The Source Of Private Property Is Violence

The source of property is the organized application of violence to create it.

Even on Rothbard’s Crusoe island, the violence that creates the property of the island FOR Crusoe is provided by the barrier of the sea. (That the see is analogous to the ghetto, which is the model of rebellion rothbard was using whether he know it or not, is obvious and ironic.)

But Rothbard’s logic is flawed.

The correct analogy is that on an infinite flat plain evenly distributed with people, how do you create the institution of private property so that one person’s will and wisdom can concentrate capital for future production and use?

By the application of violence to create that institution.

Can an individual do it? Not against numbers. No individual is powerful enough.

But can a group do it? Yes. A group requires another group to counter it, which produces diminishing returns for those members, who are more incentivized to also obtain property than reverse their claims. An organized group can create private property by the application of violence.

The source of private property is the organized application of violence to create it.

Arguments that try to justify private property by some other means, moral or utilitarian, are in fact, attempts to buy the right of private property at a deep discount.

And nobody’s selling at that price.

You have to rase the price pretty high.

And violence is a very high price.

The source of private property is violence.

Private property is a right one gains in exchange for the commitment to others who share the desire for private property, to use violence to preserve private property for one and all.

No other method is possible.