The Post & Email by Kirby Timmons, American Policy Center 10/1/2025
Quick question: Consider these four Rights which are listed in our nation’s Declaration of Independence —
A.) Life
B.) Liberty
C.) Property
D.) Pursuit of Happiness
Now, imagine that you had to give up one of these, which one would it be? This probably seems to be a particularly onerous choice, unlike those ubiquitous Facebook drills that press you to give up one of four of five breakfast foods, right? The answer there is “spam.”
But stick with me here.
Most people would answer something like, “Well, can’t give up Life or Happiness. Liberty, which has lately been so infringed upon, is central to being American. So I guess the winner, meaning, ‘loser,’ Is Property.”
Ok, thanks for playing. And the answer is …
Well, the answer is complicated. Ok, I’m being a little disingenuous. While these words do appear in the Declaration of Independence, the word “property” is not on the list.
Sorry for messing with you.
Confused about “property” and the founding documents of our country? According to Lion Calandra, a Jennings Fellow with The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, we’re all a bit confused about a lot that appears, and especially what doesn’t appear, in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
“58 percent know that Bill Gates is the father of Microsoft,” she says, “but only 2 percent know that James Madison is the father of the Constitution.” Calandra goes on, “a whopping 59 percent can name the Three Stooges, while 41 percent can name the three branches of government.”
Further, it turns out that 90% of Americans who know that the First Amendment relates to free speech.
Which is pretty good when you consider, as Lion adds wryly, “If not for the First Amendment, you might not be reading this essay.”
But, what is “property” really? And why are such arguably mundane things — I.E.: houses, cellphones, my garage door activator — thrown in with vastly important, non-negotiable imponderables such as Life, Liberty and Happiness?
By way of answering, consider this: with today’s increased sensitivity to gender issues, a conflict currently rages over which pronouns people may “identify” with — “he”, “she, “his”, “hers”. However, remind yourself that, without the seemingly simple concept of “property”, such particles of speech as “mine”, “yours”, “his”, “hers” and “ours” would be all but meaningless.
Property, things outside of ourselves, are our primary way of interacting with the world around us.
More:
https://www.thepostemail.com/2025/10/01/property-the-forgotten-right-we-celebrate-on-july-4th/
