The concept of private property first develops in the context of the Roman civil law. This body of jurisprudence was necessary as the result of the extensive merchantile activity taking place within the empire. Much of this trade if not the bulk of it was in slaves and the products of slave labour. Private property rights have never guaranteed freedom of any sort. I've forgotten who made the point but the implicit acceptance of the Lockian argument by the Marxist left is interesting. I've long thought that the 'theft' of surplus by the capitalist class is not really the moral (or practical) problem with capitalism. The problem is the collective disempowerment on economic, political, and cultural levels which this appropriation leads to. Terry McDonough
