How would an anarchist deal with inheriting property?

Question

Let's say that a relative of yours dies and leaves you the house and the land. I understand that under the current system no amount of personal action (ex. buying the "right" goods) can bring down capitalism. I know that we all act in contradictory ways, but would it be okay to take the property?

Comments

Similar to what Ran Prieur had recently?

Answer 1

If I felt like I needed the house, I would accept it. If I felt like I did not need the house, I would gift it. Either way I would try to put the house in better relation with the local landbase and oppressed peoples than when I inherited it. If I intended to live in the house I would do co-housing, attempt to set up some sort of collective or safe house or social center or seedbank or tool library, de-pave it if I could get away with it, get off grid as best I could, and plant a native perennial polyculture or create wild habitat. If I decided to gift it I would gift it to the people who needed and deserved it most in my area (such as evicted natives, inner city poor, rural poor, street queers, escaped domestic violence or sexual assault survivors, migrant laborers, prole strategists who could use time off to organize actions, etc.). I wouldn't become an absentee owner or a renter, and I would only sell it if I thought the money could do more good than the house, and I would not feel entitled to the money from the sale for myself, it would go to projects and solidarity. I would ask, who lived here before us, how do they live now, who needs this? I would try to cultivate gifting, sharing, networking, autonomy, create a hub for strategic struggle...

Comments

i've reread this answer a half dozen times and it still dazzles with a spectrum of possibilities.
i read it with fear and hope and challenge and shame and emotions we no longer have words for...

Thank you.

Answer 2

to generalize off of what ALC answered - as with all practical life questions ("how can i _______ in the most anarchist way?" "how can i be an anarchist and _________") it depends on you and your situation.
anarchists take principles - anti capitalism, anti state and statism, etc - all of which do not work in the current system (by definition. how could they work when they're directly counter to the system?), and then have to figure out on a case by case basis what is the best way to fit those principles into their life, and their life into those principles... (definitely a reciprocal relationship).

so. given that (and ALC's concrete suggestions), what do *you* think is the best thing to do with a piece of property that has been inherited?

Comments

In my opinion, the land isn't his (or anyones) to own or give, if you're using a room or flat/appartment it's your space to live in,property I feel is based on use if you use it to cook,sleep etc, it's yours, once you're dead, no-one's using it,so someone else can.

Now, if you lived and used the same space as your parents or relitive, it would be yours as you where using it, but if you moved away and the person using the space, then you have a place to live, and there's no need for you to have it.