It seems to
me that natural resources were originally
something available for all. If we are to
justify individuals taking over natural
resources and having strong property rights to
them, then it can only be with something like
the Lockean proviso.
I think the best way to formulate the proviso
is this: Resources can be taken as exclusive
private property only so long as the owners
fulfill certain obligations to the common good.
At a minimum, this would mean that the basic
needs of everyone are met.
And I would go further. Pope Pius XI published an
encyclical called On Reconstructing the
Social Order (also called Quadragesimo
Anno) in 1931. He
emphasized the obligations of property owners
to the common good. One of the requirements he
set down was that as the wealth of society
increases it must be shared by all social
classes. [Quadragesimo
Anno, Section 57]. There is nothing is
the libertarian view to require this (although
it may sometimes happen for various of reasons). But
my view is that this obligation to the common
good is built into the justification of
private property itself.
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