Let's see if you can guess who wrote the statement below:
"Land, because of its unique nature and the crucial role it plays in human settlements, cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle in the planning and implementation of development schemes. Social justice, urban renewal and development, the provision of decent dwellings-and healthy conditions for the people can only be achieved if land is used in the interests of society as a whole."
Marx? Lenin? Castro? actually it was none of the above. The statement was issued in June of 1976 during the United Nations Conference on Human Settlement held in Vancouver and is now known as the preamble to the Vancouver Declaration. The intent of this statement is crystal clear in that the United Nations believes private property to be a bad thing, something that runs counter to the common good, a form of anti-social behavior.
For those wondering why the right to own private property is not explicitly granted in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, look no further than the Vancouver Declaration to find the answer.
Pierre Trudeau, the chief architect of Canada's Charter of Rights was a committed socialist who envisioned a Trudeaupian paradise ruled by a benevolent global government made up of people like himself, who were born to govern. and the Vancouver Declaration is one of the blueprints for this brave new world.
If the Vancouver Declaration's avowed goals are realized then one of the securest assets that anyone could own, i.e. real estate could and would be confiscated by the government for "the common good."
It's also interesting to note that the Preamble also states that real estate is a "principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice". In other words, if you are wealthy, then you by definition become an oppressor of the poor. The logical extension of this tautology, of course, is that you need to be relieved of your wealth in order to maintain social justice.
The idea imputed in this statement is that all land should be used for the benefit of "society as a whole", meaning of course, the government.
If for some reason you may have laboured under the impression that government was a benign entity that had your best interest at heart, it would truly be in your best interest to recognize that you have been laboring under a fallacy. The sooner you can rid yourself of this notion, the sooner you can start to take steps to emancipate yourself from this "workers' paradise".
It took nearly 80 years to do away with communism in the Soviet Union only to have it rear its ugly head disguised in lofty statements about the good of society as a whole. as a philosophy it has continuously fallen into disrepute but somehow manages to make a re-appearance, much like the many-headed hydra of mythology.
The important thing to remember about communism and its bastard child, socialism, is that it only benefits those who govern. all others become slaves who are forced to work for the good of society, rather than themselves. History has shown that no matter where this economic system takes hold productivity goes down, overall wealth goes down, while the living standards of those in power goes up. Think about that next time you talk to your Member of Parliament and ask when the Charter of Rights will be amended to guarantee the right to private property. Without that right we are not a free country.
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