the self can be found in violation of the law, even on his own property causing no harm to anyone or any thing.

But, freedom?