Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Stand Your Ground


The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail, its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter, the rain may enter -- but the King of England cannot enter; all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!”

William Pitt, 1763 

This is a brilliant description of an Englishman's home is his castle - the Castle Doctrine, on which Anglo-Saxon liberty is largely based. In the American tradition, the principle basically means every owner's absolute sovereignty over his home - and in this it differs both from the monarchical tradition, where a king (even a limited one) is the (nominal) owner of everything (all property titles are derived from the king), and the democratic tradition, where the republic (the state, the nation, the people as a whole) is the absolute and final owner. The remnants of allodial title testify to this glorious tradition - every American is the sovereign and king of his property, and no other king or democratic mob can deprive them of that sacred status. 

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