Property

international | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis Thursday March 30, 2006 18:38 by Arnold

Who is entitled?

What is the justification for private property?
What is the justification for collective property?

I believe that the answer to two both questions is the same: There is none.

We can only speculate on the origin of property and what is the natural state of man.
1. Were humans originally isolated individuals who lived in tranquility with nature providing all their needs and our jealous hording of the fruits of nature combined with our encounters with other humans led to wars which eventually led to negotiations about the the formation of governments to decide what was public property e.g. tax, public streets, roads, town parks etc. and what was private e.g. our houses, land, cars etc?
2. Were we always herd animals but constantly quarreling and jockeying for power which led to negotiations and the delineation of public and private property?
3. Man was originally in perfect tranquilty and shared everything equally until some of humanity decided to dominate and exploit others and created property rights to protect their own power and the history of humanity has been merely the power struggles of elites using the common people as their foot soldiers?

There are surely other theories but I believe these are the main ones that crop up again and again among religious, philosophers and scientists.
By like all theories they are pure speculation and especially when it comes to the misty reaches of the past.

So what am I driving at?

I believe that if we cannot determine how history unfolded and we cannot even agree among ourselves what is the true nature of our present society then how can we possibly predict the future direction of humanity with any degree of accuracy or general prediction beyond pure speculation.
Epistemologists have been stumped since Decartes declared Cogito Ergo Sum - I think therefore I am - but he could not justify any scientific interpretation of the external world because he simply did not have access to it because his senses we suspect - every theory is pure speculation.
Since then some epistemologists have give up trying to justify knowledge and simply follow the theory that seems most useful to them to explain the world - but of course they all contradict eachother because what they believe different theories are the most useful.

Marxists and anarchists and other radicals of every stripe believe that Marx a modern prophet - the abolition of private property leads toward an inevitable communist society by either an organised or a spontaneous revolution and anyone who tries to keep their private property is a class enemy to be irradicated.

Capitalists believe that man usually acts according to self-interest - limit the power of government or even abolish it completely and the market will provide for the majority and it the system cant provide for you tough.

Its quite clear that Capitalism has won out - it is clearly the most stable system for the majority -so far in the Western world - while countries which hold onto autocratic rule, theocracy, welfare state, communist dictatorship or corruptocracy systems remain poor and starving.
Capitalism may or not be spreading but where it has been adopt for e.g. Japan it has led to incredible prosperity but the society remains geared toward the particular culture of the Japanese.

But is the capitalist system just?

Of course not

Would overthrowing it be just?

Of course not

Can we do anything about it?

Of course not

Do most people in the West really want to?

Of course not

Which leaves us with Islamic society the largest growing cultural way of life on earth.
Is it a threat to capitalism?
al-Qaida bombs and kills lots of people and it might well rule Saudi Arabia one day soon.
But would it bring down capitalism or would capitalist countries make a deal - we will buy you out or we can nuke you - which deal will Ossama eventually make?
But what about the Islamic society that is mainstream at the moment?
I am convinced with a bit of prosperity a bit of the free market and you will hear no more about Israel
Will that be just for the Palestinians?
Of course not.

but will most of the world go along with it.

You bet.

I therefore cannot see Marxism ever catching on worldwide - maybe in some backwater hellhole - but not in the US or EU or India while China peels of the debris from 57 years of insanity.