Philosophy of Ownership

I just finished reading Robert LeFevre's Philosophy of Ownership. Here's the link to the Mises Store. You can also read the free electronic version.

Even though I was familiar with most of the ideas that Mr. LeFevre presented, I still found it an enjoyable read. There was one passage that particularly caught my attention and helped me to see things more clearly.

Mr. LeFevre writes on pgs 55-58:  

A man values a pretty object and claims it as his own. But he cannot hold it forever. He must hunt and fish and move about, employing both his hands in mere survival. Will the object of his claim be taken by the first man who sees a value in what he has claimed?

Here is the essential requirement for all private ownership. If ownership is to be more than temporary use of an item, the owner's rights to the item must endure in time and space beyond his immediate and physical contact. When property of any kind is viewed as collectively owned, then use and not ownership becomes the standard of behavior. Since no individual can own any collective property, he must await his turn in the use of anything available. It would follow that control of one's environment would always be at the mercy of other users...

While some have contended...that such a procedure would be beneficial to the human race, it follows, upon examination, that little if any economic development could ensue from such a policy or practice. For any production to occur at all, some person or some group of persons (organization) would have to pre-empt the uses of some so that accumulations of raw materials could be set aside, so that tools could be devised, so that ultimate production could ensue. Production never truly occurs until savings have been accumulated. Since any accumulation of anything would be subject to the immediate use of anyone who happened to discover the stock-pile, the entire concept is unworkable...

Man, as a consumer, must be able to produce before he consumes. For him to produce in any satisfactory degree, he must have the assurance that his savings or accumulations will not be trespassed. Since he cannot keep all his savings on his person, it is essential for his well-being that he be able to set down his accumulations and know that he can return to them, without running the risk of their being taken from him in his absence.

I've long understood that under Socialism, calculation of profits and losses is impossible. And without profits and losses, there is no rational way to know where factors of production should be put to use.

Mr. LeFevre shows that under collective ownership, the ability to save cannot occur. For your savings are always up for grabs to whoever else would like to use them. 

If you cannot save, you cannot invest in the production of more complex tools.

So private property and market prices are essential; both in allowing the creation of capital to occur, and in deciding exactly where the accumulated capital should be put to use.