Jesse Spafford on the Libertarian Case Against Property Rights

Mutual Exchange Radio

In this episode of Mutual Exchange Radio, host Zachary Woodman interviews Jesse Spafford. Jesse is a Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin working on the project REAL - Rights and Egalitarianism.

His research is focused on social and political philosophy with particular attention paid to debates between libertarians, socialists, and anarchists over the moral status of the market and the state.

Jesse espouses a version of left-libertarianism that's quite different from what you’ll hear promoted by many here at the Center—a philosophical position that holds that certain moral principles traditionally associated with libertarianism are compatible with egalitarian views about the distribution of resources.

It's a great episode for libertarians and anarchists alike. As Zach and Jesse dig into these differences and discuss what a stateless society should look like, you'll find yourself questioning all kinds of prior assumptions.

Further Reading:

• "Social Anarchism and the Rejection of Private Property," The Routledge Handbook of Anarchy and Anarchist Thought
• "Does Initial Appropriation Create New Obligations?" Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy (jesp.org)