Not a Zero-Sum Game - Ludwig von Mises Institute

NOT A ZERO-SUM GAME
Sir William Blackstone (1 723-1 780) defined property as "that
despotic dominion that one man claims and exercises over the
external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any
other individual in the universe."S
Obviously, Sir William did not intend his dictum to mean that
the lawful owner of something might dispose of it in any manner
and with no limit. For without limits, someone else, in the use of
his property rights, could damage yours. In such a scenario, no
one would be assured the enjoyment of his rights.
Tom Bethell, The Noblest Triumph
Property is the most peaceable of institutions. In a society of private
property, goods must be either voluntarily exchanged or laboriously created.
The generally accepted limit to property rights is that as long
as you respect other people's equal and generally recognized rights,
no one has any say in how you enjoy or dispose of your rights. In
other words, as long as you observe the reciprocally accepted
rules of good conduct that make society viable, you have sole dis-
cretion as to the disposal of what is yours. Indeed, rules of good
conduct-such as the Ten Cornrnandments-establish limits on what
you are allowed to do, in order to protect other people's equal and
reciprocal rights.
When such norms prevail, people have no choice but to enjoy
or dispose of their property in a peaceful manner. These general-
ly accepted limitations to the exercise of property rights-admit-
tedly with grey areas-constitute and define the basic rules of the
market economy: respect for life, for property, and for contracts.
5. Quoted in: Tom Bethell, The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity throztgh the Ages
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998), p. 19.