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I think Catholic thought on
property and society is interesting -- even
though I'm not a Catholic like you.
There is a tradition that
runs at least from Aquinas to the modern popes
that says some things I agree with -- First,
that the earth and its resources are here for
the good of all. Second, that the poor always
have a right to necessities. Remember that for
Aquinas a starving person who 'steals' bread
from a baker does not do wrong. He tells us
that "In cases of need, all things are common
property, so that there would seem to be no
sin in taking another's property, for need has
made it common." He also says that while
people have the power to "procure and
dispense" goods, it is different with regard
to their "use." "In this respect man ought to
possess external things, not as his own, but
as common, so that, to wit, he is ready to
communicate them to others in their need."
Locke is a bit like Aquinas
in this regard. For Locke, God created the
earth for the good of humankind. Everyone has
a use right to the resources of the earth, and
that use right does not disappear even after
government has been established and even if
strong property rights have been instituted.
Pushed to the extreme, the poor always have
their use right -- which amounts (at a
minimum) to a right to subsistence.
I don't assume that there is
a God who created the earth and determined
that people have certain rights. I would like
to modify the Catholic view in some ways. For
openers, I want a secular foundation that
doesn't rely on the will of God. I think I
offered that in my criticism of Dee's view.
Basically I said that if natural resources are
simply there for the taking it leads to
results that are morally unacceptable. First,
it eventually eliminates the use rights of
non-owners. Second, it implies that a few
people could take over all the most valuable
resources and reduce the others to complete
dependence, forcing them to do whatever they
want. I conclude that if one group takes
possession of all the valuable resources, they
owe compensation to those who thereby have no
access to those resources. That obligation to
compensate can be viewed as an obligation to
the common good.
So my view is a little bit
like the Catholic view, but it is secular
rather than theistic.
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