The title—“Government attacks free will when it assaults property rights”–of an opinion piece by Andrew P. Napolitano was intriguing. Unfortunately, while the former judge presented two false alternatives of dictatorship, he said virtually nothing about free will and its relationship to property rights. I will correct that oversight.
The right to property means the freedom to produce, use, and trade material values. It means that you can create “stuff” and do with it as you please, so long as you respect the freedom of others to do the same. Free will means that we possess the capacity to make choices, to choose between alternatives, including what to produce, use, and trade. Free will and property rights are inseparable.
If humans do not possess free will, then property rights are pointless. We can’t make choices about what values to produce, use, and trade. We are just helpless creatures who are moved by forces outside of our control. Whether it is our genetics, our economic class, or some other factor, we have no control over our actions. And if we have no control over our actions, then the freedom to produce, use, and trade values has no meaning.
Violations of property rights prevent individuals from acting on their choices. Indeed, violations of property rights force individuals to act contrary to their judgment. The armed robber forces you to give up your property without your consent. The zoning official uses the threat of fines or jail to prevent you from using your land as you choose. When government violates property rights, it is preventing us from exercising our free will.
Interestingly, those who advocate using government to violate property rights hold that we are incapable of making rational choices. Some deny that we have free will and need an overseer to make decisions for us. Others acknowledge that we have free will, but many of us will make bad decisions, so we need an overseer to make decisions for us. In either case, they prevent us from acting on our choices, exercising our free will.
Fundamentally, free will means our freedom to think or not think. But thought without the freedom to act is meaningless. Property rights protect our freedom to put our thoughts into action.