Property Rights

Where does our understanding of property rights come from? Very early on a child will say: "Mine" and take the toy away from another child. How did the child get that idea about "mine"? Did the parent teach that concept? Parents usually teach the child to share, yet, still leaving the child with the understanding that the toy is still theirs after play is over. Those who have read our Country's Declaration of Independence recognize that property rights are mentioned with the phrase "pursuit of happiness." So, one might say property rights come from the founding fathers. But, on closer reading, it says that the rights come from our Creator. Where could they have ever come up with that? They got it from Moses, who, in turn, got it from God via the "Ten Commandments." God supports property rights. That is why he made it a sin to steal. He created people with the desire to own property and he fully understands our deep seated desire to retain what is ours. It is in our DNA. God also gave us a heart and this is what we use when we decide to give away some of our property to others. There are many references in the Bible where a person is admonished: "harden not your heart." Love also (from the heart) will motivate a person to share what they have with a spouse and children. While on the campaign stump, Hillary Clinton stated she wanted to take large profits from those that made them and use it for the public good. Barack Obama has stated that he wants to take wealth away from those that have it and distribute it to those that do not have much. Both of these are communist ideas: "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need." Communists do not like the idea of God and do what they can to eradicate religion. A person is his own property, and the abolitionist fought for a long time against slavery which was the idea that one person could own another person. Your life is your own. Being a free people we are able to make choices in our lives. Some people make good choices and others make poor choices. Some people work hard to acquire property, some people work with moderation, some not at all. This being the case, is it any wonder that some people attain more property than others? There is an Arab couple that owns a gas station on a corner of FL17 near here. They open up at 7:00 AM and close at 11:00 PM. The two of them run the whole operation. They are there seven days a week. I presume he is profitable but do not know just how much so. That is a lot of hours and I believe they will acquire more goods than others that do not sacrifice their lives as they do. Who has the guts to go up to them and say: "You have a lot and I want you to give some to my son because he has very little?" Not many people will do that but they will send the government to do it.