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3 Libertarian Papers 1 (2011)

handle is hein.journals/libpa3 and id is 1 raw text is: VOL. 3, ART. No. 1 (2011)

OF PRIVATE, COMMON, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY AND
THE RATIONALE FOR TOTAL PRIVATIZATION
HANS-HERMANN HOPPE
I HAVE THREE GOALS. First, I want to clarify the nature and function
of private property. Second, I want to clarify the distinction between
common goods and property and public goods and property, and
explain the construction error inherent in the institution of public goods and
property. Third, I want to explain the rationale and principle of privatization.
I. Theoretical Preliminaries
I will begin with some abstract but fundamental theoretical
considerations concerning the sources of conflicts and the purpose of social
norms. If there were no interpersonal conflicts, there would be no need for
norms. It is the purpose of norms to help avoid otherwise unavoidable
conflicts. A norm that generates conflict, rather than helps avoid it, is
contrary to the purpose of norms, i.e., it is a dysfunctional norm or a
perversion.
It is sometimes thought that conflicts result from the mere fact of
different people having different interests or ideas. But this is false, or at least
very incomplete. From the diversity of individual interests and ideas alone it
*Hans-Hermann Hoppe (hoppe(mises.com, www.hanshoppe.com) is Professor
Emeritus of Economics at UNLV, Distinguished Fellow with the Ludwig von Mises
Institute, and Founder and President of The Property and Freedom Society
(www.propertvandfreedom.org). An earlier version of this article was delivered at the 5th
annual meeting of the Property and Freedom Society, in Bodrum, Turkey, in June 2010.
CITE THIS ARTICLE AS: Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Of Private, Common, and Public
Property and the Rationale for Total Privatization, Libertarian Papers 3, 1 (2011). ONLINE
AT: libertarianpapers.org. THIS ARTICLE IS subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
License (creativecommons.or2/licenses). Published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

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LIBERTARIAN PAPERS

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