Michael Matulef on Nostr: The prevalence of social orders based on private-property rights is not a brute fact ...

The prevalence of social orders based on private-property rights is not a brute fact of nature such as gravity or bad weather. It is very much the result of deliberate human action. It is true that such an order is in conformity with human reason and that in this sense it might be called a natural social order. But this does not alter the fact that its existence is historically contingent. No law of nature has brought about private-property orders. Private property is a fragile cultural achievement. It can be realized if human beings act with the moral resolve to respect private property even though nonrespect might benefit them materially, especially in the short run. And a private-property order can only be maintained if this moral commitment is constantly renewed, which in the long run is only possible if that order is understood and loved.


- Jörg Guido Hülsmann