Editor:

About 70 folks attended Dr. Michael Coffman’s presentation on land use in Wisconsin and America. He mentioned historian John Locke-the whole purpose of government is to protect private property rights, the foundation of liberty and wealth creation.

Jean-Jacque Rousseau regarded private property as evil, and felt that the state should control everything-as in communism.

Thomas Jefferson knew that all power should not emanate from Washington D.C. The model for sustainable governance rests on our God-given unalienable rights, given first to individuals, who then elect a city government, then county government, followed by smaller state and federal governments. The best government is closest to those governed.

Dr. Coffman mentioned these terms: Agenda 21, IUCN (Intern’l Union for Conservation of Nature), Sustainable Development, Smart Growth, Comprehensive Planning, Biodiversity, Global Warming, ICLEI, EcoSpiritualism. These views value nature greater than human activity.

The U.S. Constitution lists 18 tasks to federal government. There are now thousands of tasks, agencies, unelected bureaucrats and layers of mandated regulations for which we pay taxes, fines, fees to comply and penalties when late. Regulators draft more regulations requiring more regulators. Do excessive taxes, lower productivity and a stagnant economy come to mind?

The EPA regulates businesses and industries to the point of bankruptcy. The Department of Energy restricts permitting for natural resources owned by We the People-we all pay more for energy. Regional governance extends beyond your county, but not an entire state, and gives absolute power to non-elected bureaucrats. You may find your personal benefits to your private property have been lost because of regional governance decisions on how your property should be utilized to benefit nature.

In an entitlement society, fewer people aspire to own property, which has a high correlation to economic freedom. The interests of the collective population supersedes individual interests leading to a destabilized society. Coffman mentioned Occupy Wall Street, Progressives and Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals where the ends justify almost any means.

Almost 50 percent of the population either receives government benefits or is in a government job. The other 50 percent of the population must work to support entitlements, jobs and pensions. When all unfunded liabilities are added up, the staggering sum of $118 trillion boggles the mind.

There is pride in ownership. The only way to reduce poverty in any population is through individual private property ownership, where owners use equity in their homes as capital to start small businesses. Access to capital leads to wealth creation, which is why Americans enjoy the highest standard of living in the world.

Shirley Kufeldt, Conover