Stephanie Henscheid- Sevrin Hiegel

Democracy and Global Diversity-Shadle

French Paper 2
1 October 2013
The Right to Private Property
As it says in Article 17 in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which was
passed by the National Assembly, Property being a sacred and inviolable right, no one can be
deprived of it, unless a legally established public necessity evidently demands it, under the
condition of a just and prior indemnity. All of the citizens of France should have an equal
opportunity to buy private property. Even though this has been passed into law, the poor still
have no way of paying for the property. That is why we need to try to make the land more
affordable for all, so that the right is equally attainable. This can happen through the new system
of taxation where each person is taxed an equal proportion to their income so the new French
Government can make money to function. After a short while and the French Government will
have a little bit of money to get started, the prices of property would not need to be as high
because the government would not need to make as much profit off of the land that was
confiscated from the Nobility and the Clergy. It is critical for the well-being of the new French
Government that we try to attain affordable property for all.
According to the social contract, Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.
The inequality of the people based on whether or not they own property is a solid example of this
quote. Yes, the poor now have the basic Rights of Man and Citizen because of the Declaration,
yet they still do not have any power in how the Government is run. Therefore, the people must
resort to violence because they dont have a vote because they are unable to purchase land.

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Technically, the poor man is free, but he is in chains because he has no power to choose the
quality of his life without a vote in the National Assembly (Liberalism). The overall goal of the
National Assembly is to allow every citizen of France to be able to own private property so that
one day they will be able to make a living off of their land, pay taxes to the government, and help
fulfill the general will of all of France.
After the price of property is lowered by the new, equal system of taxation, and the
citizens of France have saved enough money from paying equal taxes, the citizens will own the
amount of property they wish to, there will no longer be a poor class in France. There may still
be people with less money than others, but they will still have an income and a way of
contributing to the general will of France. On their newly owned private property, all of the
citizens of France will be able to farm or setup business and have a source of income. This will
allow the government to adjust the property taxes, just as they did for the income taxes, where
the amount that the citizens are taxed is based on the amount of property owned (White).
Eventually, there will be enough income coming to the government coming from the new
systems of taxation to get the French Government back on its feet.
Lastly, by allowing everyone the opportunity to buy and own affordable private property,
as well as having the citizens pay equal income and property taxes, with no exemptions, we can
bring France out of the debt we are currently in. In the old system the Nobility and the Clergy
were exempt from most of the taxes while they had an actual income, and the people of the third
estate who didnt have money to begin with were paying all of the taxes. When it came time for
our Government to create new sources of revenue the Nobility and the Clergy refused to pay
more taxes and then the King realized that the third estate has no more money that he can take.

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With all of the citizens making money and paying taxes there will be no more excuses as to why
our government is unable to run and fulfill its duties.
On the other hand, we are currently in a time of great distress and like it is stated in the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in Article 17, people do not have the right to
property if it is deemed and demanded as a public necessity and there is a just compensation set
in place before the confiscation. Therefore, it may not be the best time to be confiscating and
selling the land of the Clergy and the Nobility because of everything else thats going on. Some
would argue that this only causes more unnecessary stress on the Government at this point in
time. There are enough other things going on that are a lot more important, like controlling the
violence of the crowd, and determining how the new government is going to be formed. Trying
to sell and distribute land at this point is excessive, as long as there is a plan of how to sell the
lands once a new system is established.
However, the only way that our Government can do something about the debt we are in is
to sell and create fair taxation on the property and the income from these lands. I agree that we
are in really tough times and there is a lot going on in France, but if we build our new
government on the stable foundations of truth and the general will of everyone the new system
and way of life will sustain France a lot longer than the old defective ways of France. By
changing the taxation systems for both property and income, lowering the price of property for
all, and therefore getting France out of the debt our King got us into by helping the Americans
with their revolution and his overspending in general. Attaining the right to private property that
is affordable is the best thing that can boost the economy in France, because our government will
now have money and our citizens will have money. Everyone will be working towards the
general will of France and living in peace once again.

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Works Cited
Liberalism." Philosophy of Education: An Encyclopedia. London: Routledge, 1996.Credo
Reference. 5 Jan. 2009. Web. 1 Oct. 2013.
White, Eugene N. "The French Revolution and the Politics of Government Finance, 17701815." The Journal of Economic History 55.2 (1995): 227-55. JSTOR. Web. 29 Sept.
2013.

What I worked hard at was not being random in my paper, I was to the point and I
explained points well. I definitely tried to be clearer in my wording, not try to be over fancy in
my writing style. In my counter argument I made sure that I developed it enough before trying to
prove it wrong.