Locke, Rousseau, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and most classical liberals frequently noted that land is the original inheritance of mankind. Given that we all

Locke, Rousseau, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and most classical liberals frequently noted that land is the original inheritance of mankind. Given that we all deserve equal rights, it does not make sense for individuals to claim a greater share of land than others, since that implies they have greater rights to the planet. Of course, exclusive access rights are important for production and other reasons, so they usually would argue that landowners ought to be taxed in proportion to the land rights that they claim. Places like Hong Kong have been able to forego income taxation in favor of collecting rent from land.