Personal Property Versus The Means of Production
In general, personal property is almost an extension of one's person and does include property from which one has the right to exclude others. Personal property is different to private property, however, in that it refers to things that are personal: objects with which one has a personal connection, making them important to one person while potentially worthless to the next. These objects can range from CDs to houses, depending on one's perspective, but definitions tend to include personal items such as clothing, books, food, or records.
From the socialist perspective, private property refers to capital or means of production that is owned by a business or few individuals and operated for their profit. Personal property refers to tangible items and possessions individuals own, as mentioned above. Socialism does not advocate the abolition of personal property, believing that it is an acceptable form of ownership of an item, unlike private property.
From the Marxist perspective, which is very similar to the socialist perspective, private property is a social relationship, not (as with personal property) a relationship between person and thing. It also describes personal property, as above, as those objects which are personal, or an extension of one's self. The Marxist perspective also does not advocate the abolition of personal property: it believes that it is only private property that should be done away with.
In capitalism there is little distinction between personal and private property.
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Famous quotes containing the words personal property, personal, property, means and/or production:
“I am what is mine. Personality is the original personal property.”
—Norman O. Brown (b. 1913)
“The personal appropriation of clichés is a condition for the spread of cultural tourism.”
—Serge Daney (1944–1992)
“The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Fine art is the subtlest, the most seductive, the most effective instrument of moral propaganda in the world, excepting only the example of personal conduct; and I waive even this exception in favor of the art of the stage, because it works by exhibiting examples of personal conduct made intelligible and moving to crowds of unobservant unreflecting people to whom real life means nothing.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“The growing of food and the growing of children are both vital to the family’s survival.... Who would dare make the judgment that holding your youngest baby on your lap is less important than weeding a few more yards in the maize field? Yet this is the judgment our society makes constantly. Production of autos, canned soup, advertising copy is important. Housework—cleaning, feeding, and caring—is unimportant.”
—Debbie Taylor (20th century)