I think you ought to think long
and hard before you limit property rights to
make room for the welfare state.
I believe that property is
fundamental to the other rights that
you want to maintain. If government can take
away your property or tax it for any purpose
it deems worthy, then what becomes of your
other rights? Can your right to speak, to
believe, to practice your religion, to move
about, to marry, and so on survive if your
property can taxed, taken, and regulated to
death? I doubt it. I think that this
supplies a very practical argument for
strong property rights as a necessary
condition for other rights.
In my opinion, you are
making the mistake of thinking that our rights
are all separate and disconnected. You can
keep some and drop the others. You're taking a
cafeteria approach. But I'm warning you that
the cafeteria approach won't work. If you
drastically weaken some rights you won't be
able to keep the others. You can't just pick
and choose. I'm warning you.
|