Hoppe, Hans Hermann --- "The Ethics and Economics of Private Property" [2004] ELECD 99; in Colombatto, Enrico (ed), "The Elgar Companion to the Economics of Property Rights" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004)

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to the Economics of Property Rights

Editor(s): Colombatto, Enrico

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781840649949

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: The Ethics and Economics of Private Property

Author(s): Hoppe, Hans Hermann

Number of pages: 16

Extract:

2 The ethics and economics of private property
Hans-Hermann Hoppe


The problem of social order
Alone on his island, Robinson Crusoe can do whatever he pleases. For him,
the question concerning rules of orderly human conduct ­ social coopera-
tion ­ simply does not arise. Naturally, this question can only arise once a
second person, Friday, arrives on the island. Yet even then, the question
remains largely irrelevant so long as no scarcity exists. Suppose the island
is the Garden of Eden; all external goods are available in superabundance.
They are `free goods', just as the air that we breathe is normally a `free'
good. Whatever Crusoe does with these goods, his actions have repercus-
sions neither with respect to his own future supply of such goods nor
regarding the present or future supply of the same goods for Friday (and
vice versa). Hence, it is impossible that there could ever be a conflict
between Crusoe and Friday concerning the use of such goods. A conflict is
only possible if goods are scarce. Only then will there arise the need to
formulate rules that make orderly ­ conflict-free ­ social cooperation poss-
ible.
In the Garden of Eden only two scarce goods exist: the physical body of a
person and its standing room. Crusoe and Friday each have only one body
and can stand only at one place at a time. Hence, even in the Garden of Eden
conflicts between Crusoe and Friday can arise: Crusoe and Friday cannot
occupy the same ...