Picture of Thomas Jefferson
Property Professors like to say that property is created by the state:
"Property and law are born together, and die together. Before laws were made there was no property; take away laws, and property ceases." Casebook at p. 8.
That may be a pragmatic concept of property (protection of property rights depends upon the force of law behind them), but is it the concept upon which our Nation was founded?
As we celebrate its 250th anniversary (1776 to 2026), consider the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Are there any "self-evident" truths? If so, where do these truths come from?
What came first--individual rights and liberties, or our government? First come God-given, inalienable rights, then comes government to secure these rights.
The role of government in America, then, is not to abolish our rights, or to take our rights, or to restrict our rights, or to abridge our rights, or to redistribute our rights; it is to secure our rights, to protect our rights, and to champion our rights and liberties.
By the way, what is the right to "pursue happiness"? Is this a right to happiness? Or merely a right to work hard seeking to obtain happiness?
