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Eberhard Arnold

"The natural world around us shows the way to relief. All of life is maintained by the sun, by the air, by water, by the earth and its resources. And to whom was the sun given? To everyone. If there is any one thing that people do have in common, it is the gift of sunlight. But as the early Christians said, If the sun were not hung so high, someone would have claimed it long ago.

And the desire to own property, to take for ourselves things which in no way belong to us, does not stop short at the sun. The air is already bought and sold as a commodity, by health resorts. And what of water? Or waterpower? Why should the earth be parceled out into private hands? Is it any different from the sun? No; the earth belongs to the people who live on it. God intended it for them, but it has been taken over by private individuals. The word private comes from the Latin privarto steal. Thus private property is stolen property property stolen from God and from humankind!

Jesus is the friend of humanity and therefore the enemy of private property. He wants people to have true life. He attacked the urge to self-preservation and privilege. He gave up everything and became not only the poorest but also the lowest, for he was classed as a criminal. He kept nothing back for himself. He had no money of his own: his wandering community had a common purse."

Source: Eberhard Arnold, in a lecture, Vienna, November 1929