What is so special that we have all this hooplah about private property?
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.
"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach
I can write a more detailed explanation if need be when I have a lot of spare time, but basically giving the people the right and opportunity to own their land gives them an incentive to invest in that land. Also, you can then use that land as collateral for a loan, as well as for a lot of other financial instruments, which then gives you access to capital that otherwise would not exist for you. While private property rights does not ensure prosperity, prosperity is not possible without private property rights.
The example usually given of the opposite of pirvate property is the tragedy of the commons. Back in the day, especially in colonial America, a group of people only related by proximity to one another whould share a parcel of land. Everyone was responsible for the upkeep of that land, but could also use it as they pleased. However, as people act in their own self-interest, everyone tended to use it as they pleased. For instance, if you had sheep, it was in your interest to have your sheep graze as much as possible. But, if you were given sole responsibility for that land, then it also came to be in your interest to keep that land lush and fertile.
So yeah, private property is a very good thing, and it is the underpinning of prosperity in every country where prosperity exists. There was a great article in the Economist just a few months ago about how giving people who lived in slums ownership of their property in Peru lead to much better standards of living, even though their income didn't go up at all.
There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way, and not to give others absurd maddening claims upon it. — Christopher Darlington Morley
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