Unalienable or Inalienable
 

Two words that are similar so reminded of the maxim "things that are similar are not the same".

I recall hearing of a man whose son wanted to build a house so the father split off some land, the house got built and the son lived in it for (from memory) around 15 years. Never recorded. No property tax.

Then he decided to have some home improvements done. He went to the bank but they did their due diligence and found the property to be not recorded. They told the son that they would loan him the money but first he would have to record the deed. So he did. Property tax started immediately.

Here is the theory. When he held the property without recording it was unalienable. Unalienable property CANNOT be sold or seized. The bank would not loan him money on a property they could not seize. After the recording the property became inalienable. Inalienable property SHOULD NOT be aliened but CAN BE aliened.

Another analogy.

You come home to find your neighbors garage on fire.

You rush in and find two cans in his garage. One can is labeled INFLAMMABLE and the other can is labeled UNFLAMMABLE. If you believe there is no difference between an IN- word and an UN- word then go ahead, grab either can and try to put the fire out. End result ... you may learn something and the neighbor might not be as neighborly.

Bouvier:

UNALIENABLE. The state of a thing or right which cannot be sold.

2. Things which are not in commerce, as public roads, are in their nature unalienable. Some things are unalienable, in consequence of particular provisions in the law forbidding their sale or transfer, as pensions granted by the government. The natural rights of life and liberty are unalienable. INALIENABLE. This word is applied to those things, the property of which cannot be lawfully transferred from one person to another. Public highways and rivers are of this kind; there are also many rights which are inalienable, as the rights of liberty, or of speech. Things started out in the organic documents of the United States as "unalienable". Even the organic constitution of 1846 for the State of Iowa used "unalienable". Over time it became shifted into "inalienable". In Iowa this occurred with the next (and final) constitution of 1857.

Law is tricky. No doubt about it. A change from one word to another is not done for trivial reasons. Notice that Bouvier (1856) in his Law Dictionary incorporates the LAWFUL word in the "inalienable" description. This word is missing in "unalienable" because something unalienable simply cannot be aliened. Ahh, but now under "inalienable" we have the concept of "cannot LAWFULLY be transferred". Well, if not LAWFUL, what other ways can something be transferred? That is easy. Something INALIENABLE can be LEGALLY transferred. Legal has the form of Law but not the substance.

Lawful are those things not forbidden.

Legal are those things permitted.

Things that are inalienable cannot be transferre by Law (under God) but can be transferred Legally (by Man and his government).

Thou shalt not kill ... Law
Thou may commit abortion ... Legal

Learn the difference and pay attention to the un- and in- words.

Unflammable objects are not flammable. It must be a word because I just used it.

Truly you SHOULD NOT sell yourself into slavery ... Inalienable Liberty
Truly you CANNOT sell yourself into slavery ... Unalienable Liberty

Welcome to my Briar Patch.

"I've got you this time, Brer Rabbit," said Brer Fox, jumping up and shaking off the dust. "You've sassed me for the very last time. Now I wonder what I should do with you?"

Brer Rabbit's eyes got very large. "Oh please Brer Fox, whatever you do, please don't throw me into the briar patch."

"Maybe I should roast you over a fire and eat you," mused Brer Fox. "No, that's too much trouble. Maybe I'll hang you instead."

"Roast me! Hang me! Do whatever you please," said Brer Rabbit. "Only please, Brer Fox, please don't throw me into the briar patch."

"If I'm going to hang you, I'll need some string," said Brer Fox. "And I don't have any string handy. But the stream's not far away, so maybe I'll drown you instead."

"Drown me! Roast me! Hang me! Do whatever you please," said Brer Rabbit. "Only please, Brer Fox, please don't throw me into the briar patch."

"The briar patch, eh?" said Brer Fox. "What a wonderful idea! You'll be torn into little pieces!"

Grabbing up the tar-covered rabbit, Brer Fox swung him around and around and then flung him head over heels into the briar patch. Brer Rabbit let out such a scream as he fell that all of Brer Fox's fur stood straight up. Brer Rabbit fell into the briar bushes with a crash and a mighty thump. Then there was silence.

Brer Fox cocked one ear toward the briar patch, listening for whimpers of pain. But he heard nothing. Brer Fox cocked the other ear toward the briar patch, listening for Brer Rabbit's death rattle. He heard nothing.

Then Brer Fox heard someone calling his name. He turned around and looked up the hill. Brer Rabbit was sitting on a log combing the tar out of his fur with a wood chip and looking smug.

"I was bred and born in the briar patch, Brer Fox," he called. "Born and bred in the briar patch."

And Brer Rabbit skipped away as merry as a cricket while Brer Fox ground his teeth in rage and went home. http://americanfolklore.net/folklore..._tar_baby.html

Maybe you should have studied up on these ole baby stories early on?

You really have to used to the notion that legal words and lawful words differ. Nightsoil is a valuable asset while sewage contains hazardous wastes. Both MIGHT be the same but sewage COULD contain soap, cleaning materials, photography chemicals or the like. One is closely controlled. The other has been around for millenia.

Common usage shows in- and un- prefixes are virtually identical.
http://myword.info/definition.php?id=un_1-a
un- ... A prefix added to the start of a word. Indicates that "not" or "reversal" modifies meaning of the word. Created to expand meanings. Can be used with many words to form new words.

http://myword.info/definition.php?id=in_1-a
in- A prefix added to the start of a word. Indicates that "not" modifies the word. Created to expand meanings. Can be used with many words to form new words. Common usage is NOT lawful usage.
Common usage is NOT legal usage.

Thread closed for lack of comprehension.