Life, Liberty and Property?
There has been a lot of invoking the Declaration Of Independence to vindicate the individual right to happiness. I read somewhere that, originally, Thomas Jefferson did not write the phrase “pursuit of happiness” in the original draft. He actually wrote: “life, liberty and property”.
Now, this might not mean much but, to me, it means a lot in at least two areas.
One, if we continue to misquote what Jefferson’s intent was regarding happiness, we will most assuredly continue to fight for the individual’s right at the expense of the nation. Example: In the book 1984, Winston is being reconditioned to think that two plus two isn’t always four. It puts forth the position that, to insist two plus two always equals four insists someone else who believes it is five or three or whatever is wrong, therefore treading on their right to believe freely as they see it.
Second, to distort Jefferson’s position regarding private property lends itself to the government taking more and more of the land in this country, either in the name of protecting our natural resources or through eminent domain. Either way, it puts forth the idea that the government knows better what the best use of the land should be. It also strips away more and more of our right to do with our property what we want, whether it consists of what we build on our land or what we take off of or out of our land.
The end result is this: even though we fight to defend how we think or feel as our right protected in the Declaration Of Independence (and, by default, the Constitution and Bill of Rights), what we are really about to find ourselves embracing is anarchy.
Before you know it, someone will ram your car at an intersection when you had the green light and the court will side with the one who hit you because, in defending their individual right to believe that a red light means go, you will be the one in the wrong for believing that a red light means stop! And, if you think this is far fetched, just recall those news articles where the illegal immigrant trespassed on an American citizens’ property, got shot in the process, sued and won, taking the American citizens’ property from them, and you get the idea of how upside down things are already becoming! Check this link out for confirmation:
http://eagleviews.org/2009/08/14/who-the-dems-think-are-the-real-terrorists/
At any rate, here is a link to start you on the road of researching for yourself whether this is true or not:
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=21313
And remember this quote:
“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.” (By the way, this quote has been credited to either Gerald Ford or Thomas Jefferson; another area to search).
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