[chris123]

People should be free to buy the land they want with the money that they've earned or otherwise legally acquired. It's just a basic principle. The principal below that principle, is that you have autonomy over your own body, and your own labor, and you have a choice as to how you apply. And you have a right to the fruits of your labor and creativity and entrepreneurship. And you can spend those fruits, and all the ways that are legal, including buying land, including buying expensive land in desirable places. And that kind of land is expensive. Not everybody can buy it.

[iso1631]

Back in 1600 someone declared they owned all the land in a valley. Their descendants still own it, or have benefited from selling it off at various points.

It seems wrong that a decision 400 years ago has bearing on people today.

In the UK it's even worse -- much of the land is still owned by the families that were mates with William the Conquerer back in 1066. About 1500 years ago the king fell out with some landholders (monasteries) and confiscated it, giving it to his mates, who still own it.

Land should not be owned, it should be rented from the people. You improve its value? Great, you shouldn't be charged for that, but the unimproved value of that land is something that should be of benefit to society as a whole.

[amelius]

Land is different from consumer goods.

How would you feel if companies started to divide the available drinking water or breathable air? That rich people controlled who can drink or breathe? And that inheritance determined your odds of survival, not based on genes but on access to basic resources?

It is OK if hard work is rewarded with money.

However, it is not OK if people use that money against the rest of us, who made different life choices.

Since land is a limited resource, there is a problem there.