day no. 16,712: property wrongs

“Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it. But philosophers dislike property as property; they wish to destroy the very idea of personal possession.” — G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare

Thou shall not steal presupposes private property. In other words, that which is thine really is. Jealously wishes thine was mine, but envy settles for thine as nein. Envy as a philosophical assumption has become so embedded into our thinking that many would rather everyone starve than anyone else be satisfied.

A thief wants to steal your property because they want it be their property. They do not long for a world where no one owns anything, rather they long to own more than they currently do. Philosophies like Marxism, however, do not just want to rob you, they want to rob the world. In short, they want to steal your right to property. This is often weaponized as a front by the well-to-do's who have not forfeited their interest in your property in the least. They want to do away with your property rights in principle and install their right to all property.

But theft is theft, regardless of who is doing it. Thou shall not steal. Whatever it is; whoever is trying to do it.