" [Native Americans] didn’t have any rights to the land, and there was no reason for anyone to grant them rights which they had not conceived and were not using. What was it that they were fighting for, when they opposed white men on this continent? For their wish to continue a primitive existence, their ‘right’ to keep part of the earth untouched, unused and not even as property, but just keep everybody out so that you will live practically like an animal, or a few caves above it. Any white person who brings the element of civilization has the right to take over this continent." - Ayn Rand, West Point lecture 1974
To be clear, Indigenous peoples did have property rights in their own legal codes and did work the land, so she’s even wrong on the basics here, and even if they didn’t would not justify genocide.
is there any reading you’d recommend on pre-colonial conceptions of indigenous property rights? since grade school i was always lead to believe that native americans didn’t have land ownership.
Graeber likes talking about the topic, see both Debt: The First 5000 Years and The Dawn of Everything. I’m sure there’s more indigenous sources.
An opening point would be that “native american” is a very broad category. Many different cultures with different lifestyles and legal codes. Hierarchies and morals. They have effectively been homogenised (in the eyes of their colonisers) by their common oppression and conquest.
Dare I ask?
" [Native Americans] didn’t have any rights to the land, and there was no reason for anyone to grant them rights which they had not conceived and were not using. What was it that they were fighting for, when they opposed white men on this continent? For their wish to continue a primitive existence, their ‘right’ to keep part of the earth untouched, unused and not even as property, but just keep everybody out so that you will live practically like an animal, or a few caves above it. Any white person who brings the element of civilization has the right to take over this continent." - Ayn Rand, West Point lecture 1974
To be clear, Indigenous peoples did have property rights in their own legal codes and did work the land, so she’s even wrong on the basics here, and even if they didn’t would not justify genocide.
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They’re already doing that, to San Francisco
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BRB evicting Jeff bozos from his house because I didn’t think he was maximising his land use
What is this a quote from?
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I’d far rather live as equals on earth than have slaves in space
Fuck the troops
Fuckhead couldn’t even stay consistent; it was always a grift for her.
I’ve seen plenty of takes that are just this from zionists the last couple of weeks. It is just the same shit over and over with settler colonialists.
me when i’m a secular natural rights “anarchist”: “um but the state didn’t say it was theirs?”
is there any reading you’d recommend on pre-colonial conceptions of indigenous property rights? since grade school i was always lead to believe that native americans didn’t have land ownership.
Graeber likes talking about the topic, see both Debt: The First 5000 Years and The Dawn of Everything. I’m sure there’s more indigenous sources.
An opening point would be that “native american” is a very broad category. Many different cultures with different lifestyles and legal codes. Hierarchies and morals. They have effectively been homogenised (in the eyes of their colonisers) by their common oppression and conquest.
Maybe not 100% what you’re looking for, but probably covering a lot of the same territory - check out Theft Is Property! by Robert Nichols.
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