Does anybody recognize this quote?

[struggle4progress]

"All the property that is necessary to a man for the conservation of the individual and the propagation of the species is his natural right, which none can justly deprive him of: But all property superfluous to such purposes is the property of the public, who by their laws have created it, and who may therefore by other laws dispose of it, whenever the welfare of the public shall demand such disposition. He that does not like civil society on these terms, let him retire and live among savages."

[Heyo]

1. Translated...

...you ain't worth shit but to breed for the good of society.

I'll die before I live in a place like described in that qoute.

Remind me not to read that book.

Heyo

[IrateCitizen]

3. I read it quite differently...

Rather, I read it as basically saying that the only property people really have a "right" to is that which they need to survive by modest means. Anything above and beyond that should be open to public seizure in the event that it is needed to ensure that ALL in society are guaranteed those modest means. It also implies that those who oppose such a society endorse savagery.

[da_chimperor]

8. I agree

It seems to me as his method of having a society where there is a sort of equal distribution of wealth. Hmmm, do I smell socialism? Yup, and I like it! Damn, if all those 'patriotic' Americans screaming at the top of their lungs about socialism being evil, and America being a Christian nation actually read what the founding fathers wrote . . . I can't even comprehend how much better America would be.

[Heyo]

11. With all due respect...

...and I mean that... I wouldn't call owning your own posessions "savagery"... that's quite an extremist view IMO.

Heyo

[IrateCitizen]

14. There's a delineation you're missing here (possibly intentionally)

What is being referred to as "savagery" is the amassing of many times more possessions than you need, while others go without even the modest means by which they can live a modest life.

It's all about the gap between the "have-mores" and the "have-nots". I'd rather live in a society in which the "have-mores" have a little bit less, if it means that the "have-nots" can just aspire to the level of "haves".

[struggle4progress]

5. Hmmm.

http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-57/iss-11/p20a.html

[rogerashton]

6. So, go and live among savages

and see how much they respect your superfluous property!

[Heyo]

12. I'm quite happy....

....among the savages actually.

:9

:toast:

Heyo

[whistle]

2. Is that your final answer......

....I know it!

[wryter2000]

4. Dang

I would have guessed Theodore Roosevelt.

[TahitiNut]

7. A student of John Locke, obviously.

:shrug: (Yes, I know who said it.)

[baldguy]

9. SOCIALISM!

A person should be able to lie cheat & steal as often and as much as he can - no matter how starving & poor the unmotivated welfare trolls are!

That's The Good Old American Capitalism At Work!

(for the sarcasm deficient: I'm joking)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Yes. And, I wish he were around to run for president.

That old Anarchist/Inventor/Philosopher/Womanizer had a pretty good view of how life should be in a truly free society.

[idiosyncratic]

13. Has anyone read "Cadillac Desert" by Marc Reisner?

He talks about the amount of property necessary to support a family and how it should have been larger for those who homesteaded out west because of the water limitations.

That is, until irrigation entered the picture.

For anyone who hasn't read this book, I HIGHLY recommend it. Very well-written, but heartbreaking.