The right of property is that sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual.

Explanation

Ownership is exclusive dominion — the owner's right excludes all others, including the government, except by due process of law.

Where this applies

• The city says I need a permit to use my own land for farming.
• A government agency is telling me what I can and can't do with my own property.

See also

• 5.1.3 Property is the proper right by which a man uses his own thing.
• 5.2.2 Whose is the soil, his it is even to the sky above and to the depths below.