Private Property Rights Essay

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The right to private property is something the American people believe is an inalienable right. For thousands of years society has allowed private property and rights to that private property. For example, people cannot steal someone’s private property without penalty. This has led to a resurgence in discussion of this policy issue because of the lack of input in where tax money goes from property tax. From a ‘May’ perspective, it is important to understand how the Bible supports the use of private property and what the government may control regarding it.

The ‘May’ portion of the May-Can-Should Analysis focuses on ‘Authority’. Biblical principles help guide understanding of a piece of legislation. That piece of legislation should also keep within the Constitution’s listed enumerated powers. A key policy issue discussed in Week 3’s module is private property.

In Genesis 1:29 the Bible speaks of Dominion Mandate. The Tend Commandments have as part of the rules an addition of ‘Thou shalt not steal.” This evokes the notion that one owns property and has rights to that property like not having someone take that property wrongfully (stealing). It is the idea that fruits of one’s labor belong to them and in belonging to them, they have rights attached to it.

The week 3 module mentions lus and dominium in the Roman Empire as well as a renewed Catholic reinterpretation of private property later witnessed in the Middle Ages. Back when the Roman Emperor was in power, depending on one’s relationship with the Emperor, they were entitled to property rights. Once the Roman Empire collapsed, the Catholic Church decreed that because people are made in God’s image, they can have dominion over the land and possess the right to own property.

The right to own property was not absolute in the sense that people cannot do whatever they wanted with or on their property.

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Rather in the Catholic Church interpretation, people had access to property rights. Locke for example, believed in the fruit of one’s labor and that if one worked hard for something, they are entitled to it (McDonald, 2014). An example of this is, if someone works hard on saving money to purchase something, once purchased, they are entitled to the rights bestowed on owning the item purchased.

The rights of the individual then are that private property equals the fruit of labor. That if one works hard, they prosper. By using one’s gifts and bringing value to society, the person earns the right to own something that is then taxed by the government, so the government can then use that money for the general good. “The general good” has been something that appears somewhat contentious in the present-day expression of American government.

People have a personal investment in how the government sees private property and what can be done with it. For example, property tax is a major way states make their money. The policy issue lies in what may be done with the money being taken from land owned by American citizens.

Current attempts at safeguarding private property rights are being seen in Congress today. For example, the H.R. 1689: Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2017, is a bill in its first stage of the legislative process aimed at adding additional measures to protect private property rights. Introduced on March 22, 2017 by Senator James Sensenbrenner Jr., it has an 8% chance of passing according to the govtrack website (GovTrack, 2017). Existing in other versions since June 30, 2005, it appears to have very low chances….....

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