And because you breached the conditions set in this social contract, we are now taking full ownership, once again, of our liberties and properties that we had entrusted you. This condition of civil society was illustrated concretely in Treatise, and if you do not recall Locke's reminders on this, let me help you recall his wisdom: "...but whenever his property is invaded by the will and order of his monarch, he has not only no appeal, as those in society ought to have, but, as if he were degraded from the common state of rational creatures, is denied a liberty to judge of, or defend his right, and so is exposed to all the misery and inconveniencies that a man can fear from one..."
This is the state we are in at the moment. New Orleans is in a state of strife, as we, the citizenry find ourselves in conflict with you, the government. We are miserable because of the gradual decline of growth and progress in our state, attributed by the lack of support from the government to combat society's problems. This revolt that we decided to initiate would continue if you do not address the problems we have enumerated. And if, after a given period, these problems remain unattended, further measures will be initiated from the Civil Society, and we would bravely go so far as to say that these measures could include the possible ouster of all members of the government. We need to abolish the monarchial government that has developed in our state through the years, and a society built on mutual trust and common goals will be reinstated.
You might say that we are still obliged, as citizens, to remain governed by the government. That, as citizens it is our duty to pay our taxes to the government....
Why? Because you have violated and committed the first breach in the social contract. We are just acting upon what we have witnessed as happening in our society, and we firmly and strongly believe that the civil society should take the necessary steps for the government to shape up, or else, grave consequences could result to a misalignment of the government's and civil society's agenda and goals. I know that we do not have to concretely identify these consequences to you. Let us just reiterate that our decision to refuse payment of property taxes is ours to decide, because, as Locke stated, we are 'master by ourselves,' "proprietor of his own person, and the actions or labour of it, had still in himself the great foundation of property..."
As we close this open letter, another reminder from Locke worth noting is to let you know your duties as the appointed representative of the civil society, the agent who will safeguard the properties and liberties of the people. Let us share the wisdom of Locke when he said that "[i]t is the duty of the civil magistrate, by the impartial execution of equal laws, to secure unto all the people in general and to every one of his subjects in particular the just possession of these things belonging to this life....the whole jurisdiction of the magistrate reaches only to these civil concernments, and that all civil power, right and dominion, is bounded and confined to the only care of promoting these things..." Let us share this wisdom and vision of Locke, and we hope that this open letter would help you address the issues of the citizenry of New Orleans. Thank you.
