Thread: Georgism
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Old 10-01-2003, 01:46 AM   #63
Torrere
a real smartass
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 1,121
Quote:
Originally posted by Radar
There are no "commons". Other than the idiots who think socialism is a good idea, the vast majority of the world knows that PRIVATE ownership represents freedom while "common ownership" represents oppression, always has and always will.
You are slightly mistaken. The idea of 'common ownership', along with unions, is a reaction to the oppression of private ownership.

It's actually like this:

If I privately own a tract of land, I can do whatever I want within that tract of land. If Joe and I share the tract of land, he can limit my freedoms within that tract of land, because he owns it too. If Joe owns that tract of land entirely, then my freedoms on that tract of land are dependent upon Joe's whim.

Private ownership only represents freedom for the person that owns the land. The person that owns the land can oppress the people that live and work on the land (serfs, slaves, employees, what have you). This leads to bitterness, picketing, unions, revolts, and Communism.

The poeple that work on the land are going to think that their freedoms will be more respected if they have some ownership of the land.
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