By Leonard Gilbert, Christian Patriot
Complete the following: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of _______. Most people know that in the Declaration of Independence, the word is happiness. But did you know that there were discussions during the drafting about using the word property as opposed to happiness. There are many reasons why people felt that they settled on the word happiness. I will look at some of these reasons in a future letter. I think a better question to ask is whether or not this change is of any significance. We do know that the founding fathers felt that property rights and ownership were of extreme importance. This is evident in the fact that this is referenced in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment in the U.S Constitution.
So how important was property ownership?
“When a man is secure in the possession of his property, he has an area of liberty and dominion which is beyond the reach of other men. If no man and no state can reach in to tax and confiscate his property, man can enjoy true liberty and great security, whether he be prosperous or poor. Every attack on private property is, therefore, an attack on man’s liberty. Man’s freedom and security in the possession of his property is not only basic to man’s independence, but it is also basic to his power. A man has power if he can act independently of other men and the state, if he can make his stand in the confidence of liberty. Every attack on private property therefore is also an attack on the powers of free men as well as their liberty” (R.J. Rushdoony, Law and Liberty, p.65).
In his book, Rushdoony also denoted the biblical precedent established in the Jubilee Laws of Leviticus 25. In order to protect the family, ownership and inheritance the property could not be taxed.
Two of the ten basic tenets of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx are as follows:
1.) Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2.) Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Most people spend their hard earn dollars to pay off their mortgage and then come to the realization that have to continue to pay taxes to stay in their homes. Not to mention that they also do not have as much freedom as they think to develop or use the land as they see fit. Oh, and did I mention that external agencies determine what they think is best for the home renters. Sound familiar? When you give people the right to tax your property, you also give them the ability to control.
Most people would argue that it is necessary to tax property so that we can pay for schools. Ask yourself, before the property tax and public schools, how did we pay for it? Now, public education, that is a topic for another day. In any event, have you known any government that has not found a way to collect taxes? Is the property tax the only mechanism? Take a look at some of your bills.
If we are looking for solutions to combat what is commonly referred to as Agenda 21, let’s start with the basics first.
Abolish the property tax!!!
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Categories: Community Activism, Education, Uncategorized