Giving in a Capitalist System

There are six intangible legal rights of property ownership, often referred to as the "bundle of legal rights." As an owner of property, you have the right to:

1. Possess the property
2. Control the property, without violating the rights of others
3. Enjoy the property, again without violating the rights of others
4. Exclude others from any right to your property
5. Encumber, or lessen, one's rights of ownership
6. Dispose of the property, through sale, inheritance, or giving it away

As the owner of property, you have the right to give your property away. You don't have the right to give someone else's property away, but you have every right to give yours to help someone less fortunate than yourself, to assist in finding cures to a disease, to aid in recovery from natural disasters, etc.

From a moral perspective, it is not noble to vote to give someone else's property away; but it is honorable to give one's own property, not out of obligation, but out of choice. Capitalism does not force one to care for another human being, but it allows one to have the right to, and to choose to whom he wishes to bestow his gifts.