What do “capitalism” and “communism” really mean? At their core, both paradigms take a position on property ownership. This article defines and compares property, private property, and public property, drawing on primary sources by the Founding Fathers and Karl Marx, and laying the groundwork for a broader series on how property ownership shapes society and education.
What Is the Definition of Property?
The question “What is the definition of property?” is central, especially as its meaning is often misunderstood. In “Private Property Rights,” Lauren Gideon looks closely at the many nuances of the term and lays out its theological and philosophical framework.
Referencing the sources Lauren uses in the article, we learn that, according to Madison, who articulated the traditional Lockean understanding of property, property essentially has these qualities:
- Property is predicated on exclusive ownership.
- Property is both physical belongings and personal rights.
- Property is a natural right (given by God).
When discussing policies or ideas that have to do with property and ownership, it is important to keep these principles in mind. The next logical question to be asked is “Who should exercise ownership over property?” This question has traditionally been understood to have two general and broad answers: the individual or the collective (state).
What Is the Definition of Private Property?
Private property is a natural right as fundamental as life and liberty by which the individual exclusively owns property—i.e., one’s body, mind, reputation, convictions, beliefs, speech, real estate, money, etc.—because these things are extensions of the human person. This understanding formed a foundational pillar of the American Republic.
From intellectual titans like John Locke and the American Founding Fathers, we learn that private property is a natural right, sacred, and a protector against anarchy and tyranny.
What Is the Definition of Public Property?
While the term can refer narrowly to shared civic infrastructure like roads or courts, in its fullest ideological expression, public property describes a system in which the state holds collective ownership over the means of production and individual holdings. Our current tax system mirrors this expression because it is built on the claim that a portion of your income is not your own—it is the public’s good.
In this broad sense, public property forms the economic foundation of communist and socialist governments. Their reasoning is that property inherently perpetuates the oppression of the proletariat, so it must be taken from the individual and collectively distributed by the state to ensure equity.
How Do These Terms Compare?
| Private Property | Similarities | Public Property |
|---|---|---|
| Individual ownership | Someone owns property | Collectivist ownership |
| Founded on natural rights | Rooted in a view of human nature | Aimed at abolishing oppression |
| Exercised in nations like the United States | Shapes the relationship between citizen and state | Exercised in nations like the former USSR |
What Are the Consequences of Private and Public Property?
It is important for us to consider the differences and similarities of these ideas so that we can gain a better understanding of them. As the Law of Identity instructs us, whatever is true about them is always true about them, and whatever is false is always false. Continue exploring the consequences of these political philosophies by asking yourself, “What are the societal consequences of private property and public property?”
Quotations on Private Property
“Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First, a right to life, secondly, to liberty, and thirdly, to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.”
—Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1772)
“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
—John Adams, Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States (1787)
“It is one of the greatest blessings of civil society that the property of citizens is well secured.”
—Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
Quotations on Public Property
“All property relations in the past have continually been subject to historical change consequent upon the change in historical conditions. The French Revolution, for example, abolished feudal property in favour of bourgeois property.
The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property. But modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few.
In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
—Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto (1848)
“In 2030, you’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.”
— The World Economic Forum (WEF), “8 Predictions for the World in 2030” (2016)
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