Saturday, 22 June 2013

Farmers only will survive the automation of labour

In the future the degree of industrial automation will reach such an advanced state that it will be very difficult to find work. There will be robots who will be able to do almost every type of manual work so labour in the traditional sense will be almost obsolete. This means that it will be very difficult for people to find work which will be able to support their living expenses. The only certain way to be immune from this process is if you are the owner of land which is able to sustain you. The landed (farmers) will be able to survive the increasing automation of the workplace but everyone else will find it difficult. The robots will put most workers out of a job which means only the farmers will survive in the traditional sense... and a greater and greater proportion of the population will return to the land. Only farmers are immune from the technological automation of the workplace. Without a farm people will find it hard to survive due to the increasing automation and industrialisation of the workplace. The robots will replace all jobs which are not like owning a farm. The robots will put everyone but farmers out of a job. Only the robots (and farmers) will be employed in the future. The robots will replace everyone who is not a farmer.

Sunday, 14 April 2013

We have a right to work if we have our own land

Land ownership means that we have the ability to work at all times. If we have our own land and the willingness to work then we can always produce food (if anyone can). So to have land is to have the right to work. If we do not have our own land then we must seek employment from those who desire our labour... but we can be refused. If we have no land then we rely on the employment market to produce food which means we do not have a right to produce food (assuming we have the willingness to work). If we have the willingness to work then to be without land means we have no right to work. If we have our own land then we have a right to work.

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

Land ownership is criminal if there is no ceiling

To be able to own an unlimited amount of land is detrimental to the rest of society and as a consequence it is detrimental to the owner themselves. If we own an excessive extent of land then we exclude the rest of the population from that land by definition... land is finite. So we are causing hardship for other people if we own an excessive amount of land. An analogy can be drawn with another scarce resource which is water in a desert. If we take all the water for ourselves and exclude other people from having access to the water we have done harm to our environment. It is best if we claim to own a piece of land or other natural and scarce resource that we do not take too much of it otherwise we will be damaging to the rest of the population and as a result... ultimately damaging to ourselves. If we desire to claim (exclusive access to) land then we have an obligation to make sure none of the owners has too much land. If we want to own land then for this not to be criminal requires that we impose a ceiling on the amount of land that an individual is able to own. If there is no such ceiling then it is possible that the system of land ownership in place is a criminal system.

Saturday, 2 March 2013

A description of land hoarding

Land hoarding is a phenomenon (symptom) of enabling people to 'own' land at the discretion of the state. This means that when a land dispute arises between a land-owner and a trespasser or 'squatter' the state will intervene to determine who has the true claim. This means that land can be owned and then that land hoarding is possible. The obvious negative consequences of land hoarding are that people will find it difficult to get their own land and a place to live if all the land has been taken. To help prevent this type of land hoarding it is possible to place constraints on land ownership. We can do this by enabling a person to own up to a certain amount of land (measured in area or market value) but no more. If there is a limit on the amount of land it is possible for an individual to own (according to the state) then it will be easier for the rest of the population to get their own land. If there is no limit (or tax) then it is likely that (some) people will choose to hoard the land to the disadvantage of the rest of the population. To prevent land hoarding the state should impose a limit above which it is not possible for a person to own land. If there is not a limit on land ownership land hoarding will result.

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Land ownership is socialism

If we own land we are depriving other people of its use by definition. If we cannot deprive other people of the use of land we do not own land. We own the ability to eject people from an area of land. And this is a form of socialism. It is because other people consent to our ownership of the land that we are able to own the land. The group will work together to preserve the existing land claims and over-power the person who does not respect these claims. So land ownership is concerned with the power of the group over the individual and as such it is a form of socialism.

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Only land reform will help the poor

Capitalism doesn't work very well if there is not some kind of impediment on owning an excess of land. The reason for this is that if people are permitted by the economy to accumulate land there is no natural impediment on excessive disparities emerging. If people can own an unlimited amount of land they will do so to the detriment of the rest of the economy. People with land are able to lease the land (or work it themselves) which means they have a certain (high) income above their costs. They can earn much more than they spend and (if it is available) they are able to buy yet more land increasing the problem. People without land find it very difficult to get land of their own because those with land have no reason to sell it... in fact they want more. If land is made cheap by a tax or levy... or an upper limit imposed on the amount of land a single person is able to own then this problem is remedied. If people cannot own more than an upper bound of land (in value) then this enables the rest of the economy to acquire their own which means they can get out of poverty. People cannot get out of poverty if they are not able to get their own land which they will not be able to do if there is no (non-market) restriction imposed on the ownership of land. If the government (or those who dictate property rights) do not pay attention to the accumulation of land then the economy will become increasingly dysfunctional and oppressive to the poor. The poor will not be able to get out of poverty and have their own land if the government (or similar) does not pay attention to land and prevent monopolisation of land. If the government is not attentive to this issue the poor will get increasingly poor. The poor will not be able to get out of poverty if the government does not pay attention to the accumulation of land by the few. If there is not a Land Value Tax or similar the poor will be forever trapped without land. The poor will not be able to get land if there is not a Land Value Tax or similar. Capitalism will remain oppressive to the poor if there is not a LVT (or similar). If there is a LVT then land becomes cheap and everyone will be comfortable. Without a LVT land will be expensive and serve as the primary means to save wealth... placing a burden on those who are poor and have no land. The poor will be given (economic) freedom if there is a LVT or similar. If the government does not pay attention to the issue of land ownership the poor will remain poor. Capitalism doesn't work for the poor if there is no limit on land ownership. If land is able to be monopolised then the poor will remain poor. The only way for the poor to get out of poverty is if there is a LVT or something similar.

Friday, 2 November 2012

Capital earns its own income

There is a difference between 'farming' and other types of work... with farming we must only maintain the status quo and we will be fed and wealthy. With other types of work (such as being employed on a farm) we must continue to work otherwise we will starve. The farmer must only maintain their property for a harvest to be assured... the work is driven by the environment... when the seasons change the crop is sown... when it grows it is harvested. Provided the farmer is able to keep up with these demands then they will be rich. For workers of the other type it is not enough to keep up with events... even by doing so we have no guarantee of being rich. We have no capital which will earn an income.