Amendment III

"No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."

Amendment III is pretty self-explanatory and, at least at present, isn't a worry for most of us today.

Still, it does emphasize the primacy of property rights.

As a matter of modern comfort, we can easily shrug at the Third Amendment. Those who lived during the Revolutionary War and The Civil War didn't have such luxury, and if there is ever a war fought on our domestic soil again, or perhaps even a large scale natural disaster, the Third Amendment will quickly become a topic of immediate interest.

Though it's more relevant to the Second Amendment, it's worth noting that gun owners, on their private property, and in completely legal possession of firearms, had Federal agents confiscate their firearms in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. These people were simply looking to protect their private property from looters, and hadn't left their property and, again, were in completely legal possesion of their arms.

So, the Third Amendment may seem to be an irrelevancy, but all of our freedoms seem to be taken for granted until they are taken away. This process relies completely on viewing your Rights as irrelevancies, so as you find no need for a right to be guaranteed, time will pass.

Eventually, though, the time will come when you've surrendered the right to the past appearance of modern circumstances. Once your decision is distanced by time into the past, you will have no ground to stand on.

Our Rights weren't designed by The Founders to conform solely to modern circumstances, but to ensure a complete and whole system of Freedoms, which takes eventualities into account.

Our Rights are designed to be a system, not a reflection of current, or even long term circumstances.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: WinstonSmith,