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About this quote

What does it mean?
Tucker distinguishes between personal property and broader capital assets, arguing they serve different social roles.
In plain terms
Personal goods belong to people, but capital belongs to the community.
What can you take from it?
Distinguish personal use items from broader economic assets.

Where it applies

  • economic policy debates
  • property law discussions
  • capitalism critiques

Putting it to work

  • analyze property claims
  • debate economic systems
  • classify assets

Questions to consider

  • How do you define capital versus personal product?
  • Who should control societal assets?

Another view

The distinction between product and capital is not universally agreed upon in economics.

More from Benjamin Tucker

  1. To the individual can belong only the products to be consumed, not the means of producing them. A man may own his clothes and his food, but not the sewing-mach…

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  2. All freedom of trade must disappear. Competition must be utterly wiped out. All industrial and commercial activity must be centered in one vast, enormous, all-…

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  3. First, then, State Socialism, which may be described as the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by the government, regardless of individual …

    Permalink to quote #4

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