Originally, human beings lived in a state of nature where all things were held in common; it was war that first divided up the world, and the resultant “law of nations,” the common usages of mankind that regulate such matters as conquest, slavery, treaties, and borders, that was first responsible for inequalities of property as well.114 This in turn meant that there was no intrinsic difference between private property and political power—at least, insofar as that power was based in violence.
