Property, Ethics, And God (Report‪)‬

Introduction Capitalism, by definition, entails private ownership of the means of production. Socialism entails government ownership of the means of production. In Marx's critique of capitalism, he portrays private ownership of capital (the physical tools used for production) as the root of all evil. According to Marx, once this root is cut, and a time of healing has occurred, all men will become perfectly moral. They will develop a "herd consciousness" under which each person will think of what is best for the entire herd instead of what is best for him--or herself. Furthermore, when this happens there will be no need for government, laws, and police, and there will be perfect freedom--every man and woman can do exactly what they want to do every day, but each person will decide to do what is best for society because they are now perfectly ethical (Marx 1932; Marx and Engels 1848). (1) The relationship between ethics and private property (especially of capital) is one of the biggest questions shaping our modern world. Indeed, China today is struggling with how far to go toward private property (Browne 2005).