Category Archives: Private Property

Update II: It’s Life, Liberty, Property

Classical Liberalism, Constitution, Glenn Beck, Individual Rights, Liberty, Private Property

I like Fox broadcaster Glenn Beck, I really do, if only because he exudes sheer goodness and has a visceral feel for freedom. However, starting a confused revolution, as he has, only adds to the philosophical confusion of a people too lazy to plumb the depths of their founding documents.

I’d like to hear less of the “pursuit of happiness” phrase from the Declaration of Independence,” and more about how no “State” shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

Thomas Jefferson had opted for the inclusiveness of “the pursuit of happiness,” instead of sticking with the Lockean “life, liberty, property.” He meant property plus, but, instead, bequeathed us a vagueness that has undermined property.

The “Virginia Declaration of Rights,” written by George Mason in 1776, brings together “property” and the “pursuit of happiness”:

“That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

The right to property includes self-ownership. As I’ve written: “The right of ownership is an extension of the right to life. If ownership is not an absolute right but is instead subject to the vagaries of majority vote, then so is the right to life.”

Glenn again: Beck insisted some time back that our rights come from God and that unless you believe in the Almighty, you cannot defend rights. That’s a non sequitur. Rights are rooted in the nature of man. Whether one defers to reason or revelation for their justification–the natural rights of man remain inalienable.

Philosopher Ayn Rand anchored man’s rights in his nature. “Rights are conditions of existence required by man’s nature for his survival,” she wrote in Atlas Shrugged. In order to survive, man must—and it is in his nature to—transform the resources around him by mixing his labor with them and making them his own. Man’s labor and property are extensions of himself. The right of ownership is thus an extension of the right to life.

Glenn also asserted that we merely loan our rights to the government temporarily to protect. I understand he means well, but, but…

No! That’s not so. Rights are never on loan; they cannot be alienated (although our friend Walter Block has made an interesting case for supreme freedom by arguing for one’s right to sell oneself into slavery). Unless of course a man takes the life of an innocent other. Then, by virtue of his actions, he has forfeited his right to life.

Back to Beck: The government is merely entrusted with upholding natural rights. It cannot grant or repeal them. We don’t loan our rights to anyone.

It’s bad form and bad language to suggest so.

Update: With reference to The Judge’s comment: rights are never lost–not even when reason is jettisoned. More often than not, however, rights are violated.

Update II (March 16): If you want to find out about natural rights, you have to be prepared to show some initiative and do a bit of searching and reading on this blog and website, where you’ll find ample material—my own in addition to references. Click the Classical Liberalism post on the right. Also, go to the various searches on the main site, here and here.

The ilanamercer.com mother site, to which BAB is a companion, is set up for your convenience. But if you need spoon feeding, how on earth will you be capable of wielding a pitchfork when the time comes?

So too can BAB’s archives be plumbed for entries and discussions of rights, negative vs. positive (the bogus kind). The search-by-categories on BAB can’t be missed.

The ‘Minority Meltdown’

Affirmative Action, Economy, IMMIGRATION, Private Property

The government has plunged the entire country into a depression because of a relatively small number of affirmative action loan recipients. A CNN point man was completely straight faced as he showed the viewers what regions were dragging the entire country into the economic abyss. The CNN segment was bereft of analysis. “The best team in town” was silent.
The lion’s share of foreclosures is concentrated in California and Florida. Next come Texas, Georgia, and Michigan. That’s pretty much it, folks. The rest of us are paying our bills–and theirs. Pitchforks anyone?

Map of US foreclosures by state:

'Minority Meltdown'

The 'Minority Meltdown'

Affirmative Action, IMMIGRATION, Private Property

The government has plunged the entire country into a depression because of a relatively small number of affirmative action loan recipients. A CNN point man was completely straight faced as he showed the viewers what regions were dragging the entire country into the economic abyss. The CNN segment was bereft of analysis. “The best team in town” was silent.
The lion’s share of foreclosures is concentrated in California and Florida. Next come Texas, Georgia, and Michigan. That’s pretty much it, folks. The rest of us are paying our bills–and theirs. Pitchforks anyone?

Map of US foreclosures by state:

'Minority Meltdown'

Heroic Swiss Bankers (UBS AG)

Law, Private Property, Socialism, Taxation, The State

In 2001, I had the unusual occasion to commend the Bush Administration for refusing “to support an attempt by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to clamp down on tax havens. If the junta of high-tax governments has its way,” I wrote in the Financial Post, “not only will there be no place left to run to, but by eliminating what tax havens offer, these governments will have eliminated tax competition, and with it the imperative to downsize their fiefdoms.”

(The occasion was an unusual one, because I’ve had only two positives things to say about the last band of vandals to have trashed the country: I approved of Bush upholding Terry Schiavo’s negative right to life. And I seconded his refusal to capitulate to the Kyoto-protocol crazies. Great record: mine, that is.)

The obama thugs, however, are adamant to muscle every American who attempts to safeguard his property. Reports the WSJ: “Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which has delved into alleged tax haven abuse for years, said he hopes a bill he is sponsoring, and similar legislation in the House, will stop banks from doing what UBS did.”

What did UBS do?

UBS is honoring its contract with its depositors, and fighting U.S. efforts to obtain the names of another 52,000 of its Swiss account holders.

“Levin expressed frustration that despite treaty obligations Swiss authorities and UBS continue to hold out against U.S. demands. ‘We cannot rely on the Swiss; that’s the bottom line,’ he said.”

Yippee, and let us hope the Swiss continue to hold out against the globe-trotting Obamaites.

Recommended: “The War on Tax Havens”