Thomas Jefferson: Unemployed Uncultivated
on Wednesday, August 22, 2018Thomas Jefferson Money Quote saying productive land and unproductive poor people should never exist in the same country. Thomas Jefferson said:
“Whenever there are in any country uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right” — Thomas Jefferson
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This quote suggests that Thomas Jefferson believed property laws should have natural limits in order to avoid violating people’s basic rights. He appears to be arguing that if a country has unemployed poor people and uncultivated land at the same time, it means property ownership has been defined too broadly, beyond what is justified by natural law.
Jefferson seems to be implying that in such a scenario, allowing some access to unused land by those without work would be in accordance with natural rights. The quote conveys Jefferson’s view that extreme inequality of land ownership could infringe on people’s natural right to access resources and property to provide for themselves.