What Is Property? · Chapter
Second Proposition explained
Proudhon argues that property is impossible because it causes production to cost more than it is worth.
What happens
Proudhon argues that property is impossible because it causes production to cost more than it is worth. Through economic analysis and a hypothetical community, he demonstrates that property rent is a wasteful tax that reduces workers' consumption and leads to unproductive consumption by proprietors, ultimately contradicting sound economic principles.
Themes in this chapter
Labor and Exploitation
Property forces laborers to produce more than they consume, with the surplus wasted by proprietors.
Inequality of Wealth
Property creates an unproductive class that consumes without contributing, exacerbating economic waste.
Property as Theft
Property is shown as a tax on production, effectively stealing labor's value.
Characters to notice
- Pierre Joseph Proudhon
Author and primary voice; presents the economic argument against property.
- Say
Quoted on production as exchange; his definition is used to critique property.
Key passages
“Production is exchange on a large scale. To render the exchange productive the value of the whole amount of service must be balanced by the value of the product.”
Production is essentially a large-scale exchange; for it to be productive, the total value of services rendered must equal the value of what is produced.
Proudhon uses Say's definition to set up his critique of property's imbalance.
“The proprietor—an essentially libidinous animal, without virtue or shame—is not satisfied with an orderly and disciplined life. He loves property, because it enables him to do at leisure what he pleases and when he pleases.”
The proprietor, driven by base desires, values property for the freedom it gives to indulge in idleness and luxury.
Proudhon characterizes proprietors as inherently wasteful and self-indulgent.