Burke’s Mannered Economics

...politics does not exist simply to promote economic life. The right to property and freedom to exchange were not pre-political rights that override all other considerations. Rather, they furthered a principal goal of political society: an equitable manner in which goods can be made to serve the whole community. In Reflections, Burke inverted conventional natural rights doctrine by declaring that “if civil society be made for the advantage of man, all the advantages for which it is made become his right.” But he certainly did not have modern “entitlements” in mind. Rather, he continued, “[Men] have a right to the fruits of their industry; and to the means of making their industry fruitful.” The working of the market provided these opportunities better than any scheme of distribution that could be drawn up by men.