social revolution – Page 1229

The 1% own half the World: Property is theft: here’s why…

Squatting & the property question – Personal Possessions & Communal Property v Private Property

After an illegal eviction on Phibsborough Rd. in June much debate arose surrounding the legitimacy of the squatters and their rights to take over empty and unused properties and put them to use. This piece looking at the issue of squatting and property rights was written by a WSM member and an An Spreach member who were evicted on that day from the property.

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—Personal Possessions & Communal Property v Private Property—

While one’s immediate reaction to using and living in an empty home or putting workplaces/land to use that is legally owned by another individual or company may immediately be that it is illegitimate or morally wrong, this article aims to deconstruct the argument that individuals, legal or real should be able to dominate and/or control property for their exclusive use, or to leave it rot at the expense of others.

The ideas and justifications for private property go to the heart of the capitalist/statist system and its ability to control resources and the means to life to the exclusion, exploitation and detriment of the majority of the planet’s population.

What is private property?—’property is theft!’

Within the capitalist world, capitalist ideologues use the word ‘property’ to mean anything from a toothbrush to a workplace, this understanding of the word property has filtered into everyday use—however this is a false use of the word property. Its use in this context convinces people to associate their personal possessions with the monopolization of the means of life (private property). Essentially, private property is the domination and control of resources (land/workplaces/food ect .) by individuals, which is backed up overwhelming by force (the state). Take, for example, Irish water. Denis O’brien and his cohorts control (dominate) the company to their own ends and profits and the state uses the gardai to back it up when their operations are disrupted by legitimate protestors fighting for their rights and livelihoods. This the how the relationship between private property and the state operates. london-live

The quote above, ‘property is theft’, which is taken from the French anarchist Proudhon forms the basis of the anti-capitalist attack on private property. The reasoning behind the statement that property is theft is that the Earth and all of the things produced by humans are the cumulative products of thousands of years and generations of work, science, innovation and production. Continue reading “The 1% own half the World: Property is theft: here’s why…”