Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Republican form of government

2019-08-22T23:03:58Z

Jetgraphics: Added sentence

'''The Republican Form of [[government]]''' is one in which the powers of [[sovereignty]] are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated. Unlike the democratic form of government, in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the whole body of free [[citizens]], individuals retain sovereign prerogatives over their [[private property]] rights (absolute ownership) of their person, labor and [[property]].

The [[U.S. Constitution]] guarantees a republican form to the states. (See Art.4, Sec.4)

== Basic concept ==
The Republican form is based on the foundation that people are supreme, and governments are instituted to help secure their rights to life, liberty and property.
Examples of sovereign prerogatives are the right to defend [[private property]] with deadly force, right of locomotion (freedom to travel) upon public roads and waterways, and free exercise of rights and powers.
The source and origin of the republican form is found in the Declaration of Independence, wherein all men have Creator endowed rights that governments were instituted to secure. All state constitutions restate the Declaration's self evident truths.

== Philosophical foundations ==
The political philosophy of the classical republics, such as The Roman republic, Icelandic Commonwealth, and the Carthaginian Republic, has had a central influence on republican thought throughout the subsequent centuries. A number of classical writers discussed forms of government alternative to monarchies and later writers have treated these as foundational works on the nature of republics. Philosophers and politicians advocating for republics, such as Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Adams, and Madison, relied heavily on these sources.

== Common misconceptions ==
It is a common error to assume that a [[republic]] is synonymous with a republican form of government. Many are misled to assume that the republican form is merely a populist democracy limited by a constitution. In fact, exercising political liberty ''(voting and holding office)'' requires one to step down in status, changing from the republican form to the democratic form. American citizens are assumed to have voluntarily accepted obligations and duties associated with democracy that are inapplicable to the people at large. For example, conscription, if compulsory, would be a violation of liberty and life. However, in American law, sovereign people are not subjects to or objects of such impositions - only citizens are obligated.

Another misconception is that elected officials in the legislature are representatives of the people at large. In fact, they can only represent constituents, i.e., citizens / voters who gave consent, thus power of attorney to bind them to obedience. In a republican form, the individual's delegated representative who exercises power on his behalf, in defense of his life, liberty or property rights is not the legislature but the appropriate executive officer. A sheriff, if within a county, is his representative. Or an ambassador is his representative, if within a foreign nation.

== Essential elements ==
Since property and sovereignty are inseparable, one without property cannot exercise dominion (sovereignty). Absolute ownership by an individual of land, houses, and chattels, characterizes private property. [[Private property]] is protected from being taken for public use without just compensation (see U.S. Constitution, [[Fifth Amendment]]). To exercise natural liberty, a domicile (legal permanent home) is essential. Powers and rights are the prerogatives of a sovereign, while privileges and immunities are the prerogatives of a citizen.

== Current Trends ==
Due to the widespread enrollment into Social Security (national socialism), private property ownership has been practically eradicated within the U.S.A. In its place, qualified ownership has superseded it. [[Socialism]] (and [[Communism]]) abolish absolute ownership by individuals, and replace it with collective ownership by society, as a whole. Thus it would appear that the republican form has been supplanted by the democratic form of government.

== Citations ==
REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated. In re Duncan, 139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 35 L.Ed. 219; Minor v.
Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627.

"What I do say is that no man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle, the sheet-anchor of American republicanism. Our Declaration of Independence says: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
—Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Peoria, Illinois (1854)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Forms of Government]]
[[Category:United States of America]]
[[Category:United States Constitution]]
[[Category:United States Government]]
[[Category:United States Law]]
[[Category:American Revolution]]

Talk:Republican form of government

2019-08-22T22:56:59Z

Jetgraphics:

Shouldn't there be something here about republican government excluding a monarch? After all, there are many examples of constitutional monarchies in which powers is exercised by the people through representatives. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 10:31, 27 June 2012 (EDT)-

In a republican form the people directly exercise sovereignty. However if they ask for help in securing rights, their "representative" is the sheriff not the legislative branch.--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] ([[User talk:Jetgraphics|talk]]) 18:56, 22 August 2019 (EDT)
[[User: jetgraphics|jetgraphics]]

Is it possible to reword the "common misconceptions" section / it is confusing to me.[[User:celeriter|celeriter]]

Republican form of government

2015-02-10T15:45:25Z

Jetgraphics:

'''The [[Republican]] Form of [[government]]''' is one in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially
delegated. Unlike the democratic form of government, in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the whole body of free [[citizens]], individuals retain sovereign prerogatives over their [[private property]] rights (absolute ownership) of their person, labor and [[property]].

The [[U.S. Constitution]] guarantees a republican form to the states. (See
Art.4,Sec.4)

== Basic concept ==
The Republican form is based on the foundation that people are supreme, and governments are instituted to help secure their rights to life, liberty and
property. Examples of sovereign prerogatives are the right to defend [[private property]] with deadly force, right of locomotion (freedom to travel) upon public roads and waterways, and free exercise of rights and powers.

== Philosophical foundations ==
The political philosophy of the classical republics, such as The Roman republic, Icelandic Commonwealth, and the Carthaginian Republic, have had a central influence on republican thought throughout the subsequent centuries. A number of classical writers discussed forms of government alternative to monarchies and later writers have treated these as foundational works on the nature of republics. Philosophers and politicians advocating for republics, such as Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Adams, and Madison, relied heavily on these sources.

== Common misconceptions ==
It is a common error to assume that a [[republic]] is synonymous with a republican form of government. Many are misled to assume that the republican form is merely a populist democracy limited by constitution. In fact, exercising political liberty ''(voting and holding office)'' requires one to step down in status, changing from the republican form to the democratic form. American citizens are assumed to have voluntarily accepted obligations and duties associated with democracy that are inapplicable to the people at large. For example, conscription, if compulsory, would be a violation of liberty and life. However, in American law, sovereign people are not subjects to or objects of such impositions - only citizens are obligated.

Another misconception is that elected officials in the legislature are representatives for the people at large. In fact, they can only represent
constituents, i.e., citizens / voters who gave consent, thus power of attorney to bind them to obedience. In a republican form, the individual's delegated representative who exercises power on his behalf, in defense of his life, liberty or property rights is not the legislature but the appropriate executive officer. A sheriff, if within a county, is his representative. Or an ambassador is his representative, if within a foreign nation.

== Essential elements ==
Since property and sovereignty are inseparable, one without property cannot exercise dominion (sovereignty). Absolute ownership by an individual of land, houses, and chattels, characterizes private property. [[Private property]] is protected from being taken for public use without just compensation (see U.S. Constitution, [[Fifth Amendment]]). To exercise natural liberty, a domicile (legal permanent home) is essential. Powers and rights are the prerogative of a sovereign, while privileges and immunities are the prerogatives of a citizen.

== Current Trends ==
Due to the widespread enrollment into Social Security (national socialism), private property ownership has been practically eradicated within the U.S.A. In its place, qualified ownership has superseded it. [[Socialism]] (and [[Communism]]) abolish absolute ownership by individuals, and replace it with collective ownership by society, as a whole. Thus it would appear that the republican form has been supplanted by the democratic form of government.

== Citations ==
REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through
representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated. In re Duncan, 139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 35 L.Ed. 219; Minor v.
Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627.

"What I do say is that no man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle, the sheet-anchor of American republicanism. Our Declaration of Independence says: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
- - - Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Peoria, Illinois (1854)

==References==
<references/>
[[Category: Forms of Government]]

Usury

2012-08-30T07:29:54Z

Jetgraphics:

'''Usury''' is the fee, denominated in money, for the use (loan) of money. It is often considered to mean lending money at interest, but it also covers extending credit at interest. In has been modified by modern usage to mean the extraction of interest on a loan above the maximum rate permitted by statute. However, long term usury is mathematically unsustainable in a finite money token system. Due to the exponential equation used to calculate compound interest, an infinite money supply is required. Short term usury is destructive, as well, since a portion of debtors must default because enough money never exists for all to repay their debt and interest. Gain from usury is also subject to an excise tax.

In the United States, most states have usury laws limiting interest rates. However, since 1933, only Federal Reserve Notes have circulated as current monies. By law, they are obligations to pay lawful money on demand (see Title 12 USC sec 411). But Congress repudiated that obligation in House Joint Resolution 192, June 1933, thus making said notes worthless (no par value).

Though most contracts and taxes are denominated in dollars, due to widespread participation in Social Security (national socialism), Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender at face value. Obligated parties (participants) must accept their own notes as tender in discharge of debt. Due to usury, the national debt is in excess of 15 trillions (December 2011), underwritten by the millions of voluntary contributors of national socialism.

This area of law is complex, particularly since, during the period of high [[inflation]] in the 1970s, the Federal government passed a law exempting national banks from state usury laws. Every state has its own usury law setting a maximum rate of interest that may be lawfully charged.<ref>http://www.lectlaw.com/files/ban02.htm</ref>

In many states the "legal rate of interest" may be 6%, but this only applies to rare situations and certainly does not mean that home mortgages at higher rates, or credit card finance charges (often as high as 18%, and even higher for dealings between companies), are illegal.

== Usury in History ==

[[Islam]] prohibits usury or interest on loans, as do certain passages in the [[Old Testament]]:

<blockquote>
''Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.'' Deuteronomy 23:19-20 (KJV)
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
(If he beget a son that) ''Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.'' Ezekiel 18:13 (KJV)
</blockquote>

The [[New Testament]] also refers to usury, sometimes indirectly:
<blockquote>
''Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord,I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown,and gathering where thou has not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the '''exchangers''', and then at my coming I should have received mine own with '''usury'''.'' Matthew 25:24
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
''And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the '''changers of money''' sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;'' John 2:14 (KJV)
</blockquote>

Note: Usurers are synonymous with exchangers and changers of money. Matthew 25:24 is often mistakenly interpreted, ignoring the condemnation of usury as a capital offense in Ezekiel 18:13. The "Hard Man" cannot be moral if he wants his servants to engage in an abomination.

<blockquote>
''And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Luke 6:34-35 (KJV)
</blockquote>

Because of this Biblical condemnation, Christians were forbidden to lend money for interest for centuries. [[Dante's Inferno]] places usurers in the seventh circle of [[Hell]], along with [[blasphemy|blasphemers]] and [[homosexuals]]. In [[The Renaissance|Renaissance]] society, the only people allowed to charge interest were [[Jew]]s, which often led to resentment as the Jews were enriched by their shrewd financial activity. However, Christian thinking on this subject has changed, and almost all Christians now either lend their money for interest, or have an account in a [[bank]] which does it for them. The last Christian denomination to remove the ban on usury was the Roman Catholic Church, in 1918.

== References ==

<references/>

{{DivineComedy}}
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Legal Terms]]

Firefox (novel and film)

2011-12-22T20:49:56Z

Jetgraphics: /* Airworthiness */

{{Infobox Film
| name=Firefox
| image=Firefox-clint-eastwood-movie-poster.jpg
| caption=
| director=Clint Eastwood
| producer=Clint Eastwood
| writer=Craig Thomas (novel) Alex Lasker (script)
| narrator=
| starring=Clint Eastwood Freddie Jones Warren Clarke Nigel Hawthorne Kenneth Colley Oliver Cotton Kai Wulff Stephan Schnabel
| music=Maurice Jarré
| cinematography=Bruce Surtees
| editing=Ron Spang Ferris Webster
| distributor=Warner Brothers
| released=June 18, 1982
| runtime=136 min
| country=USA
| language=English
| budget=
| gross=
| preceded_by=
| followed_by=
| website=
| amg_id2=firefox-17421
| imdb_id=0083943
}}: ''This article describes the 1980s novel and film. For the [[web browser]], see [[Mozilla Firefox]]. For other uses, see [[Firefox (disambiguation)]].''

'''Firefox''' was a [[Cold War]] era novel and 1982 [[motion picture|film]] about a shell-shocked [[Vietnam War]] veteran who must penetrate into the [[Soviet Union]] to steal the ultimate high-performance jet fighter-interceptor and fly it out through the Soviet air and naval defenses. In the process he must come to terms with a horrific memory of the death of a civilian that occurred during his rescue from his [[Communism|Communist]] captors in Vietnam.

== Plot ==
{{spoiler}}
=== A surprise re-activation ===
A Huey helicopter flies over the [[Alaska]]n wilderness, its pilots looking for someone below. That someone, Major Mitchell Gant [[United States Air Force|USAF]] (Rtd) ([[Clint Eastwood]]), hears the helicopter approaching and instantly breaks into a dead run back toward his cabin, where he takes a shotgun off its rack and cocks it. As the helicopter lands, Gant lapses into a rehash of a nightmare that he lived through in [[Vietnam]]: shot down over the North in his [[A-4]], he was being taken to a prison camp when two Hueys machine-gunned his captors. But what made him upset was that an overflying A-4 dropped an incendiary on the site, killing a little girl who stood around too long, watching the battle. Back in the present, Captain Arthur Buckholz (David Huffman) greets him and apologizes for the surprise.

The next several scenes are back-and-forth cuts between the conversation between Gant and Buckholz, and a briefing being run by Kenneth Aubrey ([[Freddie Jones]]) of the [[United Kingdom|British]] SIS concerning the [[Soviet Union]]'s latest fighter/interceptor: the Mikoyan-Gurevich Model 31, given the codename "Firefox" by [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]]. Its capabilities seem otherworldly: total stealth capability, twin engines each delivering 50,000 pounds of thrust, combat ceiling 100,000-feet-plus, speed in excess of Mach 5 or even Mach 6 (and able to maintain it, no small feat), and a weapons and defense system able to read the pilot's thoughts and allow him to aim and fire his weapons without even having to press a button, thus affording him a 3- to 5-second reaction-time advantage over any opponent. NATO's decision: send Gant in to steal a Firefox prototype right off the Soviet development base at Bilyarsk.

Gant resents the operation, because he is being, quite simply, blackmailed, in that he has been allowed to live on government land which now will be sold out from under him if he does not agree to the mission. The NATO Air Force attache (Thomas Hill) resents it, too, because Gant has no experience as a spy and, worse yet, is subject to post-traumatic stress disorder and may crack at any time. They use Gant for two reasons only: he speaks Russian like a Russian, and happens to be a perfect fit for the pressure suit worn by the MiG-31's prime test pilot, Lt. Col. Yuriy Voskov (Kai Wulff).

=== Training ===
Gant goes through several weeks of retraining, both in flying and in aerial combat, and briefings on his first required impersonation--as a corrupt businessman named Leon Sprague, known to be smuggling heroin into the Soviet Union. After his training is over, he is sent to [[London]], where Aubrey gives him his final briefing on his objectives, and also hands him a one-way homing device disguised as a cheap transistor radio. What his handlers don't tell him, though, is that if anything compromises the mission, Gant will be left on his own.

=== Insertion ===
Gant lands at [[Sheremetyevo Airport]] in [[Moscow]], blusters his way through an unannounced customs search, and manages to leave the airport--with the "radio." He takes a taxi to his rooms at the Hotel Moscow, puts the "radio" into his pocket, and waits.

In the meantime, at KGB Moscow Center on Dzherzhinskiy Square, Colonel Kontarsky (Kenneth Colley) of the KGB finalizes his plans to safeguard the MiG-31 prior to its trials the next day in front of the Soviet First Secretary. He also orders his second-in-command, Dmitri Priabin (Oliver Cotton), to arrest some underground members at dawn, but not to move before then. Kontarskiy in fact knows all about the spy network funnelling information from Bilyarsk out of Russia--but even he does not know what the CIA and the SIS really have planned.

=== Change of identity ===
That night Gant walks out to the Krasnokholmskiy Bridge, under instructions to be there at precisely 10:30 Moscow time with the KGB shadowing him. There he meets the real Leon Sprague (George Orrison), plus his Moscow network escort, Pavel Upenskoy (Warren Clarke), and two of his confederates. Upenskoy orders Sprague to take Gant's cigar away from him and start smoking it--and then, before Gant's horrified eyes, whips out a pipe and clubs Sprague to death. He then demands that Gant surrender his false papers, which he plants on Sprague before throwing him into the Moscow River. The four men then race to the Paveletskaya Metro station, where Upenskoy hurriedly briefs Gant on his next impersonation: as Michael Lewis, American tourist registered at the Hotel Warsaw. The four then board a subway, though Gant nearly misses it, because his bad dream of the burning girl returns at just that moment.

The four ride the train to another station, but when they arrive, the KGB is all over it. A KGB plainnclothesman challenges Gant for identification, and Gant barely manages to convince him that he is who he says he is, and has to feign illness on account of the "rich food" at the Warsaw Hotel. Upenskoy, dissatisfied, sends the flustered Gant into a nearby men's room to "get yourself together." But another KGB plainclothesman (Eugene Lipinski) follows Gant into the restroom, challenges him again, and then says that his papers are not in order. The plainclothesman reaches for his gun and Gant reacts instinctively, ultimately killing him.

Upenskoy, rushing in at the last minute, is horrified. He now tells Gant to move quickly to the exit and angrily assures Gant this papers are, indeed, in order. Gant manages to leave the station, but only by cutting in line and acting like a clueless American. He, Upenskoy, and Upenskoy's colleagues barely manage to get to street level before whistles blow below, indicating that the KGB have found their dead detective.

=== Depart from Moscow ===
Upenskoy takes Gant to a warehouse belonging to a light-delivery service, where Upenskoy gives Gant yet another identity: that of Boris Glazunov, resident of the Mira Prospekt and employed as "driver's mate" to Upenskoy. The next morning, a telephone rings--just once--and Upenskoy tells Gant that they must leave at once, because "KGB assigned to the plane" are coming for Upenskoy. Upenskoy gives Gant a gun with orders not to use it unless absolutely necessary.

Kontarskiy, meanwhile, has word that Priabin has already picked up the real Boris Glazunov (Barrie Houghton) at his apartment. Therefore, the man in the van with Upenskoy is an impostor. Curious, Kontarskiy orders a KGB tail team not to arrest Upenskoy but to tail him at a distance.

Upenskoy and Gant manage to get through a checkpoint, where they know that they must "pose" for a photograph that will be sent to Moscow Center. Afterward, Upenskoy tells Gant that Boris Glazunov was picked up, and that Gant needs to realize that he is now a man of mystery. Upenskoy has decided to assume that the KGB will merely wait to see what develops as they try to identify Gant, who to them is simply someone who pretended to be a Russian driver's mate for some reason still unknown to them.

In the meantime, Sprague's former business associate identifies the body of Sprague but notes that he was badly beaten, almost as though his assailant wanted to obscure his identity, a thing that Police Inspector Aleksei Tortyev (Hugh Fraser) is very curious about indeed. Kontarskiy is also curious, and demands to know who the mystery man is with Upenskoy, and why an old man (Czeslaw Grocholski) arrested at the warehouse took a poison and the others are "holding out." Kontarskiy still refuses simply to arrest Upenskoy, because he wants every member of the spy network, no matter what--this although his officers now suspect that the mystery man is a foreign agent. Priabin is also present, and voices his suspicion that Boris Glaznov, now their prisoner, is totally ignorant of the identity of his substitute and perhaps even of the substitution.

Upenskoy reaches Gant's next rendezvous point and orders Gant to jump from the van while it is in motion as soon as they round a curve. Gant thus succeeds in getting onto the ground while Upenskoy leads the tail car away. Gant jogs down an incline and meets his next contact: a Dr. Semelovskiy (Ronald Lacey), project scientist assigned to the MiG-31 program. Semelovskiy hides Gant in his trunk and prepares to drive in to Bilyarsk.

At Moscow Center, Boris Glazunov, refusing to the end to talk (or perhaps, as Priabin suspects, not knowing what to say or even what the KGB wants), dies under torture. Kontarsky, monumentally chagrined, now orders Upenskoy's van stopped.

=== Penetration of Bilyarsk ===
Oblivious to any of this, Semelovskiy gets Gant inside the Bilyarsk compound (excusing his tardiness by pretending to have a dirty engine) and drives him to the scientists' quarters, where Gant now meets Dr. Pyotr Baranovich (Nigel Hawthorne) and his significant other, Natalya (Dimitra Arliss), who offer him his first meal of the day. Meanwhile, Upenskoy gets into a gunfight with the KGB tail team and manages to kill them--but not before they wound him. He crashes his van, abandons it, and sets out on foot, knowing that his life is forfeit.

Baranovich outfits Gant as a Soviet Air Police officer and briefs him on how to bluff his way through a security gate, and on the location of the hangar and its facilities. He also tells Gant that he knows that he will die after Gant escapes with the plane--but any resentment he might feel toward the British SIS for ordering him to sacrifice himself, pales before his resentment of the KGB for making that sacrifice necessary, and for denying him his freedom.

At Moscow Center, Aleksei Tortyev asks Priabin to do him a favor: to ask for an identification of the man who landed at Sheremetyevo Airport posing as the dead Sprague. Tortyev thinks that this man is a foreign agent who substituted himself for Sprague. The technicians then surprise Tortyev and Priabin by saying that the man at Sheremetyevo is the same as the man who posed as Boris Glazunov and got out of Moscow on the way to Bilyarsk!

Natalya brings word that the guards at the gate have been reinforced--and almost has a heart attack to see Gant outfitted as a Soviet Air Policeman. Baranovich reveals more dire information: that the program has not merely one prototype, but two, and Baranovich intends to sacrifice himself by destroying the second prototype. Gant must, therefore, get the first prototype out of the hangar as soon as he hears the fire alarm. Baranovich also briefs Gant on the directions that he must fly in, and the Firefox' weapons (four air-to-air missiles, two 50-millimeter cannons, and two flak layers, called "rearward defense pods" or "drone tail units") and thought-activated control systems--but also says that in order to work it, he must "think in Russian" and not try to think in English and translate.

Dmitri and Tortyev continue to discuss their lead. Tortyev then suggests that Dmitri look, not for a seasoned spy, but for "a young fit man with brains"--i.e., an astronaut or a pilot. Dmitri agrees and commences a systematic search of their thousands of files on astronauts, Air Force pilots, etc.

Gant manages to get inside the security gate and even takes it on himself to order an extra K-9 patrol to search the forest bordering the fence. He then walks through the hangar and sees the Firefox for the first time. A colonel (actually Kontarsky, though neither man knows the other) accosts him, and Gant apprizes him of his orders to the K-9 unit to search the forest. Gant then moves to the pilot's dressing room, and waits there for Voskov, whom he knocks senseless, binds, gags, and stuffs into a locker, having decided not to kill him because he, Voskov, "didn't do anything." Gant then goes into the showers and waits, at one point having to demand that he not be disturbed when other security personnel challenge him for identification. Gant is, of course, now impersonating Voskov. (Kontarsky has in fact realized that his mystery man has penetrated the installation and ordered a search.)

=== Take-off ===
Back at Moscow Center, Priabin has now identified Gant from the pilot archive. He warns Kontarsky, who then orders the arrest of Baranovich and the others--but just then the fire alarm rings, because Baranovich and Semelovsky have started the fire that they hope will destroy the second prototype. The fire is put out before it can do any such damage. Semelovsky is shot down at once, and Baranovich mnanages to get off one round with an automatic before he and Natalya are also gunned down. The last thing that Baranovich sees, however, is a black pressure-suited figure making its way to the first prototype.

That figure is Gant, who, like a man knowing what he is doing, walks over to the waiting plane, climbs aboard, hooks up, and starts going through a very accelerated pre-flight checklist. Someone challenges him for identification, and Gant first waves him off, and then, with a hand over the man's face, throws him off the small ladder leading to the cockpit. Gant hurriedly completes his checklist--but when he raises his visor, Kontarsky recognizes him at once and orders the doors shut. Too late--Gant starts the engines and taxis out of the hangar at high speed. As the First Secretary's car arrives, Gant taxis to the end of the runway, and then takes off. Upenskoy watches Gant fly overhead and then, with the K-9 patrols ready to apprehend him, shoots himself.

=== Misdirection ===
Gant first makes a deliberate close pass at an Aeroflot Ilyushin-model airliner (apparently a close copy of the Boeing 727). He then proceeds to dictate a cockpit monologue--which turns into a dialogue with the First Secretary (Stefan Schnabel), who tries to persuade Gant to turn back and surrender, which Gant will not do. Gant finishes his conversation and then turns eastward, toward the Ural chain. The Soviet chiefs of staff, meanwhile, scramble all their air assets on the northern and southern borders and alert the Red Banner Fleets Northern and Southern. And in a NATO war room, Aubrey and Buckholz realize, with great joy, that Gant has achieved liftoff.

=== First Battles ===
Gant reaches the Urals, and then makes his first mistake: impelled by insatiable curiosity, he test-flies the Firefox at supersonic speeds, seeking to test the power of the plane and its Terrain-Following Radar system. This allows the Soviets to realize that he has misled them, as the Air Force chief-of-staff, General Vladimirov, has already realized, knowing that Gant was simply too good to blunder into an Aeroflot's flight path by accident. Vladimirov then orders an elaborate plan to trap Gant at the northern end of the Urals, over the Gulf of Kara. The Soviets think they have succeeded when they detect explosions over the Gulf (and so do Aubrey and Buckholz), but in fact Gant has merely tricked the Soviets into downing one of their own planes, using the thought-controlled arsenal for the first time, and to good effect.

But Gant wastes his advantage by overflying an ELINT trawler. Vladimirov now sets up an ambush with a Soviet guided-missile cruiser--but Gant defeats that ambush, too, destroying two MiL-24 Hind helicopter gunships, knocking out two missiles with one of his flak layers, and simply outracing two more missiles until they fall into the sea.

Voskov, now recovered, takes a final briefing from the First Secretary before taking off after Gant. Word comes that Gant has defeated the Russians yet again, and now Vladimirov plans to intercept Gant just short of the polar ice pack.

=== Refueling ===
Gant now has another problem: he is running out of fuel, though he at least knows where his refueling point will be, since the homing device activated before he engaged the cruiser.Gant gains altitude and proceeds to glide in--and barely makes it to an ice floe before a US Navy Ohio-class submarine breaks through it. That, then, is his refueling point. He lands on the floe and taxis to the submarine, whose crew proceed to refuel him and replace the two missiles he has used.

Two Hinds make radar contact with the Americans and fly in to investigate. The Americans hurriedly finish the refueling and rearmament, steam a runway, and see Gant off before they then set up a mock weather station for the Soviets to reconnoiter. But what they don't know is that Vladimirov, loudly insistent, has prevailed upon his colleagues to send the second MiG after the radar contact.

=== Final battle ===
And so, after Gant takes off, he finds himself having to avoid two missiles that seemed to come out of nowhere--and then spots the second Firefox in his mirror. The two aircraft then get into a dogfight, using missiles and cannon and trying to fly a slalom race through ice canyons. At one point, Gant goes into a flat tailspin and barely manages to pull out of it--and Voskov, out of respect, salutes Gant one last time before dropping in behind Gant. Voskov is by now out of missiles and tries to shoot Gant down with his 50-millimeters. Gant, having to remind himself to "think in Russian," manages to introduce one final order: to lay flak. Voskov's plane sucks the flak in through its jet intakes, and blows up. Gant, relieved, sets a course for the nearest NATO base in Western Europe.

== Cast ==
*The [[United States Air Force]]
**[[Clint Eastwood]] as Major Mitchell Gant USAF (retired), former member of the Aggressor Squadron, and former attack pilot in the [[Vietnam War]].
**[[David Huffman]] as Captain Arthur Buckholz, his handler.
**[[Thomas Hill]] as General Brown, who directs Gant's retraining in aerial combat

The [[United States Navy]]
* Michael Currie as Captain Seerbacker, commanding an unnamed US ballistic-missile submarine
* James Staley as Lt. Cmdr. Fleischer, his executive officer
* John Ratzenberger as MCPO Peck, his chief-of-the-boat

The Secret Intelligence Service of the [[United Kingdom]]
*[[Freddie Jones]] as Kenneth Aubrey, chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service.

The [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]]
* [[Stefan Schnabel]] as (presumably) [[Leonid Brezhnev]], First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (never specifically identified)
* The Soviet Army Air Forces:
** Alan Tilvern as Kutuzov, Chief Air Marshal
** Klaus Löwitsch as General Vladimirov, officer-in-charge of trying to stop Gant from escaping
** Kai Wulff as Lt. Col. Yuriy Voskov, chief test pilot
* The [[KGB|Committee for State Security]]
** Wolf Kahler as [[Yuri Andropov|Yuriy Andropov]], Chairman
** Kenneth Colley as Col. Kontarsky, officer-in-charge of security for the MiG-31 development project
*** Oliver Cotton as Lt. Col. Dmitri Priabin, his second-in-command
*** Eugene Lipinski as a KGB agent who challenges Gant and gets himself killed for his trouble
*The [[Moscow]] Militia (i.e., police):
** Hugh Fraser as Chief Inspector Aleksei Tortyev, investigating the murder of Leon Sprague

The Anti-Soviet resistance:
* Nigel Hawthorne as Dr. Pyotr Baranovich, chief project scientist for the MiG-31
** Dmitra Arliss as Natalya, his significant other and assistant chief project scientist
** Ronald Lacey as Semelovskiy, another project scientist
* Warren Clarke as Pavel Upenskoy, a delivery-van driver
** Barrie Houghton as Boris Glazunov, his regular driver's mate, for whom Gant is substituted to get him out of Moscow
** Czeslaw Grocholski as an old man who ultimately commits suicide to avoid interrogation-under-torture
** George Orrison as Leon Sprague, an American businessman whose identity Gant steals to get into Russia

{{endspoiler}}

== Themes ==
=== The Cold War ===
The [[Cold War]] is the foremost theme, as is the long-held suspicion that the Soviet Union was quite capable of developing advanced weapons. In point of fact, the Soviet Union did develop what might best be called a preponderance of familiar weapons. But in 1976, with the defection of Lieutenant [[Viktor Belenko]] at the controls of his [[MiG-25]] Foxbat, a dedicated interceptor, the [[United States]] learned that the Soviets, while clever in the use of the technology that they commanded, were scarcely capable of developing advanced weapons. This might have inspired overconfidence and led the Defense Department under President [[James Earl Carter]] to announce, rather rashly, their intention to develop [[Stealth]] weapons. The fictive Firefox is the ultimate stealth weapon—generating no radar return even when extremely close at hand—and is also faster, and has a higher combat ceiling, than any aircraft that the Soviet Union (or the United States, for that matter) ever designed and developed.

By way of explanation of how the Soviets could develop such an aircraft, at least a generation ahead of the Americans, Stefan Schnabel's First Secretary tells his air chief marshal that

{{cquote|the Americans are simply paying the price for too many years of softness—paying with an act of desperation, such as this one...They know the potential of this aircraft; they know what it means. I would imagine that, had our positions been reversed, we might have acted similarly.}}

The character is correct: the Soviets did attempt to act similarly, and their successors, the leaders of the Russian Federation (whose current chief is a former KGB ''apparatchik''), continue to do so at the time of this writing (July 14, 2010). However, the film also illustrates the innate Russian paranoid ideation about being invaded, in that Air Chief Marshal Kutuzov expresses his suspicion that

{{cquote|this could all be an elaborate bluff by the Americans to distract us from looking to the north, while this single aircraft attempts to escape to the south.}}

Furthermore, Barron<ref name=Barron>Barron J, ''MiG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko'', New York: Bantam Books, 1980.</ref> points out that the MiG-25 (which Thomas used as his inspiration) was very well-designed, given the limitations of Soviet technology. It was also desgined for a specific mission: to intercept [[B-70]] bombers. Congress canceled the B-70 program, but the MiG-25 remained (and was redesigned to become a two-seater, which is the actual [[MiG-31]]).

The only true flaw in this film, regarding the notion that the Soviets could so outpace the West in weapons development, is that it specified no time frame. It does suggest that Firefox was three years in the making, and Aubrey gives this indication of how complacent the West had become:

{{cquote|When the first rumors began to filter out of the Soviet Union some three years ago, our theoretical weapons strategists stood before NATO command to explain, with much confidence, that it would take the Soviets a minimum of ten years to develop a Mach 5 aircraft with thought-controlled weapons systems. I stand before you today to explain, with much regret, that they were wrong.}}

True enough, the Soviets could never have built anything like Firefox in the year of the film's release, let alone the novel's release. But that does not mean that the Soviets would not be capable of building an aircraft like Firefox today, did the Soviet Union still exist. The world perhaps has [[Ronald Reagan]] to thank that no such project as Project Firefox ever began, much less came to fruition.

In addition, producer and director Clint Eastwood wished to illustrate the reason for the Cold War, and the evil nature of the "evil empire," the characterization given the USSR by then-President [[Ronald Reagan]]. The scenes involving the customs search, the walk to the bridge, Gant and the dissidents evading the KGB in the Metro station, the no-knock arrest and ultimate beating death of Boris Glazunov, and especially the testimonies and ultimate deaths of Upenskoy and Baranovich provide ample evidence.

=== Dealing with shell shock and self-doubt ===
Eastwood's use of the subplot involving Mitchell Gant's post-traumatic stress disorder, and its manifestation at unpredictable times, may have begun as a plot device to excuse a disastrous incident (i.e., Gant killing the agent in the restroom of the Metro station) and a near-disaster at the Bilyarsk base (i.e., almost failing to escape with the aircraft when the base personnel are distracted with the execution of Baranovich, Natalya, and Semelovsky). This theme could have been developed much more than it actually was. (Rumors have it that Eastwood blamed the budget overruns for the special effects for the compromises in quality in other aspects of the film, and swore never to produce and/or direct a special-effects film ever again. But perhaps Eastwood ought to have laid the blame with screenwriter Lasker, who neglected to expand upon Thomas' original material as much as he might have.)

Nevertheless, Mitchell Gant is a typical Clint Eastwood hero—a man wrestling with inner demons and who learns to conquer them in order to do the job at hand. Furthermore, Gant does develop signficantly as a man, in that his personal demon—the memory of the burning girl—pales in comparison, not only to the job he has to do, but also to the sacrifices that Pavel Upenskoy and Drs. Baranovich, Natalya, and Semelovskiy are willing to make. Baranovich impresses Gant the most, willing as he is to give Gant a successful send-off knowing that he will surely die afterward, if not in the process.

{{Cquote|Mr. Gant, you are an American. You are a free man. I am not. There is a difference. If I resent the men in London, then that is a small thing compared to my resentment of the [[KGB]].}}

Furthermore, Gant is a metaphor for the West itself. ''Firefox'' is set in a world that includes a West monumentally consumed with collective self-doubt, and doubt even about its proper place in the world. For reasons having to do with proper narrative economy, Craig Thomas never explores this as he might, because he creates no character who would be fully in touch with the kind of collective self-doubt that might cause voters to elect governments, in the USA and the UK, that would allow the West to come to the pass of having to steal a major prototype from the Soviet Union, instead of worrying about the Soviets stealing an American or British prototype. In short, Thomas did not bother to write in an analog of the late [[Jack Anderson]], or the present-day [[Maureen Dowd]], [[E. J. Dionne]], or [[Anthony Lewis]]—and perhaps Thomas could never have imagined a [[Markos Moulitsas]]. Instead, all of Thomas' characters are drawn from the ranks of "those who know what needs to be done," and the settings take place either in Gant's Alaskan wilderness retreat, various training bases, the hotel in which Aubrey gives Gant his final briefing—and the Moscow and Bilyarsk sets and every set in between. In short, ''Firefox'' takes place on the battlefield or in the training facility, and not on the roiling college campus or in the [[liberal]] [[coffee]] shop.

And thus Gant himself must be the sole metaphor for an American, or other Westerner, who wonders whether the Cold War was worth fighting. Gant is uniquely qualified for this: shot down over [[Vietnam]] and taken prisoner, he witnesses the horrific death of an underage civilian in the course of his rescue. He spends years running away from this memory, feeling that he cannot possibly justify his own continued existence, if such a death was required to ensure its continuance. Gant must get past this attitude, just as the West must turn aside from the attitude of self-flagellation that pervades it today.

And that the Soviets know this is made obvious. The First Secretary, of course, highlights American softness. Their problem is that they think that ''all'' Americans are soft. For example, the First Secretary sarcastically says,

{{cquote|Mister Gant, as you will be aware, I am not interested in the life of one rogue pilot with a poor health record.}}

Such arrogance will, of course, cost the Soviets dearly by film's end. The reason: the only officer to appreciate fully that Gant is a much better pilot than anyone is giving him credit for is Vladimirov, who first realizes, to his regret, that he himself underestimated Gant with his first stratagem. Vladimirov spends the rest of the film playing a desperate game of catch-up, which he ultimately loses.

== Feasibility ==
=== Firefox as an aircraft ===
==== Terminology ====
The Soviet Union actually did build a [[MiG-31]], but it was not such an otherworldly craft at this. This aircraft, codenamed "Foxhound," was an updated version of the [[MiG-25]] Foxbat.<ref name=fan>MiG-31 Firefox Online Resource, 2001-2010. <http://thinkinrussian.org/index.cfm></ref>

==== Airworthiness ====
The hypersonic Firefox has a striking resemblance to the North American XB-70 Valkyrie, albeit scaled down to a fighter. The elevation views of Firefox resembled those of the American [[F-15]] Eagle, but the plan reveals a delta-wing configuration with a pair of forward canards. Warner Brothers built nine models of the Firefox to various scales. Two of these, which were radio-controlled scale models, were actually airworthy, though no one attempted to build or fly a Firefox model at supersonic speeds.<ref name=fan/> The actual airworthiness of the Firefox airframe design was initially a matter of no small controversy—but the commercial availability of a radio-controlled scale model settles all doubt that such an aircraft would have been not only airworthy, but at least as maneuverable as it was depicted in the film.<ref name=rcpowers>[http://www.rcpowers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=725 RCPowers MiG-31 Firefox model]. Has an embedded video of a demonstration flight.</ref>

==== Stealth technology ====
Firefox was, in theory, the Soviets' only attempt at developing a stealth weapon. The actual theory of stealth weaponry is to use an airframe with an absorptive surface and a shape designed to reflect as few radio waves as possible. But Firefox appears to use a highly sophisticated radar jamming system that somehow gives Firefox absolutely no radar signature. That would probably have been beyond even an American aerospace contractor at the time, or even today.

==== Hypersonic flight ====
Firefox would also have been the first [[hypersonic]] aircraft. Such an aircraft would almost certainly have required a [[superconducting ramjet]] or SCRAMjet engine. Such engines are only now under test by [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]] and were not even contemplated in 1982--and almost certainly, the Soviets could never have developed such an engine. Their previous attempt to develop a super-fast rocket engine, for the MiG-25, resulted in an engine that could at best propel the aircraft at Mach 3.2, at the cost of the total wrecking of those engines, requiring replacement.<ref name=Barron/>

Moreover, if Firefox did fly at hypersonic speeds, it would leave no sound trace at all. Yet the depiction, including the special effects, are more consistent with ordinary supersonic flight, with its sonic-boom effect, not to mention the compromise of Gant's position when he foolishly test-flies the Firefox at supersonic speeds while in a region that he had been told would be thick with listening posts.

==== Weapons and defense ====
Firefox's weapons were conventional enough: four air-to-air missiles, two 50-millimeter cannons, and two flak layers of undetermined type. In fact, the missiles are described as compatible, and thus interchangeable, with those carried by the [[MiG-25]] Foxbat. Since the story suggests that the same design bureau designed both aircraft, such a substitution is feasible.

Firefox's main defense, aside from the flak layers, is its unrivaled stealth capability and tremendous speed. In fact, MiG-25 missiles would probably be inferior to Firefox missiles, for this reason: according to Barron<ref name=Barron/>, the combat ceiling of a MiG-25's missiles is 27,000 meters, and the combat ceiling of the Firefox would be nearly 33,000 meters.

On one occasion, a guided-missile cruiser fires four heat-seeking missiles at Firefox. Gant destroys two by laying flak and simply outruns the other two, which lack the speed to catch Firefox in a tail chase. Barron<ref name=Barron/> reports that Viktor Belenko, the Soviet pilot who escaped with his MiG-25, told the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] that a MiG-25 would not be able to intercept an [[SR-71]] Blackbird recon plane (maximum speed: Mach 3) for the same reason: its ceiling was higher than the combat ceilings of the MiG-25 and its missiles, and the missiles lacked the speed to catch an SR-71 in a tail chase (and lacked the guidance capability to compensate for a high closing speed if fired head-on).

==== Thought-controlled weapons ====
Firefox also carried what would best be described as an Electroencephalographic Decision Estimate system for the arming, targeting, and deployment of its weapons. ''Visual'' Decision Estimate systems are now under development, designed to read a pilot's iris contractions and eye movements in order to determine which target to shoot at and when to shoot. But no contractor, as far as is known, is currently working on an Electroencephalographic Decision Estimate system. (The description in the film of "sensors in [the pilot's] helmet" can only refer to an [[electroencephalogram]].) However, scientists experimenting with monkeys were first able to train one to operate a candy dispenser with its thoughts alone, after first training it to move a triggering lever while recording an EEG trace, and then setting the dispenser to operate in response to the EEG impressions alone, while disconnecting the lever. (In fact, the subject learned quickly that the dispenser was operating before it had the chance to touch the lever, and thereafter it left off moving the lever and grew accustomed to triggering the dispenser by merely making a decision.) More recently, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh trained a monkey to operate a simple crane with its thoughts alone. Last month, that same team trained their monkey to operate an even more sophisticated crane with its thoughts, and perform tasks as complex as retrieving an object with this crane.<ref name=Riddle>Riddle W, "Monkey Mind Control Evolves with Elaborate New Robotic Arm", Switched.com, 4 June 2010. Accessed 13 July 2010. <http://www.switched.com/2010/06/04/monkey-mind-control-evolves-with-elaborate-new-robotic-arm/> </ref> More recently, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced their intention to test human-worthy prosthetic limbs designed to integrate fully with the patient's brain.<ref name=drummond>Drummond K, "Human trials next for DARPA's mind-controlled artificial arm," ''Wired'', 15 July 2010. <http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/human-trials-ahead-for-darpas-mind-controlled-artificial-arm/></ref> The interface involved is actually a physical connection of a microprocessor array with the central nervous system, but a noninvasive interface, involving a helmet rigged to take a continuous EEG, would also be suitable to control a prosthetic limb—or the weapons aboard a high-performance fighter-interceptor.

Thus the concept of a "thought-controlled arsenal," while clearly ahead of its time in 1982, is well within the realm of possibility today. Such a system would indeed grant its pilot/operator a 3 to 5 second reaction-time advantage over any opponent not similarly equipped. And, as is depicted in the film, the pilot would not need to press a button. He would need merely to form a thought, in the form of a command, and instantly activate a monitor, select a missile and its target, and fire that missile in less time than the pilot would take to utter the phrase "Fox One" or any similar tactical catch-phrase when pressing a firing switch today. Nor would a designer necessarily have to limit an EDE system to fire-control alone; he could also link the engine throttles, flight controls, and autopilot to the EDE system, thus making the entire aircraft an extension of the pilot in every sense of the word.

Whether the pilot would necessarily have to think in his accustomed language is an open question. One could as easily train a pilot to visualize pictographic symbols that could substitute for natural-language commands. In that manner the EDE system would be instantly usable, with no required pilot-specific adaptation, by any pilot, no matter what language he spoke. That Clint Eastwood's character was required to "think in Russian" was merely a plot device, though it was perhaps used to better effect in the motion picture than in the novel. (Gant tries to think in English to give the order to lay flak, and the system stubbornly refuses to respond until Gant remembers Baranovich's advice to him—just in time.) However, the EDE system could also have a deliberate feature requiring pilot-specific interpretation, in order to secure the aircraft against theft. But that would have created an untenable situation for Gant, because Voskov, the test pilot, would be the only man alive who could have flown either prototype.

=== A delicate intelligence operation ===
Craig Thomas, the original author, obviously theorized that a large-enough organization would be slow to realize that a major penetration was under way, and would also be overconfident and careless. Many people say that this was the exact posture of the United States intelligence apparatus on the occasion of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].

{{cquote|Remember that you are playing on their only real weakness. Because of its sheer size, the KGB is sometimes slow to awaken. It is like a [[monster]]—if you walk by it quietly enough, it will only lift an eyelid and sniff at you. But if you awaken it...!}}

Gant succeeds because the police do not regularly communicate with the KGB (which is why they do not realize until far too late that the man who flew into Sheremetyevo Airport as "Leon Sprague" is the same man who departed Moscow as "Boris Glazunov" the next morning), and also because Kontarsky, his principal opponent on the ground, is determined to round up everyone himself and does not take definitive action until suddenly Gant is taxiing the Firefox out of the hangar faster than he can get the door shut on him. As strange as Gant's success might seem, one can never forget the success that nineteen Arab terrorists had in killing 3000 people in four airliners, seven commercial buildings, and the very headquarters of the US [[Department of Defense]]. (That they failed to destroy the [[Capitol]] or perhaps the [[White House]] is only because a group of passengers sacrificed themselves in an attempt to re-commandeer their own flight when they knew that it had been hijacked and was on a deadly errand.)

Pavel Upenskoy succeeds in delivering Gant to Bilyarsk because he is as ruthless as any [[Arab]] terrorist has been shown to be, quite willing to kill a colleague when called for, and in the end, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Indeed his ruthlessness is a match for that of Kontarsky, the more remarkable because he is a civilian. Gant perhaps demonstrates a similar ruthlessness: he orders a [[Dog|K-9]] patrol in the very area of the forest where Upenskoy is likely to be skulking about and trying to stay ahead of the authorities, knowing that he might thereby be the instrument of Upenskoy's death.

Baranovich also demonstrates a willingness to lay down his life in order to ensure freedom for an entire world—and also an almost [[Don Quixote|Quixotic]] desire to take down as many of his enemies as he can on the occasion of his inevitable death. While he is no [[Samson]], he does succeed in his ultimate aim: getting Gant aboard Firefox so that Gant can steal it.

== Novel v. film ==
The film and the novel do differ in a number of minor points. Boris Glazunov is beaten to death by two interrogators instead of one, and originally Gant does kill Voskov, only to face a second prototype flown by Voskov's younger counterpart, a Lieutenant Tretsov. Obviously Alex Lasker, who wrote the script, sought to cut down on the excessive plethora of characters. Lasker also cut out a scene in which Gant's refueling stop on the ice floe is rammed, and Captain Seerbacker's crew must hack a runway out of a rille that the collision forms in the ice. That aside, Lasker follows Thomas' prose word-for-word except for some minor corrections in the interest of believability, perhaps reflecting knowledge that Thomas might not have had when he wrote the novel.

According to the fan site, the publisher of the novel originally illustrated its cover with a drawing of a MiG-25, but subsequently changed the cover art to be in keeping with the design that the Warner Brothers art department and special-effects shop invented for the film.<ref name=fan/>

== Errors ==
The correct title of what was once the most powerful office in the Soviet Union was General Secretary of the Communist Party, not First Secretary.

== Awards ==
The ''Firefox'' film won the [[Academy Award]] for Best Visual Effects for its year.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Related links ==
* [http://thinkinrussian.org/ MiG-31 Firefox Online Resource], a fan site devoted to the history and technical specifications of the Firefox aircraft, as if it had been a real project.

[[Category:Cold War]]

Usury

2011-12-04T20:33:19Z

Jetgraphics:

'''Usury''' is the fee, denominated in money, for the use (loan) of money. It is often considered to mean lending money at interest, but it also covers extending credit at interest. In has been modified by modern usage to mean the extraction of interest on a loan above the maximum rate permitted by statute.

In the United States, most states have usury laws limiting interest rates. However, since 1933, only Federal Reserve Notes have circulated as current monies. By law, they are obligations to pay lawful money on demand (see Title 12 USC sec 411). But Congress repudiated that obligation in House Joint Resolution 192, June 1933, thus making said notes worthless (no par value).

Though most contracts and taxes are denominated in dollars, due to widespread participation in Social Security (national socialism), Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender at face value. Obligated parties (participants) must accept their own notes as tender in discharge of debt. Due to usury, the national debt is in excess of 15 trillions (December 2011), underwritten by the millions of voluntary contributors of national socialism.

This area of law is complex, particularly since, during the period of high [[inflation]] in the 1970s, the Federal government passed a law exempting national banks from state usury laws. Every state has its own usury law setting a maximum rate of interest that may be lawfully charged.<ref>http://www.lectlaw.com/files/ban02.htm</ref>

In many states the "legal rate of interest" may be 6%, but this only applies to rare situations and certainly does not mean that home mortgages at higher rates, or credit card finance charges (often as high as 18%, and even higher for dealings between companies), are illegal.

== Usury in History ==

[[Islam]] prohibits usury or interest on loans, as do certain passages in the [[Old Testament]]:

<blockquote>
''Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.'' Deuteronomy 23:19-20 (KJV)
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
(If he beget a son that) ''Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.'' Ezekiel 18:13 (KJV)
</blockquote>

The [[New Testament]] also refers to usury, sometimes indirectly:
<blockquote>
''Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord,I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown,and gathering where thou has not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the '''exchangers''', and then at my coming I should have received mine own with '''usury'''.'' Matthew 25:24
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
''And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the '''changers of money''' sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;'' John 2:14 (KJV)
</blockquote>

Note: Usurers are synonymous with exchangers and changers of money. Matthew 25:24 is often mistakenly interpreted, ignoring the condemnation of usury as a capital offense in Ezekiel 18:13. The "Hard Man" cannot be moral if he wants his servants to engage in an abomination.

<blockquote>
''And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Luke 6:34-35 (KJV)
</blockquote>

Because of this Biblical condemnation, Christians were forbidden to lend money for interest for centuries. [[Dante's Inferno]] places usurers in the seventh circle of [[Hell]], along with [[blasphemy|blasphemers]] and [[homosexuals]]. In [[The Renaissance|Renaissance]] society, the only people allowed to charge interest were [[Jew]]s, which often led to resentment as the Jews were enriched by their shrewd financial activity. However, Christian thinking on this subject has changed, and almost all Christians now either lend their money for interest, or have an account in a [[bank]] which does it for them. The last Christian denomination to remove the ban on usury was the Roman Catholic Church, in 1918.

== References ==

<references/>

{{DivineComedy}}
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Legal Terms]]

Usury

2011-10-18T00:19:45Z

Jetgraphics:

'''Usury''' is the fee, denominated in money, for the use (loan) of money. It is often considered to mean lending money at interest, but it also covers extending credit at interest. In has been modified by modern usage to mean the extraction of interest on a loan above the maximum rate permitted by statute.

In the United States, most states have usury laws limiting interest rates. However, since 1933, only Federal Reserve Notes have circulated as current monies. By law, they are obligations to pay lawful money on demand (see Title 12 USC sec 411). But Congress repudiated that obligation in House Joint Resolution 192, June 1933, thus making said notes worthless (no par value).

Though most contracts and taxes are denominated in dollars, due to widespread participation in Social Security (national socialism), Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender at face value. Obligated parties (participants) must accept their own notes as tender in discharge of debt. Due to usury, the national debt is in excess of 9 trillions (October 2007), underwritten by the millions of voluntary contributors of national socialism.

This area of law is complex, particularly since, during the period of high [[inflation]] in the 1970s, the Federal government passed a law exempting national banks from state usury laws. Every state has its own usury law setting a maximum rate of interest that may be lawfully charged.<ref>http://www.lectlaw.com/files/ban02.htm</ref>

In many states the "legal rate of interest" may be 6%, but this only applies to rare situations and certainly does not mean that home mortgages at higher rates, or credit card finance charges (often as high as 18%, and even higher for dealings between companies), are illegal.

== Usury in History ==

[[Islam]] prohibits usury or interest on loans, as do certain passages in the [[Old Testament]]:

<blockquote>
''Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.'' Deuteronomy 23:19-20 (KJV)
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
(If he beget a son that) ''Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.'' Ezekiel 18:13 (KJV)
</blockquote>

The [[New Testament]] also refers to usury, sometimes indirectly:
<blockquote>
''Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord,I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown,and gathering where thou has not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the '''exchangers''', and then at my coming I should have received mine own with '''usury'''.'' Matthew 25:24
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
''And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the '''changers of money''' sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;'' John 2:14 (KJV)
</blockquote>

Note: Usurers are synonymous with exchangers and changers of money. Matthew 25:24 is often mistakenly interpreted, ignoring the condemnation of usury as a capital offense in Ezekiel 18:13. The "Hard Man" cannot be moral if he wants his servants to engage in an abomination.

Because of this Biblical condemnation, Christians were forbidden to lend money for interest for centuries. [[Dante's Inferno]] places usurers in the seventh circle of [[Hell]], along with [[blasphemy|blasphemers]] and [[homosexuals]]. In [[The Renaissance|Renaissance]] society, the only people allowed to charge interest were [[Jew]]s, which often led to resentment as the Jews were enriched by their shrewd financial activity. However, Christian thinking on this subject has changed, and almost all Christians now either lend their money for interest, or have an account in a [[bank]] which does it for them. The last Christian denomination to remove the ban on usury was the Roman Catholic Church, in 1918.

== References ==

<references/>

{{DivineComedy}}
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Legal Terms]]

Talk:Private property

2008-06-12T19:40:38Z

Jetgraphics: /* Problems with definitions */

I've added a definition section, and a significant section on the purpose of private property. This is my first attempt at creating what is substantially an entire article from whole cloth, and so I expect it can benefit from a great deal of constructive criticism. In particular, I'm working to develop citations, which are skeletal at best, at present. (Most of this is material I learned during the course of my own education in economics and the law--it's pretty fundamental stuff, and so not the kind you'd generally attribute to any particular source.)

I also deleted a couple of sentences that erroneously suggested that private property cannot be held by more than one person. In fact, there are several kinds of joint property recognized in Anglo-American law. I suspect the author meant to distinguish private ownership from, for example, nationalized property, which, in theory, is owned by the public at large, which, of course, is a valid distinction, but the statement as written was inaccurate. [[User:QBeam]] 3:45 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

: Oops, I just realized that my cut-and-pasting didn't copy in the footnotes. I'm out of time at this minute, but I'll add them shortly...bear with me. [[User:QBeam]] 3:50 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

== Private property = single owner ==

The definition for private property and ownership type, in American law, DOES state that only one person can absolutely own private property. Any other interpretation is not supported by the authorities.

If you wish to use another law system, please specify it.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:20, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: Joint ownership is a well established aspect of American property law. It is generally divided into two categories: "joint tenancy" and "tenancy-in-common." The principle distinction between the two relates to the rights of the cotenants as against one another. It may be that you're use of the term "absolutely" is calculated to advert to that fact, since, in either case, the cotenants do have at least some duty to one another. That, however, does not render joint ownership something less than (or other than) private property. See, e.g., Joint Ownership and Alienability, International Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2003), pp. 75-100. [[Uswer:QBeam]] 4:58 (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

You are in error with respect to American law. "Joint ownership" never refers to private property. If I may direct your attention to the LEGAL DEFINITION, estate (real and personal property) is held with qualified ownership by two or more persons OR when the ownership is limited in any fashion. In contrast PRIVATE PROPERTY is absolutely owned by an individual. The U.S. constitution specifically protects private property ownership, while not extending any protection to estate. Similarly, state constitutions delegate taxing power over estate but do not refer to private property. (see Ad Valorem Taxation)
As long as you fail to comprehend the distinction, you will mix apples and oranges.

: Your comments are sufficiently alien to what I was taught in law school that I don't believe unsourced assertions can advance the discussion any further. If you wish to persist in your contentions, please provide citations to whatever authority you believe support them. Please don't construe this as a personal attack; I'm simply pointing out that it is obvious that we are each opperating from a number of assumptions (or, at least using definitions)that the other does not accept. Rational debate can't procede to conclusions until we are agreed on our premises. [[User:QBeam]] 6:35PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007.

:: What you were taught in law school and what the law states may well be in conflict. However, if Black's Law dictionary (Westlaw publishing) is not a reputable source, then please present ONE CITATION that refutes it.
:: You claim private property is NOT absolutely owned by an individual. Westlaw disagrees. You claim "all land" is real estate. Westlaw disagrees. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:58, 27 November 2007 (EST)

::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:00, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== Socialist entitlements ==
According to the Congressional Research Service, all entitlements are "gifts" from Congress. There are no property rights (absolute or qualified) in charity from the public treasury. It would be misleading to state otherwise.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:34, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==
I've added this section to augment the importance of absolute ownership. Without a doubt, the average American is kept ignorant of the distinctions of absolute ownership. Substituting joint ownership into the definition for private property is not supported by secular nor sacred authorities.

In Genesis 26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

In other nations, where the people are subject citizens, they may be denied the right to absolutely own. For example, in the British Commonwealth, the monarch is the sovereign, and all property in private hands is held with qualified ownership. Failure to comply will result in loss of property.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:43, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: As I noted above, you're simply mistaken to contend that joint ownership is not a well recognized principle in the American legal system. There was something of a controversy over the concept in the 19th Century, though mostly in Europe, which I believe was largely driven by the role of property ownership in maintaining social class distinctions. See, e.g., Private Common Property Rights, Elinor Ostram, Indiana University, 2000. There is also some academic criticism of joint ownership, because it reduces alienability (thereby increasing transaction costs, and impeding reallocation of property to it's most efficient use). Even at the height of the controversy, though, there has never been any legal bar against joint ownership.

: The argument about "absolute ownership" is circular, and, in any event, contrary to the reality of property law. No ownership is "absolute." Much as it galls me, one's right to own property (in both Britain and the U.S.) is contingent upon the continued payment of property tax (in the case of real estate, anyway), avoiding illegal use of the property (in the case of personalty), and so forth. In short, you're venting about how you'd like things to be, rather than accurately describing how they really are. [[User:QBeam]] 5:32PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

:: You are mistaken. Joint ownership may be legally recognized. But it is not recognized as ownership of private property. Private property IS a recognized legal principle in American law. Therefore, your conclusions are not supported by the authorities cited herein.
:: PRIVATE PROPERTY - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such property as belongs '''absolutely''' to an '''individual''', and of which he has the exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as houses, lands, and chattels. - - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

:: First, do not assume European definitions of land ownership are in force and effect. European nations never recognized absolute ownership of property by commoners. Second, at the founding of the nation, the sovereignty of the people was recognized by the government. Third, sovereignty and property are inseparable. A sovereign without land has nothing to be sovereign over. Fourth, there are NO tax levies on private property. All ad valorem taxes are levied on estate - ''which is not private property''. I challenge you to produce ONE constitutional clause that delegates the power to tax private property in the U.S.A. Fifth, no state requires the recording of private property transactions. Only "real estate" transactions are recorded.

::Assuming that "all land" is real estate is not supported by the legal definitions.
:::LAND. ... The land is one thing, and the ''estate in land is another thing'', for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time. - - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

::Land can be '''absolutely owned''' as '''private property'''.
::OR
::Land can be held with qualified ownership as estate ''(real estate a.k.a. real property)''.

::Failure to recognize the difference may lead one to make erroneous conclusions.
::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:06, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY? ==

DOMINION - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect
control in right of ownership. The word implies both title and
possession and appears to require a complete retention of control over
disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

SOVEREIGN - "...Having undisputed right to make decisions and act
accordingly".
New Webster's Dictionary And Thesaurus, p. 950.

SOVEREIGN - A person, body or state in which independent and supreme
authority is vested...
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1395.

SOVEREIGNTY - ...By "Sovereignty", in its largest sense is meant
supreme, absolute, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern.
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1396.

WHO IS SOVEREIGN?

"Government is not Sovereignty. Government is the machinery or
expedient for expressing the will of the sovereign power."
City of Bisbee v. Cochise County,
78 P. 2d 982, 986, 52 Ariz. 1

"People are supreme, not the state."
Waring v. the Mayor of Savanah, 60 GA at 93.

"The people of the state, as the successors of its former sovereign,
are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the king by
his own prerogative."
Lansing v. Smith, (1829) 4 Wendell 9, (NY)

"At the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people and they
are truly the sovereigns of the country."
Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 440, 463

These citations show that the servant government recognizes that American people are sovereign over government. And sovereignty and property are inseparable. A king without land is merely a traveling prince.

We can infer that for an individual to exercise his sovereign prerogatives, he must absolutely own his domain. That is why it is a common error to presume that joint ownership or any other form of collective ownership fits with "private property".
In fact, any other form of ownership that is NOT absolute nor by an individual is NOT private property.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 17:33, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Known sources of confusion ==
To the majority of Americans, the notion that their real estate is NOT private property is immediately dismissed out of hand. However, if one takes the time to investigate further, by directly reading constitutional delegations of authority to tax, and other references to property, one will find that only estate (real estate / real property) is subject to "property taxes".

Example:

'''Georgia Constitution''', Art. 7, Sec. 1, Taxing Authority

Paragraph II. Taxing power limited.

(a) The annual levy of state '''ad valorem''' taxes on tangible property for all purposes, except for defending the state in an emergency, shall not exceed one-fourth mill on each dollar of the assessed value of the property.

Paragraph III. Uniformity; classification of property; assessment of agricultural land; utilities.

(c) Tangible '''real property''', but no more than 2,000 acres of any single property owner, which is devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes shall be assessed for ad valorem taxation purposes at 75 percent of the value which other tangible '''real property''' is assessed.

NOTE: The Georgia constitution only mentions real property as subject to taxation.

In contrast, when referring to private property:

SECTION III.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Paragraph I. Eminent domain. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Paragraph, '''private property''' shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid.

(b) When '''private property''' is taken or damaged by the state or the counties or municipalities of the state for public road or street purposes, or for public transportation purposes, or for any other public purposes as determined by the General Assembly, just and adequate compensation therefor need not be paid until the same has been finally fixed and determined as provided by law; but such just and adequate compensation shall then be paid in preference to all other obligations except bonded indebtedness.

NOTE: Private property cannot be taken without just compensation. However, real property may be taken for failure to pay taxes, and no compensation is due.

'''Texas Constitution:'''
ARTICLE 8 - TAXATION AND REVENUE
Sec. 1. EQUALITY AND UNIFORMITY; TAX IN PROPORTION TO
VALUE; TAXATION OF TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE PROPERTY;
OCCUPATION TAXES; INCOME TAX; EXEMPTION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.

(a) Taxation shall be equal and uniform.

(b) All '''real property''' and tangible personal property in this State, unless exempt as required or permitted by this
Constitution, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law.

NOTE: The Texas constitution states that all real and personal property is subject to their taxing power.

Interestingly, there IS one brief mention of "private property" in the Texas Constitution:

In Article 11- Sec.12, Texas Constitution

Sec. 12. EXPENDITURES FOR RELOCATION OR REPLACEMENT OF SANITATION SEWER OR WATER LATERALS ON '''PRIVATE PROPERTY'''.

The legislature by general law may authorize a city or town to expend public funds for the relocation or replacement of sanitation sewer laterals or water laterals on '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' if the relocation or replacement is done in conjunction with or immediately following the replacement or relocation of sanitation sewer mains or water mains serving the property. The law must authorize the city or town to affix, with the '''CONSENT OF THE OWNER''' of the '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''', a lien on the property for the cost of relocating or replacing the laterals on the property and must provide that the cost shall be assessed against the property with repayment by the property owner to be amortized over a period not to exceed five years at a rate of interest to be set as provided by the law. The lien may not be enforced until after five years have expired since the date the lien was affixed.

Without consent of the owner, the State or local government cannot affix a lien, nor assess against the private property, nor compel repayment. In short, private property and its owner is NOT subject to their authority. However, you may correctly assume that REAL ESTATE owners would not be asked for consent before a lien would be placed against their property for assessments.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:39, 27 November 2007 (EST)

==Clarification, please==
Can you clarify what this says, and what this means, please:
*''Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. ''
[[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 16:54, 9 December 2007 (EST)
: Based on the Declaration of Independence, governments (in America) are instituted to secure rights (life, liberty, private property).
::''(Pursuing happiness on someone else's property requires their permission, therefore to fully exercise freedom one must be upon one's own private property.)''
:Private property is defined as absolute ownership. Ergo, it is not a privilege granted by government, but a preexisting right SECURED by government. From the religious viewpoint, Genesis asserts that God gave man "dominion" (absolute ownership) over the earth. Since it is impossible for a group to absolutely own, it implies individual ownership of the earth - that which each individual acquires by his harmless activities in support of his life, etc. Though "Eminent Domain" is put forth as proof that the collective State has absolute ownership, the caveat is that the government has to pay just compensation. Ergo, the government has a limited claim, under the excuse that such taking is for the collective good, and must provide the owner with compensation. ''(Estate taken under eminent domain need not be compensated with just compensation, as can easily be attested to by the thousands who have been so dispossessed.)''
:Coincidentally, if you carefully examine State constitutions regarding their delegation of authority to tax, you will only find reference to "real and personal property" ''(a.k.a. estate)''. There is no delegation of authority to tax private property. In fact, if there WAS a tax on private property, and the taxing authority took the property for non-payment of taxes, it would then be liable to pay just compensation to the owner (See Fifth Amendment).
:The next question is - ''Why are people registering their private property as taxable estate?'' Ask your friendly officer of the court (real estate lawyer) who writes up your title deed, "for $1 in hand..." Then examine the 7th amendment about the requirement that the value in question exceed 20 dollars U.S. before your RIGHT to a trial by jury under the rules of the COMMON LAW are secured. Perhaps "someone" doesn't wish Americans to have any public evidence that they can seek recourse under the rules of the common law.
:--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 19:43, 9 December 2007 (EST)

== Problems with definitions ==

I've just read this article for the first time, and find myself disagreeing with key points. How much this is because Jetgraphics (the source of the points I dispute, it seems) is simply wrong, and how much is due to my perspective not being an American one I don't know.

My understanding of "private property" is property owned by persons, whether actual (human beings) or legal (companies), as distinct from property owned by governments. Now that's not necessarily a legal definition, but this article should not be limited to legal definitions. And in this country, what I know as private property is definitely taxed. And in this country, there is no such thing as property that is beyond government reach. Governments cannot resume property without fair compensation, but they ''can'' resume property. And control what happens on it.

: In American law, non public property can be owned with qualified or absolute ownership. Property held with qualified ownership is estate (real and personal property). Estate is subject to taxation. Absolute ownership by an individual is what the law (American) defines "private property" to mean. There are no taxes levied on private property.
: In one sense, that Americans had the right to absolutely own, made America the "Promised Land" to many immigrants. In other nations, they had no absolute ownership (especially Socialist nations). The great tragedy is that since 1935, the U.S.A. has been a socialist nation, and her people unwittingly gave away their precious birthright.--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)
:: Even assuming all that's correct, my point is that this is an ''American legal definition'', which doesn't take into account other countries and popular usage. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 05:54, 12 June 2008 (EDT)
::: I assumed that the use of the American flag on the logo implied "American" focus, ergo, the use of American legal definitions. Other countries do not recognize that their people have the absolute right to own private property. They may defined qualified ownership as "private property", but that's like defining "artificial vanilla flavoring" as equivalent to "real vanilla". Frankly, popular use of a term does not change its legal meaning, notwithstanding what Michael Jackson says. (bad=good) --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 15:40, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

Also, the bit about what the Bible means has an unstated assumption that, if wrong (as I believe it to be) destroys the argument. The sentence is "Since ''there can be no collective absolute ownership'', the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land." (my emphasis). The emphasised phrase is unsupported, unintuitive, and as far as I'm concerned, plain wrong. And if anything, this biblical point says the exact opposite. Because "man" (i.e. mankind or humanity) is given ownership of the Earth, that in itself suggests ''collective'' ownership. The disputed phrase is what manages to turn this suggestion 180 degrees to mean the opposite.

: When two or more "own" something, there is always a potential for conflict. Therefore it is impossible for ALL parties to exercise ABSOLUTE ownership over property held in common. When two or more have ownership, it devolves into qualified ownership.--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)
:: I guess it depends on what you mean by "absolute" ownership. What you are really saying is that if two people jointly own something ''neither of those two'' can claim "absolute" ownership (obviously, because it is ''joint'' ownership). But if "absolute ownership" means that nobody outside those joint owners has any say or control over that land, it can surely still be described as "absolute" ownership. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 05:54, 12 June 2008 (EDT)
::: You may as well defined slavery as "qualified freedom" by your skewed logic.

Further, whilst I definitely agree that the Bible recognises private property (else laws against theft are pointless), I would also say that the Bible recognises no such thing as ''absolute'' right or ownership. Although man has been given the Earth, ''everything'' belongs to God, so our "right" to property is actually a right to make use of ''His'' property.

: Either God gave dominion to man, or He didn't. If God kept ownership then He did not give dominion to man. It may be a popular theme that mankind is merely a steward of "God's Earth", but if you rely upon scripture, God gave it to man, period. Those who wish property owners to meekly surrender their private property may encourage ignorance of absolute ownership, but the law has always recognized that securing property rights is job #1. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)
:: Yes, God gave dominion to man, but what does that mean? More specifically, what does the Bible mean by "dominion"? Looking up four versions, the AV and Amplified use the word "dominion", whilst the NIV and NASB say "rule over". And one can rule under authority of another. I don't know the precise meaning of the Hebrew word, but so far I see no evidence that the rule over Earth was absolute in the sense that you seem to be claiming. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 05:54, 12 June 2008 (EDT)
::: If you can direct me to the leasing agent for God, I will be glad to sign a lease with Him. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 15:40, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

I would also ask, what if a husband and wife jointly own property? Is it therefore not "private property" because it's not owned by an ''individual''? The distinction is arbitrary and without apparent foundation.

: If you examine "coverture", the legal transfer of the wife's property to her husband, you'll recognize the preservation of private property status. Since marriage was the legal joining of two families and their property for the benefit of progeny, coverture (ownership of the family property by the husband) preserved absolute ownership by an individual of the family property. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)
:: I asked about ''joint'' ownership by a husband and wife, and your reply was about ownership by a husband only. However, I guess that the joint ownership question is covered above anyway, and doesn't need to be repeated here. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 05:54, 12 June 2008 (EDT)
::: Finally! You get it. Private property, as defined, is absolute ownership by ONE individual. Joint ownership is NOT private property ownership. To preserve private property status, coverture was practiced. Only private property is explicitly protected in American law. Any other form of ownership is a privilege, subject to the government's authority. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 15:40, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 05:58, 10 June 2008 (EDT)

Talk:Private property

2008-06-10T14:46:29Z

Jetgraphics: /* Problems with definitions */

I've added a definition section, and a significant section on the purpose of private property. This is my first attempt at creating what is substantially an entire article from whole cloth, and so I expect it can benefit from a great deal of constructive criticism. In particular, I'm working to develop citations, which are skeletal at best, at present. (Most of this is material I learned during the course of my own education in economics and the law--it's pretty fundamental stuff, and so not the kind you'd generally attribute to any particular source.)

I also deleted a couple of sentences that erroneously suggested that private property cannot be held by more than one person. In fact, there are several kinds of joint property recognized in Anglo-American law. I suspect the author meant to distinguish private ownership from, for example, nationalized property, which, in theory, is owned by the public at large, which, of course, is a valid distinction, but the statement as written was inaccurate. [[User:QBeam]] 3:45 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

: Oops, I just realized that my cut-and-pasting didn't copy in the footnotes. I'm out of time at this minute, but I'll add them shortly...bear with me. [[User:QBeam]] 3:50 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

== Private property = single owner ==

The definition for private property and ownership type, in American law, DOES state that only one person can absolutely own private property. Any other interpretation is not supported by the authorities.

If you wish to use another law system, please specify it.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:20, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: Joint ownership is a well established aspect of American property law. It is generally divided into two categories: "joint tenancy" and "tenancy-in-common." The principle distinction between the two relates to the rights of the cotenants as against one another. It may be that you're use of the term "absolutely" is calculated to advert to that fact, since, in either case, the cotenants do have at least some duty to one another. That, however, does not render joint ownership something less than (or other than) private property. See, e.g., Joint Ownership and Alienability, International Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2003), pp. 75-100. [[Uswer:QBeam]] 4:58 (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

You are in error with respect to American law. "Joint ownership" never refers to private property. If I may direct your attention to the LEGAL DEFINITION, estate (real and personal property) is held with qualified ownership by two or more persons OR when the ownership is limited in any fashion. In contrast PRIVATE PROPERTY is absolutely owned by an individual. The U.S. constitution specifically protects private property ownership, while not extending any protection to estate. Similarly, state constitutions delegate taxing power over estate but do not refer to private property. (see Ad Valorem Taxation)
As long as you fail to comprehend the distinction, you will mix apples and oranges.

: Your comments are sufficiently alien to what I was taught in law school that I don't believe unsourced assertions can advance the discussion any further. If you wish to persist in your contentions, please provide citations to whatever authority you believe support them. Please don't construe this as a personal attack; I'm simply pointing out that it is obvious that we are each opperating from a number of assumptions (or, at least using definitions)that the other does not accept. Rational debate can't procede to conclusions until we are agreed on our premises. [[User:QBeam]] 6:35PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007.

:: What you were taught in law school and what the law states may well be in conflict. However, if Black's Law dictionary (Westlaw publishing) is not a reputable source, then please present ONE CITATION that refutes it.
:: You claim private property is NOT absolutely owned by an individual. Westlaw disagrees. You claim "all land" is real estate. Westlaw disagrees. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:58, 27 November 2007 (EST)

::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:00, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== Socialist entitlements ==
According to the Congressional Research Service, all entitlements are "gifts" from Congress. There are no property rights (absolute or qualified) in charity from the public treasury. It would be misleading to state otherwise.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:34, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==
I've added this section to augment the importance of absolute ownership. Without a doubt, the average American is kept ignorant of the distinctions of absolute ownership. Substituting joint ownership into the definition for private property is not supported by secular nor sacred authorities.

In Genesis 26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

In other nations, where the people are subject citizens, they may be denied the right to absolutely own. For example, in the British Commonwealth, the monarch is the sovereign, and all property in private hands is held with qualified ownership. Failure to comply will result in loss of property.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:43, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: As I noted above, you're simply mistaken to contend that joint ownership is not a well recognized principle in the American legal system. There was something of a controversy over the concept in the 19th Century, though mostly in Europe, which I believe was largely driven by the role of property ownership in maintaining social class distinctions. See, e.g., Private Common Property Rights, Elinor Ostram, Indiana University, 2000. There is also some academic criticism of joint ownership, because it reduces alienability (thereby increasing transaction costs, and impeding reallocation of property to it's most efficient use). Even at the height of the controversy, though, there has never been any legal bar against joint ownership.

: The argument about "absolute ownership" is circular, and, in any event, contrary to the reality of property law. No ownership is "absolute." Much as it galls me, one's right to own property (in both Britain and the U.S.) is contingent upon the continued payment of property tax (in the case of real estate, anyway), avoiding illegal use of the property (in the case of personalty), and so forth. In short, you're venting about how you'd like things to be, rather than accurately describing how they really are. [[User:QBeam]] 5:32PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

:: You are mistaken. Joint ownership may be legally recognized. But it is not recognized as ownership of private property. Private property IS a recognized legal principle in American law. Therefore, your conclusions are not supported by the authorities cited herein.
:: PRIVATE PROPERTY - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such property as belongs '''absolutely''' to an '''individual''', and of which he has the exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as houses, lands, and chattels. - - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

:: First, do not assume European definitions of land ownership are in force and effect. European nations never recognized absolute ownership of property by commoners. Second, at the founding of the nation, the sovereignty of the people was recognized by the government. Third, sovereignty and property are inseparable. A sovereign without land has nothing to be sovereign over. Fourth, there are NO tax levies on private property. All ad valorem taxes are levied on estate - ''which is not private property''. I challenge you to produce ONE constitutional clause that delegates the power to tax private property in the U.S.A. Fifth, no state requires the recording of private property transactions. Only "real estate" transactions are recorded.

::Assuming that "all land" is real estate is not supported by the legal definitions.
:::LAND. ... The land is one thing, and the ''estate in land is another thing'', for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time. - - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

::Land can be '''absolutely owned''' as '''private property'''.
::OR
::Land can be held with qualified ownership as estate ''(real estate a.k.a. real property)''.

::Failure to recognize the difference may lead one to make erroneous conclusions.
::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:06, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY? ==

DOMINION - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect
control in right of ownership. The word implies both title and
possession and appears to require a complete retention of control over
disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

SOVEREIGN - "...Having undisputed right to make decisions and act
accordingly".
New Webster's Dictionary And Thesaurus, p. 950.

SOVEREIGN - A person, body or state in which independent and supreme
authority is vested...
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1395.

SOVEREIGNTY - ...By "Sovereignty", in its largest sense is meant
supreme, absolute, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern.
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1396.

WHO IS SOVEREIGN?

"Government is not Sovereignty. Government is the machinery or
expedient for expressing the will of the sovereign power."
City of Bisbee v. Cochise County,
78 P. 2d 982, 986, 52 Ariz. 1

"People are supreme, not the state."
Waring v. the Mayor of Savanah, 60 GA at 93.

"The people of the state, as the successors of its former sovereign,
are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the king by
his own prerogative."
Lansing v. Smith, (1829) 4 Wendell 9, (NY)

"At the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people and they
are truly the sovereigns of the country."
Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 440, 463

These citations show that the servant government recognizes that American people are sovereign over government. And sovereignty and property are inseparable. A king without land is merely a traveling prince.

We can infer that for an individual to exercise his sovereign prerogatives, he must absolutely own his domain. That is why it is a common error to presume that joint ownership or any other form of collective ownership fits with "private property".
In fact, any other form of ownership that is NOT absolute nor by an individual is NOT private property.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 17:33, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Known sources of confusion ==
To the majority of Americans, the notion that their real estate is NOT private property is immediately dismissed out of hand. However, if one takes the time to investigate further, by directly reading constitutional delegations of authority to tax, and other references to property, one will find that only estate (real estate / real property) is subject to "property taxes".

Example:

'''Georgia Constitution''', Art. 7, Sec. 1, Taxing Authority

Paragraph II. Taxing power limited.

(a) The annual levy of state '''ad valorem''' taxes on tangible property for all purposes, except for defending the state in an emergency, shall not exceed one-fourth mill on each dollar of the assessed value of the property.

Paragraph III. Uniformity; classification of property; assessment of agricultural land; utilities.

(c) Tangible '''real property''', but no more than 2,000 acres of any single property owner, which is devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes shall be assessed for ad valorem taxation purposes at 75 percent of the value which other tangible '''real property''' is assessed.

NOTE: The Georgia constitution only mentions real property as subject to taxation.

In contrast, when referring to private property:

SECTION III.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Paragraph I. Eminent domain. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Paragraph, '''private property''' shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid.

(b) When '''private property''' is taken or damaged by the state or the counties or municipalities of the state for public road or street purposes, or for public transportation purposes, or for any other public purposes as determined by the General Assembly, just and adequate compensation therefor need not be paid until the same has been finally fixed and determined as provided by law; but such just and adequate compensation shall then be paid in preference to all other obligations except bonded indebtedness.

NOTE: Private property cannot be taken without just compensation. However, real property may be taken for failure to pay taxes, and no compensation is due.

'''Texas Constitution:'''
ARTICLE 8 - TAXATION AND REVENUE
Sec. 1. EQUALITY AND UNIFORMITY; TAX IN PROPORTION TO
VALUE; TAXATION OF TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE PROPERTY;
OCCUPATION TAXES; INCOME TAX; EXEMPTION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.

(a) Taxation shall be equal and uniform.

(b) All '''real property''' and tangible personal property in this State, unless exempt as required or permitted by this
Constitution, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law.

NOTE: The Texas constitution states that all real and personal property is subject to their taxing power.

Interestingly, there IS one brief mention of "private property" in the Texas Constitution:

In Article 11- Sec.12, Texas Constitution

Sec. 12. EXPENDITURES FOR RELOCATION OR REPLACEMENT OF SANITATION SEWER OR WATER LATERALS ON '''PRIVATE PROPERTY'''.

The legislature by general law may authorize a city or town to expend public funds for the relocation or replacement of sanitation sewer laterals or water laterals on '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' if the relocation or replacement is done in conjunction with or immediately following the replacement or relocation of sanitation sewer mains or water mains serving the property. The law must authorize the city or town to affix, with the '''CONSENT OF THE OWNER''' of the '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''', a lien on the property for the cost of relocating or replacing the laterals on the property and must provide that the cost shall be assessed against the property with repayment by the property owner to be amortized over a period not to exceed five years at a rate of interest to be set as provided by the law. The lien may not be enforced until after five years have expired since the date the lien was affixed.

Without consent of the owner, the State or local government cannot affix a lien, nor assess against the private property, nor compel repayment. In short, private property and its owner is NOT subject to their authority. However, you may correctly assume that REAL ESTATE owners would not be asked for consent before a lien would be placed against their property for assessments.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:39, 27 November 2007 (EST)

==Clarification, please==
Can you clarify what this says, and what this means, please:
*''Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. ''
[[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 16:54, 9 December 2007 (EST)
: Based on the Declaration of Independence, governments (in America) are instituted to secure rights (life, liberty, private property).
::''(Pursuing happiness on someone else's property requires their permission, therefore to fully exercise freedom one must be upon one's own private property.)''
:Private property is defined as absolute ownership. Ergo, it is not a privilege granted by government, but a preexisting right SECURED by government. From the religious viewpoint, Genesis asserts that God gave man "dominion" (absolute ownership) over the earth. Since it is impossible for a group to absolutely own, it implies individual ownership of the earth - that which each individual acquires by his harmless activities in support of his life, etc. Though "Eminent Domain" is put forth as proof that the collective State has absolute ownership, the caveat is that the government has to pay just compensation. Ergo, the government has a limited claim, under the excuse that such taking is for the collective good, and must provide the owner with compensation. ''(Estate taken under eminent domain need not be compensated with just compensation, as can easily be attested to by the thousands who have been so dispossessed.)''
:Coincidentally, if you carefully examine State constitutions regarding their delegation of authority to tax, you will only find reference to "real and personal property" ''(a.k.a. estate)''. There is no delegation of authority to tax private property. In fact, if there WAS a tax on private property, and the taxing authority took the property for non-payment of taxes, it would then be liable to pay just compensation to the owner (See Fifth Amendment).
:The next question is - ''Why are people registering their private property as taxable estate?'' Ask your friendly officer of the court (real estate lawyer) who writes up your title deed, "for $1 in hand..." Then examine the 7th amendment about the requirement that the value in question exceed 20 dollars U.S. before your RIGHT to a trial by jury under the rules of the COMMON LAW are secured. Perhaps "someone" doesn't wish Americans to have any public evidence that they can seek recourse under the rules of the common law.
:--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 19:43, 9 December 2007 (EST)

== Problems with definitions ==

I've just read this article for the first time, and find myself disagreeing with key points. How much this is because Jetgraphics (the source of the points I dispute, it seems) is simply wrong, and how much is due to my perspective not being an American one I don't know.

My understanding of "private property" is property owned by persons, whether actual (human beings) or legal (companies), as distinct from property owned by governments. Now that's not necessarily a legal definition, but this article should not be limited to legal definitions. And in this country, what I know as private property is definitely taxed. And in this country, there is no such thing as property that is beyond government reach. Governments cannot resume property without fair compensation, but they ''can'' resume property. And control what happens on it.

: In American law, non public property can be owned with qualified or absolute ownership. Property held with qualified ownership is estate (real and personal property). Estate is subject to taxation. Absolute ownership by an individual is what the law (American) defines "private property" to mean. There are no taxes levied on private property.
: In one sense, that Americans had the right to absolutely own, made America the "Promised Land" to many immigrants. In other nations, they had no absolute ownership (especially Socialist nations). The great tragedy is that since 1935, the U.S.A. has been a socialist nation, and her people unwittingly gave away their precious birthright.--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)

Also, the bit about what the Bible means has an unstated assumption that, if wrong (as I believe it to be) destroys the argument. The sentence is "Since ''there can be no collective absolute ownership'', the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land." (my emphasis). The emphasised phrase is unsupported, unintuitive, and as far as I'm concerned, plain wrong. And if anything, this biblical point says the exact opposite. Because "man" (i.e. mankind or humanity) is given ownership of the Earth, that in itself suggests ''collective'' ownership. The disputed phrase is what manages to turn this suggestion 180 degrees to mean the opposite.

: When two or more "own" something, there is always a potential for conflict. Therefore it is impossible for ALL parties to exercise ABSOLUTE ownership over property held in common. When two or more have ownership, it devolves into qualified ownership.--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)

Further, whilst I definitely agree that the Bible recognises private property (else laws against theft are pointless), I would also say that the Bible recognises no such thing as ''absolute'' right or ownership. Although man has been given the Earth, ''everything'' belongs to God, so our "right" to property is actually a right to make use of ''His'' property.

: Either God gave dominion to man, or He didn't. If God kept ownership then He did not give dominion to man. It may be a popular theme that mankind is merely a steward of "God's Earth", but if you rely upon scripture, God gave it to man, period. Those who wish property owners to meekly surrender their private property may encourage ignorance of absolute ownership, but the law has always recognized that securing property rights is job #1. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)

I would also ask, what if a husband and wife jointly own property? Is it therefore not "private property" because it's not owned by an ''individual''? The distinction is arbitrary and without apparent foundation.

: If you examine "coverture", the legal transfer of the wife's property to her husband, you'll recognize the preservation of private property status. Since marriage was the legal joining of two families and their property for the benefit of progeny, coverture (ownership of the family property by the husband) preserved absolute ownership by an individual of the family property. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 10:46, 10 June 2008 (EDT)

[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 05:58, 10 June 2008 (EDT)

Private property

2008-06-10T03:48:59Z

Jetgraphics: /* Common misconceptions */

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Exposition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Estate in property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to qualified ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref> Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property.<REF>Example: Georgia Constitution, Art. 7, Sec. 1, Taxing Authority, Paragraph II. Taxing power limited.</REF> All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Definitions ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217</ref>

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106</ref>

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
<ref>Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486</ref>

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877</ref>

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263</ref>

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547</ref>

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812</ref>

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485</ref>

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/private-property/ What Liberals Say - Category: Private Property], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Legal Terms]]

Private property

2007-12-11T15:07:23Z

Jetgraphics: /* Friends of private property */

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Exposition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Estate in property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to qualified ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref> Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: ''Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.''

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Definitions ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217</ref>

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106</ref>

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
<ref>Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486</ref>

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877</ref>

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263</ref>

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547</ref>

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812</ref>

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485</ref>

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Talk:Private property

2007-12-10T01:07:25Z

Jetgraphics: /* Clarification, please */

Talk:Private property

2007-12-10T01:05:53Z

Jetgraphics: /* Biblical source for absolute ownership */

I've added a definition section, and a significant section on the purpose of private property. This is my first attempt at creating what is substantially an entire article from whole cloth, and so I expect it can benefit from a great deal of constructive criticism. In particular, I'm working to develop citations, which are skeletal at best, at present. (Most of this is material I learned during the course of my own education in economics and the law--it's pretty fundamental stuff, and so not the kind you'd generally attribute to any particular source.)

I also deleted a couple of sentences that erroneously suggested that private property cannot be held by more than one person. In fact, there are several kinds of joint property recognized in Anglo-American law. I suspect the author meant to distinguish private ownership from, for example, nationalized property, which, in theory, is owned by the public at large, which, of course, is a valid distinction, but the statement as written was inaccurate. [[User:QBeam]] 3:45 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

: Oops, I just realized that my cut-and-pasting didn't copy in the footnotes. I'm out of time at this minute, but I'll add them shortly...bear with me. [[User:QBeam]] 3:50 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

== Private property = single owner ==

The definition for private property and ownership type, in American law, DOES state that only one person can absolutely own private property. Any other interpretation is not supported by the authorities.

If you wish to use another law system, please specify it.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:20, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: Joint ownership is a well established aspect of American property law. It is generally divided into two categories: "joint tenancy" and "tenancy-in-common." The principle distinction between the two relates to the rights of the cotenants as against one another. It may be that you're use of the term "absolutely" is calculated to advert to that fact, since, in either case, the cotenants do have at least some duty to one another. That, however, does not render joint ownership something less than (or other than) private property. See, e.g., Joint Ownership and Alienability, International Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2003), pp. 75-100. [[Uswer:QBeam]] 4:58 (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

You are in error with respect to American law. "Joint ownership" never refers to private property. If I may direct your attention to the LEGAL DEFINITION, estate (real and personal property) is held with qualified ownership by two or more persons OR when the ownership is limited in any fashion. In contrast PRIVATE PROPERTY is absolutely owned by an individual. The U.S. constitution specifically protects private property ownership, while not extending any protection to estate. Similarly, state constitutions delegate taxing power over estate but do not refer to private property. (see Ad Valorem Taxation)
As long as you fail to comprehend the distinction, you will mix apples and oranges.

: Your comments are sufficiently alien to what I was taught in law school that I don't believe unsourced assertions can advance the discussion any further. If you wish to persist in your contentions, please provide citations to whatever authority you believe support them. Please don't construe this as a personal attack; I'm simply pointing out that it is obvious that we are each opperating from a number of assumptions (or, at least using definitions)that the other does not accept. Rational debate can't procede to conclusions until we are agreed on our premises. [[User:QBeam]] 6:35PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007.

:: What you were taught in law school and what the law states may well be in conflict. However, if Black's Law dictionary (Westlaw publishing) is not a reputable source, then please present ONE CITATION that refutes it.
:: You claim private property is NOT absolutely owned by an individual. Westlaw disagrees. You claim "all land" is real estate. Westlaw disagrees. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:58, 27 November 2007 (EST)

::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:00, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== Socialist entitlements ==
According to the Congressional Research Service, all entitlements are "gifts" from Congress. There are no property rights (absolute or qualified) in charity from the public treasury. It would be misleading to state otherwise.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:34, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==
I've added this section to augment the importance of absolute ownership. Without a doubt, the average American is kept ignorant of the distinctions of absolute ownership. Substituting joint ownership into the definition for private property is not supported by secular nor sacred authorities.

In Genesis 26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

In other nations, where the people are subject citizens, they may be denied the right to absolutely own. For example, in the British Commonwealth, the monarch is the sovereign, and all property in private hands is held with qualified ownership. Failure to comply will result in loss of property.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:43, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: As I noted above, you're simply mistaken to contend that joint ownership is not a well recognized principle in the American legal system. There was something of a controversy over the concept in the 19th Century, though mostly in Europe, which I believe was largely driven by the role of property ownership in maintaining social class distinctions. See, e.g., Private Common Property Rights, Elinor Ostram, Indiana University, 2000. There is also some academic criticism of joint ownership, because it reduces alienability (thereby increasing transaction costs, and impeding reallocation of property to it's most efficient use). Even at the height of the controversy, though, there has never been any legal bar against joint ownership.

: The argument about "absolute ownership" is circular, and, in any event, contrary to the reality of property law. No ownership is "absolute." Much as it galls me, one's right to own property (in both Britain and the U.S.) is contingent upon the continued payment of property tax (in the case of real estate, anyway), avoiding illegal use of the property (in the case of personalty), and so forth. In short, you're venting about how you'd like things to be, rather than accurately describing how they really are. [[User:QBeam]] 5:32PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

:: You are mistaken. Joint ownership may be legally recognized. But it is not recognized as ownership of private property. Private property IS a recognized legal principle in American law. Therefore, your conclusions are not supported by the authorities cited herein.
:: PRIVATE PROPERTY - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such property as belongs '''absolutely''' to an '''individual''', and of which he has the exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as houses, lands, and chattels. - - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

:: First, do not assume European definitions of land ownership are in force and effect. European nations never recognized absolute ownership of property by commoners. Second, at the founding of the nation, the sovereignty of the people was recognized by the government. Third, sovereignty and property are inseparable. A sovereign without land has nothing to be sovereign over. Fourth, there are NO tax levies on private property. All ad valorem taxes are levied on estate - ''which is not private property''. I challenge you to produce ONE constitutional clause that delegates the power to tax private property in the U.S.A. Fifth, no state requires the recording of private property transactions. Only "real estate" transactions are recorded.

::Assuming that "all land" is real estate is not supported by the legal definitions.
:::LAND. ... The land is one thing, and the ''estate in land is another thing'', for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time. - - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

::Land can be '''absolutely owned''' as '''private property'''.
::OR
::Land can be held with qualified ownership as estate ''(real estate a.k.a. real property)''.

::Failure to recognize the difference may lead one to make erroneous conclusions.
::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:06, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY? ==

DOMINION - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect
control in right of ownership. The word implies both title and
possession and appears to require a complete retention of control over
disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

SOVEREIGN - "...Having undisputed right to make decisions and act
accordingly".
New Webster's Dictionary And Thesaurus, p. 950.

SOVEREIGN - A person, body or state in which independent and supreme
authority is vested...
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1395.

SOVEREIGNTY - ...By "Sovereignty", in its largest sense is meant
supreme, absolute, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern.
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1396.

WHO IS SOVEREIGN?

"Government is not Sovereignty. Government is the machinery or
expedient for expressing the will of the sovereign power."
City of Bisbee v. Cochise County,
78 P. 2d 982, 986, 52 Ariz. 1

"People are supreme, not the state."
Waring v. the Mayor of Savanah, 60 GA at 93.

"The people of the state, as the successors of its former sovereign,
are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the king by
his own prerogative."
Lansing v. Smith, (1829) 4 Wendell 9, (NY)

"At the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people and they
are truly the sovereigns of the country."
Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 440, 463

These citations show that the servant government recognizes that American people are sovereign over government. And sovereignty and property are inseparable. A king without land is merely a traveling prince.

We can infer that for an individual to exercise his sovereign prerogatives, he must absolutely own his domain. That is why it is a common error to presume that joint ownership or any other form of collective ownership fits with "private property".
In fact, any other form of ownership that is NOT absolute nor by an individual is NOT private property.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 17:33, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Known sources of confusion ==
To the majority of Americans, the notion that their real estate is NOT private property is immediately dismissed out of hand. However, if one takes the time to investigate further, by directly reading constitutional delegations of authority to tax, and other references to property, one will find that only estate (real estate / real property) is subject to "property taxes".

Example:

'''Georgia Constitution''', Art. 7, Sec. 1, Taxing Authority

Paragraph II. Taxing power limited.

(a) The annual levy of state '''ad valorem''' taxes on tangible property for all purposes, except for defending the state in an emergency, shall not exceed one-fourth mill on each dollar of the assessed value of the property.

Paragraph III. Uniformity; classification of property; assessment of agricultural land; utilities.

(c) Tangible '''real property''', but no more than 2,000 acres of any single property owner, which is devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes shall be assessed for ad valorem taxation purposes at 75 percent of the value which other tangible '''real property''' is assessed.

NOTE: The Georgia constitution only mentions real property as subject to taxation.

In contrast, when referring to private property:

SECTION III.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Paragraph I. Eminent domain. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Paragraph, '''private property''' shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid.

(b) When '''private property''' is taken or damaged by the state or the counties or municipalities of the state for public road or street purposes, or for public transportation purposes, or for any other public purposes as determined by the General Assembly, just and adequate compensation therefor need not be paid until the same has been finally fixed and determined as provided by law; but such just and adequate compensation shall then be paid in preference to all other obligations except bonded indebtedness.

NOTE: Private property cannot be taken without just compensation. However, real property may be taken for failure to pay taxes, and no compensation is due.

'''Texas Constitution:'''
ARTICLE 8 - TAXATION AND REVENUE
Sec. 1. EQUALITY AND UNIFORMITY; TAX IN PROPORTION TO
VALUE; TAXATION OF TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE PROPERTY;
OCCUPATION TAXES; INCOME TAX; EXEMPTION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.

(a) Taxation shall be equal and uniform.

(b) All '''real property''' and tangible personal property in this State, unless exempt as required or permitted by this
Constitution, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law.

NOTE: The Texas constitution states that all real and personal property is subject to their taxing power.

Interestingly, there IS one brief mention of "private property" in the Texas Constitution:

In Article 11- Sec.12, Texas Constitution

Sec. 12. EXPENDITURES FOR RELOCATION OR REPLACEMENT OF SANITATION SEWER OR WATER LATERALS ON '''PRIVATE PROPERTY'''.

The legislature by general law may authorize a city or town to expend public funds for the relocation or replacement of sanitation sewer laterals or water laterals on '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' if the relocation or replacement is done in conjunction with or immediately following the replacement or relocation of sanitation sewer mains or water mains serving the property. The law must authorize the city or town to affix, with the '''CONSENT OF THE OWNER''' of the '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''', a lien on the property for the cost of relocating or replacing the laterals on the property and must provide that the cost shall be assessed against the property with repayment by the property owner to be amortized over a period not to exceed five years at a rate of interest to be set as provided by the law. The lien may not be enforced until after five years have expired since the date the lien was affixed.

Without consent of the owner, the State or local government cannot affix a lien, nor assess against the private property, nor compel repayment. In short, private property and its owner is NOT subject to their authority. However, you may correctly assume that REAL ESTATE owners would not be asked for consent before a lien would be placed against their property for assessments.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:39, 27 November 2007 (EST)

==Clarification, please==
Can you clarify what this says, and what this means, please:
*''Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. ''
[[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 16:54, 9 December 2007 (EST)
: Based on the Declaration of Independence, governments (in America) are instituted to secure rights (life, liberty, private property).
::''(Pursuing happiness on someone else's property requires their permission, therefore to fully exercise freedom one must be upon one's own private property.)''
:Private property is defined as absolute ownership. Ergo, it is not a privilege granted by government, but a preexisting right SECURED by government. From the religious viewpoint, Genesis asserts that God gave man "dominion" (absolute ownership) over the earth. Since it is impossible for a group to absolutely own, it implies individual ownership of the earth - that which each individual acquires by his harmless activities in support of his life, etc. Though "Eminent Domain" is put forth as proof that the collective State has absolute ownership, the caveat is that the government has to pay just compensation. Ergo, the government has a limited claim, under the excuse that such taking is for the collective good, and must provide the owner with compensation.
:Coincidentally, if you carefully examine State constitutions regarding their delegation of authority to tax, you will only find reference to "real and personal property" ''(a.k.a. estate)''. There is no delegation of authority to tax private property. In fact, if there WAS a tax on private property, and the taxing authority took the property for non-payment of taxes, it would then be liable to pay just compensation to the owner (See Fifth Amendment).
:The next question is - ''Why are people registering their private property as taxable estate?'' Ask your friendly officer of the court (real estate lawyer) who writes up your title deed, "for $1 in hand..." Then examine the 7th amendment about the requirement that the value in question exceed 20 dollars U.S. before your RIGHT to a trial by jury under the rules of the COMMON LAW are secured. Perhaps "someone" doesn't wish Americans to have any public evidence that they can seek recourse under the rules of the common law.
:--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 19:43, 9 December 2007 (EST)

Talk:Private property

2007-12-10T01:03:47Z

Jetgraphics: /* Clarification, please */

I've added a definition section, and a significant section on the purpose of private property. This is my first attempt at creating what is substantially an entire article from whole cloth, and so I expect it can benefit from a great deal of constructive criticism. In particular, I'm working to develop citations, which are skeletal at best, at present. (Most of this is material I learned during the course of my own education in economics and the law--it's pretty fundamental stuff, and so not the kind you'd generally attribute to any particular source.)

I also deleted a couple of sentences that erroneously suggested that private property cannot be held by more than one person. In fact, there are several kinds of joint property recognized in Anglo-American law. I suspect the author meant to distinguish private ownership from, for example, nationalized property, which, in theory, is owned by the public at large, which, of course, is a valid distinction, but the statement as written was inaccurate. [[User:QBeam]] 3:45 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

: Oops, I just realized that my cut-and-pasting didn't copy in the footnotes. I'm out of time at this minute, but I'll add them shortly...bear with me. [[User:QBeam]] 3:50 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

== Private property = single owner ==

The definition for private property and ownership type, in American law, DOES state that only one person can absolutely own private property. Any other interpretation is not supported by the authorities.

If you wish to use another law system, please specify it.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:20, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: Joint ownership is a well established aspect of American property law. It is generally divided into two categories: "joint tenancy" and "tenancy-in-common." The principle distinction between the two relates to the rights of the cotenants as against one another. It may be that you're use of the term "absolutely" is calculated to advert to that fact, since, in either case, the cotenants do have at least some duty to one another. That, however, does not render joint ownership something less than (or other than) private property. See, e.g., Joint Ownership and Alienability, International Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2003), pp. 75-100. [[Uswer:QBeam]] 4:58 (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

You are in error with respect to American law. "Joint ownership" never refers to private property. If I may direct your attention to the LEGAL DEFINITION, estate (real and personal property) is held with qualified ownership by two or more persons OR when the ownership is limited in any fashion. In contrast PRIVATE PROPERTY is absolutely owned by an individual. The U.S. constitution specifically protects private property ownership, while not extending any protection to estate. Similarly, state constitutions delegate taxing power over estate but do not refer to private property. (see Ad Valorem Taxation)
As long as you fail to comprehend the distinction, you will mix apples and oranges.

: Your comments are sufficiently alien to what I was taught in law school that I don't believe unsourced assertions can advance the discussion any further. If you wish to persist in your contentions, please provide citations to whatever authority you believe support them. Please don't construe this as a personal attack; I'm simply pointing out that it is obvious that we are each opperating from a number of assumptions (or, at least using definitions)that the other does not accept. Rational debate can't procede to conclusions until we are agreed on our premises. [[User:QBeam]] 6:35PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007.

:: What you were taught in law school and what the law states may well be in conflict. However, if Black's Law dictionary (Westlaw publishing) is not a reputable source, then please present ONE CITATION that refutes it.
:: You claim private property is NOT absolutely owned by an individual. Westlaw disagrees. You claim "all land" is real estate. Westlaw disagrees. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:58, 27 November 2007 (EST)

::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:00, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== Socialist entitlements ==
According to the Congressional Research Service, all entitlements are "gifts" from Congress. There are no property rights (absolute or qualified) in charity from the public treasury. It would be misleading to state otherwise.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:34, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==
I've added this section to augment the importance of absolute ownership. Without a doubt, the average American is kept ignorant of the distinctions of absolute ownership. Substituting joint ownership into the definition for private property is not supported by secular nor sacred authorities.

In Genesis 26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

In other nations, where the people are subject citizens, they may be denied the right to absolutely own. For example, in the British Commonwealth, the monarch is the sovereign, and all property in private hands is held with qualified ownership. Failure to comply will result in loss of property.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:43, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: As I noted above, you're simply mistaken to contend that joint ownership is not a well recognized principle in the American legal system. There was something of a controversy over the concept in the 19th Century, though mostly in Europe, which I believe was largely driven by the role of property ownership in maintaining social class distinctions. See, e.g., Private Common Property Rights, Elinor Ostram, Indiana University, 2000. There is also some academic criticism of joint ownership, because it reduces alienability (thereby increasing transaction costs, and impeding reallocation of property to it's most efficient use). Even at the height of the controversy, though, there has never been any legal bar against joint ownership.

: The argument about "absolute ownership" is circular, and, in any event, contrary to the reality of property law. No ownership is "absolute." Much as it galls me, one's right to own property (in both Britain and the U.S.) is contingent upon the continued payment of property tax (in the case of real estate, anyway), avoiding illegal use of the property (in the case of personalty), and so forth. In short, you're venting about how you'd like things to be, rather than accurately describing how they really are. [[User:QBeam]] 5:32PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

:: You are mistaken. Joint ownership may be legally recognized. But it is not recognized as ownership of private property. Private property IS a recognized legal principle in American law. Therefore, your conclusions are not supported by the authorities cited herein.
:: PRIVATE PROPERTY - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such property as belongs '''absolutely''' to an '''individual''', and of which he has the exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as houses, lands, and chattels. - - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

:: First, do not assume European definitions of land ownership are in force and effect. European nations never recognized absolute ownership of property by commoners. Second, at the founding of the nation, the sovereignty of the people was recognized by the government. Third, sovereignty and property are inseparable. A sovereign without land has nothing to be sovereign over. Fourth, there are NO tax levies on private property. All ad valorem taxes are levied on estate - ''which is not private property''. I challenge you to produce ONE constitutional clause that delegates the power to tax private property in the U.S.A. Fifth, no state requires the recording of private property transactions. Only "real estate" transactions are recorded.

::Assuming that "all land" is real estate is not supported by the legal definitions.
:::LAND. ... The land is one thing, and the ''estate in land is another thing'', for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time. - - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

::Land can be absolutely owned as '''private property'''.
::OR
::Land can be held with qualified ownership as ''estate'' (real estate aka real property).

::Failure to recognize the difference may lead one to make erroneous conclusions.
::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:06, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY? ==

DOMINION - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect
control in right of ownership. The word implies both title and
possession and appears to require a complete retention of control over
disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

SOVEREIGN - "...Having undisputed right to make decisions and act
accordingly".
New Webster's Dictionary And Thesaurus, p. 950.

SOVEREIGN - A person, body or state in which independent and supreme
authority is vested...
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1395.

SOVEREIGNTY - ...By "Sovereignty", in its largest sense is meant
supreme, absolute, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern.
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1396.

WHO IS SOVEREIGN?

"Government is not Sovereignty. Government is the machinery or
expedient for expressing the will of the sovereign power."
City of Bisbee v. Cochise County,
78 P. 2d 982, 986, 52 Ariz. 1

"People are supreme, not the state."
Waring v. the Mayor of Savanah, 60 GA at 93.

"The people of the state, as the successors of its former sovereign,
are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the king by
his own prerogative."
Lansing v. Smith, (1829) 4 Wendell 9, (NY)

"At the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people and they
are truly the sovereigns of the country."
Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 440, 463

These citations show that the servant government recognizes that American people are sovereign over government. And sovereignty and property are inseparable. A king without land is merely a traveling prince.

We can infer that for an individual to exercise his sovereign prerogatives, he must absolutely own his domain. That is why it is a common error to presume that joint ownership or any other form of collective ownership fits with "private property".
In fact, any other form of ownership that is NOT absolute nor by an individual is NOT private property.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 17:33, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Known sources of confusion ==
To the majority of Americans, the notion that their real estate is NOT private property is immediately dismissed out of hand. However, if one takes the time to investigate further, by directly reading constitutional delegations of authority to tax, and other references to property, one will find that only estate (real estate / real property) is subject to "property taxes".

Example:

'''Georgia Constitution''', Art. 7, Sec. 1, Taxing Authority

Paragraph II. Taxing power limited.

(a) The annual levy of state '''ad valorem''' taxes on tangible property for all purposes, except for defending the state in an emergency, shall not exceed one-fourth mill on each dollar of the assessed value of the property.

Paragraph III. Uniformity; classification of property; assessment of agricultural land; utilities.

(c) Tangible '''real property''', but no more than 2,000 acres of any single property owner, which is devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes shall be assessed for ad valorem taxation purposes at 75 percent of the value which other tangible '''real property''' is assessed.

NOTE: The Georgia constitution only mentions real property as subject to taxation.

In contrast, when referring to private property:

SECTION III.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Paragraph I. Eminent domain. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Paragraph, '''private property''' shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid.

(b) When '''private property''' is taken or damaged by the state or the counties or municipalities of the state for public road or street purposes, or for public transportation purposes, or for any other public purposes as determined by the General Assembly, just and adequate compensation therefor need not be paid until the same has been finally fixed and determined as provided by law; but such just and adequate compensation shall then be paid in preference to all other obligations except bonded indebtedness.

NOTE: Private property cannot be taken without just compensation. However, real property may be taken for failure to pay taxes, and no compensation is due.

'''Texas Constitution:'''
ARTICLE 8 - TAXATION AND REVENUE
Sec. 1. EQUALITY AND UNIFORMITY; TAX IN PROPORTION TO
VALUE; TAXATION OF TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE PROPERTY;
OCCUPATION TAXES; INCOME TAX; EXEMPTION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.

(a) Taxation shall be equal and uniform.

(b) All '''real property''' and tangible personal property in this State, unless exempt as required or permitted by this
Constitution, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law.

NOTE: The Texas constitution states that all real and personal property is subject to their taxing power.

Interestingly, there IS one brief mention of "private property" in the Texas Constitution:

In Article 11- Sec.12, Texas Constitution

Sec. 12. EXPENDITURES FOR RELOCATION OR REPLACEMENT OF SANITATION SEWER OR WATER LATERALS ON '''PRIVATE PROPERTY'''.

The legislature by general law may authorize a city or town to expend public funds for the relocation or replacement of sanitation sewer laterals or water laterals on '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' if the relocation or replacement is done in conjunction with or immediately following the replacement or relocation of sanitation sewer mains or water mains serving the property. The law must authorize the city or town to affix, with the '''CONSENT OF THE OWNER''' of the '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''', a lien on the property for the cost of relocating or replacing the laterals on the property and must provide that the cost shall be assessed against the property with repayment by the property owner to be amortized over a period not to exceed five years at a rate of interest to be set as provided by the law. The lien may not be enforced until after five years have expired since the date the lien was affixed.

Without consent of the owner, the State or local government cannot affix a lien, nor assess against the private property, nor compel repayment. In short, private property and its owner is NOT subject to their authority. However, you may correctly assume that REAL ESTATE owners would not be asked for consent before a lien would be placed against their property for assessments.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:39, 27 November 2007 (EST)

==Clarification, please==
Can you clarify what this says, and what this means, please:
*''Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. ''
[[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 16:54, 9 December 2007 (EST)
: Based on the Declaration of Independence, governments (in America) are instituted to secure rights (life, liberty, private property).
::''(Pursuing happiness on someone else's property requires their permission, therefore to fully exercise freedom one must be upon one's own private property.)''
:Private property is defined as absolute ownership. Ergo, it is not a privilege granted by government, but a preexisting right SECURED by government. From the religious viewpoint, Genesis asserts that God gave man "dominion" (absolute ownership) over the earth. Since it is impossible for a group to absolutely own, it implies individual ownership of the earth - that which each individual acquires by his harmless activities in support of his life, etc. Though "Eminent Domain" is put forth as proof that the collective State has absolute ownership, the caveat is that the government has to pay just compensation. Ergo, the government has a limited claim, under the excuse that such taking is for the collective good, and must provide the owner with compensation.
:Coincidentally, if you carefully examine State constitutions regarding their delegation of authority to tax, you will only find reference to "real and personal property" ''(a.k.a. estate)''. There is no delegation of authority to tax private property. In fact, if there WAS a tax on private property, and the taxing authority took the property for non-payment of taxes, it would then be liable to pay just compensation to the owner (See Fifth Amendment).
:The next question is - ''Why are people registering their private property as taxable estate?'' Ask your friendly officer of the court (real estate lawyer) who writes up your title deed, "for $1 in hand..." Then examine the 7th amendment about the requirement that the value in question exceed 20 dollars U.S. before your RIGHT to a trial by jury under the rules of the COMMON LAW are secured. Perhaps "someone" doesn't wish Americans to have any public evidence that they can seek recourse under the rules of the common law.
:--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 19:43, 9 December 2007 (EST)

Talk:Private property

2007-12-10T00:57:57Z

Jetgraphics: /* Biblical source for absolute ownership */

I've added a definition section, and a significant section on the purpose of private property. This is my first attempt at creating what is substantially an entire article from whole cloth, and so I expect it can benefit from a great deal of constructive criticism. In particular, I'm working to develop citations, which are skeletal at best, at present. (Most of this is material I learned during the course of my own education in economics and the law--it's pretty fundamental stuff, and so not the kind you'd generally attribute to any particular source.)

I also deleted a couple of sentences that erroneously suggested that private property cannot be held by more than one person. In fact, there are several kinds of joint property recognized in Anglo-American law. I suspect the author meant to distinguish private ownership from, for example, nationalized property, which, in theory, is owned by the public at large, which, of course, is a valid distinction, but the statement as written was inaccurate. [[User:QBeam]] 3:45 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

: Oops, I just realized that my cut-and-pasting didn't copy in the footnotes. I'm out of time at this minute, but I'll add them shortly...bear with me. [[User:QBeam]] 3:50 EST, Nov. 19, 2007

== Private property = single owner ==

The definition for private property and ownership type, in American law, DOES state that only one person can absolutely own private property. Any other interpretation is not supported by the authorities.

If you wish to use another law system, please specify it.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:20, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: Joint ownership is a well established aspect of American property law. It is generally divided into two categories: "joint tenancy" and "tenancy-in-common." The principle distinction between the two relates to the rights of the cotenants as against one another. It may be that you're use of the term "absolutely" is calculated to advert to that fact, since, in either case, the cotenants do have at least some duty to one another. That, however, does not render joint ownership something less than (or other than) private property. See, e.g., Joint Ownership and Alienability, International Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2003), pp. 75-100. [[Uswer:QBeam]] 4:58 (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

You are in error with respect to American law. "Joint ownership" never refers to private property. If I may direct your attention to the LEGAL DEFINITION, estate (real and personal property) is held with qualified ownership by two or more persons OR when the ownership is limited in any fashion. In contrast PRIVATE PROPERTY is absolutely owned by an individual. The U.S. constitution specifically protects private property ownership, while not extending any protection to estate. Similarly, state constitutions delegate taxing power over estate but do not refer to private property. (see Ad Valorem Taxation)
As long as you fail to comprehend the distinction, you will mix apples and oranges.

: Your comments are sufficiently alien to what I was taught in law school that I don't believe unsourced assertions can advance the discussion any further. If you wish to persist in your contentions, please provide citations to whatever authority you believe support them. Please don't construe this as a personal attack; I'm simply pointing out that it is obvious that we are each opperating from a number of assumptions (or, at least using definitions)that the other does not accept. Rational debate can't procede to conclusions until we are agreed on our premises. [[User:QBeam]] 6:35PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007.

:: What you were taught in law school and what the law states may well be in conflict. However, if Black's Law dictionary (Westlaw publishing) is not a reputable source, then please present ONE CITATION that refutes it.
:: You claim private property is NOT absolutely owned by an individual. Westlaw disagrees. You claim "all land" is real estate. Westlaw disagrees. --[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:58, 27 November 2007 (EST)

::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:00, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== Socialist entitlements ==
According to the Congressional Research Service, all entitlements are "gifts" from Congress. There are no property rights (absolute or qualified) in charity from the public treasury. It would be misleading to state otherwise.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:34, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==
I've added this section to augment the importance of absolute ownership. Without a doubt, the average American is kept ignorant of the distinctions of absolute ownership. Substituting joint ownership into the definition for private property is not supported by secular nor sacred authorities.

In Genesis 26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

In other nations, where the people are subject citizens, they may be denied the right to absolutely own. For example, in the British Commonwealth, the monarch is the sovereign, and all property in private hands is held with qualified ownership. Failure to comply will result in loss of property.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 16:43, 19 November 2007 (EST)

: As I noted above, you're simply mistaken to contend that joint ownership is not a well recognized principle in the American legal system. There was something of a controversy over the concept in the 19th Century, though mostly in Europe, which I believe was largely driven by the role of property ownership in maintaining social class distinctions. See, e.g., Private Common Property Rights, Elinor Ostram, Indiana University, 2000. There is also some academic criticism of joint ownership, because it reduces alienability (thereby increasing transaction costs, and impeding reallocation of property to it's most efficient use). Even at the height of the controversy, though, there has never been any legal bar against joint ownership.

: The argument about "absolute ownership" is circular, and, in any event, contrary to the reality of property law. No ownership is "absolute." Much as it galls me, one's right to own property (in both Britain and the U.S.) is contingent upon the continued payment of property tax (in the case of real estate, anyway), avoiding illegal use of the property (in the case of personalty), and so forth. In short, you're venting about how you'd like things to be, rather than accurately describing how they really are. [[User:QBeam]] 5:32PM (EST) Nov. 27, 2007

:: You are mistaken. Joint ownership may be legally recognized. But it is not recognized as ownership of private property. Private property IS a recognized legal principle in American law. Therefore, your conclusions are not supported by the authorities cited herein.
:: PRIVATE PROPERTY - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such property as belongs '''absolutely''' to an '''individual''', and of which he has the exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as houses, lands, and chattels. - - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

:: First, do not assume European definitions of land ownership are in force and effect. European nations never recognized absolute ownership of property by commoners. Second, at the founding of the nation, the sovereignty of the people was recognized by the government. Third, sovereignty and property are inseparable. A sovereign without land has nothing to be sovereign over. Fourth, there are NO tax levies on private property. All ad valorem taxes are levied on estate - ''which is not private property''. I challenge you to produce ONE constitutional clause that delegates the power to tax private property in the U.S.A. Fifth, no state requires the recording of private property transactions. Only "real estate" transactions are recorded.

::Assuming that "all land" is real estate is not supported by the legal definitions.
:::LAND. ... The land is one thing, and the ''estate in land is another thing'', for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time. - - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

::Land can be absolutely owned as '''private property'''.
::OR
::Land can be held with qualified ownership as ''estate'' (real estate aka real property).

::Failure to recognize the difference may lead one to make erroneous conclusions.
::--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:06, 27 November 2007 (EST)

== WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY? ==

DOMINION - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect
control in right of ownership. The word implies both title and
possession and appears to require a complete retention of control over
disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

SOVEREIGN - "...Having undisputed right to make decisions and act
accordingly".
New Webster's Dictionary And Thesaurus, p. 950.

SOVEREIGN - A person, body or state in which independent and supreme
authority is vested...
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1395.

SOVEREIGNTY - ...By "Sovereignty", in its largest sense is meant
supreme, absolute, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern.
Black's Law Dictionary Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1396.

WHO IS SOVEREIGN?

"Government is not Sovereignty. Government is the machinery or
expedient for expressing the will of the sovereign power."
City of Bisbee v. Cochise County,
78 P. 2d 982, 986, 52 Ariz. 1

"People are supreme, not the state."
Waring v. the Mayor of Savanah, 60 GA at 93.

"The people of the state, as the successors of its former sovereign,
are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the king by
his own prerogative."
Lansing v. Smith, (1829) 4 Wendell 9, (NY)

"At the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people and they
are truly the sovereigns of the country."
Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 440, 463

These citations show that the servant government recognizes that American people are sovereign over government. And sovereignty and property are inseparable. A king without land is merely a traveling prince.

We can infer that for an individual to exercise his sovereign prerogatives, he must absolutely own his domain. That is why it is a common error to presume that joint ownership or any other form of collective ownership fits with "private property".
In fact, any other form of ownership that is NOT absolute nor by an individual is NOT private property.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 17:33, 19 November 2007 (EST)

== Known sources of confusion ==
To the majority of Americans, the notion that their real estate is NOT private property is immediately dismissed out of hand. However, if one takes the time to investigate further, by directly reading constitutional delegations of authority to tax, and other references to property, one will find that only estate (real estate / real property) is subject to "property taxes".

Example:

'''Georgia Constitution''', Art. 7, Sec. 1, Taxing Authority

Paragraph II. Taxing power limited.

(a) The annual levy of state '''ad valorem''' taxes on tangible property for all purposes, except for defending the state in an emergency, shall not exceed one-fourth mill on each dollar of the assessed value of the property.

Paragraph III. Uniformity; classification of property; assessment of agricultural land; utilities.

(c) Tangible '''real property''', but no more than 2,000 acres of any single property owner, which is devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes shall be assessed for ad valorem taxation purposes at 75 percent of the value which other tangible '''real property''' is assessed.

NOTE: The Georgia constitution only mentions real property as subject to taxation.

In contrast, when referring to private property:

SECTION III.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Paragraph I. Eminent domain. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Paragraph, '''private property''' shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid.

(b) When '''private property''' is taken or damaged by the state or the counties or municipalities of the state for public road or street purposes, or for public transportation purposes, or for any other public purposes as determined by the General Assembly, just and adequate compensation therefor need not be paid until the same has been finally fixed and determined as provided by law; but such just and adequate compensation shall then be paid in preference to all other obligations except bonded indebtedness.

NOTE: Private property cannot be taken without just compensation. However, real property may be taken for failure to pay taxes, and no compensation is due.

'''Texas Constitution:'''
ARTICLE 8 - TAXATION AND REVENUE
Sec. 1. EQUALITY AND UNIFORMITY; TAX IN PROPORTION TO
VALUE; TAXATION OF TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE PROPERTY;
OCCUPATION TAXES; INCOME TAX; EXEMPTION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.

(a) Taxation shall be equal and uniform.

(b) All '''real property''' and tangible personal property in this State, unless exempt as required or permitted by this
Constitution, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law.

NOTE: The Texas constitution states that all real and personal property is subject to their taxing power.

Interestingly, there IS one brief mention of "private property" in the Texas Constitution:

In Article 11- Sec.12, Texas Constitution

Sec. 12. EXPENDITURES FOR RELOCATION OR REPLACEMENT OF SANITATION SEWER OR WATER LATERALS ON '''PRIVATE PROPERTY'''.

The legislature by general law may authorize a city or town to expend public funds for the relocation or replacement of sanitation sewer laterals or water laterals on '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' if the relocation or replacement is done in conjunction with or immediately following the replacement or relocation of sanitation sewer mains or water mains serving the property. The law must authorize the city or town to affix, with the '''CONSENT OF THE OWNER''' of the '''PRIVATE PROPERTY''', a lien on the property for the cost of relocating or replacing the laterals on the property and must provide that the cost shall be assessed against the property with repayment by the property owner to be amortized over a period not to exceed five years at a rate of interest to be set as provided by the law. The lien may not be enforced until after five years have expired since the date the lien was affixed.

Without consent of the owner, the State or local government cannot affix a lien, nor assess against the private property, nor compel repayment. In short, private property and its owner is NOT subject to their authority. However, you may correctly assume that REAL ESTATE owners would not be asked for consent before a lien would be placed against their property for assessments.
--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:39, 27 November 2007 (EST)

==Clarification, please==
Can you clarify what this says, and what this means, please:
*''Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. ''
[[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 16:54, 9 December 2007 (EST)
: Based on the Declaration of Independence, governments (in America) are instituted to secure rights (life, liberty, private property).
::(Pursuing happiness on someone else's property requires their permission, therefore to fully exercise freedom one must be upon one's own private property)
:Private property is absolute ownership. Ergo, it is not a privilege granted by government, but a preexisting right SECURED by government. From the religious viewpoint, Genesis asserts that God gave man "dominion" (absolute ownership) over the earth. Since it is impossible for a group to absolutely own, it implies individual ownership of the earth - that which each individual acquires by his harmless activities in support of his life, etc.
:Coincidentally, if you carefully examine State constitutions regarding their delegation of authority to tax, you will only find reference to "real and personal property" (a.k.a. estate). There is no delegation of authority to tax private property. In fact, if there WAS a tax on private property, and the taxing authority took the property for non-payment of taxes, it would then be liable to pay just compensation to the owner (See Fifth Amendment).
:The next question is - ''Why are people registering their private property as taxable estate?'' Ask your friendly officer of the court (real estate lawyer) who writes up your title deed, "for $1 in hand..." Then examine the 7th amendment about the requirement that the value in question exceed 20 dollars U.S. before your RIGHT to a trial by jury under the rules of the COMMON LAW are secured. Perhaps "someone" doesn't wish Americans to have any public evidence that they can seek recourse under the rules of the common law.
:--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 19:43, 9 December 2007 (EST)

Talk:Private property

2007-12-10T00:53:32Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Private property

2007-12-10T00:52:33Z

Jetgraphics:

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Exposition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Estate in property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to qualified ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref> Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Definitions ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217</ref>

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106</ref>

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
<ref>Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486</ref>

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877</ref>

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263</ref>

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547</ref>

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812</ref>

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485</ref>

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Talk:Private property

2007-12-10T00:47:51Z

Jetgraphics: /* Clarification, please */

Talk:Private property

2007-12-10T00:43:13Z

Jetgraphics: /* Clarification, please */

Private property

2007-12-09T00:05:25Z

Jetgraphics:

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Definition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Estate in property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to qualified ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref> Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Definitions ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217</ref>

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106</ref>

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
<ref>Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486</ref>

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877</ref>

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263</ref>

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547</ref>

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812</ref>

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485</ref>

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Private property

2007-12-09T00:03:35Z

Jetgraphics: /* Citations */

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Definition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Estate in property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to qualified ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref> Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Citations ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217</ref>

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106</ref>

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
<ref>Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486</ref>

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877</ref>

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263</ref>

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547</ref>

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812</ref>

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485</ref>

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref>Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Private property

2007-12-09T00:01:04Z

Jetgraphics: /* Ownership */

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Definition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Estate in property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to qualified ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
<ref> Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218</ref>

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Citations ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Democracy

2007-12-08T23:59:41Z

Jetgraphics:

[[Image:Elekcja Wola.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The free election of Augustus II at Wola, outside Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1697, painted by Bernardo Bellotto.]]
'''Democracy''' is a form of government. The origin of the term is [[Greek]], from the words ''demos'' (people) and ''kratos'' (strength). Although many forms of government fall under this broad classification, the defining characteristic of a democracy is that the citizenry of a nation indirectly exercise sovereignty.

The United States of America is guaranteed a [[republican form of government]]. However, their legislatures are an example of a democracy, in which the majority vote of the legislators enact law. The execution of those laws is by a separate branch of government, whose officers are appointed by the chief executive officer (president or governor). In parliamentary democracies, the executive and legislative branches are not separate.

Although a number of societies have practiced some form of democracy, the concept as it is understood today was invented in ancient [[Athens]], where citizens (not women or slaves) were allowed to vote in the Assembly which made the laws of the city-state. But however certain [[tribe]]s and most [[band societies]] such as the [[bushmen]] organised themselves using different forms of participatory democracy or consensus democracy. <ref>http://law.cua.edu/ComparativeLaw/Iroquois/</ref>

== Debate over the merits of democracy ==

While a [[direct democracy]] in the manner of the Athenians is probably infeasible in a modern [[nation-state]] comprised of millions of [[citizens]], there continues to be debate among conservatives as to whether [[representative democracy]] is a desirable system. [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], who could be considered the father of both modern democracy and [[totalitarianism]], believed that in a democracy the government should be guided only by what he called the [[General Will]]. Other thinkers of the [[French]] [[Enlightenment]] described a [[republic]] as a system in which the law applies equally to the government and the people, a concept abbreviated in the [[21st century]] by the phrase [[rule of law]]. Most contemporary thinkers would identify [[universal suffrage]] and the right of any citizen to argue for a change in existing law as desirable features of democracy; but there is some question as to whether the rule of law can be indefinitely sustained in a system with these features. [[Thomas Jefferson]] believed that it could so long as the people were educated, and thus devoted his post-presidency to founding the [[University of Virginia]]. Nonetheless, property continued to be a proxy for education throughout the [[antebellum period]] and Jefferson's home state of [[Virginia]] only abolished [[property qualifications for voting]] in 1851, years after any other state. Another famous American said that a republic could last until "the people find out they have the right to vote themselves funds from the public treasury," an explicit criticism of the [[welfare state]], which most conservatives feel is an abuse of the [[U. S. Constitution]]'s [[Necessary and Proper Clause]].

Democracy may have its problems; an uneducated populace, for example, is the bane of any democracy, since unless people know what they need, they can not properly elect people to serve these needs. Other problems emerge from a capricious electorate, which caused [[Winston Churchill]] to remark that, "Democracy is the worst form of government... except for all the other forms that have been tried," a quote which eloquently notes that, despite its problems, democracy almost universally provides for peace and prosperity.

== Evolution of Anglo-American democracy ==
In the [[United States]], the current system of representative democracy evolved as a result of six major reforms:

# The [[American Revolution]] which severed ties with the King of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and endowed the people with the sovereign prerogatives that formerly belonged to the monarchy.
# The [[U. S. Constitution]]'s creation of the [[House of Representatives]], a Federal government entity elected directly by the citizens, and retention of [[federalism]], the right of individual [[states]] to govern themselves and make their own laws.
# The abolition of property qualifications for white male voters. This process, which was accomplished at the state level, took between 1820 and 1851 and is also known as [[Jacksonian Democracy]].
# The [[Fifteenth Amendment]], which extended the [[franchise]] to former [[slaves]].
# The [[Seventeenth Amendment]], which caused [[Senator|Senators]] to be elected directly by the citizens (they retained their six-year terms).
# The [[Nineteenth Amendment]], which extended the franchise to [[women]].

Of the six, the one which inspires the most opposition today is probably the Seventeenth Amendment, as the [[Founders]] explicitly intended [[state]] [[legislatures]] to choose U. S. Senators. Historically, however, the Fifteenth Amendment inspired the most opposition. Indeed, every state of the former [[Confederacy]] circumvented the Fifteenth Amendment between the end of [[Reconstruction]] and the passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], considered the ultimate guarantee of that Amendment. One of the principal means whereby it was circumvented was the creation of [[educational qualifications for voting]], which the 1965 act outlawed, according to interpretations of the [[Supreme Court]]. The other principal means was the [[poll tax]], which was outlawed in 1964 by the [[Twenty-Fourth Amendment]].

In the [[United Kingdom]] during the same period of time, there were also six major reforms in the direction of democracy:

# The [[1832 Reform Act]], which gave representation to the new [[industrial]] cities for the first time.
# The [[1867 Reform Act]].
# The [[1884 Reform Act]].
# The [[1911 Parliament Act]], which ended the ability of the [[House of Lords]] to rein in spending by the [[Commons]].
# The [[1918 Reform Act]], which made suffrage universal among males and extended it to women 30 years of age or older.
# The [[1928 Reform Act]], which equalized voting ages for male and female at 21.

It is noteworthy that it took the British 84 years to complete the process of abolishing property qualifications for voting (the first three Acts lowered the threshold incrementally) and that they only began to do so after Jacksonian Democracy emerged in the United States.

While none of these Acts has sustained a serious movement for repeal, historically the one which inspired the strongest opposition was the 1911 Parliament Act. Not surprisingly, this opposition came from the House of Lords, the last body of unelected people to retain any legislative power in the British system. Ultimately, the bill passed only after King [[George V]] promised to create an unlimited number of new [[peers]] in order to pass it.

The United States, United Kingdom, and other [[common law countries]] mostly utilize a [[first past the post system]] for elections. This limits the number of [[political parties]] and helps to stabilize the system, in contrast to democracies which use [[proportional representation]] such as [[Italy]], [[Germany]], [[France]], and [[Israel]], which have at times had over 10 parties represented in their [[legislatures]]. The latter system tends to increase the power of the [[political left]], although the [[Labour Party]] in Britain was able to edge out the [[centrist]] [[Liberal Party]] as the chief opposition to the [[Conservative Party]] as a result of the first five of the reforms listed above, without discarding the traditional system of elections.

==References==

'''DEMOCRACY''' - That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and
is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a
system of representation, as distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy, or
oligarchy."
<Ref> Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, P. 432</Ref>

<References/>

[[Category:Forms of Government]]

Democracy

2007-12-08T23:57:09Z

Jetgraphics: /* References */

[[Image:Elekcja Wola.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The free election of Augustus II at Wola, outside Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1697, painted by Bernardo Bellotto.]]
'''Democracy''' is a form of government. The origin of the term is [[Greek]], from the words ''demos'' (people) and ''kratos'' (strength). Although many forms of government fall under this broad classification, the defining characteristic of a democracy is that the citizenry of a nation indirectly exercise sovereignty.

The United States of America is guaranteed a [[republican form of government]]. However, their legislatures are an example of a democracy, in which the majority vote of the legislators enact law. The execution of those laws is by a separate branch of government, whose officers are appointed by the chief executive officer (president or governor). In parliamentary democracies, the executive and legislative branches are not separate.

Although a number of societies have practiced some form of democracy, the concept as it is understood today was invented in ancient [[Athens]], where citizens (not women or slaves) were allowed to vote in the Assembly which made the laws of the city-state. But however certain [[tribe]]s and most [[band societies]] such as the [[bushmen]] organised themselves using different forms of participatory democracy or consensus democracy. <ref>http://law.cua.edu/ComparativeLaw/Iroquois/</ref>

== Debate over the merits of democracy ==

While a [[direct democracy]] in the manner of the Athenians is probably infeasible in a modern [[nation-state]] comprised of millions of [[citizens]], there continues to be debate among conservatives as to whether [[representative democracy]] is a desirable system. [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], who could be considered the father of both modern democracy and [[totalitarianism]], believed that in a democracy the government should be guided only by what he called the [[General Will]]. Other thinkers of the [[French]] [[Enlightenment]] described a [[republic]] as a system in which the law applies equally to the government and the people, a concept abbreviated in the [[21st century]] by the phrase [[rule of law]]. Most contemporary thinkers would identify [[universal suffrage]] and the right of any citizen to argue for a change in existing law as desirable features of democracy; but there is some question as to whether the rule of law can be indefinitely sustained in a system with these features. [[Thomas Jefferson]] believed that it could so long as the people were educated, and thus devoted his post-presidency to founding the [[University of Virginia]]. Nonetheless, property continued to be a proxy for education throughout the [[antebellum period]] and Jefferson's home state of [[Virginia]] only abolished [[property qualifications for voting]] in 1851, years after any other state. Another famous American said that a republic could last until "the people find out they have the right to vote themselves funds from the public treasury," an explicit criticism of the [[welfare state]], which most conservatives feel is an abuse of the [[U. S. Constitution]]'s [[Necessary and Proper Clause]].

Democracy may have its problems; an uneducated populace, for example, is the bane of any democracy, since unless people know what they need, they can not properly elect people to serve these needs. Other problems emerge from a capricious electorate, which caused [[Winston Churchill]] to remark that, "Democracy is the worst form of government... except for all the other forms that have been tried," a quote which eloquently notes that, despite its problems, democracy almost universally provides for peace and prosperity.

== Evolution of Anglo-American democracy ==
In the [[United States]], the current system of representative democracy evolved as a result of six major reforms:

# The [[American Revolution]] which severed ties with the King of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and endowed the people with the sovereign prerogatives that formerly belonged to the monarchy.
# The [[U. S. Constitution]]'s creation of the [[House of Representatives]], a Federal government entity elected directly by the citizens, and retention of [[federalism]], the right of individual [[states]] to govern themselves and make their own laws.
# The abolition of property qualifications for white male voters. This process, which was accomplished at the state level, took between 1820 and 1851 and is also known as [[Jacksonian Democracy]].
# The [[Fifteenth Amendment]], which extended the [[franchise]] to former [[slaves]].
# The [[Seventeenth Amendment]], which caused [[Senator|Senators]] to be elected directly by the citizens (they retained their six-year terms).
# The [[Nineteenth Amendment]], which extended the franchise to [[women]].

Of the six, the one which inspires the most opposition today is probably the Seventeenth Amendment, as the [[Founders]] explicitly intended [[state]] [[legislatures]] to choose U. S. Senators. Historically, however, the Fifteenth Amendment inspired the most opposition. Indeed, every state of the former [[Confederacy]] circumvented the Fifteenth Amendment between the end of [[Reconstruction]] and the passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], considered the ultimate guarantee of that Amendment. One of the principal means whereby it was circumvented was the creation of [[educational qualifications for voting]], which the 1965 act outlawed, according to interpretations of the [[Supreme Court]]. The other principal means was the [[poll tax]], which was outlawed in 1964 by the [[Twenty-Fourth Amendment]].

In the [[United Kingdom]] during the same period of time, there were also six major reforms in the direction of democracy:

# The [[1832 Reform Act]], which gave representation to the new [[industrial]] cities for the first time.
# The [[1867 Reform Act]].
# The [[1884 Reform Act]].
# The [[1911 Parliament Act]], which ended the ability of the [[House of Lords]] to rein in spending by the [[Commons]].
# The [[1918 Reform Act]], which made suffrage universal among males and extended it to women 30 years of age or older.
# The [[1928 Reform Act]], which equalized voting ages for male and female at 21.

It is noteworthy that it took the British 84 years to complete the process of abolishing property qualifications for voting (the first three Acts lowered the threshold incrementally) and that they only began to do so after Jacksonian Democracy emerged in the United States.

While none of these Acts has sustained a serious movement for repeal, historically the one which inspired the strongest opposition was the 1911 Parliament Act. Not surprisingly, this opposition came from the House of Lords, the last body of unelected people to retain any legislative power in the British system. Ultimately, the bill passed only after King [[George V]] promised to create an unlimited number of new [[peers]] in order to pass it.

The United States, United Kingdom, and other [[common law countries]] mostly utilize a [[first past the post system]] for elections. This limits the number of [[political parties]] and helps to stabilize the system, in contrast to democracies which use [[proportional representation]] such as [[Italy]], [[Germany]], [[France]], and [[Israel]], which have at times had over 10 parties represented in their [[legislatures]]. The latter system tends to increase the power of the [[political left]], although the [[Labour Party]] in Britain was able to edge out the [[centrist]] [[Liberal Party]] as the chief opposition to the [[Conservative Party]] as a result of the first five of the reforms listed above, without discarding the traditional system of elections.

==References==

'''DEMOCRACY''' - That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and
is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a
system of representation, as distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy, or
oligarchy."
<Ref>- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, P. 432<Ref/>

<References/>

[[Category:Forms of Government]]

Sovereignty

2007-12-08T23:55:45Z

Jetgraphics:

'''Sovereignty''' refers to independent [[legal]] authority over a population in a particular territory, based on the recognized right to self-determination.<ref>Almond, Gabriel A. ''Comparative Politics Today: A World View''. New York: Pearson, 2004.</ref>

'''SOVEREIGNTY''' - ...By "Sovereignty", in its largest sense is meant supreme,
absolute, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern.
<ref> Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1396.</ref>

<references/>

[[Category:Government]]

Democracy

2007-12-08T23:50:36Z

Jetgraphics: /* References */

[[Image:Elekcja Wola.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The free election of Augustus II at Wola, outside Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1697, painted by Bernardo Bellotto.]]
'''Democracy''' is a form of government. The origin of the term is [[Greek]], from the words ''demos'' (people) and ''kratos'' (strength). Although many forms of government fall under this broad classification, the defining characteristic of a democracy is that the citizenry of a nation indirectly exercise sovereignty.

The United States of America is guaranteed a [[republican form of government]]. However, their legislatures are an example of a democracy, in which the majority vote of the legislators enact law. The execution of those laws is by a separate branch of government, whose officers are appointed by the chief executive officer (president or governor). In parliamentary democracies, the executive and legislative branches are not separate.

Although a number of societies have practiced some form of democracy, the concept as it is understood today was invented in ancient [[Athens]], where citizens (not women or slaves) were allowed to vote in the Assembly which made the laws of the city-state. But however certain [[tribe]]s and most [[band societies]] such as the [[bushmen]] organised themselves using different forms of participatory democracy or consensus democracy. <ref>http://law.cua.edu/ComparativeLaw/Iroquois/</ref>

== Debate over the merits of democracy ==

While a [[direct democracy]] in the manner of the Athenians is probably infeasible in a modern [[nation-state]] comprised of millions of [[citizens]], there continues to be debate among conservatives as to whether [[representative democracy]] is a desirable system. [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], who could be considered the father of both modern democracy and [[totalitarianism]], believed that in a democracy the government should be guided only by what he called the [[General Will]]. Other thinkers of the [[French]] [[Enlightenment]] described a [[republic]] as a system in which the law applies equally to the government and the people, a concept abbreviated in the [[21st century]] by the phrase [[rule of law]]. Most contemporary thinkers would identify [[universal suffrage]] and the right of any citizen to argue for a change in existing law as desirable features of democracy; but there is some question as to whether the rule of law can be indefinitely sustained in a system with these features. [[Thomas Jefferson]] believed that it could so long as the people were educated, and thus devoted his post-presidency to founding the [[University of Virginia]]. Nonetheless, property continued to be a proxy for education throughout the [[antebellum period]] and Jefferson's home state of [[Virginia]] only abolished [[property qualifications for voting]] in 1851, years after any other state. Another famous American said that a republic could last until "the people find out they have the right to vote themselves funds from the public treasury," an explicit criticism of the [[welfare state]], which most conservatives feel is an abuse of the [[U. S. Constitution]]'s [[Necessary and Proper Clause]].

Democracy may have its problems; an uneducated populace, for example, is the bane of any democracy, since unless people know what they need, they can not properly elect people to serve these needs. Other problems emerge from a capricious electorate, which caused [[Winston Churchill]] to remark that, "Democracy is the worst form of government... except for all the other forms that have been tried," a quote which eloquently notes that, despite its problems, democracy almost universally provides for peace and prosperity.

== Evolution of Anglo-American democracy ==
In the [[United States]], the current system of representative democracy evolved as a result of six major reforms:

# The [[American Revolution]] which severed ties with the King of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and endowed the people with the sovereign prerogatives that formerly belonged to the monarchy.
# The [[U. S. Constitution]]'s creation of the [[House of Representatives]], a Federal government entity elected directly by the citizens, and retention of [[federalism]], the right of individual [[states]] to govern themselves and make their own laws.
# The abolition of property qualifications for white male voters. This process, which was accomplished at the state level, took between 1820 and 1851 and is also known as [[Jacksonian Democracy]].
# The [[Fifteenth Amendment]], which extended the [[franchise]] to former [[slaves]].
# The [[Seventeenth Amendment]], which caused [[Senator|Senators]] to be elected directly by the citizens (they retained their six-year terms).
# The [[Nineteenth Amendment]], which extended the franchise to [[women]].

Of the six, the one which inspires the most opposition today is probably the Seventeenth Amendment, as the [[Founders]] explicitly intended [[state]] [[legislatures]] to choose U. S. Senators. Historically, however, the Fifteenth Amendment inspired the most opposition. Indeed, every state of the former [[Confederacy]] circumvented the Fifteenth Amendment between the end of [[Reconstruction]] and the passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], considered the ultimate guarantee of that Amendment. One of the principal means whereby it was circumvented was the creation of [[educational qualifications for voting]], which the 1965 act outlawed, according to interpretations of the [[Supreme Court]]. The other principal means was the [[poll tax]], which was outlawed in 1964 by the [[Twenty-Fourth Amendment]].

In the [[United Kingdom]] during the same period of time, there were also six major reforms in the direction of democracy:

# The [[1832 Reform Act]], which gave representation to the new [[industrial]] cities for the first time.
# The [[1867 Reform Act]].
# The [[1884 Reform Act]].
# The [[1911 Parliament Act]], which ended the ability of the [[House of Lords]] to rein in spending by the [[Commons]].
# The [[1918 Reform Act]], which made suffrage universal among males and extended it to women 30 years of age or older.
# The [[1928 Reform Act]], which equalized voting ages for male and female at 21.

It is noteworthy that it took the British 84 years to complete the process of abolishing property qualifications for voting (the first three Acts lowered the threshold incrementally) and that they only began to do so after Jacksonian Democracy emerged in the United States.

While none of these Acts has sustained a serious movement for repeal, historically the one which inspired the strongest opposition was the 1911 Parliament Act. Not surprisingly, this opposition came from the House of Lords, the last body of unelected people to retain any legislative power in the British system. Ultimately, the bill passed only after King [[George V]] promised to create an unlimited number of new [[peers]] in order to pass it.

The United States, United Kingdom, and other [[common law countries]] mostly utilize a [[first past the post system]] for elections. This limits the number of [[political parties]] and helps to stabilize the system, in contrast to democracies which use [[proportional representation]] such as [[Italy]], [[Germany]], [[France]], and [[Israel]], which have at times had over 10 parties represented in their [[legislatures]]. The latter system tends to increase the power of the [[political left]], although the [[Labour Party]] in Britain was able to edge out the [[centrist]] [[Liberal Party]] as the chief opposition to the [[Conservative Party]] as a result of the first five of the reforms listed above, without discarding the traditional system of elections.

==References==

'''DEMOCRACY''' - That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and
is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a
system of representation, as distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy, or
oligarchy."
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, P. 432

<References/>

[[Category:Forms of Government]]

Democracy

2007-12-08T23:49:11Z

Jetgraphics: Truncated characteristic of democracy to match legal definition

Republican form of government

2007-12-08T23:44:47Z

Jetgraphics: /* Basic concept */

'''The [[Republican]] Form of [[government]]''' is one in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially
delegated. Unlike the democratic form of government, in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the whole body of free [[citizens]], individuals retain sovereign prerogatives over their [[private property]] rights (absolute ownership) of their person, labor and [[property]].

The [[U.S. Constitution]] guarantees a republican form to the states. (See
Art.4,Sec.4)

== Basic concept ==

The Republican form is based on the foundation that people are supreme, and
governments are instituted to help secure their rights to life, liberty and
property. Examples of sovereign prerogatives are the right to defend
[[private property]] with deadly force, right of locomotion (freedom to travel) upon public
roads and waterways, and free exercise of rights and powers.

== Philosophical foundations ==

Some draw from the [[Judeo-Christian]] philosophy that [[God]] granted dominion
(absolute ownership) over the earth to man (see Genesis 1:26), thus sovereignty
follows. Since absolute ownership cannot be exercised collectively, individual
sovereignty is inherent in the endowment. Each man absolutely owns himself, his
labor and fruits of his labor, as well as the land he acquires. This parallels the legal definition for private property, that which is absolutely owned by an individual.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is a common error to assume that a [[republic]] is synonymous with a republican
form of government. Many are misled to assume that the republican form is merely
a populist democracy limited by constitution. In fact, exercising political
liberty ''(voting and holding office)'' requires one to step down in status, changing from the republican form to the democratic form. American citizens are assumed to
have voluntarily accepted obligations and duties associated with democracy that
are inapplicable to the people at large. For example, conscription, if
compulsory, would be a violation of liberty and life. However, in American law,
sovereign people are not subjects to or objects of such impositions - only citizens are obligated.

Another misconception is that elected officials in the legislature are
representatives for the people at large. In fact, they can only represent
constituents, i.e., citizens / voters who gave consent, thus power of attorney
to bind them to obedience. In a republican form, the individual's delegated
representative who exercises power on his behalf, in defense of his life,
liberty or property rights is not the legislature but the appropriate executive officer.
A sheriff, if within a county, is his representative.
Or an ambassador is his representative, if within a foreign nation.

== Essential elements ==

Since property and sovereignty are inseparable, one without property cannot
exercise dominion (sovereignty). Absolute ownership by an individual of land,
houses, and chattels, characterizes private property. [[Private property]] is
protected from being taken for public use without just compensation (see U.S.
Constitution, [[Fifth Amendment]]). To exercise natural liberty, a domicile (legal
permanent home) is essential. Powers and rights are the prerogative of a
sovereign, while privileges and immunities are the prerogatives of a citizen.

== Current Trends ==

Due to the widespread enrollment into Social Security (national socialism),
private property ownership has been practically eradicated within the U.S.A. In
its place, qualified ownership has superseded it. [[Socialism]] (and [[Communism]])
abolish absolute ownership by individuals, and replace it with collective
ownership by society, as a whole. Thus it would appear that the republican form has been supplanted
by the democratic form of government.

== Citations ==

REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the
people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through
representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially
delegated. In re Duncan, 139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 35 L.Ed. 219; Minor v.
Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627.

[[Category: Forms of Government]]

==References==
<references/>

Talk:Democracy

2007-12-08T23:31:15Z

Jetgraphics:

Nothing in the definition of democracy includes "liberal". Lets not get flustered just because democracy and democrat share the same linguistic root. Please feel free to expand the article if you would like to define "liberal democracy".[[User:PKBear|PKBear]] 00:55, 23 March 2007 (EDT)
: Liberal democracy has nothing to do with the Democrats or left-wing politics. I think you're confusing the many meanings of the word 'liberal'. Here, it means the protection of civil liberties, the rights of minorities, freedom of speech etc. I've tried to clear that up in the article. --[[User:Rafa|Rafa]] 09:04, 25 March 2007 (EDT)

The update I made was entirely consistent with other conservapedia pages, ''and'' I cited my references (indeed, I suprisingly had to add the reference tag to the article...). Why was the change reverted?

==Democratic Republic==
I changed the term "representative democracy" to "democratic republic", which means exactly the same thing. I did this because the Founding Fathers did not once use the word "democracy" in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution and it better reflects the ideals that the Founders had in mind when the nation was born.--[[User:Porthos|Porthos]] 14:37, 13 July 2007 (EDT)

== Heretical but more probable ==
Though it's popular to proclaim that the U.S.A. is a "democracy" that is untrue. The U.S. Constitution guarantees a "republican form" to the States. The Federal government, itself, is organized as a constitutional democracy, but the U.S.A. is technically not a democracy. The key difference is founded in the distinction between sovereign powers and how they're exercised.

''"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; ...."''
[United States Constitution, Article 4, Section 4]

'''REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT'''. ''One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially
delegated''. In re Duncan, 139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 35 L.Ed. 219; Minor v.
Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627. - - - Black's Law Dictionary, 4th ed.

This is entirely different from the definition for a democracy:

"'''DEMOCRACY''' - ''That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation, as distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy, or
oligarchy''."
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, P. 432

The distinction is found in the identity of the sovereign power and the means of its exercise.

'''Republican form''' : People are sovereign, and directly exercise sovereignty.

'''Democratic form''' : Whole body of free citizens (collectively) exercise sovereignty, indirectly.

As you can see, the court cites AND the definition of the republican form are congruent. The U.S. governments, Federal and State, admit that the PEOPLE are sovereign.

''Government is not Sovereignty. Government is the machinery or expedient for expressing the will of the sovereign power.''
City of Bisbee v. Cochise County, 78 P. 2d 982, 986, 52 Ariz. 1

WHO are sovereign?

''"People are supreme, not the state."''

Waring v. the Mayor of Savannah, 60 GA at 93.

''"The people of the state, as the successors of its former sovereign, are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the king by his own prerogative."''

Lansing v. Smith, (1829) 4 Wendell 9, (NY)

''"At the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people and they are truly the sovereigns of the country."''

Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dall. 440, 463

''"It will be admitted on all hands that with the exception of the powers granted to the states and the federal government, through the Constitutions, the people of the several states are unconditionally sovereign within their respective states."''

Ohio L. Ins. & T. Co. v. Debolt 16 How. 416, 14 L.Ed. 997

''
In Europe, the executive is almost synonymous with the sovereign power of a State; and generally includes legislative and judicial authority. When, therefore, writers speak of the sovereign, it is not necessarily in exclusion of the judiciary; and it will often be found that when the executive affords a remedy for any wrong, it is nothing more than by an exercise of its judicial authority. Such is the condition of power in that quarter of the world, where it is too commonly acquired by force or fraud, or both, and seldom by compact. In America, however, the case is widely different. Our government is founded upon compact. Sovereignty was, and is, in the people.''

Glass vs The Sloop Betsey, 3 Dall 6 (1794)

''"...While sovereign powers are delegated to ... the government, sovereignty itself remains with the people..."''

Yick Wo vs Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356,370

WHO are not sovereign?

"'''CITIZEN''' - ''... Citizens are members of a political community who, in their associative capacity, have established or submitted themselves to the dominion of government for the promotion of the general welfare and the protection of
their individual as well as collective rights.'' "
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed. p.244

"'''SUBJECT''' - ''One that owes allegiance to a sovereign and is governed by his laws. ...Men in free governments are subjects as well as citizens; as citizens they enjoy rights and franchises; as subjects they are bound to obey the laws. The
term is little used, in this sense, in countries enjoying a '''republican form of government''' .''"
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1425

''"... the term `citizen,' in the United States, is analogous to the term "subject" in the common law; the change of phrase has resulted from the change in government."''
- State v. Manuel, 122 N.C. 122

In essence, though most Americans presume that they're "U.S. citizens" at birth (and obligated to perform), the fact is that freeborn American nationals are people unfettered by compulsory duties. However, they may choose to exercise political liberty (vote and hold office) and drop in legal status, moving from the republican form to the democratic form of government.--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 12:41, 14 November 2007 (EST)

== Discussion of the merits ==

''"Democracy may have its problems; an uneducated populace, for example, is the bane of any democracy, since unless people know what they need, they can not properly elect people to serve these needs."''

: Actually, there is another fundamental flaw - the threat to individual life, liberty and property. Any time a majority can override the minority, or the one, it can result in tyranny.

'' Other problems emerge from a capricious electorate, which caused Winston Churchill to remark that, "Democracy is the worst form of government... except for all the other forms that have been tried," a quote which eloquently notes that, despite its problems, democracy almost universally provides for peace and prosperity.''

: Generally, most Americans are ignorant of the republican form of government, as defined in law. Therefore, they often are misled to argue about forms of democracy which are foreign to the original framework. However, the key feature of the republican form is the sovereignty of the people, and their immunity from depredation by any democratic majority, when it comes to life, liberty and private property. Of course, when the people exercise political liberty, register to vote, and hold public office, they become citizens, subject to the civic duties and obligations inherent with their new status at law.

--[[User:Jetgraphics|Jetgraphics]] 18:31, 8 December 2007 (EST)

Democracy

2007-12-08T23:17:41Z

Jetgraphics: Corrected the "democratic republic" to "republican form". They are mutually exclusive.

[[Image:Elekcja Wola.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The free election of Augustus II at Wola, outside Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1697, painted by Bernardo Bellotto.]]
'''Democracy''' is a form of government. The origin of the term is [[Greek]], from the words ''demos'' (people) and ''kratos'' (strength). Although many forms of government fall under this broad classification, the defining characteristic of a democracy is that the citizenry of a nation decides upon their form of government (usually by voting upon the ratification of a [[constitution]] at long intervals), and at more regular intervals, upon the persons who will make up that government.

The United States of America is guaranteed a [[republican form of government]]. However, their legislatures are an example of a democracy, in which the majority vote of the legislators enact law. The execution of those laws is by a separate branch of government, whose officers are appointed by the chief executive officer (president or governor). In parliamentary democracies, the executive and legislative branches are not separate.

Although a number of societies have practiced some form of democracy, the concept as it is understood today was invented in ancient [[Athens]], where citizens (not women or slaves) were allowed to vote in the Assembly which made the laws of the city-state. But however certain [[tribe]]s and most [[band societies]] such as the [[bushmen]] organised themselves using different forms of participatory democracy or consensus democracy. <ref>http://law.cua.edu/ComparativeLaw/Iroquois/</ref>

== Debate over the merits of democracy ==

While a [[direct democracy]] in the manner of the Athenians is probably infeasible in a modern [[nation-state]] comprised of millions of [[citizens]], there continues to be debate among conservatives as to whether [[representative democracy]] is a desirable system. [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], who could be considered the father of both modern democracy and [[totalitarianism]], believed that in a democracy the government should be guided only by what he called the [[General Will]]. Other thinkers of the [[French]] [[Enlightenment]] described a [[republic]] as a system in which the law applies equally to the government and the people, a concept abbreviated in the [[21st century]] by the phrase [[rule of law]]. Most contemporary thinkers would identify [[universal suffrage]] and the right of any citizen to argue for a change in existing law as desirable features of democracy; but there is some question as to whether the rule of law can be indefinitely sustained in a system with these features. [[Thomas Jefferson]] believed that it could so long as the people were educated, and thus devoted his post-presidency to founding the [[University of Virginia]]. Nonetheless, property continued to be a proxy for education throughout the [[antebellum period]] and Jefferson's home state of [[Virginia]] only abolished [[property qualifications for voting]] in 1851, years after any other state. Another famous American said that a republic could last until "the people find out they have the right to vote themselves funds from the public treasury," an explicit criticism of the [[welfare state]], which most conservatives feel is an abuse of the [[U. S. Constitution]]'s [[Necessary and Proper Clause]].

Democracy may have its problems; an uneducated populace, for example, is the bane of any democracy, since unless people know what they need, they can not properly elect people to serve these needs. Other problems emerge from a capricious electorate, which caused [[Winston Churchill]] to remark that, "Democracy is the worst form of government... except for all the other forms that have been tried," a quote which eloquently notes that, despite its problems, democracy almost universally provides for peace and prosperity.

== Evolution of Anglo-American democracy ==
In the [[United States]], the current system of representative democracy evolved as a result of six major reforms:

# The [[American Revolution]] which severed ties with the King of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and endowed the people with the sovereign prerogatives that formerly belonged to the monarchy.
# The [[U. S. Constitution]]'s creation of the [[House of Representatives]], a Federal government entity elected directly by the citizens, and retention of [[federalism]], the right of individual [[states]] to govern themselves and make their own laws.
# The abolition of property qualifications for white male voters. This process, which was accomplished at the state level, took between 1820 and 1851 and is also known as [[Jacksonian Democracy]].
# The [[Fifteenth Amendment]], which extended the [[franchise]] to former [[slaves]].
# The [[Seventeenth Amendment]], which caused [[Senator|Senators]] to be elected directly by the citizens (they retained their six-year terms).
# The [[Nineteenth Amendment]], which extended the franchise to [[women]].

Of the six, the one which inspires the most opposition today is probably the Seventeenth Amendment, as the [[Founders]] explicitly intended [[state]] [[legislatures]] to choose U. S. Senators. Historically, however, the Fifteenth Amendment inspired the most opposition. Indeed, every state of the former [[Confederacy]] circumvented the Fifteenth Amendment between the end of [[Reconstruction]] and the passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], considered the ultimate guarantee of that Amendment. One of the principal means whereby it was circumvented was the creation of [[educational qualifications for voting]], which the 1965 act outlawed, according to interpretations of the [[Supreme Court]]. The other principal means was the [[poll tax]], which was outlawed in 1964 by the [[Twenty-Fourth Amendment]].

In the [[United Kingdom]] during the same period of time, there were also six major reforms in the direction of democracy:

# The [[1832 Reform Act]], which gave representation to the new [[industrial]] cities for the first time.
# The [[1867 Reform Act]].
# The [[1884 Reform Act]].
# The [[1911 Parliament Act]], which ended the ability of the [[House of Lords]] to rein in spending by the [[Commons]].
# The [[1918 Reform Act]], which made suffrage universal among males and extended it to women 30 years of age or older.
# The [[1928 Reform Act]], which equalized voting ages for male and female at 21.

It is noteworthy that it took the British 84 years to complete the process of abolishing property qualifications for voting (the first three Acts lowered the threshold incrementally) and that they only began to do so after Jacksonian Democracy emerged in the United States.

While none of these Acts has sustained a serious movement for repeal, historically the one which inspired the strongest opposition was the 1911 Parliament Act. Not surprisingly, this opposition came from the House of Lords, the last body of unelected people to retain any legislative power in the British system. Ultimately, the bill passed only after King [[George V]] promised to create an unlimited number of new [[peers]] in order to pass it.

The United States, United Kingdom, and other [[common law countries]] mostly utilize a [[first past the post system]] for elections. This limits the number of [[political parties]] and helps to stabilize the system, in contrast to democracies which use [[proportional representation]] such as [[Italy]], [[Germany]], [[France]], and [[Israel]], which have at times had over 10 parties represented in their [[legislatures]]. The latter system tends to increase the power of the [[political left]], although the [[Labour Party]] in Britain was able to edge out the [[centrist]] [[Liberal Party]] as the chief opposition to the [[Conservative Party]] as a result of the first five of the reforms listed above, without discarding the traditional system of elections.

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Forms of Government]]

User:Jetgraphics

2007-11-28T00:24:19Z

Jetgraphics: New page: Jetgraphics can be contacted at yahoo dot com.

Jetgraphics can be contacted at yahoo dot com.

Talk:Private property

2007-11-28T00:13:50Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-28T00:13:18Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-28T00:12:54Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-28T00:07:26Z

Jetgraphics: /* Biblical source for absolute ownership */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-28T00:05:13Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-28T00:00:32Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-28T00:00:09Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:58:49Z

Jetgraphics: /* Private property = single owner */

Private property

2007-11-27T23:55:11Z

Jetgraphics: /* Definition */ Clarified the type of property to estate

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Definition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Estate in property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to qualified ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Citations ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Private property

2007-11-27T23:51:57Z

Jetgraphics: /* Real Estate */ removed because "real estate" is NOT PRIVATE

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Definition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use). Furthermore, certain legal theorists have posited that certain other legal rights (particularly government entitlement programs) are "new property." In general, "new property" is not property at all; rather, this is a characterization chosen to try to rhetorically convey upon them the constitutional protection for property rights.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Citations ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:49:05Z

Jetgraphics: /* Known sources of confusion */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:43:42Z

Jetgraphics: /* Known sources of confusion */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:39:46Z

Jetgraphics:

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:27:20Z

Jetgraphics: /* Biblical source for absolute ownership */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:24:58Z

Jetgraphics: /* Biblical source for absolute ownership */

Private property

2007-11-27T23:18:31Z

Jetgraphics: /* Definition */ Re iterating the difference between absolute ownership of private property and qualified ownership of estate

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Definition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use).

Private property is distinct from estate (real and personal property) in that it is absolutely owned by an individual. As it is recognized as a constitutionally protected right, it is protected from being taken for public use without just compensation. In contrast, estate is subject to ad valorem taxes and can be taken for public use without just compensation, by condemnation for failure to pay taxes.

No American state or federal government levies a tax upon private property.

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Citations ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Private property

2007-11-27T23:13:39Z

Jetgraphics: /* Citations */

'''Private property''' is a legal term specifically referring to the private ownership of land, houses, chattels, and goods. It is characterized by a single owner with absolute dominion over the property. When two or more owners have a claim or if the ownership is temporary or limited, it is not private property. Private property, in the United States of America, is constitutionally protected by state and federal constitution (see: [[Fifth Amendment]])

== Definition ==

Property ownership refers to a set of legal rights, held by a person (or persons), relating to a particular thing, which together are recognized as possession of that thing. Ownership consists of possession and control over the item. Although the exact scope of that set of rights can vary depending upon the nature of the thing owned, and from legal system to legal system, certain of those rights represent the core of what is generally understood as “ownership.” Chief amongst these is the right to exclude others from the use or enjoyment of the thing owned.

“Alienability,” or the right to sell (or refuse to sell) is also a core property right. To the typical person, the right to use and enjoy a thing is the most valuable aspect of property rights, but the scope of this aspect of property rights varies greatly from legal system to legal system, and even over time, with changes within a given system.

Property has traditionally been divided into two main types, real property and personal property, or personalty. Real property refers to ownership of land, while personalty constitutes all other types of property. In addition, the law recognizes certain kinds of analogous rights to immaterial assets that are sometimes considered property rights, as well. For example, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights are often referred to as “intellectual property,” because they provide the right to exclude others and the right to sell (but, except for trademark, do not necessarily convey an affirmative right for the owner to use).

== Ownership ==

Ownership can be characterized as either absolute or qualified. Absolute ownership is synonymous with sovereignty or dominion. Only upon one's private property can one pursue happiness without consent of another. Everywhere else, one needs permission (license) from the other owner, landlord or custodian, else he commits a trespass. The sovereignty of the people referred to in the [[republican form of government]] (See: Article 4, Section 4, U.S. Constitution), implicitly recognizes that fact. For sovereignty can only be exercised upon land that one has exclusive and absolute power over. Furthermore, the governments of the U.S.A. also recognize absolute ownership of private property. No state or federal government levies a tax upon private property. And private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation (See: Fifth amendment, U.S. Constitution).

In contrast, estate (real and personal property) is subject to taxation.

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

== Biblical source for absolute ownership ==

In Genesis 1:26-28, man is given dominion over the earth, and all that is upon it. In law, dominion means absolute ownership or sovereignty. Since there can be no collective absolute ownership, the only valid conclusion is that individual men are endowed with the birthright to absolutely own themselves, the fruits of their labor, and that which they harmlessly acquire, including land.

== Common misconceptions ==

It is often assumed that all land is real estate. But estate refers to qualified ownership, and not absolute ownership. Land is one thing, an estate in land is another. Estate is an interest in property that is less than title. Thus a "title deed" to estate is not title, but qualified ownership, a temporary or limited possession of the real estate.

Since absolute ownership is a right, not a privilege, no American government has the delegated power to tax private property. All constitutional delegations of taxing authority are limited to real and personal property (i.e., estate).

== Enemies of private property ==

''In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.''
The Communist Manifesto

[[Communism]] and its cousin Socialism, abolish absolute ownership of land, houses, tools, and chattels by private individuals. In its place, qualified ownership of all things by the Collective is instituted. Thus no one can own themselves, their labor, the fruits of that labor, nor even the children they beget.

Collectivists are more akin to pirates, stealing private property from the rightful owners, while ascribing a moral superiority to their thievery. Since moral religions denounce thievery, it's not surprising that Collectivists abhor religion.

== Friends of private property ==

'''CAPITALISM''' - An economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. ''Webster's Dictionary''

Concatenating that with private property, we get: Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals absolutely own the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

A farmer who absolutely owns his farm is a capitalist.
A farmer who does not is a tenant.

== Citations ==

'''PRIVATE PROPERTY''' - As protected from being taken for public uses, is such
property as belongs absolutely to an individual, and of which he has the
exclusive right of disposition. Property of a specific, fixed and tangible
nature, capable of being in possession and transmitted to another, such as
houses, lands, and chattels.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1217

'''OWNERSHIP''' - ... Ownership of property is either absolute or qualified. The
ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion
over it... The ownership is qualified when it is shared with one or more
persons, when the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited, or when the use is
restricted.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p. 1106

'''DOMINION''' - Generally accepted definition of "dominion" is perfect control in
right of ownership. The word implies both title and possession and appears to
require a complete retention of control over disposition. -Sovereignty; as the
dominion of the seas or over a territory.
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Ed., p.486

'''LAND''' - The land is one thing, and the estate in land is another thing, for an estate in land is a time in land or land for a time.
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.877

'''REAL ESTATE''' ".... is synonymous with real property"
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1263

'''REAL PROPERTY''' ... A general term for lands, tenements, heriditaments; which on the death of the owner intestate, passes to his heir."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

'''ESTATE''' - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property. An estate in lands, tenements, and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein."
- - -Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.547

'''INTEREST''' - ...More particularly it means a right to have the advantage of accruing from anything ; any right in the nature of property, but '''less than title'''.
- - - Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.812

'''TITLE''' - "The formal right of ownership of property..."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1485

'''PROPERTY TAX''' - "An ad valorem tax, usually levied by a city or county, on the value of real or personal property that
the taxpayer owns on a specified date."
Black's Law dictionary, sixth ed., p.1218

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[category:Legal terms]]

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:11:51Z

Jetgraphics: /* Biblical source for absolute ownership */

Talk:Private property

2007-11-27T23:11:17Z

Jetgraphics: /* Biblical source for absolute ownership */