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> Yes, it's completely selfish that someone would like to keep the money they've earned Well yeah. The very concept of ownership is inherently selfish. It mean
by aninhumer 11y ago
> Yes, it's completely selfish that someone would like to keep the money they've earned
Well yeah. The very concept of ownership is inherently selfish. It means you want there to be a particular set of resources you get to use, and no one else. It's pretty much the definition of selfishness.
Not that I think this is a bad thing, but if you're trying to argue with this particular rhetorical framing, you're going to lose hard.
- WalterBright 11y agoHow is it not equally selfish for someone to claim they are entitled to other peoples' money?
- freyr 11y agoBecause it's more selfish?
- rbanffy 11y agoNot at all because it's not "I am entitled to your money" but "everyone's entitled to everyone's money".
- aninhumer 11y agoUntil you have a property system there is no "other people's" stuff.
- Houshalter 11y agoWell we do have a property system so what are you trying to say?
- aninhumer 11y agoThat expecting there to be "your stuff" is already inherently selfish, so trying to argue that particular reallocations of "your stuff" are selfish is kind of ridiculous.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- Houshalter 11y agoAnd now we are back where we started, with why is it selfish for me to claim it, but not you? Without property rights, no one has any right to anything and the world would be anarchy. There is nothing selfish about property rights. If you make something, and want to use it, that's not selfish. If someone else comes and demands you give it to them instead, that is selfish.
- thaumasiotes 11y ago> Not that I think this is a bad thing, but if you're trying to argue with this particular rhetorical framing, you're going to lose hard. I think you missed the other half of the sentence: > and yet completely selfless that you feel you have a right to [the money someone else earned]
- aninhumer 11y agoThe other half of the sentence only makes sense within a property system. My point is that the very act of saying "That's mine, you can't have it" is already incredibly selfish.
- brbsix 11y agoTaken to this extreme (wherein private property is selfish), human life is selfish. In living, you consume resources that no one else can use. As such, arguing that reallocation of your life (e.g. your death or enslavement) is selfish would be ridiculous.