Just a quick note to chew on. I need to put all this in one place so that when people email/tweet me looking for clarification, I can have it on hand. Welcome back to the blog, by the way!

St. Ambrose, De Officiis 1:28: “Nature therefore gave rise to a common right only; usurpation produced private right.”

St. Ambrose, Comm. in Psalm 118:8:22: “Our lord God intended the earth to be the common possession of all men, and to serve them all with its fruits; but avarice created separate rights of possession.”

St. Augustine, Tractatus in Iaonnis Evangelium 6:25-26: “By what right does every man possess what he possesses? Is it not by human right? For by divine right ‘the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.’ (I Cor. 10:26). God has made the rich and poor of one clay: the same earth supports the poor and rich alike. But by human right, however, someone says, ‘this estate is mine, this house is mine, this slave is mine.’ By human right, therefore: that is, by the right of emperors.”