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Solving Social Conflicts
Virtually every social conflict can be solved with a proper understanding of property rights. As an example, consider the frequent claims that a business has engaged in discriminatory practices. The right to property means the freedom to create, attain, use, keep, trade, and dispose of material values. It means that the owner of a parcel…
Property is Theft (Not)
In his 1840 book What is Property? French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon wrote, “Property is theft!” Proudhon’s statement has been embraced by many on the political Left, even if they have never heard of him. And they are guilty of the same evasions as Proudhon. In Proudhon’s time, land was the primary form of property, and…
Lessons From Fighting Zoning
This post is the fifth in a series. In the past two posts, I have summarized my experiences while fighting zoning in two different cities—Houston, and Hobbs, New Mexico. I learned many things from those efforts. Perhaps the most important lesson was that when clear moral distinctions are made between opposing views, the more rational…
Private Property and Private Walls
While property owners in Texas are fighting the federal government’s attempts to seize their property to build a border wall, a legislator in Arizona has proposed a bill that would exempt property owners from building codes if they choose to build a wall on their own property. While the Texas Institute for Property Rights opposes…