This article offers three reflections on the nature of the metaphysical
‘wall’ erected between the ‘Included’ and the ‘Excluded/Other’ by the concept of
private property and its implementation in a state’s legal apparatus. The first
reflection explores the reality of the concept of private property, using Louis
Althusser’s conception of ideology, in order to demonstrate that the liberal conception
of private property masks power operating on two levels: the formal,
repressive state apparatus, and the deeper, the personal, the real, the actual level,
which allows the Included to act upon ego in ways that negatively affect the
Excluded/Other found in the ideological state apparatus. The second argues that the
masked power that is private property permits war to be waged by the Included as
against the Excluded/Other at two levels: intra-state and inter-state. This reveals a
paradox in the distinction between Included and Excluded/Other: while the distinction
demonstrates the allocation of power over resources, the reality is that every
individual on earth is both Included and Excluded/Other. The final reflection briefly
considers what could replace private property as a means of allocating goods and
resources within a society.

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• Reflections on Private Property as Ego and War