I’ve been listening to The Power Broker by Robert Caro, and I can’t remember the exact quote but something in his phrasing struck me. He associated the “Old Guard” Republicans with the defense of property rights, sometimes in opposition to human rights.
“Property rights” as they exist today in the US (I can’t claim to speak for other nations) can be traced through law back to Rome. They have a long history that has justified mass deportation, enslavement, and murder of entire continents of people.
Human rights as a secular concept trace their genealogy only back to the 1400s or so in Europe. It could be argued that Jesus preached for human rights in the time of Rome, but the development of his ideas were twisted by the absorption of his church into the Roman power structure through Constantine.
We might view the development of human history through the lens of tension between human rights and property rights. Powerful individuals’ trying to protect (or expand) their claims to land, or people fought wars over their property, expending human lives in the process. Religious leaders have pushed back, insisting on the inherent value of humanity.
Historically law has developed to organize forces around property rights, while religious practice has organized people. Today we live in a world where property rights are ascendant. The Republican party holds property rights absolute, while the Democratic party attempts merely to balance property and human rights. I’m nervous and excited to see how the social media networks that are replacing organized religion will affect these politics.