quote · Legacy record
Whenever there is in any country, uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right. The earth is given as a common stock for man to labour and live on. If, for the encouragement of industry we allow it to be appropriated, we must take care that other employment be furnished to those excluded from the appropriation. If we do not the fundamental right to labour the earth returns to the unemployed.
Whenever there is in any country, uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right. The earth is given as a common stock for man to labour and live on. If, for the encouragement of industry we allow it to be appropriated, we must take care that other employment be furnished to those excluded from the appropriation. If we do not the fundamental right to labour the earth returns to the unemployed.
Approximate author period: c. 1784 AD · early modern
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- Author or tradition
- Thomas Jefferson
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1784 AD · early modern
author lifetime midpoint (1743–1826)
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 288100; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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