Britain's land is still owned by an aristocratic elite

[chem1st]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/britains-land-is-still-owned-by-an-aristocratic-elite--but-it-doesnt-have-to-be-this-way-483131.html

 

Britain's land is still owned by an aristocratic elite - but it doesn't have to be this way.

 

Who owns Britain? Most of us would instinctively reply: we do. The British people own the British Isles. This is a democracy, isn't it? But the facts tell a different story. When you look at a map of the British Isles, you are looking not at your home but at a land mass overwhelmingly owned by a tiny aristocratic elite. Extraordinary though it might seem, in the 21st century, 0.6 per cent of the British people own 69 per cent of the land on which we live - and they are mostly the same families who owned it in the 19th century.

 

This is what I would call land monopoly.

 

It leads to exploitation of the landless peasants.

 

This is unfair and unjust.

[HeadingNorth]

A good deal more than "69 per cent of the land on which we live" is uninhabitable. I don't see the problem.

[Jim Graham]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/britains-land-is-still-owned-by-an-aristocratic-elite--but-it-doesnt-have-to-be-this-way-483131.html

 

Britain's land is still owned by an aristocratic elite - but it doesn't have to be this way.

 

 

 

This is what I would call land monopoly.

 

It leads to exploitation of the landless peasants.

 

This is unfair and unjust.

 

 

 

Landless peasants? Who are you? Wat Tyler?

 

I am beginning to wonder if the modern world has ever made an appearance in Sheffield. On other threads we have left wing loons harking back to the economics of the 19th century and now you think we live in the 14th century. How long before someone suggests we'd be better off back under the control of Rome?

[medusa]

As I said on the other thread, what is your alternative? Throwing stones at something you don't like is just one great long whine unless you have a viable way to get from the status quo to whatever sort of nirvana you think you can achieve.

 

Your hobby horse with land and home ownership is getting very tedious not just because it's the same story on every thread, but because you aren't doing anything other than moaning. Moaning doesn't change anything, just like protests achieve naff all if there's no plan for a sensible alternative.

 

I can't be bothered listening to another moan without at least an attempt at a solution.

[altus]

This is what I would call land monopoly.

 

It leads to exploitation of the landless peasants.

 

This is unfair and unjust.

 

You do realise that if everyone lived in social housing, as you seem to wish, they'd still be "landless peasants".

[chem1st]

The solution is land value tax and citizens income.

[medusa]

OK- and how is that meant to work? How are meant to transition between where we are and where you think we should be?

[chem1st]

OK- and how is that meant to work? How are meant to transition between where we are and where you think we should be?

 

Instead of paying people millions of pounds to merely own land, we charge them rent for depriving others of land. This will lead to them giving up the land, unless of course they can use it productively enough to make a profit and pay the rent.

 

Unused land which is not being used productively can then be rented to the people who need it for housing and business activity, i.e. those whom can use it more productively for the betterment of society as a whole.

 

The collected rent can then be divided by the number of citizens and each man woman and child paid an equal share.

 

Some land could be exempt from taxation and held in common, for example parks. Certain activities could be encouraged via tax breaks, such as food production.

[emma royd]

Instead of paying people millions of pounds to merely own land, we charge them rent for depriving others of land. This will lead to them giving up the land, unless of course they can use it productively enough to make a profit and pay the rent.

 

Unused land which is not being used productively can then be rented to the people who need it for housing and business activity, i.e. those whom can use it more productively for the betterment of society as a whole.

 

The collected rent can then be divided by the number of citizens and each man woman and child paid an equal share.

 

Some land could be exempt from taxation and held in common, for example parks. Certain activities could be encouraged via tax breaks, such as food production.

 

Have you thought of getting a job?

[chem1st]

Have you thought of getting a job?

 

I've thought about all sorts of things, the human mind is a brilliant thing.

 

Have you ever seen this picture?

 

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/04reich-graphic-popup.jpg

 

Or considered that a man could brew his own vodka with potatoes he grows upon the land, rather than work for a sum of £6.08/hour in 2012 UK FIAT money doing it in the behalf of a few landed gentry via proxy?