Thread: Dirt poor?
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Old 04-06-2004, 12:37 PM   #170
Radar
Constitutional Scholar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Ocala, FL
Posts: 4,006
Quote:
Do you believe that gold has a fixed value? Wouldn't gold mines cause inflation?
Gold doesn't have a fixed value, but the term "dollar" originally was a measurement. It equalled 1/20th of an ounce of gold. Dollar should still equal 1/20th of an ounce of gold. The buying power of that gold depends on the scarcity of gold. It would take one huge gold mine to change the value of gold globally.

Quote:
Due to the unpredictable nature of velocity of circulation targetting inflation with controls on money supply proved hamfisted.
I don't think the velocity with which currency is circulated requires more currency to be minted, although it may cause a need for more sturdy currency; coins instead of paper for instance.

The short answer is "rights come from nature". We're born with them. They can't be bought, sold, traded, taken or given away. Rights are as immutable as gravity. Even if every person on earth voted for gravity to disappear, it would not because it is a natural law. Natural rights are also part of natural law. You have the right to life. Someone may kill you but they have not taken away your right, they have only violated it. You have a right to your property. Someone may steal your property but that doesn't mean you don't have a right to own it. You may live in a country that doesn't protect natural rights or one that actually violates them, but that doesn't mean you don't have the rights.

Some would argue that mineral rights are rights that can be sold, but the term "mineral rights" itself is a misnomer. The actual right in question is the right of ownership. When you own something, it is yours to do with as you wish, whether you do something good with it or something destructive. If I own land, it is mine. I own the land itself. When someone buys so-called "mineral rights" they are not buying rights, they are making a contract with the owner of the land to have permission to keep all minerals on the owner's land but they still have no ownership of the land itself.

Natural rights are a self-evident subset of natural law. They were so important among the founders that they used them as a basis for our government.

If you would like to read a couple of essays on the subject that are far more eloquent than anything I could write I'll post a couple of links. Keep in mind these were written 100+ years ago so while the language might be different, the principles within them are timeless and as fresh today as the day they were written. I'll give you links to pdf files so you can print these and read them at your leisure.

Natural Law by Lysander Spooner

The Law by Frederic Bastiat
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