Wednesday 13 January 2010

A Land Value Ceiling would remedy land inequality

The problem of unrestrained land acquisition is that it prevents others from living freely, as might be considered their right. Once a critical quantity has been reached, it is easy to acquire much more land from the remaining population because it can be leased for farming, profitably. If we have more land than we need, it is leased for a profit and more land may be acquired. It accrues. There is almost no reason to ever sell land, so the first one to get the land usually keeps it.

It may be split by inheritance...

Once acquired, land is rarely sold. The best way to make this situation better is to limit the quantity of land that may be held by any one person, according to (market) value. Land ownership could be restrained with a Land Value Ceiling which would help people without land get their own. The Government should limit the amount of land that can be owned by an individual.

We should not allow people to own too much of the land. The problem is that, if too much land is owned, others must pay rent to live freely... others do not have enough land. If the poor do not have enough land then the rich should be prevented from controlling too high a proportion of land, too great a share.

Since land is limited in quantity, it is reasonable that land is taken from the rich for others... the poor should take the land through the State. The State can facilitate the transfer of land from the rich. The lower class should take back the land, via Democracy.

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