English Common Law, the basis of our legal system, held that a man's home is his castle. Of course, in the intervening years of jurisprudence we have come to learn that one's moat is subject to taking as a wetlands area; the internal protection of one's keep may be severely hampered by the restriction of reliable means of self-defense; hanging out one's shingle or standing upon one's own variant of a Speaker's Corner soapbox may result in a fine from the FEC; and now, if the Duke of Sussex wants to add on to his estate by incorporating yours, all he has to do is make an argument to the local council that he can generate more jobs for the peasants and more tax revenue for the crown with your property than you can.
And thus the pursuit of happiness is supplanted by a theory of economic utilitarianism. But even I am shocked by the number of people in the blogosphere asking, "So what was that about watering the tree of liberty Mr. Jefferson?"