Harland,
Rothbard argued that "the most practical method de-statizing is simply to
grant the moral right of ownership on the person or group who seizes the
property from the State." This would entail, in most cases, treating the
State's property as vacant or unowned, and recognizing the homestead rights
of those actually using it.
http://www.mutualist.org/id45.html
Wawrm regards, Michael
Thanks Michael, that is an interesting article. Yes, Rothbard may have supported the students "homesteading" the university, but I think that quote was also made in the context of the next paragraphs:
Privatization in Post-Communist Societies
Murray Rothbard and Hans Herman Hoppe have attempted to apply the same homestead principle to state property in post-communist societies.
Although Rothbard's assessment of the libertarian potential of Yugoslavia's combination of worker self-management and market socialism was over-optimistic and naive, his statement of principle for post-Communist societies was quite sound: "land to the peasants and the factories to the workers, thereby getting the property out of the hands of the State and into private, homesteading hands."
Rothbard certainly cannot have meant that if I steal a fire engine, it should become mine. Homesteading requires making better use of the property than is currently being done. The article continues about parent councils, like a PTA, actually running a school, instead of City Hall or Washington. I didn't find a blanket justification for any group at all to seize any state property, whatsoever. Rather, like the classic homesteader, the group taking charge must mix their labor with the property to produce greater wealth. I should only get that fire engine, if I run a better fire department.
Harland