---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The claimed legitimizing devices of…"
description: "\"“The claimed legitimizing devices of political consent or personal labour served only to obscure the unjustifiable seizure of land from the common by t..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/peter-vallentyne-97054_appropriation_the-claimed-legitimizing-devices-of-poli_871621.jpg"
---

#  The claimed legitimizing devices of political consent or…

![“The claimed legitimizing devices of political consent or personal labour served only to obscure the unjustifiable seizure of land from the common by the powerful. Other commoners at the time of those seizures had not consented to them, and even if they had done so, their consent could not bind…” quote by Peter Vallentyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/peter-vallentyne-97054_appropriation_the-claimed-legitimizing-devices-of-poli_871621.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/peter-vallentyne-97054_appropriation_the-claimed-legitimizing-devices-of-poli_871621.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/peter-vallentyne-97054_appropriation_the-claimed-legitimizing-devices-of-poli_871621.jpg)

> ““The claimed legitimizing devices of political consent or personal labour served only to obscure the unjustifiable seizure of land from the common by the powerful. Other commoners at the time of those seizures had not consented to them, and even if they had done so, their consent could not bind later generations.””

[Peter Vallentyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-vallentyne/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Historical land seizures were justified by consent, but such consent cannot bind future generations, exposing injustice.

**In simple terms:** Consent used to legitimize unjust land grabs.

Key Takeaway

Question the legitimacy of past consent.

Themes

property justice history consent politics

Mood

critical concerned

Type

political ethical historical

When to use this quote

- legal reforms
- activism
- education policy

Key Concepts

land rights ethical critique historical analysis

Questions to Reflect On

- Can consent ever be truly free?
- How do we rectify past injustices?

A Different Perspective

Consent may be coerced or uninformed.

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[Appropriation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appropriation/) [Claimed Legitimizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claimed-legitimizing-958526/) [Commons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commons/) [Consent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consent/) [Consent Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consent-personal-958527/) [Consented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consented-958529/) [Consented Consent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consented-consent-958528/) [Equality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equality/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Left-libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-libertarian-105460/) [Political Consent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-consent-958525/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Private property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-property/) [Property rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property-rights/)

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## More by Peter Vallentyne

> [“There is no precept of the natural law commanding men to appropriate all things in such a way that each person is assigned his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-vallentyne/there-is-no-precept-of-the-natural-law-commanding-men-to-appropriate/)

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## More Appropriation quotes

> [What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/what-would-america-be-like-if-we-loved-black-people-as-much-as-we/)

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> [We have some of the most influential Members of Congress here today, and I do hope that we can get this appropriation for these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-have-some-of-the-most-influential-members-of-congress-here-today/)

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> [“What you have now then is the marketing of racialized identities as tools for consumption. And certain racialized bodies and images are associated with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amalia-mesa-bains/what-you-have-now-then-is-the-marketing-of-racialized-identities-as/)

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> [As chairman of the Senate subcommittee responsible for NASA appropriations, I say not a penny for this nutty fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-proxmire/as-chairman-of-the-senate-subcommittee-responsible-for-nasa/)

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[Grover Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-cleveland/)

> [I'm not tied to the news cycle. I can do an episode on cultural appropriation, not on Rachel Dolezal. We might make a joke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moshe-kasher/i-m-not-tied-to-the-news-cycle-i-can-do-an-episode-on-cultural/)

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> [I propose in the following discussion to call one's own labor, and the equivalent exchange of one's own labor for the labor of others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-oppenheimer/i-propose-in-the-following-discussion-to-call-one-s-own-labor-and-the/)

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> [“The postmodern notion of "appropriation" is not a good fit. In New Mexico, the "indigenous" is a syncretic fusion of Native American and Hispano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/the-postmodern-notion-of-appropriation-is-not-a-good-fit-in-new/)

[Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/)

> [If you want to talk about cultural appropriation, we have to go back to the Greeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mcdormand/if-you-want-to-talk-about-cultural-appropriation-we-have-to-go-back/)

[Frances McDormand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mcdormand/)

> [Translation is not appropriation, as is sometimes claimed; it is a form of listening that then changes how you speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-weinberger/translation-is-not-appropriation-as-is-sometimes-claimed-it-is-a-form/)

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