In his article “Property,” James Madison [...] explains that our right to property is as untouchable as our freedom of speech, press, religion and conscience. In fact, he views the concept of property as fundamental, pertaining to much more than merely our material possessions. In the narrow sense, Madison says, “A man’s land, or merchandize, or money is called his property.” But in a wider sense, “A man has a property in his opinions and the free communication of them … in his religious beliefs … in the safety and liberty of his person … in the free use of his faculties and free choice of the objects on which to employ them.” He then concludes: “[A]s a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.

Read more in: James Madison was right about property rights by Marsha Enright and Gen LaGreca.