[Athena]

Quote by: xyzer Right on Mr Vicchio! It's essential in a democratic society! We saw what happended in communist Russia where people didn't have property rights? Property was owned by the state? It oppressed the people and zapped initiative? It failed as a govenmental form? Its not only your own home at stake, it's also your right to own a business, choose your own destiny? Chavez the dictator in Venezuela is in the process of trying to eliminate private property rights and allow the state to rule? Cuba is depressed by the same thinking! It coincides with totalitarian rule. Ish, I'm afraid the people of the earth are just too varied in custom and thought to adhere to a world government! Pie in the sky!

I am not sure what you say is believable. I mean we have heard the critisms, but they are very vague. Like loving hot dogs, in this case what does "love" mean, and regarding the general critisms against communism, exactly what do they mean?

I have lived in government housing and rented in many places, and I am horrified by how things have changed. Is it as bad in communist countries? How could it be worse?

As for property rights, they going the way of the woolly mamoth. Especially in those controlled nieghborhoods. Yuk, I would never want to "own" property in one of the new gated and very controlled neighborhoods. Even in uncontrolled neighborhoods, in Oregon, we can't cut down trees on our own land without permission. There are building codes and one best buy a permit before building on house. It is getting hard to find places where "civilization" is not swallowing up individual rights.

In case anyone cares, here is some historical ideas of property rights

Property - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaModern property rights conceive of ownership and possession as belonging to ... His analysis of the product of labor upon natural resources as property ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property - 88k - Cached - Similar pages Libertarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaFrom this conception of natural rights, an economy emerges based on ... these would infringe on the property rights or freedoms of either the business owner ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism - 115k - Cached - Similar pages [ More results from en.wikipedia.org ] natural rights: Information from Answers.comThus, a natural rights theory entails a conception of private ownership grounded on the ... of property ownership in the direction of a theory of rights. ... natural rights: Information from Answers.com - 95k - Cached - Similar pages

Owning property may be better than being considered property, bought when the land is bought. In the past there was a relationship between owing property and having human rights. Relatively recently, owning property gave a person a say in government, that those without property didn't have. This resulted in the propertied people having privilleges and the poor being taxed. This led to the French Revolution.