Education as Investment in Self-Ownership

Sor Juana's voracious self-education—gathering books, studying languages, pursuing science—was an act of self-investment. She claimed resources (time, access to texts, mental space) to build her own capacities because she understood that knowledge increases both freedom and property in the fullest sense. In Libertarian justice, education is not charity or social obligation but individual investment with compounding returns. You own your own mind, and developing it is the best property acquisition possible. This principle has radical implications: it means that denying someone education is a form of dispossession (robbing them of their own potential), and conversely, that individuals should control their own educational choices and paths rather than submit to standardized curricula designed by others. Sor Juana chose what to study, how to learn, and what to pursue—and this autonomy over her own development was as central to her freedom as any material property. In practice, this means opposing both rigid institutional education systems that treat students as passive receptacles and systems that deny access based on class, gender, or identity. True property freedom includes the right to invest in yourself without needing permission.