Dr.Who
Well-Known Member
Right to Property
"It is not the right of property which is protected, but the right to property. Property, per se, has no rights; but the individual--the man--has three great rights, equally sacred from arbitrary interference: the right to his life, the right to his liberty, the right to his property. . . The three rights are so bound together as to be essentially one right. To give a man his life but deny him his liberty, is to take from him all that makes his life worth living. To give him his liberty but take from him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to still leave him a slave." (George Sutherland, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 21st January, 1921, italics added).
It is an undeniable fact that our country was founded on the basic premise that each person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What is not so well known, was that there was much debate over the final term--pursuit of happiness. Many of the founding fathers wanted that to be replaced with the term 'property'. In the end, it was decided that pursuit of happiness was to be used. In regards to this, John Adams said the following, "All men are born free and independent, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness." (Quoted from George A. Peek, Jr, The Political Writings of John Adams , Liberal Arts Press, New York, 1954, pg. 96).
It is impossible for me to reconcile the actions of our current government with what was originally intended by our founding fathers. I do not attack one or the other party with this statement, rather, I feel that each party has not only started down the path to socialism, but actually seem to be sprinting towards that as a final end form of government for our country.
The Rights of Government
The rights of our government are merely an extension of our own natural rights. Each of us, as a human, has inalienable rights. A government is merely an extension, a granting, of those individual rights in an effort to pool our rights for self-defense and the protection of our three great rights. Those rights are life, liberty, and property.
The government can never have greater rights than I do as an individual. I do not have the right to take that which is my neighbor's property and give it to another. I cannot even do this if the receiving party has great need. It would be considered theft. How then, can our government take that which is one person's personal property and give it to another?
Right To Property
"It is not the right of property which is protected, but the right to property. Property, per se, has no rights; but the individual--the man--has three great rights, equally sacred from arbitrary interference: the right to his life, the right to his liberty, the right to his property. . . The three rights are so bound together as to be essentially one right. To give a man his life but deny him his liberty, is to take from him all that makes his life worth living. To give him his liberty but take from him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to still leave him a slave." (George Sutherland, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 21st January, 1921, italics added).
It is an undeniable fact that our country was founded on the basic premise that each person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What is not so well known, was that there was much debate over the final term--pursuit of happiness. Many of the founding fathers wanted that to be replaced with the term 'property'. In the end, it was decided that pursuit of happiness was to be used. In regards to this, John Adams said the following, "All men are born free and independent, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness." (Quoted from George A. Peek, Jr, The Political Writings of John Adams , Liberal Arts Press, New York, 1954, pg. 96).
It is impossible for me to reconcile the actions of our current government with what was originally intended by our founding fathers. I do not attack one or the other party with this statement, rather, I feel that each party has not only started down the path to socialism, but actually seem to be sprinting towards that as a final end form of government for our country.
The rights of our government are merely an extension of our own natural rights. Each of us, as a human, has inalienable rights. A government is merely an extension, a granting, of those individual rights in an effort to pool our rights for self-defense and the protection of our three great rights. Those rights are life, liberty, and property.
The government can never have greater rights than I do as an individual. I do not have the right to take that which is my neighbor's property and give it to another. I cannot even do this if the receiving party has great need. It would be considered theft. How then, can our government take that which is one person's personal property and give it to another?
Thomas Jefferson said, "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy."
I fear that our willingness to allow our government, which remember is merely an extension of ourselves and our own personal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, to step in and confiscate more and more personal property (taxes) is proof that we are crossing a perilous line. John Adams said, "The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist." (Quoted from Charles Francis Adams, The Works of John Adams, 10 Volumes, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1850-1856, 6:9, 280, italics added)
Next time you hear the government propose to tax an individual group--regardless of the reasoning behind it or the beneficiary of it, remember, as soon as we begin appropriating property in an effort to "equalize things" we are allowing our government to exercise a right that we do not have as individuals and therefore cannot grant as individuals to our government which is merely an extension of our own personal rights. Also remember, it starts small and grows from there. As soon as a large group of people decide to take from a smaller group for whatever reason we are opening the door for this to happen more and more often. Think on it--next time you may be part of the smaller group being taken from.
The Benefit of Property
In closing, I would like to urge you to remember the following that was said by our great president, Abraham Lincoln.
"Property is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable, is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. . . . I don't believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good."
The only way to stop the grand theft which is being perpetrated by our government leaders is to make your voice heard. Please call your Senator and your Representative every time you see an abuse of power. Let your voice be heard before it grows too late. Remember, today it may just be such and such group that doesn't affect you at all. Tomorrow, you may be part of the minority being used to support the majority's whims.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Right-To-Property
"It is not the right of property which is protected, but the right to property. Property, per se, has no rights; but the individual--the man--has three great rights, equally sacred from arbitrary interference: the right to his life, the right to his liberty, the right to his property. . . The three rights are so bound together as to be essentially one right. To give a man his life but deny him his liberty, is to take from him all that makes his life worth living. To give him his liberty but take from him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to still leave him a slave." (George Sutherland, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 21st January, 1921, italics added).
It is an undeniable fact that our country was founded on the basic premise that each person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What is not so well known, was that there was much debate over the final term--pursuit of happiness. Many of the founding fathers wanted that to be replaced with the term 'property'. In the end, it was decided that pursuit of happiness was to be used. In regards to this, John Adams said the following, "All men are born free and independent, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness." (Quoted from George A. Peek, Jr, The Political Writings of John Adams , Liberal Arts Press, New York, 1954, pg. 96).
It is impossible for me to reconcile the actions of our current government with what was originally intended by our founding fathers. I do not attack one or the other party with this statement, rather, I feel that each party has not only started down the path to socialism, but actually seem to be sprinting towards that as a final end form of government for our country.
The Rights of Government
The rights of our government are merely an extension of our own natural rights. Each of us, as a human, has inalienable rights. A government is merely an extension, a granting, of those individual rights in an effort to pool our rights for self-defense and the protection of our three great rights. Those rights are life, liberty, and property.
The government can never have greater rights than I do as an individual. I do not have the right to take that which is my neighbor's property and give it to another. I cannot even do this if the receiving party has great need. It would be considered theft. How then, can our government take that which is one person's personal property and give it to another?
Right To Property
"It is not the right of property which is protected, but the right to property. Property, per se, has no rights; but the individual--the man--has three great rights, equally sacred from arbitrary interference: the right to his life, the right to his liberty, the right to his property. . . The three rights are so bound together as to be essentially one right. To give a man his life but deny him his liberty, is to take from him all that makes his life worth living. To give him his liberty but take from him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to still leave him a slave." (George Sutherland, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 21st January, 1921, italics added).
It is an undeniable fact that our country was founded on the basic premise that each person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What is not so well known, was that there was much debate over the final term--pursuit of happiness. Many of the founding fathers wanted that to be replaced with the term 'property'. In the end, it was decided that pursuit of happiness was to be used. In regards to this, John Adams said the following, "All men are born free and independent, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness." (Quoted from George A. Peek, Jr, The Political Writings of John Adams , Liberal Arts Press, New York, 1954, pg. 96).
It is impossible for me to reconcile the actions of our current government with what was originally intended by our founding fathers. I do not attack one or the other party with this statement, rather, I feel that each party has not only started down the path to socialism, but actually seem to be sprinting towards that as a final end form of government for our country.
The rights of our government are merely an extension of our own natural rights. Each of us, as a human, has inalienable rights. A government is merely an extension, a granting, of those individual rights in an effort to pool our rights for self-defense and the protection of our three great rights. Those rights are life, liberty, and property.
The government can never have greater rights than I do as an individual. I do not have the right to take that which is my neighbor's property and give it to another. I cannot even do this if the receiving party has great need. It would be considered theft. How then, can our government take that which is one person's personal property and give it to another?
Thomas Jefferson said, "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy."
I fear that our willingness to allow our government, which remember is merely an extension of ourselves and our own personal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, to step in and confiscate more and more personal property (taxes) is proof that we are crossing a perilous line. John Adams said, "The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist." (Quoted from Charles Francis Adams, The Works of John Adams, 10 Volumes, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1850-1856, 6:9, 280, italics added)
Next time you hear the government propose to tax an individual group--regardless of the reasoning behind it or the beneficiary of it, remember, as soon as we begin appropriating property in an effort to "equalize things" we are allowing our government to exercise a right that we do not have as individuals and therefore cannot grant as individuals to our government which is merely an extension of our own personal rights. Also remember, it starts small and grows from there. As soon as a large group of people decide to take from a smaller group for whatever reason we are opening the door for this to happen more and more often. Think on it--next time you may be part of the smaller group being taken from.
The Benefit of Property
In closing, I would like to urge you to remember the following that was said by our great president, Abraham Lincoln.
"Property is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable, is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. . . . I don't believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good."
The only way to stop the grand theft which is being perpetrated by our government leaders is to make your voice heard. Please call your Senator and your Representative every time you see an abuse of power. Let your voice be heard before it grows too late. Remember, today it may just be such and such group that doesn't affect you at all. Tomorrow, you may be part of the minority being used to support the majority's whims.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Right-To-Property