Landowner Legacy - Radio Ads
Radio Ad #1 | Radio Ad #2 | Radio Ad #3 | Radio Ad #4 | Radio Ad #5
Landowner Legacy Radio Ad #1 - The Great Philosopher John Locke
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The great English philosopher, John Locke, argued that the foundation of a free and prosperous society is the right to own and control property.
And when he spoke of property, he didn’t mean just real estate or farmland.
Your property includes the contents of your house, your bank account, and your investments. It also includes all the experience, knowledge, and expertise you possess that you can offer your boss or a prospective employer. If you write a book or invent some handy gadget that makes life easier for everyone, they’ll be your property too.
When people know that their right to own and control property is secure, they invest their time, labour, and money, in a way that will improve their lives. They know the reward for their effort belongs to them. They make wise decisions, which in turn, brings about a more prosperous society for everyone.
In order to have a free and prosperous society then, the right to own and control property has to be respected and protected by law. It’s a simple, basic, foundational principle.
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Landowner Legacy Radio Ad #2 - Property and Prosperity
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If you’re looking for evidence that the right to property is a key ingredient for a prosperous society, take a look at Hong Kong and India. Hong Kong is a special administrative district of China. India is the world’s largest democracy.
In a recent Wall Street Journal Report, more than 150 countries were rated on their level of respect for economic freedom, including a citizens’ right to property. Hong Kong was rated number one in the world. India was rated 124th.
Like Hong Kong, India is experiencing economic growth, especially in the area of information technology, but because of its poor regard for property rights and other economic freedoms, it is shackled by a cumbersome bureaucracy. As a result, India is far behind where it could be, economically.
An important lesson from the study is that living in a democracy and being able to vote, does not automatically result in an enhanced standard of living, or greater national wealth. For that to occur, a country must have laws that protect the property rights of its citizens.
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Landowner Legacy Radio Ad #3 - The Morality of Property
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When we hear the word property, most of us think of real estate or farmland. But the fact is that property also includes the contents of your house, your bank account, your investments, plus all the experience, knowledge, and expertise you possess that you can offer your boss, or a prospective employer. If you write a book or invent some handy gadget they’ll be your property too.
We all know that property has a financial dimension to it, but how many of us ponder the fact that there is a moral consideration to property. The great English writer, John Milton, suggested that property is the basis of moral independence.
What he meant is that when we are good stewards of our property, we at some point have the opportunity of becoming financially self-sufficient—even wealthy. This puts us in a position to voluntarily help other people. And helping the needy is a virtuous thing to do. On the other hand, if we are poor stewards, wasteful of our property and opportunities, we miss our chance at being economically independent, and instead rely on the resources and goodwill of others.
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Landowner Legacy Radio Ad #4 - Property Shapes Human Behaviour
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130 years ago, if we could have flown over Western Canada at 5,000 feet in an airplane to look around, and then done so again this week, the difference in what we see would be startling.
130 years ago the towns and cities we know today; the productive farms and ranches, didn’t exist.
Everything that is different is different because of the way property shapes human behaviour. Property and the development of property, is what motivated the men and women who settled the prairies. It’s what motivates us today.
The word property not only refers to “things” like farmland, houses, and cars, it also refers to the claim we each have to that which is our own. For example, your name is your property. It’s yours. No one can take it away from you.
Similarly, the word property and the concept of property, refers not just to the things we own, but to the rightful claim we each have to retain the ownership of those things.
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Landowner Legacy Radio Ad #5 - Property Shapes Decisions
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Your money is your property, and property is one of the single most significant factors that shapes human behaviour. Property affects how we live; why we work; how we spend.
If the money we spend to buy something is our own money—our own property—we will be careful to get the value we want at the best price. It’s why we haggle over car prices and pay attention to where the sales might be when we go out shopping.
If we spend someone else’s money to buy things—money that is the property of another person— value and cost won’t affect us in the same way as when we spend our own money—when we use our own property to buy things. This is the reason politicians easily invest your tax dollars in businesses they’d never buy shares in with their own money, and why most people would have little difficulty going on a more expensive vacation if the boss said the company they work for will pay for their next holiday.
For every one of us, the principle of property shapes our actions and behaviour.