谢谢大家⊂↹⊃Thank you very much for that very warm welcome.
今晚，我并不想授课，我只想与大家交流一些我自己的思考⊂↹⊃What I plan to do tonight is not so much a lecture but to have a conversation about some of my ideas
今晚的内容，很多都在我的特约专栏和其他零碎文章中讨论过⊂↹⊃that I discuss in my syndicated columns and some other miscellaneous articles that you will find in the book.
你们看起来都很友好，但是请不要吝啬你的刁钻问题⊂↹⊃This seems like a very friendly audience, but try to ask me hard questions.
你可以说：“沃尔特，我有个朋友是个自由派，他让我问问你....."⊂↹⊃You can kind of say, “Well look Walter I have a liberal friend and he told me to ask you”
你可以这样⊂↹⊃You can try that.
首先，我要说我们与社会中其他个体关系中的”第一原则“⊂↹⊃Let me start off by saying the first principle on how I relate to my fellow man
也就是”自我所有权“（个人主权）⊂↹⊃and that is the principle of self-ownership
我在专栏中的文章常有提及⊂↹⊃and you’ll see this all through my columns.
我相信约翰.洛克在《政府论》所写⊂↹⊃I believe the notion that we got from John Locke in the second treaties on government
我们每个人都属于自己⊂↹⊃that each of us owns ourselves.
也就是，我是我的私人财产⊂↹⊃That is, I am my private property.
你是你的私人财产⊂↹⊃You are your private property.
你属于你自己⊂↹⊃You belong to yourself.
如果你接受了这个大前提，获将之作为第一原则，⊂↹⊃If you accept that as the initial premise or as the first principle,
那么公正的行为规则就很容易推出来了⊂↹⊃then what constitute just rules of conduct are very easy.
为什么sha人是违法的，因为sha人侵犯了私人财产⊂↹⊃That is, why is murder wrong, because it violates private property.
为什么qiangjian是错误的或不道德的，因为qiangjian侵犯了私人财产⊂↹⊃Why is rape wrong or immoral? It violates private property.
为什么偷盗是错误的？因为侵犯了私人财产⊂↹⊃Why is theft wrong? It violates private property.
以这个大前提为依据，接下来就很简单了⊂↹⊃Starting out from that initial premise, I think that everything is fairly easy.
当我们将目光投向日常生活时，情况就逐渐变得复杂⊂↹⊃It gets a little more complex when we look at our everyday lives.
当我们问：”在一个自由社会里，ZF应具有什么功能？“⊂↹⊃When we ask, “what should be the role of government in a free society?”
我认为首先ZF不能侵犯私人财产⊂↹⊃I think at least one role of government should not be that of violating private property.
但对于现在的美国和绝大多数国家来说，侵犯私人财产却成了他们的主要功能⊂↹⊃However, that’s the major function of the United States government and governments almost everywhere.
我们美国人认为⊂↹⊃We, as Americans, support government doing things that
如果一个人像当今美国ZF一样侵犯他人的私人财产，那么他就会受到我们谴责，成了一个下流可耻的盗贼⊂↹⊃if a private person did the identical thing, we would all randomly condemn him as a low down, despicable thief.
比如说，如果在旧金山的大街上看到一位老奶奶睡在马路上⊂↹⊃For example, I could see an elderly lady sleeping on a grate in downtown San Francisco
正值寒冬季节，需要把她送往医院照看⊂↹⊃over the winter and she needs some dental care,
需要给她食物和住的地方⊂↹⊃she needs some food, she needs some housing
这时我如果走到大卫面前，拿枪指着他说：”大卫，给我200刀“⊂↹⊃and I could walk up to David with a gun in my hand and say “David, give me your $200.”
拿着这200刀⊂↹⊃After having gotten his $200,
我去给这位老太太买了些药品，安排了住所⊂↹⊃I go down and buy the lady some medical attention and some housing and some food.
你会认为我犯罪了吗？⊂↹⊃Would you find me guilty of a crime?
是的，你会的，不管我拿着钱去做了什么我都犯了盗窃罪⊂↹⊃Yes, you would. I would be guilty of theft, regardless of what I did with the money,
因为盗窃的定义就是抢夺他人财产⊂↹⊃because theft is defined as taking the rightful property of one person
并将财产转交给对此无产权者⊂↹⊃and giving it to another to whom it does not belong.
大多数美国人都会同意这种判断，但是有个问题⊂↹⊃Most American can buy that however, there is a problem.
问题是，如果联邦ZF⊂↹⊃Now, the question is suppose the Federal Government,
美国国会的员工来对我说⊂↹⊃the agents of the United States Congress came to me and said,