One of those things about rights is that they don't come about because a kindly king granted them to us. This was the whole point about the Glorious Revolution and subsequently the US Constitution. and this includes property rights:
By the "absolute rights" of individuals is meant those which are so in their primary and strictest sense, such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy, whether out of society or in it. The rights of personal security, of personal liberty, and private property do not depend upon the Constitution for their existence. They existed before the Constitution was made, or the government was organized. These are what are termed the "absolute rights" of individuals, which belong to them independently of all government, and which all governments which derive their power from the consent of the governed were instituted to protect.
Ownership of property is an inalienable right - unless of course you're Richard Murphy:
"...tax is a legitimate property right created by law like any other but which happens to belong to the gov't."
To the socialist - and others who believe tyranny is the sole way to order society - property rights are granted by a benign government. And therefore the act of taxation is a right granted to itself by government rather than a fee paid for that government's protection.
This is why socialists like Richard are so very wrong. And so very dangerous.
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