Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“The popular telling of the histories of Iran, Venezuela, and other countries, and their relevance to current U.S. policy, requires that we get something straight. While natural resources exist in such places, those resources do not naturally belong to the said country, people, or government. That would be collectivism and, thus, nonsensical. The proper owners of land and subsurface resources are those who discover and develop them, no matter where they were born or live. They are the Lockean owners (per John Locke’s homesteading principle). This means that someone from outside the territory could be the legitimate owner in a given case. Indigenous persons who had no role in the discovery and development have no natural claim based merely on their birth. That’s no achievement. The foregoing does not mean that outside entrepreneurs may morally disregard the Lockean property rights of indigenous individuals.” (03/11/26)
https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/the-myth-of-national-resources