ABSTRACT: Property and Justice presents a new theory of original acquisition out of which two applications are drawn: a defense of the commons and a defense of the right of necessity. Author Billy Christmas attempts to robustly link freedom to property and mostly succeeds. However, the work contains two serious flaws. First, his right of necessity allows some individuals to partly own others. Second, his theory of original acquisition permits far more conflict between individuals than the author admits, and adjusting the theory to overcome this problem ends up undermining freedom by implausibly allocating property rights.
Read the full article at the Journal of Libertarian Studies.
