In 1776 private property rights were one of the founding
principles of our nation. They were one of the freedoms that set our nation
apart from the rest of the world. During the time of the Declaration of
Independence citizens had the unalienable right to acquire, possess, protect and dispose of
property. One of the purposes of our early government was to protect those
unalienable private property rights.
Fast forward 240 years
to 2016, and the idea of unalienable private property rights has been turned on
its ear! Today’s mentality is not that the government must protect
our property rights at all costs. Rather,
in today’s world any rights
to property that a person has may be regulated, limited or revoked by government
in order to satisfy something which the government tells us is a “public
purpose.”
Every day I read at
least one article from somewhere in the United States where some governmental
body is commandeering the private
property of the citizens it is supposed to be serving, all in the name of a
“public purpose”.
For
instance, today it was an article bemoaning the
fact Congress can't reign in EPA's assault on property rights with the new
"waters of the United States" rules. Yesterday it was an article about
municipalities seizing beach front property for a "public purpose". Before that it was an article detailing how the
Dallas City Council was removing a small business owner from his own private
property where had operated his business for 30 years.
It is happening here in Martin County as well.
Sometime this summer the Martin County Board of County Commissioners is
poised to approve a set of changes to the Martin County Comprehensive Plan
which will further erode the private property rights of our citizens under the
guise of furthering a “public purpose” (or as the catch phrase goes in Martin
County, “maintaining our quality of life”).
Unless you are one of the unlucky few who are adversely
affected by the “public purpose” du jour,
most of us in this crazy hectic world we live in simply accept government’s
spin as to why we should support a further erosion of our property rights. We nod out heads in agreement, feeling
content we are selflessly supporting a good and altruistic cause. We rationalize the “good” being done thinking
it won’t really affect that many of our neighbors or it’s not so bad to burden
a few for the good of the many.
Then………..one day……….out of the blue………..WE become one of those
adversely affected by a good and noble “public purpose” getting cross ways with
the government. Then, and only then, do
we become indignant with a government trying to separate us from our property
rights. I can’t tell you how many times
I’ve heard “we have property rights in this country how can the government get
away with this!” or “since when does the government have the right to take my
private property?”
This seems to be the rub with property rights. In today’s society the mindset is as long as
it doesn’t affect me, I don’t really care what the government does. I know far too many highly educated, kind and
compassionate folks who, for whatever reason, cannot bring themselves to
honestly ask the question “how would I like it if I was subjected to this
particular governmental burden?” If they
ever did ask the question, and honestly answer it I surmise they would not be
so complacent in their acceptance of these supposed good and noble causes.
Absent a societal shift in the public’s expectations of government,
there is no reason to believe the governmental property rights grab will stop
any time soon. The further away we move
from the roots of our colonial heritage, the closer we get to a more
feudalistic system where the sovereign (ie. government) controls all the land it
surveys. With good reason, colonial
America rejected feudalism. Perhaps we
are coming full circle. I hear Mars will available for colonization by 2020!
