Ariadne's Thread on Property
Replies
Next speaker on the main path
Ayesha
(main path)

On Property

(Click here to continue on the main path)
 Vera Speaking

Current speaker Let's go back to the fact that our current system of property allows huge inequalities of wealth and income. There are two main problems that this produces:

  • First, it means that a small group of people has enormously more political and economic power than the rest of us.

  • Second, it creates a group of poor people who are chronically unemployed, poorly educated, and frequently dependent on either the state or on criminal activity for their livelihood.
Our current solution to the first problem is to enact certain limits on what people can contribute directly to political candidates. Our solution to the second problem is to provide a combination of welfare benefits and incarceration. Neither of these 'solutions' really works.

I am especially interested in the second problem. We have a welfare system that essentially 'warehouses' the poor. It never provides the security and education that poor people need to participate in the mainstream of American life. It never provides what is necessary for the poor to participate in the ideal that John described.

In my opinion, we need to rethink our system of property so that huge disparities of wealth and income do not occur. I do not object to having a very broad range of freely exchanged goods and services, and I do not object to some people having a lot more wealth and income than others, but we need to maintain certain background conditions in order that the broad range of free exchange and a considerable range of inequality are be fully justified.
Ariadne's Home Contact Ariadne at: Property Home
Property Bibliography Property Contents