Fashionable non-conformist

"There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist:
the fashionable non-conformist."

Ayn Rand

The Common Good

"The common good of a collective -- a race, a class, a state -- was the claim and justification of every tyranny ever established over men.

Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive.

Has any act of selfishness ever equaled the carnage perpetrated by disciples of altruism?

Does the fault lie in men's hypocrisy or in the nature of the principle?

The most dreadful butchers were the most sincere. They believed in the perfect society reached through the guillotine and the firing squad. Nobody questioned their right to murder since they were murdering for an altruistic purpose.

It was accepted that man must be sacrificed for other men.

Actors change, but the course of the tragedy remains the same.

A humanitarian who starts with the declarations of love for mankind and ends with a sea of blood. It goes on and will go on so long as men believe that an action is good if it is unselfish.

That permits the altruist to act and forces his victims to bear it. The leaders of collectivist movements ask nothing of themselves. But observe the results."

Ayn Rand

The role of Government

Government is that organization which claims the right to command all individuals to do whatever it desires, and to punish disobedience with loss of property, liberty, and ultimately life. It is nothing more. The fact is not changed by its occasional beneficence. Anderson, Poul

When is a vote not a vote? When it's an AUCTION

This nice chap wrote a letter to the BOP Times complaining about how many letters I have published on the topic of Property Rights.

Here is my Reply


Yes Kevin Newman, property rights do dictate what I have for breakfast. They say I can eat anything I like that belongs to me. Unlike those who do not value their importance and would have a vote on whether they should take 20% of my breakfast or whatever else takes their fancy!

The letters column is 95% full of people demanding a share of one thing or another that belongs to others, and you feel the need to complain about the 5% who point it out! One person opposing the abuse and ignorance of property rights, and it upsets you!

When your grandchildren ask you one day “what are property rights grandad?” perhaps you will reflect on the time you had nothing better to do than complain about one person who campaigned thanklessly to protect your grandchildrens rights to their own property, before you have to look up the meaning of the words in the dictionary in order to answer them. Or will you just say “they are a thing of the past son - Nobody has property rights these days! I don’t know how, but they just slowly disappeared, one at a time, until we had none left! We voted them away, and changed the meaning of words in order to get our hands on other peoples property if we thought we had a better need for it” Now get back in the bread queue!

I see the enemy coming, and I am raising the alarm - but the lure of other peoples money is far more attractive than boring old property rights!

Good luck in the future! - you’ll need it without them!

Tauranga Electical Consumers Trust

Tauranga Electical Consumers Trust

This is the situation


The local power company issued shares to all the people who purchased power from them some years back.

Each year the profits are divided up, and we all get a cheque in the post for about $300
the board of trustees keep 20% of the total profits, and donate them to local charities, which is all very well and good, but recently a bunch of ACT supporters got voted onto the board, and they say that the people should receive 100% of the money, as it is theirs, AND ALL HELL HAS BROKEN LOOSE, with all the charities who receive a handout calling for their blood, and saying that they could not survive without the TECT donations.

TECT have issued a voting paper asking people to:

VOTE BOX A: Stay with the status Quo - that is keep taking 20%

or

VOTE BOX B: Return 100% to thee shareholders

I am quite happy to donate 20%, but that is not the issue.

The vote is WRONG!

They are asking people to vote away the rights of the minority

They are not asking what you wish to do with your cheque, they are asking what you think other people should do with THEIRS.

This is not a VOTE - Its an AUCTION!

Here is my letter on the subject.

*************

I suggest that sooner, rather than later, people start teaching their children and grandchildren about property rights, because by the time they reach adulthood, the way things are going they are going to have very few of them left!

They are in danger of becoming extinct - Just like animals of the past that have been taken for granted while we had them and not protected, property rights are in danger of extinction and cannot survive being abused indefinitely.

Unfortunately there is as much chance of this happening as there is of a Moa turning up and biting my bum, because those who understand the meaning of property rights are almost extinct themselves.

If you think the loss of the Kiwi would be a sorry affair, wait till you lose property rights, and see what your quality of life will be like then!
The pleading and begging of those who stand to lose funding is bad enough, but it doesn't end there! There are those who should know better - businessmen - calling for voters to vote away other peoples right to their own property which is truly shameless.

I do not deny some charities are worthy of the funding, but to achieve something good by doing something BAD first - taking peoples money by FORCE is wrong! - Shame on you for not thinking

If you believe you "are" thinking, then shame on you for chosing to use force upon others to get what you want, and taking their money because you want it!

The voting form is flawed because the TECT charity trustees stand to lose EVERYTHING due to their ignorance of property rights, and if they are as community minded as they say they are, then this has done the community a huge injustice!

In fact it's not a vote - It's an AUCTION of other peoples property

Instead of a majority wins vote, (where the minority have NO RIGHTS), this is how the TECT voting paper should have read:

Do you wish to continue donating 20% to the TECT fund - YES - NO

Do you wish to receive a 100% refund - YES - NO

Do you wish to donate a larger percent of your TECT refund ( Please state Percentage )

If you do not respond to this message, the default is to continue with the 20% donation.

This way nobody is forced to donate anything, however they are given the opportunity to increase their donation, or continue with 20%
With our poor response record to votes, a good number would do nothing, a this makes it easy for TECT to continue to receive DONATIONS (and not resort to robbery)

You want my money then ask me for it - but dont encourage other people to steal it from me! - or don't you care how you come by the money?

For those who need to brush up on property rights I suggest they go to the library and get out one of the biggest-selling novels of all time called Atlas Shrugged.

Do your children and Grandchildren a favour!
Save their property rights now!
Do not vote for A or B