Bi-Weekly Discussion - Classical Liberalism & Property Rights

Details

The weather forecast for Sunday looks good, so I've scheduled our meetup for Washington Square Park again, between 6th & 7th Streets on Walnut in Olde City. Although it'll be in the low 80s, there's plenty of shaded areas in the park. If you don't want to sit on the grass, just bring a folding chair or picnic blanket to sit on. You can also bring any type of food or drink you want, although I don't think alcohol is allowed in the park.

(If the weather changes, our fallback spot will be Café Walnut, which is right off the square at 703 Walnut Street.)

The park is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 1 block west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.

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CLASSICAL LIBERALISM & PROPERTY RIGHTS RECONSIDERED

Following up on our discussion of classical liberalism from last time, this meetup will address some fundamental questions about property rights from a classical liberal perspective:
(1) How do people come to legitimately own property?
(2) How should we treat cases of stolen property transferred to innocent third parties?
(3) Can we legitimately exclude someone from our property?
(4) Can a government legitimately levy taxes, and if so, how can it legitimately spend tax revenue?

As with last time, the purpose of this discussion is not to get too bogged down with the specifics of the examples listed under each heading, but rather to assess how reasoning from first principles can elucidate political debates. We'll also explore the reasons why even those who accept the basic moral principles of classical liberalism can end up drawing different conclusions from them.

The videos you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of the philosophical debates over property rights during the Enlightenment and how they're still applicable today. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to watch all the videos & read all the articles prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the videos linked first under each topic, which come to about 39 minutes total. The articles are there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the 4 topics in the order presented here and we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

THE LOCKEAN PROVISO & HOMESTEADING: WAS PROUDHON RIGHT THAT ALL PROPERTY IS THEFT (FROM THE COMMONS)? CAN WE LEGITIMATELY CLAIM LAND BY MIXING OUR LABOR WITH IT? IS THAT WHICH WE PERSONALLY CREATE OR RECEIVE THROUGH VOLUNTARY TRADE LEGITIMATELY OURS?

1a) Devon Peasley, "John Locke on Property" (video - 4:27 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkDmWHYWaVg

1b) Foundation for a Free Society, "The Philosophy of Liberty: Property" (video - 3:21 min, start at 0:44)

https://youtu.be/c6J730PqBik?t=44

Matt Bruenig, "Why Property Is Theft and Why It Matters" (short article)
http://www.demos.org/blog/10/8/14/why-property-theft-and-why-it-matters
Less Altman, "Is Property Theft?" (short article)
https://c4ss.org/content/13144

HOW SHOULD WE HANDLE CASES WHERE LAND OR OTHER PROPERTY IS STOLEN OR CREATED THROUGH UNJUST MEANS (E.G. SLAVERY) AND THEN TRANSFERRED TO INNOCENT THIRD PARTIES? ARE REPARATIONS FOR INDIAN REMOVAL & SLAVERY JUSTIFIED? TO THE EXTENT THAT OTHER GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS HAVE BEEN UNJUST, IS BROAD-BASED LAND REFORM NECESSARY?

Murray Rothbard, "Confiscation and the Homesteading Principle" (reading, 10:53 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm2Om67YYWw

Timothy Sandefur, "Matthew Yglesias defends Indian Removal (without realizing it)" (short blog post)
http://blog.pacificlegal.org/matthew-yglesias-there-was-nothing-wrong-with-disposessing-indians/
Bryan Caplan, "Do Indians Rightfully Own America?" (medium-length article)
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/09/do_indians_righ.html
Bob Huddleston, "A Response to Bernard R. Boxill’s Lockean Argument for Reparations" (medium-length article)

http://bobnoxiousthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-response-to-bernard-r-boxills-lockean.html

Thomas Raskin, "The Restoration of African Americans’ Stolen Property" (short blog post)
https://c4ss.org/content/44395

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION & EXCLUSION VS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT & USUFRUCT: SHOULD THERE BE AN EASEMENT & USUFRUCT FOR BOTH PUBLIC PROPERTY & PLACES OF "PUBLIC ACCOMODATION"? IF YOU EXCLUDE SOMEONE FROM A PLACE OF PUBLIC ACCOMODATION, DOES THIS JUSTIFY THE USE OF FORCE AGAINST YOU?

Megyn Kelly & John Stossel, "Fox's Stossel Advocates Repealing Part of the Civil Rights Act" (video - 6:58 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhd_TP5rG0c

Jerry Taylor, "Why Libertarians Should Champion Social Liberty" (medium-length article)
https://niskanencenter.org/blog/why-libertarians-should-champion-social-liberty/
Ryan McMaken, "The Trouble with 'Public Accommodation'" (medium-length article)

https://mises.org/blog/trouble-public-accommodation

Sheldon Richman, "We Can Oppose Bigotry Without The Politicians" (short article)
https://c4ss.org/content/25098

CONTRACTARIANISM VS GEORGISM: IS ALL TAXATION THEFT? IF NOT, WHAT DISTINGUISES LEGITIMATE FROM ILLEGITIMATE TAXATION? CAN TAX REVENUE LEGITIMATELY BE SPENT ON REDISTRIBUTION, OR MERELY ON COMMON DEFENSE & PUBLIC WORKS?

4a) Kezyma, "Taxation Is Theft. Or Is It?" (video - 5:45 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnQiANWh40E

4b) Ian Ruskin as Thomas Paine, "Tom Talks [on Agrarian Justice]' (video - 12:37 min, start at 4:00)

https://youtu.be/q9M2nTmU3jA?t=241