PROPERTY IS THEFT!
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'Property is theft!' (French: ''La propriété, c'est le vol!'') is a slogan coined by the French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his 1840 book ''What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government''. The book also contained the slogans "property is impossible", "property is despotism" and "property is freedom".
By property, Proudhon referred to ownership of land and the means of production, being used to subjugate the labour of others:
:''"The peasant who hires land, the manufacturer who borrows capital, the tax-payer who pays tolls, duties, patent and license fees, personal and property taxes, &c., and the deputy who votes for them, — all act neither intelligently nor freely. Their enemies are the proprietors, the capitalists, the government."'' [1]
He proposed that ''"the laborer retains, even after he has received his wages, a natural right of property in the thing which he has produced."'' Taking away this property of the labourer (as is normally done in an employer-employee relationship), is theft. However, ''"instead of inferring from this that property should be shared by all, I demand, as a measure of general security, its entire abolition."''
Similar sentiments were expressed nearly two hundred years earlier by the English Diggers, who are considered proto-anarchists by many: "And that this Civil Propriety is the Curse, is manifest thus, Those that Buy and Sell Land, and are landlords, have got it either by Oppression, or Murder, or Theft" [2].
Though Proudhon had many arguments against various forms of property, he did not oppose personal property, which he sometimes referred to as "possession". While he believed that certain formulations of property rights were dangerous and even irrational, he also felt that in some cases it could act as a counter-balance to the power of the state. He says: "The absolute right of the State is in conflict with the absolute right of the property owner." [3] He used the term mutualism to describe his vision of a society where individuals and democratic workers associations could trade their produce on the market. In this system, he supposes exchange value to be determined by the amount of labor required to produce a commodity, in line with the labor theory of value.
Under an Objectivist critique, "Property is theft" is a self-contradicting phrase. It commits the fallacy of the stolen concept which consists of the act of using a concept while ignoring, contradicting or denying the validity of the concepts on which it logically and genetically depends. Discussing the hierarchical nature of knowledge, Nathaniel Branden states:
:''“Theft†is a concept that logically and genetically depends on the antecedent concept of “rightfully owned propertyâ€â€”and refers to the act of taking that property without the owner’s consent. If no property is rightfully owned, that is, if nothing is property, there can be no such concept as “theft.†Thus, the statement “All property is theft†has an internal contradiction: to use the concept “theft†while denying the validity of the concept of “property,†is to use “theft†as a concept to which one has no logical right—that is, as a stolen concept.''[4]
Others have said the slogan is not an instance of the stolen concept fallacy under Proudhon's intended meaning. Proudhon used the term "property" with reference to claimed ownership in land, factories, etc. He believed such claims were illegitimate, and thus a form of theft from the commons. [5]
Additionally, Proudhon explicitly states that the phrase "property is theft" is analogous to the phrase "slavery is murder". According to Proudhon, the slave, though biologically alive, is clearly in a sense "murdered". The "theft" in in his terminology does not refer to ownership anymore than the "murder" refers directly to physiological death, but rather both are meant as terms to represent a denial of specific rights.[6]
★ Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
★ Mutualism (economic theory)
★ Libertarian socialism
★ Property
★ Private property
★ What is Property?
★ Self-refuting idea
1. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudhon/property/ch03.htm
2. http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/digger.html
3. http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/proudhon/sp001863.html
4. ''The Stolen Concept'' by Nathaniel Branden - originally published in ''The Objectivist Newsletter'' in January 1963.
5. http://www.lewrockwell.com/ryan/ryan30.html
6. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudhon/property/ch01.htm
By property, Proudhon referred to ownership of land and the means of production, being used to subjugate the labour of others:
:''"The peasant who hires land, the manufacturer who borrows capital, the tax-payer who pays tolls, duties, patent and license fees, personal and property taxes, &c., and the deputy who votes for them, — all act neither intelligently nor freely. Their enemies are the proprietors, the capitalists, the government."'' [1]
He proposed that ''"the laborer retains, even after he has received his wages, a natural right of property in the thing which he has produced."'' Taking away this property of the labourer (as is normally done in an employer-employee relationship), is theft. However, ''"instead of inferring from this that property should be shared by all, I demand, as a measure of general security, its entire abolition."''
Similar sentiments were expressed nearly two hundred years earlier by the English Diggers, who are considered proto-anarchists by many: "And that this Civil Propriety is the Curse, is manifest thus, Those that Buy and Sell Land, and are landlords, have got it either by Oppression, or Murder, or Theft" [2].
Though Proudhon had many arguments against various forms of property, he did not oppose personal property, which he sometimes referred to as "possession". While he believed that certain formulations of property rights were dangerous and even irrational, he also felt that in some cases it could act as a counter-balance to the power of the state. He says: "The absolute right of the State is in conflict with the absolute right of the property owner." [3] He used the term mutualism to describe his vision of a society where individuals and democratic workers associations could trade their produce on the market. In this system, he supposes exchange value to be determined by the amount of labor required to produce a commodity, in line with the labor theory of value.
| Contents |
| Criticism |
| See also |
| References |
Criticism
Under an Objectivist critique, "Property is theft" is a self-contradicting phrase. It commits the fallacy of the stolen concept which consists of the act of using a concept while ignoring, contradicting or denying the validity of the concepts on which it logically and genetically depends. Discussing the hierarchical nature of knowledge, Nathaniel Branden states:
:''“Theft†is a concept that logically and genetically depends on the antecedent concept of “rightfully owned propertyâ€â€”and refers to the act of taking that property without the owner’s consent. If no property is rightfully owned, that is, if nothing is property, there can be no such concept as “theft.†Thus, the statement “All property is theft†has an internal contradiction: to use the concept “theft†while denying the validity of the concept of “property,†is to use “theft†as a concept to which one has no logical right—that is, as a stolen concept.''[4]
Others have said the slogan is not an instance of the stolen concept fallacy under Proudhon's intended meaning. Proudhon used the term "property" with reference to claimed ownership in land, factories, etc. He believed such claims were illegitimate, and thus a form of theft from the commons. [5]
Additionally, Proudhon explicitly states that the phrase "property is theft" is analogous to the phrase "slavery is murder". According to Proudhon, the slave, though biologically alive, is clearly in a sense "murdered". The "theft" in in his terminology does not refer to ownership anymore than the "murder" refers directly to physiological death, but rather both are meant as terms to represent a denial of specific rights.[6]
See also
★ Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
★ Mutualism (economic theory)
★ Libertarian socialism
★ Property
★ Private property
★ What is Property?
★ Self-refuting idea
References
1. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudhon/property/ch03.htm
2. http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/digger.html
3. http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/proudhon/sp001863.html
4. ''The Stolen Concept'' by Nathaniel Branden - originally published in ''The Objectivist Newsletter'' in January 1963.
5. http://www.lewrockwell.com/ryan/ryan30.html
6. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudhon/property/ch01.htm
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