“I like Fox-News broadcaster Glenn Beck. The man exudes goodness and has a visceral feel for freedom.
From this scrupulous soul I’d like to hear less about ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ and more of the original Lockean phrase, from which Thomas Jefferson drew when writing the Declaration of Independence.
‘No one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions,’ wrote the British philosopher John Locke, in the Second Treatise on Civil Government.
By ‘the pursuit of happiness,’ Jefferson meant property plus; the right to take action to acquire what is required to sustain and satisfy life. Instead, the founder bequeathed us a vagueness that has helped undermine the foundation of civilization: private property.
By and large, modern-day Americans have twisted the famous phrase, and have turned into looters who pursue happiness at the expense of the producers.
Elsewhere, Jefferson affirmed the natural right of ‘all men’ to be secure in their enjoyment of their ‘life, liberty and possessions.’ But in the Declaration, somehow, he opted for the inclusiveness of ‘the pursuit of happiness,’ rather than cleave to the precision of ‘property.'” …
More about why you should “shout ‘life, liberty, and property’ from the proverbial rooftops,” in my new WND.com column, now on Taki’s Magazine, titled aptly, “Own It.” Remember: If you miss the column on WND, you can catch it Saturdays on Taki’s Magazine.