Ragnar, Part II

From: B
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 12:09 PM
To: Walter Block
Subject: Re: A question about Ragnar

What if the government were to confiscate property from bandits, who had killed off all the legitimate owners, would they then become the legitimate owners themselves? Thanks, B

Dear B: From a libertarian limited government (minarchist) point of view, the legitimate state may indeed become the appropriate owner of the stolen property, in behalf of all the citizens. Presumably, this government could then lower taxes using this property to defray licit expenses. From an anarcho-capitalist point of view, however, all governments are bandits, and, thus, could not be the proper owners of anything, until and unless they made full recompense to their victims.

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2:32 pm on September 22, 2017