Why Having Elections Does not Mean You are Free

Communist China has elections. All Communist countries call themselves “democracies” and “people’s republics.” They all have elections.

In the West, we have always assumed that they were “fake” elections and that if they really were “free” societies, it would because their elections would be “fair.”

“Fee Simple“: those are the magic words of freedom.

In free societies, the ones descended from the Anglo-Saxon Common Law, you are not considered “free” unless you own title to your land in “fee simple.”

What does “fee simple” mean?

It means that you have no overlord. You are the lord of your property. You can sell it, subdivide it, modify it, even destroy it. You are sovereign over your own property.

In Communist societies, the “community” decides what you do with your property. Your title deed does not say “fee simple.” Instead, it will something like “in trust” or “fee restricted.”

We have provided a study dedicated to an analysis of land tenure in the Constitution of Communist China. Read it here.

In socialist America, your deed might say that you own your property in “fee simple” but then will add words like “subject to existing easements and zoning restrictions.” That contradicts the meaning of fee simple. It becomes an oxymoron like saying a “sober drunk.”

The county does not represent an HOA. HOA’s are ok if they are voluntary. It becomes “communism” when you are captured without freedom of choice.

On this Independence Day for the nation’s 250th, let us remember that it is not having an election that makes us free. It is the respect for property rights. And that begins with our local government officials.

— JWS, July 4th, 2026