Overview
- Property ownership is underpinned by the concept of self-ownership, or ‘self-sovereignty’; the right to make decisions for yourself. The opposite of self-ownership is slavery. John Locke was one of the leading contributors to developing this concept.
- Starting from this premise that you own yourself, it naturally follows that you may trade your time and energy (labor) for money, and you own the things you buy with your money.
- Ownership means the legal right to make decisions over that property at the exclusion of others. Many prefer the word ‘stewardship’ to ‘ownership’.
- It is true to say that most land was originally stolen from someone else in history. The Legal Principle holds people accountable for their actions, not the actions of ancestors, otherwise every new-born child and adult alike would be considered a criminal. We cannot solve all the crimes of history, but instead must break the cycle of aggressing by starting today.
- There are many examples from history where people voluntarily donate land for the common benefit. For example, in the UK, most of the National Trust’s 620,000 acres of land was donated by private land owners bestowing the property to the charity in the interest of preserving that property in the common interest. This very much aligns with the Aspirational Values.
- Most property law in countries like the USA already aligns with the Legal Principle with two exceptions:
- Local communities must define some nuanced grey areas relating to property law.