Ariadne's Thread on
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Ayesha

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Property Rights

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Dee Speaking
Speaker 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.


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