And there are more problems
with the sort of theory that insists that
people can acquire very strong property rights
over natural resources by performing certain
acts like working on a piece of land or
occupying it.
Think for a moment. Even if
we could agree on such a principle, you can't
possibly believe that very many people have
been governed by it. Human history is an epic
of coercion, theft, and bloodshed. Groups of
people have taken land and other resources
from each other since time began. In our own
country European settlers killed or pushed
aside the Indian tribes for the sake of land
or gold or some other valuable resource. My
point is that the present distribution of
things has nothing to do with such any such
pretty principle as libertarians may imagine.
Beyond that, we also have to
consider the second part of a theory like
Nozick's -- his principle of justice in
transfer. Waldron points out that those who
support a theory like Nozick's would have to
show that not only does the original owner of
a resource acquire very strong property rights
over it by performing some act (or acts), but
he is somehow able to pass on the same strong
rights to someone else.
|