Institutional Exit as Ultimate Property Right

Sor Juana's life was constrained by her inability to truly exit: as a woman with limited options, entering the convent was actually her best available choice for intellectual freedom, yet it also trapped her within institutional control. Exit was theoretically possible but practically devastating. In libertarian justice, the right to exit is paramount: without it, institutions hold you captive and can impose unlimited demands. Property rights and freedom require that individuals can leave relationships, communities, or systems they find unjust. Exit creates accountability—institutions must treat members fairly or lose them. Sor Juana's trapped position illustrates how limited exit options create oppression: when all paths lead to control, you have no real choice. Applied today, this framework supports freedom of association, the right to leave religions or families, business freedom to operate elsewhere, and resistance to systems designed to trap people. True liberty requires that exit remains available and that leaving an institution doesn't mean destitution or death.