Marxism Unmasked from Delusion to Destruction.pdf 7471KB

Past profits shift the ownership of the means of production from the
hands of those who were less effiaent in using them in the cyrs of the
public into the hands of those who are expected to be more efficient.
Therefore, the meaning of ownership of the means of production is very
different in a system based on the di\Tsion of labor from its meamng m a
feudal system. In a feudal s\-stem, pm-ate c»*-nership was acquired by
conquest or by the arbitrarv' appropnaoon of pieces of land. The
proprietor was the conqueror; the supreme conqueror ^^'as the head of the
army, the king, the "Fiihrer.* Other people acquired prn-ate property' as
gifts from the supreme lord. There %%-a$ a whole hierarchv'—lungs, dukes,
knights, and so on, and at the bottom %*eTe the people \*ith no pnjperty.
The dukes and knights could lose their properrv- b>- being depnvrd ot' their
"gift" by the higher authorirv-—the king—re\x>king h» gift; or thrv' might
be defeated by- a successftil conqueror. This s>-stem prevailed until
capitalism replaced it to N-arving degrees in many countrici.
If you study the histon.- ol' pri\-are o\»-ner%hip in land you can, of
course, go back cither to conquest or to appropruoon ol* ownerlen
properrv' b>' somebody From ihi% pi>int ot \ie%%-. the okier critic* of private
ownership said properrv' dtxr* mH hj\T a legal origin, it was acquired by
might, by conqucNt, without An\ legal basi* Hence. the\' «y the> %%'am to
take It away from the current private ouner* and gnr it to rvrrv-body.
Whether the origin devribrd hcrr i* right or wnmg i* t>ne qtieition.
Another question is what to do mnv that ptt>pert> it pri\-ateH- cmtied
The uxialists tiK>k mrr this critique i>l"ihe iHigin ot" property v^ithoul
realizing the cni>rinou\ ditferrnce that existed betx^ren then and n: If
you say ilut in the old vLisa the imner\ of land did niH deperni on the
nurkci. that i\ true, there wa\ mt nurket. there was onK' an instgnificanC
anuniiit ot trade I he tcuiial lord had onlv one real wa> lo «pet>d hn giraC
income in the pnxlucts ot the eanh—to retain a great retinue o( armed
men in onler to fight hi% bjtile> The court i>( a feudal lord comnted of an
enonm>us hou\cfu>ld in whuh nunv pe\>ple Irved (Kvinien I wnould lay),
supported by the great otatc In HrandenKirg in llerlin. for inuance. there
was one case ot a iouiuiK»r in the Mxteenth lentury who wa» li\'ing in
the king's hoim^hoUi 1 hi\ \\ vrrv ditferem ln>m the condmom m the
market ect>nomv
In the market ccoiunnv. private twAiiervhip is. as il ^rre. a tocial
function bccauNc it can be retained and enlarged only by «ervmg cusfometf
in the cheapest and hot powible was Thtne who do not know how to
serve consumcrN in the Jieapot and best pinsible way uiffirr lovct. If thcf
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