2.1 Property and Contract

2.1 Property and Contract

Property rights are entitled to the same protection as all other human rights. The owners of property have the full right to control, use, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the valid rights of others. We oppose all controls on wages, prices, rents, profits, production, and interest rates. We advocate the repeal of all laws banning or restricting the advertising of prices, products, or services. We oppose all violations of the right to private property, liberty of contract, and freedom of trade. The right to trade includes the right not to trade — for any reasons whatsoever. Where property, including land, has been taken from its rightful owners by the government or private action in violation of individual rights, we favor restitution to the rightful owners.

I don't think, in general, people understand the importance of property rights. Ownership is defined by the power to control. If you do not have the right to control a thing, then just because the government says you own it does not make it so. Indeed, the government would wish to have it both ways. It wishes to pretend you own something, for purposes of assigning guilt and responsibility, but wishes to control that same thing for purposes of power.

People also, in general, do not understand the nature of freedom. I think people have become accustomed to their government imposed boundaries and do not even see them. It is as if they are standing at the end of their leash and not realizing all they have to do is go unhook themselves. And it is perfectly legal to do! As voters we can legally impose our own leashes. Then the question becomes, where should we draw the line?

For various reasons the lines have not been drawn to maximize freedom, and the time has long passed where we should now remove those artificial boundaries and place them to extend the individual freedoms of all people.

I want to comment on one of the more disturbing and controversial aspects of true freedom. Consider freedom of speech. Ostensibly, it is legal to say anything you wish, even vile and disgusting things like as might be expressed by Nazi's, white supremest or Black Panthers. (While this is, in fact, not the case, most people believe it is.) And I don't mean just say it in your home either. You can stand on a street corner and wave your communist flag, a disgusting symbol if there ever was one, and that's that. You can get on TV and radio, if you can, and spew your vile messages forth, and it's happened and it will continue to happen.

Many people see this and understand that to censor these deranged folks is to drive them underground where they must do their damage in secret. And to allow their freedom of speech, however vile they may get, is to protect all the other people who have a more wholesome message.

The only caveat is, the speaker is responsible for what he says. And what could be more reasonable? Nothing.

So if we see freedom of speech in such extreme terms, why is it that we do not see property rights the same way? After all, they are exactly the same thing. The only difference is that with speech we are merely saying what we believe, and with property rights we are enacting what we believe. Why do we not allow everyone the right to handle their property with the same wide latitude as we do what they say?

What most people do not grasp is that it is the fringe that measures our freedoms, not the middle. The middle never test the boundaries, only the fringe. The problem with this reality is that the fringe does not have the power to set the boundaries. So the question becomes, where does the middle allow the fringe to go?

Apparently the nation has allowed itself to say nearly anything, but not do what those same admonitions would require. This leads us to a strange mental place where we can say things, but not do things. This is a logical contradiction. This contradiction is the beginning of the erosion of all other rights. What it really means is, if you can say a thing, but not put it into practice, then your words have no reality. Once words have no reality then lies become truth. This is exactly what we have seen in the last 100 years.