Labor Theory of Property - Acquisition Vs Mixing Labor

Acquisition Vs Mixing Labor

The labor theory of property does not only apply to land itself, but to any application of labor to nature. For example, natural-rightist Lysander Spooner, says that an apple taken from an unowned tree would become the property of the person who plucked it, as he has labored to acquire it. He says the "only way, in which can be made useful to mankind, is by their taking possession of it individually, and thus making it private property."

However, some, such as Benjamin Tucker have not seen this as creating property in all things. Tucker argued that "in the case of land, or of any other material the supply of which is so limited that all cannot hold it in unlimited quantities," these should only be considered owned while the individual is in the act of using or occupying these things. This is a rejection of Absentee ownership for land.

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