Like Sinatra and smooth, liberty and private property are indivisible.
Definitionally, those things, both appreciable and indefinite, belonging to entities (individuals or companies) who have legal and unshared rights over those things are considered private property.
At the very heart of liberty is the concept that owners are free to do as they wish with their private property, including transferring ownership – assuming all is being done legally.
It cannot be overstated how profoundly important and incontestible the point is when defending the notion of limited government; liberty and private property are inseparable.
One of the most concise – and very best – explanations comes from talk show host Mark Levin in his book Liberty And Tyranny – A Conservative Manifesto.
He writes:
Liberty and private property go hand in hand. By dominating one the Statist dominates both, for if the individual cannot keep or dispose of the value he creates by his own intellectual and/or physical labor, he exists to serve the state.
In one beautifully composed sentence, Levin explains why liberty and private property are synonymous.
Memorize it.
Let your big-government, nanny-state friends nibble on it for a while.
Well done, Mark (as always).
Interesting to note is that as I was rat-a-tat-tatting away on this blog entry, my spell-checker left the dreaded red line of incomprehension under the word “Statist.” It’s a word that Levin uses in his book and on his radio show. It is most appropriate. It ought to become part of the American lexicon.
Add it to your dictionaries.
Oh yeah, and buy the book already, if you haven’t. And if you have, buy another one.
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Roman Around 