Ownership vs. Freedom

Hi Philosophers,

Our next Whisky & Wisdom topic explores the relationship between ownership and borders.

This is a clash between two intuitions most people already hold:
* People have the right to seek better lives
* People (and countries) have the right to control what's theirs

In this session we’ll explore questions about property rights and political borders.

I hope you can join us!

## Ownership vs. Freedom

"Though the Earth…be common to all Men, yet every Man has a Property in his own Person. This no Body has any Right to but himself. The Labour of his Body, and the Work of his Hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes out of the State that Nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his Labour with, and joyned to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his Property. It being by him removed from the common state Nature placed it in, it hath by this labour something annexed to it, that excludes the common right of other Men." - John Locke

"When everyone has a distinct interest, men will not complain of one another, and they will make more progress, because every one will be attending to his own business." - Aristotle

"Our property is nothing but those goods, whose constant possession is establish’d by the laws of society; that is, by the laws of justice...A man’s property is some object related to him. This relation is not natural, but moral, and founded on justice." - David Hume

Perhaps no political boundary is more familiar or more morally puzzling than borders. Where you are born can shape your entire life: your safety, your wealth, your opportunities. And yet, most of us accept that governments can decide who enters, and in some cases, who can leave.

At the same time, we think ownership matters. If something is "ours" we have a right to control it.

In this session we’ll explore questions about ownership, property rights and the nature of the state.

## Some questions to ponder

• What makes ownership ligitimate? Is it right to own things while others have nothing?
• Is "finders keepers" fair? How do we decide who should get things?
• Could an unjust system of ownership and property be fair if it promotes stability and rewards effort?
• If property norms emerged through power and habit, should we respect them?
• If different groups claim ownership over the same land, how do we resolve that conflict?
• If individuals can own things, can groups "own" a country?
• How do you conceptualise the nation state? (is it a physical place, a club or something else?)
• What happens to culture if there are open borders?
• Do those living in struggling communities have a responsibility to stay and help fix them - or is leaving always justified?
• Should luck determine your outcomes?
• Does preserving culture matter more than reducing suffering?
• If borders disappeared tomorrow, what do you think would actually happen?

## Thought Experiments

Imagine a starving person outside your house. You have more than enough food. Are you allowed to lock the door?

Your are about to be born, but you don't know where. Do you choose a world with open borders or closed ones?

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