Liberals and conservatives alike use ideas such as “privacy,” “women’s rights,” “environmentalism,” “civil rights,” etc., etc., to cover what none of them want to discuss: PROPERTY interests!  When the state intrudes into my life, it is not violating my PRIVACY, but my PROPERTY interests.  Of course, those who insist on sanctioning the state must do this.  Focusing upon state action as a violation of one’s property interests would open up the kind of broader inquiry the statists do not want to have raised.  If opening our mail or tapping our phone lines becomes seen as a property violation, what other governmental activities might also be so characterized?

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