Ownership, it would seem, conveys the right to handle one’s property in a responsible manner. However, it appears that what constitutes such a manner is becoming everyone else’s business.
If I do not manicure my property to someone else’s satisfaction, should they have the ability to impose their will on my actions? After all, it’s my property, my tree, my lawn, my house. Shouldn’t I have the right to decide on my house color, removal of a tree, to shingle the house myself, or make changes I desire as long as, in my estimation, I will not be doing harm to anyone else?
One problem we seem to be encountering is the opinion of some that any offense to one’s sensibilities—such as change in appearance, conceivable future complications, or just opinions—conveys the right to interfere, not only on the town and state level, but also on an individual level. Our lives are being interfered with in an increasing number of areas. The proliferation of regulations, fees, and laws makes it eminently clear that we are tripping over each other.
Perhaps the problem results from there being too many of us, living too close together, combined with control tendencies that are resulting in drastic alterations in what have always been regarded as part of our inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
If we are not very careful about the manner in which we interfere with each other, we may eventually find that life here is not much different from life in non-democratic countries that we do not admire.
Alcon Chadwick
Woodside Road
