—–Original Message—–
From: AL
Sent: Thu 6/23/2016 9:29 AM
To: walter block
Subject: People with no relatives and no friends
Dear Walter,
Suppose someone dies on unowned land. He has no relatives and no friends.
Can others come and homestead his dead body as private property? A different case: What if X (who has no relatives, no friends) dies on Y’s property? Does Y get to own X’s dead body? What if X has a legal heir? Or it depends on whether Y has set any rules for entering his property in the
first place? By the way, if someone has no relatives and no friends, what happens to his
property (e.g. his house) when he dies? Thanks a lot!
AL
Dear AL:
Murray Rothbard would answer this question with “Friends of the dispossessed (FOTD).” This would be a voluntary organization that would help the poor, the homeless, etc. It would be sort of like the ASPCA, only not for animals; but for the impoverished). Yes, they would “‘homestead’ his dead body as private property” and give it a decent burial.
If Y has publicized rules for this sort of thing, then that would apply. See my publications on “murder park.” (Block, Walter E. 2002. “Radical Privatization and other Libertarian Conundrums,” The International Journal of Politics and Ethics, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 165-175; http://www.walterblock.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/radical_privatization.pdf) If we are sort of “intestate” with no such rules, then FOTD would come into play, as in the previous case. If X is the legal heir, he would presumably decide, in the free society.
What happens to the house and property of the person with no heirs? It reverts back to an unowned status, and may be claimed by the first homesteader.
4:03 pm on July 5, 2016
