What does 'property is theft' mean?

Answer 1

"Property is theft," comes from the original French, "la propri�t�, c'est le vol!" This quote is from French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. The basic idea is that those who own the most property were assumed to oppress those with the least to get it. This is the base of the Mutualist ideology, which is a type of socialist ideology that makes use of a market economy.

It is based on the fact that if someone owns a peace of land, nobody else is able to access that peace of land without permission of that person. A common misunderstanding is that this refers to things such as wealth or commodities. It has to do with property that cannot be replenished such as a piece of land, a forest, a river, a mine, a building. It claims that nobody should be allowed to be the sole owner of something that multiple people are using. The reason why it is seen as theft is that because If a person claims to own something, that person then decides who gets granted or denied access. And the person might even use force or ask others(such as a police force) to use force to maintain this property. Anyone who wants to access it is now dependent on the decisions of the person who claims it is their property. And they who own the property can now make demands before granting access. Depending on how rare the property is in a certain radius, the owner of the property can use it to coerce those who do not own it.

It is also important to note that the concept of theft normally cannot exist without the concept of property. If nobody owns something, nobody can steal it. The statement "Property is theft!" however claims that as soon as you claim it and deny others, you steal it from those who are now being denied access.

But Proudhon also made a counter statement, being: "Property is liberty". Which means that the ability to own something also grants certain advantages, such as privacy. Meaning that he did not reject all types of property.

Most modern day Mutualists and other Anarchists make the distinction between private property, which is the same as the Marxist definition of means of production(such as an office, a office desk, factory equipment, etc.), and personal possessions(such as a toothbrush, your house, a television, etc.). The distinction is based on what it is used for. (Depending on if it's for personal use, or if it's for producing something you intend on selling.)