“Proper tea is theft” (anarchist joke)

“Property is theft” was written by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865) in his book What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and Government (1840).
 
“Proper tea is theft” is a pun on the word “property” that has been printed on mugs and teapots. “Proper tea is theft” has been cited in print since at least 1993 and is the punchline to the anarchist joke:
 
Q: Why do anarchists drink herbal tea?
A: Because all proper tea is theft.
 
   
Wikipedia: Property is theft!
Property is theft! (French: La propriété, c’est le vol!) is a slogan coined by French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his 1840 book What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government.
 
If I were asked to answer the following question: What is slavery? and I should answer in one word, It is murder!, my meaning would be understood at once. No extended argument would be required . . . Why, then, to this other question: What is property? may I not likewise answer, It is robbery!, without the certainty of being misunderstood; the second proposition being no other than a transformation of the first?
—Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property?
   
Google Books
Theatre Record
Volume 13, Issues 1-9
1993
Pg. 390:
“Proper tea is theft.”
   
Google Groups: alt.sexual.abuse.recovery
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
6/15/94
(...)
why
do
anarchists
akways
drink
herbal
tea?
because
proper
tea
is
theft!
   
Google Books
French Humour:
Papers Based on a Colloquium Held in the French Department of the University of Bristol, November 30th 1996
Edited by John Parkin
Amsterdam: Rodopi
1999
Pg. 199:
Or indeed Tomme to Prudhomme, a thinker who never drank Earl Grey because “proper tea is theft.”
 
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Humor
Edited by Geoff Tibballs
New York, NY: Carroll & Graf
2000
Pg. 538:
Why do anarchists drink horrible tea? - Because all proper tea is theft.
 
The Daily Cocktail
Feb 16, 2000
Why do anarchists drink herbal tea? Because proper tea is theft!
 
Google Books
The Big Ass Book of Jokes
By Rudy A. Swale
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press
2009
Pg. 71:
Why did the Marxist only drink fake tea? Because all proper tea is theft.
 
YouTube
Anarchist Joke
MrChristiemalry
Uploaded on Jun 7, 2009
The old ones are the best, divventchanaa?
   
Codex of Funk
01 APR 2012
Why did the anarchist drink herbal tea? Because proper tea is theft!
by The Guardian of the Funk
Seeing as one use of this blog is general commentary on things in the world, I feel I should make it clear early on where I stand – after years of exploring political ideologies of all sorts since I was a teenager, I ended up settling on one political philosophy which – to me – makes the most sense and would be the most beneficial.  I am an anarchist, a green anarchist in particular.
     
PartyVibe.com
Chrispydelic
20-10-2012, 14:06
Re: Poppy Tea
Why do anarchists drink herbal tea? Because proper tea is theft!