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RE: On Property

in #anarchism8 years ago

One could say that an undisturbed cherry tree belongs to everyone, but you could also say that it belongs to no one. Either way, as soon as I claim it is mine, you now have a choice either to accept my claim or dispute it. You can dispute my claim verbally and perhaps we can negotiate a way to share the tree. We could even bring in an impartial third party to oversee the negotiations. On the other hand, you could initiate force and claim the tree for yourself and "defend" it for the sake of the planet, if you so believe.

The tree could also go unclaimed and simply be used by anyone who wanted. By using the tree, harvesting cherries in this case, you are laying claim to the cherries and not the tree itself. Again, someone could dispute your claim to those cherries, but as the tree was not owned, the cherries are a product of your labor harvesting them. They are yours, in so far as violence isn't used to procure them from your possession.

I point to this a lot, but think of when we go to the beach and people randomly disperse themselves across the sands. People tend to figure out what part of the beach is theirs and what parts aren't. Have you ever had anyone throw a towel on top of yours and sit down practically on top of you? I doubt it. We understand implicitly who owns each space and once we leave, anyone else can take that space as we have relinquished our claim. At no point does anyone claim that thievery was involved and rarely is violence ever resorted to.

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