Nathan Key

Who Owns Property? This is a fundamental questions that must be answered before we can determining what the role of government is and how it will interact with the people it governs.

Is this shovel mine? Is it ours? Is it the government's?
Is this land mine? Is it ours? Is it the government's?
Is this education mine? Is it ours? Is it the government's?
Is this life mine? Is it ours? Is it the government's?

This Shovel is Mine:
If you find yourself saying that these things belong to an individual you're probably into individualism and you may even be leaning libertarian or toward classical republicanism. These folks believe that only the person who owns said property is entitled to said property.

Lately, I've heard a few of my colleagues bemoan the rights of the individual, passing blanket statements that make individualism come off as just plain greed in disguise. Just to be clear, while it’s tempting to depict those who believe in individual ownership as inherently greedy, this is a misnomer. For greed comes when one cannot be satisfied with what he already has. It means that he want more and more and no matter how much enters into his possession, he will never be able to say “That’s enough.”

An individual who is content with what he has IS NOT greedy. An individual who does everything in his power to amass more and more without ever finding satisfaction in his property IS greedy.

This Shovel is Ours:
But perhaps you find yourself siding with the second group of ownership descriptors. You might believe that everything on this earth belongs to everyone. This is generally how collectivist groups and socialists think. Modern Democrats may not view resources and property exactly this way, but it's pretty close. The idea of public land, public art, public funds, and the like are all within the realm of "ours."

For these folks, the idea of redistributing wealth is ideal because, after all, it belongs to everyone whether it's redistributed or not.

This Shovel is the Government's:
Lastly are those who believe that governments, organizations, monarchs, overseers, or other meta-entities are the ones who own everything. Those who agree with this mindset tend to be Fascists, or Corporate Fascists. Some of them even find landing points in some of the doctrine of the Neo-Conservative and Neo-Liberal movements.

These folks truly believe that governments, establishments, and principalities are the best equipped to make decisions about what's right for the people they "serve."

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