A truly moral justification for property rights in space must include an identification of the nature of property and property rights. If we aren’t clear about what it is that we are defending, then our arguments will lack clarity and be unconvincing. Property rights, whether in space or on Earth, must be grounded in reality.
We use the term property in regard to many different things: land, a home, an automobile, jewelry, money, and much more. Each of these things is a material value. They are something physical that sustains or enhances our life. Further, we own these things and have control over their use and disposal. Property is a material value that is owned.
Nature does not provide us with ready-made material values. Clothing, shelter, computers, televisions, and every other material value must be created. The raw materials provided by nature must be transformed into human values through thought and effort. Property is created when material values are created. Those who create values are the rightful owners of their creations. The creators of property have a moral right to use and dispose of their creations as they deem best.
Property rights protect our freedom to create, use, trade, and dispose of material values.
Until a resource has been transformed into a material value, its proper status is “unowned.” What is often called “the commons” represents unowned resources. There is no moral justification for declaring that unowned resources belong to all mankind. Every individual has a moral right to use unowned resources to create property, to sustain and enhance his life. And when he creates material values, they are his to use and dispose of according to his own judgment.
We easily recognize the fact that the hunter owns the game that he shoots. We recognize that the fish caught by a fisherman are his to use and trade. In both instances, an individual has transformed that which is provided by nature into a human value. They have created property. The same principle applies to space innovators.
Only physical force can restrict our freedom to create material values—property. Only physical force, or the threat thereof, can prevent us from creating, using, and disposing of property. If someone sticks a gun in our face and demands our wallet, he has prevented us from using and disposing of our money as we desire. If we are threatened with jails or fines for producing or trading certain values, our own judgment is negated. When we are prevented from acting as we think best, our freedom to create values is restricted.
When we create values, we are acting in our own self-interest. We are taking action to sustain our life, not that of others. This is a truly individualistic framework.
Morally, the right to property is grounded in the metaphysical fact that we must create the values that will sustain us. Before any value can be consumed. It first must be created.
The Property Rights in Space Series
3 comments
Comments are closed.