Private property is bad because "ownership" results in an unequal distribution of power, which frustrates efforts to act communally for the public good. That is the collectivist drivel being taught in a school in Seattle. The children had their Legos taken away because, in building their Legotown, they were incorporating "their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys." These assumptions "mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society -- a society that we teachers believe to be unjust and oppressive." The Legos were given back only after the children's socialist indoctrination was complete:
At the end of that time, Legos returned to the classroom after the children agreed to several guiding principles framed by the teachers, including that "All structures are public structures" and "All structures will be standard sizes." The teachers quote the children:
"A house is good because it is a community house."
"We should have equal houses. They should be standard sizes."
"It's important to have the same amount of power as other people over your building."
In case you think the writer is exaggerating or distorting what the school is doing, here are a couple of the teachers giddily explaining the whole thing. They are quite pleased that the children "gave voice to the value that collectivity is a solid, energizing way to organize a community — and that it requires power-sharing, equal access to resources, and trust in the other participants." Whew.
There are only two ways to think about the formation of government -- the individual is more important than the group, or the group is more important than the individual -- and they lead to two kinds of government. Property rights aren't just as important as other rights -- they're more important. "Civil" rights are granted by the government, which decides who gets them and who doesn't, how they will be applied and paid for. Property rights draw the line between the individual and the group, and tells the government what its limits are. But if there are Supreme Court justices who don't understand that, it's probably foolish to expect a couple of grade-school teachers to.
Oh, this is a private school, by the way, not a public one. No irony there.
