Property Rights Are Human Rights

His reporting and analysis derive from a libertarian philosophy on property rights:

"Property rights get in the way of Other People’s Plans. Governments are beholden to the political winds that happen to be blowing. When the fad is to renew rundown urban neighborhoods, government agencies craft plans to do that. When the fad is to create sales-tax-paying retail centers to help city budgets, they do that, too. Whatever the plan is, it’s far easier to use government police powers to scrape away existing properties than it is to follow the rule of law and the rules of the marketplace and negotiate with people in good faith. Sure, it might be frustrating when a homeowner or small-business owner gets in the way of a project that promises to revive an older part of town. But that’s the price of freedom."

More than just a description of assaults on private property, Abuse of Power is a guidebook on how to challenge powerful governments and big businesses. Chapter 18 is "Fighting Back and Winning."

It includes chapters describing: "Build Broad Coalitions," "Go On the Offensive," "Be Positive, Not Just Reactive," "Don’t Lose Sight of Principles" and "Keep it Simple."

The book ends with lists of organizations and Web sites to help wage the fight and 417 footnotes.
Abuse of Power is a manifesto for taking back the right to property ownership.

As Greenhut says, property rights are human rights.