Most people believe that ownership is absolute.  You work hard, earn the money to buy something and once you have bought, and paid for it, you own it.  That includes property.  And in the old days, that is exactly how things worked but over the years, the notion of absolute ownership has been watered down.  In the case of property ownership, first through local restrictions and eventually through mandatory memberships in deed restricted developments. 
 
Are these restrictions limited to just property ownership or are there other forces at work to strip Americans of rights and liberties? 
 
On The Commons with us this week is Professor Evan McKenzie.  Evan is the author of Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Private Residential Government, Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Chicago, Law professor at the John Marshall School of Law, a practicing attorney and he still finds time to maintain a blog at http://privatopia.blogspot.com/.  He is a well respected authority, and frequent commentator, on the issues related to homeowner associations.   Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, October 13, 2007.  We'll talk about the big picture, property ownership and the general loss of our civil rights.  We'll talk a little about what is being done and discuss what can be done to protect what's left of our rights.  As always, you'll want to hear what Professor McKenzia has to say.