Other meanings of Personal property
Posted on:3/30/2006
| Specifically, Marxism and Anarchism draw a distinction between personal property and private property: |
Specifically, Marxism and Anarchism draw a distinction between personal property and private property: Personal property refers to things that an individual has an exclusive right to use but only while they are in use or used regularly. This differs from private property which refers to things that are owned by an individual regardless of whether he is using them. In the case of private property, since an individual owns what he does not use, he has a right to prevent others from using what he does not use or has no intention of using. This allows a landowner, for example, to charge rent for the use of his land. With personal property, an individual does not hold any rights over things he does not use. If he decides to stop using land, he may not prevent any other individual from using it or charge them to use it. This distinction is important in discussions about communism and anarchism, because these systems abolish private property but not personal property. Things such as factories and land are public property and are used in common by groups of people, while things such as cars and toothbrushes remain personal possessions and are used by one person at a time. The rights associated with personal possessions in communism and anarchism may not be the same as in capitalism or other systems, however. To be more exact, personal property in communism and anarchism implies the right to exclusive use (no one may use your toothbrush without your permission unless you no longer intend to use it), but it does not imply the right to buy and sell. One possible model of distribution of personal possessions in communism is as follows: A publicly owned factory produces toothbrushes. These toothbrushes are then placed in some sort of "common stockpile", where people who need a toothbrush can go and pick one. As soon as a person picks a toothbrush from the "common stockpile", that brush becomes his personal property until it is worn out and he throws it away.
Note: Communism should not be confused with socialism; socialism does not abolish private property over anything other than the means of production. Thus, in socialism, toothbrushes - or, for that matter, cars - can be bought and sold.
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