Should Nations be held to the same standards of behavior as individuals?

Highlights from our meeting on 04/16/03

1. Since it is the function of nations to serve the interests of its citizens, shouldn't nations be held to a higher standard of behavior?
2. If an individual steals from another individual, it hurts only that one individual.
3. If a nation, or its government, steals from its citizens, it hurts all the citizens.
4. Shouldn't the punishment of those responsible for crimes on such a scale be on the same order of magnitude?
5. But is it true that the function of nations is to serve the interests of its citizens?
6. Isn't the first and primary function of any living entity to protect itself and ensure its own survival?
7. Self-preservation seems to be a fundamental law of nature.
8. But are nations natural, living entities, or are they inventions of man?
9. Isn't man himself a product of nature, and so also everything made by man?
10. Then, is there anything that is not natural?
11. If there is nothing that is not natural, doesn't "natural" lose all meaning?
12. Not necessarily. "Natural" just becomes synonymous with "Universal".
13. Natural Law then becomes Universal Law, applying to man equally as to the rest of nature.
14. Perhaps we should distinguish between "Natural" with a capital "N", meaning all of Nature, including man, and "natural" with a small "n", referring to that part of Nature that is independent of man.
15. In that sense, nations are a product of Nature working through man.
16. So are there Natural Laws that govern the behavior of individuals and the behavior of nations?
17. Where do the standards of behavior for individuals come from?
18. Aren't the standards of behavior for individuals codified in the laws of the nation?
19. But what decides what standards become the law?
20. Isn't the law of a nation simply a reflection of the culturally acceptable standards of behavior, that is, codified customs?
21. So where do customs come from?
22. Where does culture come from?
23. Some standards of behavior are derived from religious customs.
24. A very old and common standard for individual behavior is "the golden rule".
25. Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.
26. If two individuals of unequal power have a dispute, why would the more powerful one submit to such a standard?
27. If the individuals lived in a nation, there would be a higher authority more powerful than either individual.
28. Does that mean standards of behavior for individual needs a higher power to be enforced?
29. Is that why nations are granted special permission to commit or threaten to commit acts of violence and coercion which are not granted to individuals?
30. Does that mean, for nations to adhere to a standard of behavior, a force more powerful than nations needs to wield the threat of violence and annihilation over them?