An Equal Right Over Land?

[Capitalist Pig]

To anyone deeply indoctrinated with the libertarian movement, undoubtedly you have, at one time, come across the group who, in addition to respect for Jefferson and Locke, also fancy themselves disciples of Henry George and Thomas Paine. These guys call themselves Geolibertarians. From the Geolibertarian FAQ:

Geolibertarianism is the belief that each individual has an exclusive right to the fruits of his or her labor, and thus an exclusive right to the value of those fruits; and that all individuals have an equal right to land, and thus an equal right to the value of land.

By embracing this belief, geolibertarians are simply taking the core libertarian principle of self-ownership to its logical conclusion: Just as the right to oneself implies the right to the fruit of one's labor (i.e., the right to property), the right to the fruit of one's labor implies the right to labor, and the right to labor implies the right to labor -- somewhere. Hence John Locke's proviso that one has "property" in land only to the extent that there is "enough, and as good left in common for others." When there is not, land begins to have rental value. Thus, the rental value of land reflects the extent to which Locke's proviso has been violated, thereby making community-collection of rent (CCR) a just and necessary means of upholding the Lockean principle of private property. In the late 19th century, CCR became known as the "Single Tax" -- a term often used to denote Henry George's proposal to abolish all taxation save for a single tax on the value of land (irrespective of the value of improvements in or on it).

This "tax" is today known as the Land Value Tax. However, the way it operates is much more like a land rent, paid to the community (I imagine this could be accomplished with government, or competing rent collection agencies, or something community-organized). There are other areas where Geolibertarians differ on issues, for example Austrians would have a point of contention with Geolibs on the gold standard. Although Geolibs do not deny that the central bank and its fiat currency has destroyed the free floating U.S. dollar (its value not weighted to anything, one reason for its perpetual depreciation), they do not think a gold standard is the key, or at least, not the only key.

Anyhoo, this post mainly concerns the LVT and property rights. Remember that at the heart of the Geolib case for LVTs is the point that self-ownership means you have an inherent right to the fruits of your labor. Since land requires no labor to produce, you can not rightfully call it your property. You can claim a half-acre and print up a deed, but how do you bring people about to respect that deed, representing your claim on the land? You could try reasoning, but you're going to have to reason with everyone who comes along and "trespasses" on "your" land. That, or resort to force.

So, is there a justification for the LVT? Is there a justification for owning land as property? Discuss!

[Morgan_Freeman]

How are we to accurately assess the value of the land?

[Capitalist Pig]

The value is the market value of the property. The rate is proportionate to this, and remains the same. I don't know how often the rate is adjusted, but the Geolibertarian FAQ maintains that "land rent [. . .] gets paid either way -- regardless of whether or not it gets diverted into the public treasury." It continues: "Even when you pay the sale price of land, you are paying land rent, since the sale price is simply the rental value divided by the interest rate. And since land is in fixed supply, decreases in land value taxation are invariably capitalized by titleholders into higher rents and land prices." And so on.

[Osborn F Enready]

How do you feel about citizens being forced to buy land from the government, as opposed to staking a claim on it?

[Capitalist Pig]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready How do you feel about citizens being forced to buy land from the government, as opposed to staking a claim on it?

I'd rather government auction its assets and permit the market to allocate the property and leftover capital.

[PatrickHenry]

I don't favor property tax. I believe this is the current equivalent to LVT.

If my capital is mine, why may I not invest it in any item I choose? One of those items is land or buildings, real estate. When the gov demands a property tax from the owner, it is actually saying, "You don't own that! We do, and you rent it from us, regardless of your Title Deed." Such is the nature of Statism, anathema to me.

[leftcider]

If land can never be property, does the "community" also get extensive rights to dictate about how it can be used?