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Mx. Luna Corbden 🪿🐸Jul 13, 2024

On the topic of Property.

I like to question everything and break things down to their most basic fundamentals. This is part of my deconstruction and decolonization of society.

Lately I've been questioning the nature of "property," and made a bit of an argument based on Thomas Paine's Agrarian Justice that no one own land, but leases it from the public/government/landback and can only "own" the improvements on it.

https://defcon.social/@corbden/112452201133504194

We take for granted the definitions of these words. Now I'm asking, "What even is 'property'? What does it mean to 'own' land?"

And I've come up with the answer. And as always (like with money - see below link) it comes down to POWER not WEALTH. But I haven't yet explored the implications or what I think about it.

https://defcon.social/@corbden/111219754824612576

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#deconstruction #decolonization #AbuseCulture #QuestionEverything

Mx. Luna Corbden (@[email protected])

(I really should clock in and work now but...) I did some napkin math last night on this idea of "No one owns land but you can own the improvements." Thomas Paine used this argument for a kind of UBI, but his conclusions were flawed. His argument is that the earth is a human right, and since that ship has sailed, we tax landowners and give that as a lump sum to people when they come of age. Something like that. Given this premise, we could do something better. My quick math said that: 1. The "public" (via democratic gov) owns all land, 2. Land is taken and leased back to its current owners. Assume: Land is worth 1/3rd of the value of a property with improvements. So monthly lease is 1/3rd of what a mortgage payment would be on the property as valued today. 3. Given 1 & 2, lease revenue from all real estate in the US would be $20.7 trillion ANNUALLY... #USPol

DEF CON Social

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Mx. Luna Corbden 🪿🐸Jul 13, 2024

As a libertarian I thought property was everything. Then I learned about other ways of thinking.

People say "Property is theft," Woodie Gutherie sang:

"As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said "No trespassin'"
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!"

And then there's my idea of abolishing land as property. So what would that really mean?

Again, think about power. Everything that is human comes down to power.

Quick definitions:

Power is the ability to make decisions and take action, even over other people's choices and acts.

Empowerment is the ability to act and decide for once's self.

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#deconstruction #decolonization #AbuseCulture #QuestionEverything

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Mx. Luna Corbden 🪿🐸Jul 13, 2024

Property ownership simply means a section of land that you have power over. When I "own" this half-acre, I will have nearly full say over how it is used, balanced with my co-owner, and municipal, county, state, & federal laws.

As they say, a man's home is his castle, & at one point in Western society, this was a revolutionary concept. That a man have say over everything that happens in his home. Not the Duke or King or police. (Much we've already unpacked there about sexism, etc.)

So getting down to fundamentals:

Is there a need in our society where each person has an area that is nearly 100% their own? Not as *wealth* (geez wealth is such a distracting concept), but as a function of empowerment. When I'm here, there is little power anyone else can have over me. When you step on this soil, I have say over your actions. You are only here by my will, I can make you leave, and you can't make me do anything.

🧵

#deconstruction #decolonization #AbuseCulture #QuestionEverything

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I see private property as a convenience, a fallback when two people want something, there's no way they can come to an agreement to share, and there's no reason one should have it over the other. Then you can look at your handy dandy deed registry and say, "Uh... you. You get to have it."

The reason this is desperately important is because it's true, some people think that private property is everything. They will commit crimes against humanity to preserve it, because to do otherwise is an existential threat. We need to recognize that property rights really don't matter, except in a few circumstances as a tiebreaker. If there is ever anyone getting hurt by protecting someone's private property, whether it's evictions, disease or war, that person's property rights are immediately void. They don't get to pull that shit, because human wellbeing is way more important than some banker's investment portfolio. Maybe now they'll own things that don't hurt people, instead of losing that privilege by using their property to cause harm.

Or, that's how I'd do it if I was the god emperor.