IV.

Property and Political Philosophies

The concept of private property has been challenged by political philosophies such as communism and socialism. According to Communist doctrine, for example, ownership of real property and most personal property should be public; that is, the state should own the means of industrial production, as well as all wealth-generating personal property (see Marx, Karl). Actual Communist societies have, in fact, retained some private property, just as capitalist governments own some property publicly. Socialist societies do not generally hold that all property must be owned by the state; much of it is privately held.