Owning property and not using it _is_ indeed a vast social cost. What you're doing is forcibly depriving everyone else of the land (and not using it for anythin

Owning property and not using it _is_ indeed a vast social cost. What you're doing is forcibly depriving everyone else of the land (and not using it for anything). This is not a big deal where land is plentyful, and terrible when land is scarce. What you're saying is you should be able to do whatever you want with your property. I guess what I'm saying is that it is only your property because we who live here allow it to be, and uphold your ownership. If you're not using it responsibly - and leaving it empty is not using it responsibly - it's our right as a community to have you GTFO. And the softest way to do that is to tax you out. The only reason the property is valuable in the first place (and rising) is because we who live here patronize shops, organize things in the area, and make it a good place to live. So you're piggybacking on our efforts while depriving a real person from living here. Again, the right thing to do seems to get together and get rid of the parasite...