The protection of the right of property by the Constitutions is

Question

The protection of the right of property by the Constitutions is tenuous at best. It is true that the Fifth Amendment states that the Government may not take private property for public use without compensation, but it is the government that defines private property.

Which of the following is most likely the point the author is leading up to?

A. Individual rights that are protected by the Supreme Court are secure against government encroachment. 
 B. Private property is neither more nor less than that which the government says is private property. 
 C. The government has no authority to deprive an individual of his liberty. 
 D. No government that acts arbitrarily can be justified. 
 E. The keystone of American democracy is the Constitution.

This is a  CR Butler Question

Check the links to other Butler Projects:

Data Sufficiency Butler  
  Problem Solving Butler  
  Reading Comprehension Butler  
  Data Insights Butler

Matthyrou · Answer

hi, 
the author is saying that the right of protection is thin, ambiguous because on the one hand, fifth amendment is giving right on private property but on tthe other hand, the governement is defining if places are private property or not.
a)we're not speaking about supreme court, wrong
b)right, it's for me what's the author opinion
c)it didn't say this, it didn't say the opposite, wrong
d)it's a bit the opposite of author's opinion, wrong 
e)this is not put into qu. or not, wrong

hari1606 · Answer

I chose D because the passage alludes to the author not being happy with the law currently. Option B says "  Private property is neither more nor less than that which the government says is private property. " Doesn't that mean that whatever the govt is classifying as private party is accurate? If it is accurate, then the law is not  tenous  as mentioned in the question.

SriHari#03 · Answer

I went with option b right away since the author conveys the fact that the right of property by the constitution is tenuous i.e weak, further the author also states that it is the government that defines what private property is(which should have been done by the constitution). Hence we can conclude that the author is leading up to the fact that at the end even if right of property is protected by the constitution (which is weak), it is the government that defines the scope of the definition

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Here we have a question that asks us to draw a conclusion from a set of premises. The author points out that the Constitution provides that the government may not take private property. The irony, according to the author, is that government itself defines what it will classify as private property. We might draw an analogy to a sharing practice among children: You divide the cake and I will choose which piece I want.

The idea behind this wisdom is that this ensures fairness to both parties. The author would say that the Constitution is set up so that the government not only divides (defines property), it chooses (takes what and when it wants).

(A)  is contradicted by this analysis.  (C)  is wide off the mark since the author is discussing property rather than liberty. While the two notions are closely connected in the Constitution, this connection is beyond the scope of this argument.

(D)  is also beyond the scope of the argument. It makes a broad and unqualified claim that is not supported by the text.

(E)  is really vacuous and, to the extent that we try to give it content, it must fail for the same reason as choice (A).

The correct answer is (B).

The protection of the right of property by the Constitutions is

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

The protection of the right of property by the Constitutions is

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards