In this provocative March 2024 article, Tom DeWeese, founder of the American Policy Center, decries a systematic assault on private property rights as the linchpin of American freedom and prosperity. Framing it as "organized theft" masked by climate change rhetoric, DeWeese argues that government overreach—through eminent domain, conservation mandates, and globalist agendas—erodes individual incentives, fosters tyranny, and risks plunging society into subsistence-level chaos. Drawing on Enlightenment philosopher philosopher John Locke, who influenced the Founding Fathers, he asserts that secure property rights are essential for life and liberty: without them, industriousness withers, and anarchy ensues. James Madison echoed this by equating property with rights, while John Adams warned that desecrating property invites "anarchy and tyranny."
DeWeese traces the threat's evolution from historical ideals to modern encroachments. The Biden administration's Executive Order 14008, "America the Beautiful," targets conserving 30% of U.S. lands by 2030, adding to the federal government's 270 million acres and locking another 680 million from private use. This facilitates land grabs via eminent domain, handing farmland to corporate giants like BlackRock and Vanguard for inefficient wind and solar projects that displace agriculture and bankrupt farmers. Rural areas suffer from dam removals that eliminate water rights, while urban "Smart Growth" policies ban single-family homes in favor of dense public housing. Small businesses face bans on gas stoves, beef, dairy, and pesticides, all under environmental pretexts.
Local and state governments, meant to check federal power, instead collude through regional councils enforcing uniform regulations, rendering elections futile. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, backed by Mike Bloomberg, pushes draconian "zero" targets by 2030 in metropolises like New York and Los Angeles: no private cars, minimal meat or dairy, restricted flights, and limited clothing purchases. Concrete examples abound: Ohio's Egypt Valley Wildlife Refuge spans 28,000 tax-exempt acres, promising jobs but costing locals $8.9 million annually in lost services. In Pataskala, Ohio, a solar plant partially owned by China's LONGI hires 800 but overrides resident opposition, with officials branding dissenters "radicals." Michigan's green energy laws under Governor Gretchen Whitmer centralize control, stripping local veto power.
Cultural indoctrination amplifies the assault. Schools propagate activism via NGOs like "STOP OIL," training youth to block highways, while "DECLARE EMERGENCY" justifies vandalizing art—such as hurling soup at the Mona Lisa or defacing the U.S. Constitution—with cries for "clean air, water, food, and a livable climate." A $1 million libel win by climate scientist Michael Mann against skeptics exemplifies chilling free speech, prompting Senator Ted Cruz's probe into judicial climate bias.
DeWeese warns that top-down schemes—from socialism to the World Economic Forum's "Great Reset"—breed poverty, not progress. True environmental stewardship demands property rights to spur innovation, not fear-driven control. He calls for vigilance to reclaim entrepreneurship and individuality, lest shattered dreams yield to a dystopian "hand-to-mouth survival." This "theft" isn't mere policy; it's an existential unraveling of the American experiment.
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
