When don't I have the right to my own property? Ever? If so, why?

Question

This is a broad question, so I will also accept an answer in terms of the below example.

Suppose that, out of paranoia, I buy or otherwise legitimately obtain a truly huge quantity of potable water and hoard it in an abandoned missile silo which I have also bought. Everyone rightly regards me as a lunatic, and I become famous as the water man. But one day, while I am tooling around in my silo, a nuclear apocalypse happens, ruining all the potable water on the continent except for mine. Suddenly thousands of people show up begging for water, demanding it, trying to compromise my silo, etc.

(1) Do I own the water and the silo?
(2) Do I have the right to ask any price I like for the water? (Or not - e.g., only a low price, or free?)
(3) If I am not allowed to ask any price I like for the water, is that because I don't own it or because I don't have the right to ask any price I like for what I own?

Answer 1

As far as I am concerned, your rights are absolute. But many people would differ -- and I would question their grounds for doing so.

Answer 2

Let's hope it never comes to that, and I think that the legal and ethical answers may differ. Legally:
(1) you own them
(2) yes, until someone passes a law against it. it's yours, so you can do whatever you want with it
(3) see (2)

Now here's one for you: Let's say you own a home in New London, CT. You pay taxes on this modest home, and you have no legal problems regarding your house. Now along comes a developer who wants to build something really huge that will generate a lot of tax revenue, way more than you pay on your house. But he wants the city to buy up all the property that he needs for his development, by emminent domain if necessary, and give it to him. Now,
(1) do you own your property?
(2) does emminent domain apply?
(3) how would the Supreme Court of the US rule if in fact the city condemned your property just so they could buy it and give it to a developer? Would they protect your rights?

Answer 3

Well if you live in the US, then the govt would force you to dole out the water at whatever rate they set since they control the power to "ensure state commerce". That's why they can force a farmer not to grow his crops for only himself and his farm.

If the govt is wiped out then you own the silo and the water in it. SInce you owned it before and after the nukes went off. You can ask for whatever you like but I don't think gold or dollars will matter when people are just trying to survive. Water would become to new currence I would suspect. But if you want to trade your valuable water for little slips of green paper ...hey be my guest.

Answer 4

Reminds me of a Twilight Zone show where a man had provided shelter for himself and his family to the scorn of neighbors until there was a holocaust and people sought refuge in his shelter. In your senario the water would not last long in any event, the thousands would take it by force. Ownership of anything is relative. Naked we enter the world and naked we leave it. St. Gregory Nazianzus said that if one has two pairs of shoes he is stealing from the poor. I do not envy the position you posit in your story; it smacks of greed and selfishness and a loss of spiritual integrity. But I suppose your intent is to pose a question: do I own anything? The answer is that you are just the steward for a time and you may not deprive others while you have plenty.

Answer 5

Under the law of the Jungle you own nothing kiss your water goodbye. Ironically only the government and it's agents give you any rights of ownership, if they go it's every man for himself so I would keep stumb about any water and forget the marketing strategy!

Answer 6

You do not have to go to such extremes to demonstrate limits on the power of property.
First of all property is not one right -- it is traditionally thought of as "bundle of rights".
For example if i own a house - i have the following rights:
I can occupy the house, lease, sell, demolish, exclude other people from my property, etc ....
There are MANY possibilities when i can loose one or ALL such rights.
For example if there is search warrant out on me, i loose the right to exclude police.
My neighbor can acquire an easement by necessity if he NEEDS to go through my property to get to his house. Thus i loose the right to exclude him.
My house can be designated a landmark -- then i loose the right to demolish it.
etc etc etc.
There are truly a THOUSANDS of possibilities where i can loose rights to my property.

Answer 7

I believe you have too much time on your hands.

I believe you're worrying about things that are not happening.

I believe you need a course in real estate..........because some of the knowledge that you see varies, yes varies by where you live.

Then you need to study the meaning of Eminent Domaine!

Answer 8

You own it, but you won't have it for long.

2PT'S.