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Comment by drapred7 | Hacker News Reader

No one asking a question like that should be allowed to own anything in my country.

Other than saltiness, what's the rationale behind making a statement like that?

Not the person you replied to but my guess is because if your priority is to maintain your authority, instead of doing something useful for society, then maybe you’re unfit for having the authority to begin with?

And this is why the Mexican standoff between the elites and the common people exists. You think that you have a right to dictate when someone can own something or not, so people who own something invest in ensuring that they maintained the right to own something.

What makes you believe that "ownership" is even a meaningful concept in the absence of a social and a legal system that recognizes property?

If you're at the point of trying to install discipline collars on your formerly-hired goons, maybe that 25% capital gains tax rate starts to look pretty reasonable in retrospect.

Are you kidding me? I presume that the referenced poster is an NZ citizen. NZ is a democracy. (S)he has every right to express an opinion about who is able to become a resident or citizen of their country, as well as decide who can own its land. In fact non-NZ residents/citizens are not allowed to buy property in the country.

Just to be clear I think it's a terrible idea for Americans to go to another country, because here in America our founding fathers realized it 243 years ago that a democracy cannot be given all the power at once and that it must be curtailed, that's why they created a Bill of Rights.

> I presume that the reference poster is...

I don't think that the comment I was responding to was talking about New Zealand oh, but a general Democratic principle.

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