My Stuff
  •   Blog Index
  •   Blog History
  •   Today's Posts
  •   Greg on Politics
  •   Search Term Q&A
  •   QotDs
  •   Popular Articles
  •   Most Active
  •   Recent Comments
  •   Articles With Images
  •   Newbie Competition
  •   Gun Control Questionnaire
  •   Florida Gun Resources
  •   [ contact ]
  • Bloggers I've Met
  •   Gun Nuts Media
  •   MArooned
  •   McThag
  •   Robb "No Pants" Allen
  •   Say Uncle
  •   The Big Guy
  • Friends
  •   Another Manic Monday
  •   Cato Institute
  •   My Tampa Life
  •   Sticks of Fire
  •   Tampa BLAB
  •   Tampa Bay Fish
  •   The Line is Here
  •   WMITC
  • Blogs
  •   2A Musings
  •   Advanced Armament Corp
  •   Airborne Combat Engineer
  •   Alphecca
  •   Anarchangel
  •   Another Gun Blog
  •   Argghhh!!!
  •   Arizona Rifleman
  •   Armed Canadian
  •   Atomic Nerds
  •   Bayou Renaissance Man
  •   Billlls Idle Mind
  •   Black Man With A Gun
  •   Blunt Object
  •   Bore Patch
  •   Cam Edwards
  •   Captain of a Crew of One
  •   Cat O. Nine Tales
  •   Cogito Ergo Geek
  •   Colt CCO
  •   DiveMedic
  •   Firearms and Freedom
  •   From the Barrel of a Gun
  •   GeekWithA.45
  •   Geeks With Guns
  •   Great Blue Whale
  •   Gun Loving John
  •   Gun Pundit
  •   Gun Trust Lawyer
  •   GunBloggers
  •   Gunpowder Treason
  •   Guns, Holsters and Gear
  •   Hell in a Handbasket
  •   Home on the Range
  •   I don't sleep, I dream
  •   John Lott
  •   Jon H. Gutmacher
  •   Justin Buist
  •   Keep and Bear Arms
  •   Keyboard and a .45
  •   LawDog Files
  •   Liberty Girl
  •   Liberty News
  •   Liberty Zone
  •   Mad Rocket Scientist
  •   Michael Bane
  •   Michael's Soapbox
  •   Move Left?
  •   Mr. Completely
  •   NRA Blog
  •   New Jovian Thunderbolt
  •   Ninth Stage
  •   No Looking Backwards
  •   Of Arms & the Law
  •   Pretty Pistolera
  •   Right to Bear Arms
  •   Rustmeister's Alehouse
  •   Sentinel
  •   Shooting the Messenger
  •   Smallest Minority
  •   Snowflakes In Hell
  •   Somewhat Intelligent
  •   Steve's Blog
  •   TFS Magnum
  •   Tell Me Why?
  •   The Bitch Girls
  •   The Breda Fallacy
  •   The Countertop Chronicles
  •   The Firearm Blog
  •   The Gun Blogs
  •   The Liberty Sphere
  •   The Mad Hatter
  •   The Real Gun Guys
  •   The Shootist
  •   The Whited Sepulchre
  •   Trigger Finger
  •   View From NC Idaho
  •   View From The Porch
  •   Volokh Conspiracy
  •   Wasted Electrons
  • 2A/Firearm Info
  •   Florida Firearms Law
  •   Gun Facts
  •   Gun Law News
  •   Gun Laws
  •   GunBlast
  •   GunCite
  •   Handgun Law
  •   NRA News
  •   USA Carry
  •   Wiki Entry

  • Previous Entries
      2015
        Sep
      2012
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
      2011
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2010
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2009
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2008
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2007
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2006
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
      2005
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Feb
        Jan
      2004
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2003
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
         

    Greg and Beth

    the political and personal musings of two
    mountaineers living in west-central Florida
     
    Do Americans own property? Comment
    Gregory Morris, 8/31/07 10:51:20 pm
    Here is a treatise on property taxation by a scholar (my little brother) on all subjects economic. He's blooming into quite the Libertarian. Now I just gotta convince his wife to let him buy a rifle *lol*.

    Do Americans own property?

    So long as there are property taxes, zoning laws, building codes, the answer is a resounding no. Property "owners" are taxed on the very "ownership" of "their" property. What does this mean? If a property "owner" does not pay this tax in full, the property can be confiscated by the government. This is not private ownership. Rather, it is effectively state (or municipality) ownership of the property. The state merely allows persons to live on the property to provide the state with an income for which the state does little to earn, but rather steals it through sheer coercion. This type of economic system of property has existed before. It was called the feudal system. Feudal lords owned land and allowed serfs to live and work on the land so long as they paid a tax to the landlord. The modern system of property taxation is only marginally different. Perhaps an apt name for such a system is democratic feudalism.
    In addition to taxation, many municipalities make numerous restrictions on what can and cannot be done to property (i.e. zoning laws, building codes, etc.) What is the purpose of these measures? Many times, zoning laws make it harder for poor people to own property. For example, some municipalities make minimum lot sizes for a particular property type. These minimum lot sizes effectively maintain a minimum price to purchase a residential lot (or commercial lot, etc.), therefore restricting some low income people from being able to afford to own property.
    Next, and perhaps more insidious than zoning laws, are building codes. What is the purpose of building codes? Purportedly, they maintain the integrity of buildings, infrastructure, etc. They supposedly protect from fires, electrical problems, and maintain structural safety. But what effect can they really have? By adding additional, artificial cost to improving structures, they actually reduce incentive to improve a property. Due to this higher cost, property "owners" wait longer to update wiring, improve structural integrity, and even wait longer to add improvements to structures which may be able to enhance the value of or wealth created by a property. In this way it can have the exact opposite effect from the effect intended. Firefighters want laws which require higher standards for electrical wiring on a property. Seemingly, there will be fewer fires and less danger to firefighters. However, as property "owners," particularly those having lower incomes, wait longer to make improvements wiring on a property grows more dilapidated and the danger and likelihood of electrical fires actually increases. Skill unions such as carpenters and electricians want building codes because they seemingly direct more business to them. Do they create more business for the carpenters? Again, the added cost to the property "owner" creates the waiting problem. As an "owner" waits to build home additions or waits to add offices to a commercial property, the net potential volume of business for the carpenters, for the electricians actually decreases, because fewer people at any given time will be improving their property.
    As long as a government can forcibly seize property, as long as a government can restrict private behavior on a property, ownership thereof remains strictly nominal.

    [Comments are closed after a month.]

    < "Another Call for Revolution!"
    "What I Did This Weekend" >


    Older entries
    Blog RSS - Blog Comments RSS

    © 2008 Gregory Morris
    Notice: There are some areas of this website where everyone is permitted to post information. (In this case, information is defined as anything you can paste/type into an html form.) Do not post anything that cannot be legally put in the public domain. I have the absolute power to remove/modify/edit anything that is posted on this site. All original content on this website is owned solely by me, and cannot be redistributed without prior written consent. All information on this website is provided with absolutely no warranty. [Privacy Policy]
    Click Here for information about a
    FREE introduction to firearms
    safety and shooting.

    Answers to the
    Gun Control Questionnaire:
    Since this questionnaire began:
  • 'A' was selected 11031 times.
  • 'B' was selected 15360 times.
  • 'C' was selected 2742 times.
  • 'D' was selected 101299 times.


  • Search:



    Join The NRA!


    Second Amendment Foundation


    Ammo deals at Sportsman's Guide


    blab135x75.gif



    [402615]