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Full Idea
Common ownership in early societies is not the denial of a man's private property in the products of his own labour, but the only way under the circumstances of securing it.
Gist of Idea
Original common ownership is securing private property, not denying it
Source
report of T.H. Green (Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation [1882], §218) by John H. Muirhead - The Service of the State III
Book Ref
Muirhead,John H.: 'The Service of the State: T.H. Green' [John Murray 2021], p.77
A Reaction
This is announced with some confidence, but it is very speculative. I think there is some truth in Locke's thought that putting work into a creation creates natural ownership. But who owns the raw materials? Why is work valued highly?
| 23051 | Equality also implies liberty, because equality must be of opportunity as well as possessions [Green,TH] |
| 23028 | The highest political efforts express our deeper social spirit [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
| 23054 | Communism is wrong because it restricts the freedom of individuals to contribute to the community [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
| 23029 | Knowledge is secured by the relations between its parts, through differences and identities [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
| 23042 | National spirit only exists in the individuals who embody it [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
| 23048 | The ground of property ownership is not force but the power to use it for social ends [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
| 23046 | States only have full authority if they heed the claims of human fellowship [Green,TH] |
| 23047 | Original common ownership is securing private property, not denying it [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
| 23049 | Property is needed by all citizens, to empower them to achieve social goods [Green,TH] |