The Source of Rights; F. Chodorov

The senselessness of the socialistic axiom is shown by the fact that there would be no society, and therefore no government, if there were no individuals. The human being is the unit of all social institutions; without a man there cannot be a crowd. Hence, we are compelled to look to the individual to find an axiom on which to build a nonsocialistic moral code. What does he tell us about himself? The late Frank Chodorov edited The Freeman for a time, was associate editor of Human Events, and the author of several books, including The Income Tax (New York: Devin Adair, 1954), from which this selection has been reprinted by permission. This essay shows why a socialistic society must decline because it fails to respect private property. Desire to Live In the first place, he tells us that above all things he wants to live. He tells us this even when he first comes into the world and lets out a yell. Because of that primordial desire, he maintains, he has a right to live. Certainly, nobody else can establish a valid claim to his life, and for that reason he traces his own title to an authority that transcends all men, to God. That title makes sense.

When the individual says he has a valid title to life, he means that all that is he, is his own: his body, his mind, his faculties. Maybe there is something else in life, such as a soul, but without going into that realm, he is willing to settle on what he knows about himself-his consciousness. All that is "I" is "mine." That implies, of course, that all that is "you" is "yours"-for, every "you" is an "I." Rights work both ways. But, while just wanting to live gives the individual a title to life, it is an empty title unless he can acquire the things that make life liveable, beginning with food, raiment, and shelter. These things do not come to you because you want them; they come as the result of putting labor to raw materials. You have to give something of yourself-your brawn or your brain-to make the necessary things available. Even wild berries have to be picked before they can be eaten. But the energy you put out to make the necessary things is part of you; it is you. Therefore, when you cause these things to exist, your title to 141 142 THE FREEMAN • MARCH 1997 yourself, your labor, is extended to the things.

You have a right to them simply because you have a right to life. Source of Government That is the moral basis of the right of property. "I own it because I made it" is a title that proves itself. The recognition of that title is implied in the statement that "I make so many dollars a week." That is literally true. But what do you mean when you say you own the thing you produced? Say it is a bushel of wheat. You produced it to satisfy your desire for bread. You can grind the wheat into flour, bake the loaf of bread, eat it, or share it with your family or a friend. Or you can give part of the wheat to the miller in payment for his labor; the part you give him, in the form of wages, is his because he gave you labor in exchange. Or you sell half the bushel of wheat for money, which you exchange for butter to go with the bread. Or you put the money in the bank so that you can have something else later on, when you want it.

In other words, your ownership entitles you to use your judgment as to what you will do with the product of your labor-consume it, give it away, sell it, save it. Freedom of disposition is the substance of property rights. Freedom of Disposition Interference with this freedom of disposi tion is, in the final analysis, interference with your right to life. At least, that is your reaction to such interference, for you describe such interference with a word that expresses a deep emotion: You call it "robbery." What's more, if you find that this robbery persists, if you are regularly deprived of the fruits of your labor, you lose interest in laboring. The only reason you work is to satisfy your desires; and if experience shows that despite your efforts your desires go unsatisfied, you be come stingy about laboring. You become a "poor" producer. Suppose the freedom of disposition is taken away from you entirely. That is, you become a slave; you have no right of property. What ever you produce is taken by somebody else; and though a good part of it is returned to you, in the way of sustenance, medical care, housing, you cannot under the law dispose of your output; if you try to, you become the legal "robber." Your concern in produc tion wanes and you develop an attitude to ward laboring that is called a "slave" psychol ogy. Your interest in yourself also drops because you sense that without the right of property you are not much different from the other living things in the barn. The clergyman may tell you you are a man, with a soul; but you sense that without the right of property you are somewhat less of a man than the one who can dispose of your production as he wills.If you are a human, how human are you?

It is silly, then, to prate ofhuman rights being superior to property rights, because the right of ownership is traceable to the right to life, which is certainly inherent in the human being. Prop erty rights are in fact human rights. A society built around the denial of this fact is, or must become, a slave society-although the socialists describe it differently. It is a society in which some produce and others dispose of their output. The laborer is not stimulated by the prospect of satisfying his desires but by fear of punishment. When his ownership is not interfered with, when he works for himself, he is inclined to develop his faculties of production because he has unlimited desires. He works for food, as a matter of necessity; but when he has a suffi ciency of food, he begins to think of fancy dishes, a tablecloth, and music with his meals. There is no end of desires the human being can conjure up, and willwork for, provided he feels reasonably sure that his labor will not be in vain. Contrariwise, when the law deprives him of the incentive of enjoyment, he will work only as necessity compels him. What use is there in putting out more effort?

Therefore, the generalproduction ofa social istic society must decline to the point of mere subsistence. Decline of Society The economic decline of a society with out property rights is followed by the loss of other values. It is only when we have a sufficiency of necessaries that we give thought to nonmaterial things, to what is called cul ture. On the other hand, we find we can do without books, or even moving pictures, when existence is at stake. Even more than that, we who have no right to own certainly have no right to give, and charity becomes an empty word; in a socialistic order, no one need give thought to an unfortunate neighbor because it is the duty of the government, the only property owner, to take care of him; it might even become a crime to give a "bum" a dime. When the denial of the right of the individual is negated through the denial of ownership, THE SOURCE OF RIGHTS 143 the sense of personal pride, which distin guishes man from beast, must decay from disuse ....

Whatever else socialism is, or is claimed to be, its first tenet is the denial of private property. All brands of socialism, and there are many, are agreed that property rights must be vested in the political establishment. None of the schemes identified with this ideology, such as the nationalization of in dustry, or socialized medicine, or the aboli tion of free choice, or the planned econ omy, can become operative if the individual's claim to his property is recognized by the government. 0 ~~~The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade Edited by Burton W. Folsom, Jr. M ost historians give the Industrial Revolution low marks. This volume tells the rest of the story. The advent of the factory system and mass production made more goods available to more people less expensive ly than ever before. Even though factory workers often labored long hours under hard conditions, they also increased their wealth, lengthened their lives, and improved their standard of living. The economic policy of free trade, which often followed when nations industrialized, fostered increased commerce, the exchange of information, and greater understanding among countries.

liThe Industrial Revolution and Free Trade is a rich, informative anthology.A veritablegold mine offacts about the historyoffree tradeand of thefree market,it is a book worth owning and consulting.ProfessorFolsom has done well to provideus with this collectionand with his own learnedintroduction." -PAUL GOTTFRIED, Professor of History Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania DR. BURTON W. FOLSOM, JR., is a Senior Fellow in Economic Education at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan. A former college professor, he is the author of several books and many essays on economic history. Published by The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc. 30 South Broadway, Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533 ISBN 1-57246-057-1 • Paperback $14.95 Availablein bookstoresnationally,or call FEE: 1-800-452-3518 THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY Confessionof a CompliantTaxpayer by Dwight R. Lee I 'm afraid of the IRS, so I alwayspay at least as much, and probably more, than lowe in federal taxes. I confess this with apologies to my fellow taxpayers, particularly those who don't do as I do.