"We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
- Aldo Leopold
Concepts:
(A) Two kinds of property - 1) the Commons (air, water, land, electromagnetic spectrum, minerals, language, culture, etc.) and 2) Private Property (created by human labor)
(B) Social Dividend - Compensation for an individual's loss of her portion of the Commons. (related to Guaranteed Basic Income)
(C) Ownership vs Trusteeship of Land
"Whatever an individual creates as a result of labor applied to land-the harvest from a garden, the home built of wood from the forest, the sweater knitted from spun wool-is private property and may rightfully be traded as commodities. However, the land itself and its resources, which are Earth-given and of limited supply, should be held in trusteeship and their use allocated on a limited basis for present and future generations. When an individual is allowed private ownership of such a limited resource, that individual has an unfair economic advantage. The scarcity of arable land and a growing demand for it result in an increase in the value of the land through no effort on the part of the landowner. The potential for speculative gain inherent in the present system of private land ownership places tremendous pressure on the landowner to maximize the dollar value of the land by developing it." - Bob Swann
(D) Community Land Trust -
"...A Community Land Trust is a not-for-profit organization with membership open to any resident of the geographical region or bioregion where it is located. The purpose of a CLT is to create a democratic institution to hold land and to retain the use-value of the land for the benefit of the community. The effect of a CLT is to provide affordable access to land for housing, farming, small businesses, and civic projects. This effect can be achieved when a significant portion of the land in an area is held by a CLT.
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