>Normally theft is defined in terms of the property system of the society it occurs within. As you said, let's not get hung up on semantics. It's taking proper

>Normally theft is defined in terms of the property system of the society it occurs within. As you said, let's not get hung up on semantics. It's taking property from someone that they are morally entitled to. If John gives me a widget, you have no moral right to take it from me without my consent because you happened to sign a piece of paper saying it's the law, and get Bob and Alice to add their signatures as well. Government does not have any rights that a group of people do not have. If it's wrong for a group of people to deprive you of your property, it's wrong for a government to do so as well. >We can say murder is intrinsically bad because life is evident in the universe, but there is no intrinsic notion of property in the universe. What about slavery? What about predation, or parasitism, where one animal lives off of the life of another? The predator/parasite robs the prey/host of their bodily resources. Property is absolutely evident. Every bit as evident as freedom/self-ownership. Animals will fight against attempts to prey/parasite off of their body, just as they'll fight against attempts to steal their kill. First Possession is a principle observed in animals to reduce conflict, and it is the basis of property rights. It is also found to lead to a stable equilibrium in game theory experiments.