4 ms·

Sounds like property taxes: pay annual "fair value" for the lot you've claimed, and if you stop paying you get evicted.

djschnei 11y ago
soooo the steps: 1) nobody owned the land 2) governments formed and took the land 3) now we need to rent our purchased land from the government?
- bcheung 11y ago
  And also 4) the rent proceeds go back to the people. The people are the real owners. The government is just the administrative agent acting on their behalf.
  - djschnei 11y ago
    I mean this in the nicest way possible... It's cute that you think that. By that logic, assuming you are a tax payer, you are $159k+ in debt thanks to the government acting on your behalf. http://www.usdebtclock.org/ http://www.usdebtclock.org/
- ctdonath 11y ago
  Try not paying property tax and see how long you can stay on your "purchased land". I'm not yet seeing much addressing determination of the relative value of the land: a square foot in Manhattan is extremely valuable, while a square foot most anywhere in Arizona or Wyoming (my favorite state) is practically useless. Roughly half of all land counts as "rank wilderness" which almost nobody could make use of; other land is extremely productive, some not really requiring any effort beyond simply harvesting what naturally thrives there. That said, I tend to alternate between despising property taxes vs thinking they're about the only legitimate taxation. As said, there's a finite supply of land servicing a growing population.
bcheung 11y ago
It is very similar to property tax but there are some differences. I believe you can bid for the land for much longer periods of time. Also, under the current system property tax includes the improvements on the land as well. Paine was proposing that if you build a house on the land you don't have to pay more taxes. It's only on the land portion that you pay the "tax". It's a similar system where people bid on the rights to spectrums of radio waves.
TheCoelacanth 11y ago
Except that property taxes are an order of magnitude lower than the fair value for the property.

soooo the steps: 1) nobody owned the land 2) governments formed and took the land 3) now we need to rent our purchased land from the government?

bcheung 11y ago
And also 4) the rent proceeds go back to the people. The people are the real owners. The government is just the administrative agent acting on their behalf.
- djschnei 11y ago
  I mean this in the nicest way possible... It's cute that you think that. By that logic, assuming you are a tax payer, you are $159k+ in debt thanks to the government acting on your behalf. http://www.usdebtclock.org/ http://www.usdebtclock.org/
ctdonath 11y ago
Try not paying property tax and see how long you can stay on your "purchased land". I'm not yet seeing much addressing determination of the relative value of the land: a square foot in Manhattan is extremely valuable, while a square foot most anywhere in Arizona or Wyoming (my favorite state) is practically useless. Roughly half of all land counts as "rank wilderness" which almost nobody could make use of; other land is extremely productive, some not really requiring any effort beyond simply harvesting what naturally thrives there. That said, I tend to alternate between despising property taxes vs thinking they're about the only legitimate taxation. As said, there's a finite supply of land servicing a growing population.

bcheung 11y ago

It is very similar to property tax but there are some differences. I believe you can bid for the land for much longer periods of time. Also, under the current system property tax includes the improvements on the land as well. Paine was proposing that if you build a house on the land you don't have to pay more taxes. It's only on the land portion that you pay the "tax". It's a similar system where people bid on the rights to spectrums of radio waves.

TheCoelacanth 11y ago

Except that property taxes are an order of magnitude lower than the fair value for the property.