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Old 11-30-2007, 03:36 AM
BigLawMonies BigLawMonies is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 22
Default Re: Argh property rights debate

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We live in a society where we need money and property rights to get by. Believing that the system should be changed does not equate to not caring if someone takes your wallet. Just as ACers pay taxes and utilize public services. We have to work within the system we've got, as much as we may dislike it.
So I don't think "give me your wallet, then" is a valid counter-argument.

I do think "all property is theft" is a silly position, although no sillier than natural rights. Both suffer from their absolutism and attempt to objectively define intangible moral ideas. So if I was big on property rights, my line of attack would be to go after the "all property is theft" thing. By that logic, not only is property theft, but anything that denies anyone else the use of anything is theft. E.g. eating an apple is theft, even if you don't claim to own it. What if someone else wanted to eat that? Then I would argue that concepts such as property rights are a matter of preference and social norm and I'd give some examples of why a lack of property rights would be unpleasant in a socialist society though, not "give me your wallet, now".

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Yay! Thanks for being responsive to the OP
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