—–Original Message—–
From: RB
Sent: Wed 7/6/2016 2:09 AM
To: walter block
Subject: AL’s Inquiry Regarding Unowned Property
Dr Block
Your last paragraph in reply to AL’s question regarding the status of unowned property floored me.The first homesteader can take possession? By the right of being first alone? What of subsequent homesteaders? Indeed, this has all the markings of taking unowned property and holding it by force as, in a stateless society, there would be no courts, no legal paper that would decide the ownership, even of so called owned property as all state issued decisions regarding property would be void. What is left is the Hobbesian world of all against all, with the non aggression principle lip service. The motto What’s mine is mine and What’s yours is negotiable becomes Law. And there would be no recourse to even courts of common law as, for the pure anarchist, these are government. Therefore unowned property, even owned property, must be adjudicated and recognized by the community, meaning a set of rules to decide property ownership and the enforcement of these rules, not by the individuals alone, as competing claims cannot be adjusted by force alone between the competing parties, as none of the parties would be satisfied until all others are defeated, not by law or rulings but by force.
This is one of the fatal flaws of Stateless or ruleless or anarchic property theory in that not many of interested parties will respect others property This problem is as old as Aristotle when he outlined the several issues in any community, the conflict between the rich and the poor , between those who advocate equality at all times and those who don’t. People, contrary to Ayn Rand, have the right by force or fraud to your property unless there is a greater force to block that so called right. Sure, Vanderbilt could ruin his enemies as the law took too long, but who is Vanderbilt and may he take what is yours? RB
Dear RB:
In the free society, whether the anarcho-capitalist variety you oppose, or in the limited government minarchist that you presumably favor, the first homesteader is the one who gets the property. Because if you deny this, and want to give it to the second, well, then, why not the third, fourth, etc. In that way, property will never be secure. There will always be a “war of all against all” since any Johnny come lately can always seize other people’s property. That system will lead to the death of us all, since no one will have much of an incentive to work to improve things, since someone else can always come along and grad what he worked on. Of course, he himself could later grab it back. So we’d spend vast amounts of time grabbing things from each other, instead of producing. Not a good way to go. Nor, even, a just way. Because as Locke, Rothbard, Hoppe and Kinsella have stressed, when you homestead unowned (whether previously owned or virgin) territory, you “mix your labor with it.” It becomes a sort of part of you. You legitimately own it.
As for your rejection of anarcho-capitalism, you might want to read at least a few of these:
Anderson and Hill, 1979; Benson, 1989, 1990; Block, 2007, 2011; Block and Fleisher, 2010; Casey, D., 2010, 2016; Casey, G., 2012; Chodorov, pp. 216–239; DiLorenzo, 2010; England, 2013; Gregory, 2011; Guillory & Tinsley, 2009; Hasnas, 1995; Heinrich, 2010; Higgs, 2009, 2012, 2013; Hoppe, 2008, 2011; Huebert, 2010; King, 2010; Kinsella, 2009; Long, 2004; McConkey, 2013; Molyneux, 2008; Molyneux and Badnarik, 2009; Murphy, 2005; 2010, 2013A, 2013B, 2014; Rockwell, 2014A, 2014B; Rothbard, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1998; Shaffer, 2012, pp. 224-235; Sloterdijk, 2010; Spooner, 1870; Stringham, 2007; Tannehill, 1984; Tinsley, 1998-1999; Wenzel, 2013.
Anderson, Terry and Hill, P.J. 1979. “An American Experiment in Anarcho-Capitalism: The Not So Wild, Wild West,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, 3: 9-29; http://mises.org/journals/jls/3_1/3_1_2.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1989. Enforcement of Private Property Rights in Primitive Societies: Law Without Government,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, Winter, pp. 1-26; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_1.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1990. “Customary Law with Private Means of Resolving Disputes and Dispensing Justice: A Description of a Modern System of Law and Order without State Coercion.” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 2,” pp. 25-42; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_2.pdf
Block, Walter. 2007. “Anarchism and Minarchism; No Rapprochement Possible: Reply to Tibor Machan,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring, pp. 91-99; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/21_1/21_1_5.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2011. “Governmental inevitability: reply to Holcombe.” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 22; pp. 667-688; http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_34.pdf
Block, Walter E. and Michael Fleischer. 2010. “How Would An Anarchist Society Handle Child Abuse?” October 13; https://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block167.html
Casey, Doug. 2010. “Doug Casey on Anarchy.” March 31; http://www.caseyresearch.com/cwc/doug-casey-anarchy
Casey, Doug. 2016. “Why Do We Need Government?” January 19; https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/01/doug-casey/ascendancy-sociopaths/
Casey, Gerard. 2012. Libertarian Anarchy: Against the State. Bloomsbury Academic; http://www.amazon.com/dp/1441144676/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=lrc18-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1441144676&adid=157FYFSMK265EK398X47&&ref-refURL=https%3A%2F%2Flewrockwell.com%2Flewrockwell-show%2Ftag%2FGerard-Casey%2F
Chodorov, Frank. 1962. “Taxation Is Robbery” [From Out of Step: The Autobiography of an Individualist, by Frank Chodorov; The Devin-Adair Company, New York; http://www.mises.org/etexts/taxrob.asp
DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 2010. “The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality.” The Independent Review, v. 15, n. 2, Fall 2010, pp. 227–239; http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_15_02_4_dilorenzo.pdf
England, Randy. 2013. „The state: what can we replace it with?” March 31; https://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/134782.html
Gregory, Anthony. 2011. “Abolish the Police.” May 26; https://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory213.html
Guillory, Gil & Patrick Tinsley. 2009. “The Role of Subscription-Based Patrol and Restitution in the Future of Liberty,” Libertarian Papers. Vol. 1, No. 12, pp. 1-40; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/12-the-role-of-subscription-based-patrol-and-restitution-in-the-future-of-liberty/
Hasnas, John. 1995. “The myth of the rule of law.” Wisconsin Law Review 199-235;
http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/MythWeb.htm
Heinrich, David J. 2010. “Justice for All Without the State.” The Libertarian Standard. May 6; http://www.libertarianstandard.com/articles/david-j-heinrich/justice-for-all-without-the-state/
Higgs, Robert. 2009. “Why We Couldn’t Abolish Slavery Then and Can’t Abolish Government Now.” August 20; https://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs128.html
Higgs, Robert. 2012. “What is the point of my libertarian anarchism?” January 16;
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs180.html
Higgs, Robert. 2013. “The State—Crown Jewel of Human Social Organization.”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/135000.html; http://blog.independent.org/2013/04/03/the-state-crown-jewel-of-human-social-organization/
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2008. “Reflections on the Origin and the Stability of the State.” June 23; https://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe18.html
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2011. “State or Private Law Society.” April 10;
https://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe26.1.html
Huebert, Jacob. 2010. Libertarianism Today. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger; http://www.amazon.com/Libertarianism-Today-Jacob-H-
Huebert/dp/0313377545/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370719921&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=libertarianism+today.+huerbert
King, Seth. 2010. “Daily Anarchist Interviews Walter E. Block ,” September 9;
https://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block165.html
Kinsella, Stephan. 2009. “The Irrelevance of the Impossibility of Anarcho-Libertarianism.” August 20; http://www.stephankinsella.com/2009/08/20/the-irrelevance-of-the-impossibility-of-anarcho-libertarianism/
Long, Roderick. 2004. “Libertarian Anarchism: Responses to Ten Objections” https://www.lewrockwell.com/long/long11.html
McConkey, Michael. 2013. “Anarchy, Sovereignty, and the State of Exception: Schmitt’s Challenge.” The Independent Review, v. 17, n. 3, Winter, pp. 415–428. http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_17_03_05_mcconkey.pdf
Molyneux, Stefan. 2008. “The Stateless Society: An Examination of Alternatives.”
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg02056.html
Molyneux, Stefan versus Michael Badnarik. 2009. “How much government is necessary.” July 5
http://www.freedomainradio.com/Videos.aspx
Murphy, Robert P. 2005. “But Wouldn’t Warlords Take Over?” July 7; http://mises.org/story/1855; http://mises.org/library/wouldnt-warlords-take-over
Murphy, Robert P. 2010. “Overrating Government Service.” March 15;
http://mises.org/daily/4131?utm_source=Ludwig+von+Mises+Institute+of+Canada+Daily+List&utm_campaign=e4794b19d8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6c2fea3584-e4794b19d8-274221537
Murphy, Robert P. 2013A. “Where Are the Rothbardian Defense Agencies?” December 14;
http://141.164.71.80/exchange/
Murphy, Robert P. 2013B. “Drug Gangs and Private Law.” December 17;
http://mises.ca/posts/blog/drug-gangs-and-private-law/
Murphy, Robert P. 2014. “Randians versus Rothbardians.” December 22;
http://mises.ca/posts/blog/randians-versus-rothbardians/
Rockwell, Jr., Llewellyn H. 2014A. Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto. Rockwell Communications LLC; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KN0K6EM/ref=as_sl_pd_tf_lc?tag=lrc18-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B00KN0K6EM&adid=0DPBHVW4EYKWN86D77DV&&ref-refURL=https%3A%2F%2Flewrockwell.com%2F%3Fpost_type%3Darticle%26p%3D499066%26preview%3Dtrue
Rockwell, Jr., Llewellyn H. 2014B. “What Libertarianism Is, and Isn’t.” March 31; https://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/03/lew-rockwell/what-libertarianism-is-and-isnt/
Rothbard, Murray N. 1973. For a New Liberty, Macmillan, New York; http://www.mises.org/rothbard/newliberty.asp
In the view of Rothbard (1973, emphasis added by present author) “For centuries, the State (or more strictly, individuals acting in their roles as ‘members of the government’) has cloaked its criminal activity in high-sounding rhetoric. For centuries the State has committed mass murder and called it ‘war’; then ennobled the mass slaughter that ‘war’ involves. For centuries the State has enslaved people into its armed battalions and called it ‘conscription’ in the ‘national service.’ For centuries the State has robbed people at bayonet point and called it ‘taxation.’ In fact, if you wish to know how libertarians regard the State and any of its acts, simply think of the State as a criminal band, and all of the libertarian attitudes will logically fall into place.”
Rothbard, Murray N. 1975. “Society Without a State.” The Libertarian Forum, volume 7.1, January; https://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard133.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1977. “Do you hate the state?” The Libertarian Forum, Vol. 10, No. 7, July; https://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard75.html
“…there is no sign that David Friedman in any sense hates the existing American State or the State per se, hates it deep in his belly as a predatory gang of robbers, enslavers, and murderers. No, there is simply the cool conviction that anarchism would be the best of all possible worlds, but that our current set-up is pretty far up with it in desirability. For there is no sense in Friedman that the State – any State – is a predatory gang of criminals.”
“The radical cannot think in such terms, because the radical regards the State as our mortal enemy, which must be hacked away at wherever and whenever we can. To the radical libertarian, we must take any and every opportunity to chop away at the State, whether it’s to reduce or abolish a tax, a budget appropriation, or a regulatory power. And the radical libertarian is insatiable in this appetite until the State has been abolished, or – for minarchists – dwindled down to a tiny, laissez-faire role.”
Rothbard, Murray N. 1998 [1982]. The Ethics of Liberty, New York: New York University Press. http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp
“Paul, Ron.” Undated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4kiWpqoeg&feature=PlayList&p=9645F6A68683F679&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
Shaffer, Butler. 2012. The Wizards of Ozymandias: Reflections on the Decline and Fall. Auburn, AL: The Mises Institute; http://library.mises.org/books/Butler%20Shaffer/The%20Wizards%20of%20Ozymandias_Vol_2.pdf
Sloterdijk, Peter. 2010. “The Grasping Hand: The modern democratic state pillages its productive citizens.” Winter; http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_1_snd-democratic-state.html
Spooner, Lysander. 1966 [1870]. No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority and A Letter to Thomas F. Bayard, Larkspur, Colorado: Rampart College; http://jim.com/treason.htm
Stringham, Edward, ed. 2007. Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers; http://www.amazon.com/Anarchy-Law-Political-Economy-Choice/dp/1412805791
Tannehill, Morris and Linda Tannehill. [1970] 1984. The Market for Liberty, New York: Laissez Faire Books; https://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/tannehill1.html
Tinsley, Patrick. 1998-1999. “With Liberty and Justice for All: A Case for Private Police,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, pp. 95-100; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_5.pdf
Wenzel, Robert. 2013. “Robert Ringer’s Strawman Anarchist.” February 2;
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/wenzel/wenzel211.html
