What is Land? A Broad Look at Private Rights and Public Power

摘要

A lot of Americans are plainly worried about private property these days. Not many of them may pay dues to property-rights organizations but they nonetheless sympathize with the movement and its complaints. To see this we only need to look at the situation in Oregon and the public approval of Measure 37. A lot of people are worried. Why is this so? How legitimate are their fears? And how might we respond to them?As for the source of the concerns, the temptation is to assume that landowners are simply selfish and want to keep their land values high. But that's hardly it alone. The current conflict has deeper roots, having to do with the ideas people have about private property-ideas that are incomplete, even flawed. Not understanding the institution of private property very well, people have trouble understanding the changes going on and fear them. People's worries, that is, probably have as much or more to do with confused thinking about the institution of private property than they do with bad values.