Land of Special Character

Here I intend to take a closer look at the terms; province, state, estate, real estate and property. The core of the project is to determine the etymology and the genesis of these terms in relation to the rights written about property. The conclusion shall illustrate the need to understand property and to gain a new respect for property.

The term "property" came about in the 13th century as a noun to describe someones land of special character. Special in that it wasn't owned directly by the crown, but by an individual citizen. The word "province" came about around the 14th century in very much the same way to denote land ruled by a higher power and means that there is a central power that rules the province. "State", as a polity, means to stand alone and comes from the root word "estate" which is a collective of properties held by an individual. "Real estate" is simply property that cannot be moved.

The period between the 12th and 14th centuries brought these terms into our lexicon and they all pertain to ownership of things with intrinsic value. The reason property was known as land of special character is that it was owned by an individual and not a government. This tells us that there was a sea change that shows how we view ownership of land. The 12th century is the outset of the high middle ages and is known as the beginning of the renaissance. The terms that defined our ownership of land stem from the age of enlightenment.

We need a new renaissance to reiterate the lands of special character.

It seems to me that we've allowed the term "property" to become archaic. This isn't a new tactic as we see anti-gun advocates question the terms used in the Constitution as antiquated and archaic. I needed to weave all of the terms describing land ownership together, to show that we are taking this word for granted. It's a land of special character because you own it, it is no longer public. It becomes your private property and is protected from confiscation without compensation. The Bill of Rights was written into the very beginning of the Constitution to denote their importance to stand the test of time and to never become antiquated.

I was inspired to write this over some trivial act. The other day, I was getting ready to pull out of my driveway and I had to wait for a slow, meandering cellphone zombie walking her dog. As she cleared my driveway she walked her dog right into my front yard. I rolled my window down and told her to not let her dog do its business on my lawn. She replied with the most ignorant retort; "I have bags and will pick it up!" I didn't ask you to pick up your dog's business. I told you to not let it do its business on MY property. I pointed to all of the public lands around us and told her to take her dog there.

I shouldn't have to tell anyone how important property rights are, but when I have to tell people to stop trespassing on and disrespecting my property, we have a real problem in this country.