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A question about property rights

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One Shot Wonder

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  • 2 months later...
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how do we know that ownership is a real thing in the world -- a valid concept -- and not a human invention?

"Ownership" designates a relationship between a person and property necessary for human existence in a social context.

There is no entity out there called "ownership".

Nor can ownership be taken away without (very real) consequences.

Human beings need ownership for the sake of existence in any sort of human society. After all, you still need to possess resources and the fruits of your labors in order to maintain your existence, even if the local government doesn't protect such relationships.

Clear?

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Concepts are human inventions - the "essence" of soup is not an entity in this world, though there are many entities which are soup.

The question should have been - what kind of thing is ownership, ie entity or relationship, and do there exist any real-world instances of the concept?

The answer to which is relationship, and very many.

The question may have been meant to be - does the existence of ownership affect men, and if so how and to what extent?

The answer to which is yes, by enabling him to survive as a rational animal, and fully.

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  • 7 months later...

Does anyone remember the communist chant of “All property is theft.”? Is that not too the slogan of the “looters” in Atlas Shrugged? But why is property theft?

Property is Theft, they say, because Sam, a colonial master, took a ride on his carriage and horse in a colonized and conquered land, and declared that the entire area which he saw His.

Property is Theft, they say, because R,, a corporation, gave jobs to millions of citizens of third world countries by building factories. This took away them from their traditional livelihood and introduced them to modern ones. When the Cost of labour rose, R moved the factories to another country. Unemployment erupted, and other "modern" illnesses. They had forget their old ways.

Property is Theft, they say, because millions are dying of various diseases because T, another Corporation refuses to subsidize essential drugs.

But now we have all been enlightened, have we not? Capitalism reign supreme, at least as AR says.

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