From: david_musick@juno.com
Date: Mon May 10 1999 - 12:41:45 MDT
I asked,
"Is it absolutely essential that people believe in the fictional concept
of "property rights" in order to interact productively and peacefully?"
Mark replied,
"In the real world, yes. Numerous groups have tried to eliminate property
rights to create this wonderful utopia, and have pretty well proven that
it's impossible."
Just as you can't peacefully take something from a child when the child
thinks they own the object, you can't "eliminate property rights" when
people still believe in the fiction. As long as people honestly believe
there is not enough for everyone, they will try to hoard as many
resources for themselves as possible. The concept of property rights
justifies this hoarding. Of course, this collective hoarding behavior,
caused by the belief that there is not enough for everyone, creates the
situation where there is, in fact, not enough for everyone and further
reinforces the belief and the hoarding behavior.
In the real world, though, there is an abundunce for everyone. One of
the main reasons that people aren't enjoying this abundunce is that they
continue wasting their time maintaining conflicts and divisions among
themselves. Another reason is that people waste their time reinforcing
dominance relationships. The classic example of this is the current
school system, in which children waste most of their childhood learning
how to be obedient and subservient rather than learning how to actually
improve their own minds and lives.
Mark, from your statement, I am unsure whether you believe that a
wonderful utopia has been proven impossible or whether you believe that
it is impossible to attain utopia by forcing people to stop living by the
concept of property rights. It is popular to believe that utopia is
impossible because it justifies giving up on happiness and settling for
misery, which those who would dominate you would rather have you do and
have taught you this from the beginning. Of course, forcing people to
stop hoarding property only creates more conflict and less desire for
people to work together peacefully.
I recognize the fact that people are much more intelligent, creative and
prosperous when they work together peacefully. Whether they believe in
the concept of property rights is as irrelevant as whether they belive in
Santa Claus. I view "property rights" as basically a truce between
fundamentally violent, contentious people that they will refrain from
taking that which the other "owns". As a diplomatic ploy, it has been
somewhat successful.
However, if people did not continue maintaining traditions of conflict
and dominance and if they had some basic respect for each other, they
would simply have no desire to take that which another is currently
using, since they would not want to create a conflict between others and
themselves. They wouldn't need the psychological crutch of "property
rights" to maintain a civil, productive society.
- David Musick
Question Tradition
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