Day 2 - The Right to Property

In this blog we are looking at the phenomenon of property law and the existence of property rights. For the purpose of this blog we will define property as encompassing all forms of material possessions (ranging from a piece of land to a cellphone to the food you buy in a store). I would like to explain that property rights in their very starting point are in reality a license to abuse and are thus detrimental to man’s continued existence on earth.

The best way one can see this is if one familiarize oneself with the principles on which the Equal Money System (EMS) is based - where one of the ruling principles is that property simply does not exist. In an Equal Money System property is no longer necessary because everything is from and of the earth – and the fact that one can use certain goods and/or materials merely means that these goods and/or materials are available to you. This does not mean that you ‘own’ them. It means that you can use them and that these means are now under your RESPONSIBILITY and that you must see to it that the best possible use is made of them in the context of what is best for all.

In the current system property rights have an interesting structure. In Dutch law property rights are sometimes even referred to as ‘three party rights’. The reason for this is that in such rights there are three elements/parties involved, namely: 1) The subject/owner 2) The object and 3) everyone else.

The reason why ‘everyone else’ is part of this equation, is because what a property right means, is that you as owner have a right to use or dispose of your property as you see fit – and, everyone else should guard themselves of infringing on your right to use or dispose of your property as you see fit. So a property right on the one hand gives someone permission, and on the other hand it gives everyone else an instruction. Obviously there are some restrictions to this right and this freedom is not unlimited, however the gist of the definition is clear: a property right is a protection mechanism to protect the owner against… everyone.

One might ask: protect against what?

Let’s again look at the EMS.

In an Equal Money System the resources of the earth are being managed and distributed based on deliberate planning and calculation of what is necessary to be produced and distributed. There will therefore exist a system of production and distribution that will ensure that everyone have what they need and even more – and this on an equal basis for everyone, making sure that not one single being has to exist in any form of lack. On a material level one could say that an Equal Money System will produce abundance on an Equal Level for everyone. This may seem outrageous, but it is really not when considering the actual available resources, and when taking into consideration how much is currently being wasted or withheld through greed – and what could therefore even within this current system potentially be done already.

Would you need protection against everyone in a world where everyone is equally receiving what you receive and where the common law is that whatever is given to you, you must make the best possible use of in the context of what is best for all? The answer is no, unless you are planning to abuse or deceive, because then you know that you are being greedy and are abusing everyone’s trust. In an Equal Money system it will be very easy to correct such behavior and there will be intervention possible through reeducation.

Let’s look at some outflows of property law: through property rights it has become possible to justify and protect the existence of planned obsolescence, which is the process of weakening (sabotaging) a line of products by the manufacturer himself so as to make the product fall apart in time to create a new demand. Property rights give the allowance for animal abuse and vivisection, as in most countries either by law or by custom animals are regarded as property. Property rights give the allowance for an elite minority to control the faith of all through ownership of the resources of the planet in the name of profit, where even the governments have little say. Strangely the law will also say that the ‘free use’ of one’s property should not infringe on the rights of others, however we have conveniently defined these rights of others (such as human rights) to be meaningless, as is shown by the fact that more than half the world exists in conditions poverty.

Property rights thus encourage irresponsible and psychotic behavior. The context for property law and property rights in the current system is the belief that we apparently exist in a reality of material lack, in other words: that there isn’t enough for everyone. This is however not true as is proven through the massive waste that is being produced by the system while on the other hand billions exist in conditions of poverty and deprivation – for nothing.

Therefore property rights are currently protecting those who have too much or who abuse what they have, and are preventing any kind of intervention to stop this greed as these laws (which are upheld under the banner of democracy yet at the cost of the majority) are protecting their right to abuse.

When through a system of decent administration resources are allocated so that everyone receive equally, then property as such will have no more function as the starting point of fear will be removed and there is no more need to protect ourselves against everyone else.

Join the research on Equal Money and cast your vote.

http://equalmoney.org