Western civilization is based on many abstract principles. Freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and property rights. You can look at principles as ‘ghosts’ that should be dispelled, or you can look at them as the fundamentals of our society. Private property is one of the most important principles of Western civilization. There is a path from property rights to human rights:

1. Private Property Ownership
2. Ownership of one’s personal body
3. Ownership of the fruits of one’s labor
4. Intellectual Property ownership
5. Human rights under the law

Without property rights we would not have human rights. We would not have freed the slaves. We would not have ‘science’ as most inventions are intellectual property. We would not have technology, as it is intellectual property and its implementation needs to make money to develop. Property ownership is the one of the fundamental underpinnings of Western civilization, and without it the whole system would collapse.

When the communists and socialists tried to eliminate private property giving this authority to the government, it actually took away personal freedoms and put this into the realm of government. Do you want government telling you what freedoms and rights you have? Do you want government telling you what ‘science’ and ‘truth’ are? Do you want government to ‘own’ your body? Eliminating private property is a slippery slope.