Pierre-Joseph Proudhon · Politics
The argument behind the most famous slogan in the history of radical politics - that ‘property’ in Proudhon’s precise sense (the right to draw rent, interest, and profit from what others produce) is theft, while <em>possession</em> of what you use is legitimate freedom.
You learned that Proudhon attacked not personal belongings but property in a technical sense - the ‘right of increase’ that lets an owner reap where he has not sown - while defending possession (the use of what you work). Explain the distinction and why he called the first ‘theft.’
Leads to John Locke.
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