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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Labor theory of value or private property

I wouldn't have put two and two together by just reading this in John Locke's Second Treatise of Government. I had to read Chapter V: Of Property to understand it a little. The text of it is...
The labour of his body and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes our of the state that nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joined it to something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property. It being by him removed from the common state nature hath placed it in, it hath by this labour something annexed to it, that excludes the common right of other men: for this labour being the unquestionable property of the labourer no man but he can have a right to what that is one joined to at least where there is enough, and as good left in common for others.
Of course I'm sure this opens up a can of worms. Perhaps this good wasn't claimed by anyone else. Then I saw another thing that interested me, taking more than you need. This apparently would be considered stealing because others could enjoy this acorn or apple. I'll get back to this idea soon enough so I craft more of a response to that.

If I return to Locke in the immediate future I'd like to share my notes on "classical liberalism".

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