3 ms·

Historically property rights were defended by the owner.

• Retric 10y ago
  Unless you mean before written history then no. Governments have been mediating property disputes at least as far as the written word and likely though the last 100,000+ years.
  • xyzzy4 10y ago
    In feudalistic society there were hundreds of small "governments" in a society, all of which had to defend their own rights.
  • friedman23 10y ago
    Do you believe that when we all lived in huts that the feudal lord would send out knights to defend you if your neighbor decided to take your property?
    • snowwrestler 10y ago
      Under a medieval feudal system, most people did not own property the way we think of it today; the feudal lord did. If the lord wanted to take all your clothes and throw you off their land, they could, with impunity. That said, yes, the feudal lord's band of merry thugs would keep the peace, because peasants can work harder if they're not squabbling with each other.
      • brightsize 10y ago
        >Under a medieval feudal system You don't have to go that far back in time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patroon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patroon
    • Retric 10y ago
      It's not that clear cut. If a poor person gets robbed today the cops will do basically nothing. Feudal lords will defend vs Viking raids. So, they both sit betweeen 0 and 100% on this.