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April 09, 2022

Does The West Respect Private Property?

If you respect private property rights then you may find the following story concerning. But first, to be clear, I'm basing my comments on what I found in this video. I probably don't have all the facts, so some caution is advised.

That said, it appears the superyacht Dilbar is currently sitting while seized/detained/arrested in a German shipyard. It is believed to be owned by a Russian oligarch who is subject to sanctions imposed following the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

But it turns out not to be owned by this oligarch. Instead it is owned by his sister, someone who was not even on any sanctions list. But when they discovered this, she was promptly added to the list.

Do you see a problem with any of this? I certainly do. This arbitrary seizure of private property, all of which appears to have been legally acquired and properly owned, can only undermine private property rights across the board. That means you, me, everyone. Russia, China and India will have noticed, and they're likely to respond. Any time you, your country or any friendly country acts in a way disapproved of, they may take what's yours. 'They' in this context means Russia or China acting in reprisal, but farther along, it may mean your own government taking what's yours. We are on a very slippery slope.

In the capitalist system, a system I tend to think once worked fine, owning something is not a crime. That's how communists think. With communism, property is theft. We've slipped so far as a society, we no longer see private property as a linchpin.

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