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“Without property rights there can be no freedom.”
These are the words of Bob Day, whom I had the pleasure of hearing at a recent Australian Adam Smith Club meeting in Melbourne.
A copy of his talk is available HERE.
Bob Day’s talk centered on private land ownership and housing affordability.
As well as presenting many sound economic principles explaining the causes of rising housing prices in Australia, the United States, and elsewhere, Bob Day also made clear the foundational political/philosophical principles underlying the role of private property, and its indispensable role in the development of liberty and democracy.
He quoted the splendid British Historian, Paul Johnson, explaining that:
The connection between political liberty and the individual ownership of property is one of the great certitudes of human society. It is carved in granite where the words “freedom” and “freehold” come from the same root and have interrelated with each other through many centuries.
And here’s another quote from that talk.
This one by William Pitt, The Elder:
The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. His cottage may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter—but the King of England cannot enter. All his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement.
Last week Bob Day spoke on Australia’s ABC Radio National with Alan Saunders.
Here’s the mp3 audio file of that interview: CLICK HERE
June 24, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Is this the same Bob Day who advocates a minimum wage of ZERO DOLLARS – or anything above that the employee can “negotiate” for?
http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/liberals-in-workplace-worry/2007/11/16/1194766965937.html
This LIEberal ideology that says employees are in a position to “negotiate” a satisfactory outcome is a straight-out furphy. Even Mr Inflation, Peter Costello, fresh from the job of federal Treasurer cannot bargain for the outcome he wants.
June 24, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Replying to “WorstChoices” …
July 22, 2008 at 10:47 am
For great discussions on this topic see “The Virtue of Selfishness” and “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal” by Ayn Rand.
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July 23, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Thanks AK.
Good recommendations.
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