[hackerlight]

> So pay rent to the state instead of a private landholder?

You pay rent to the people (via the state, which acts as a layer of indirection) who no longer get to use the piece of naturally occurring land that you're monopolizing.

Think of it like finite natural resources. Who really owns that? It's a gift of nature. Nobody made it. So if one person wants to dig those up and sell them, part of the proceeds should be shared with everyone. Because it's not even their property, so they have no moral right to privatize 100% of the gains in the first place.

Now if someone puts effort into transforming those resources into something more useful, then they should own the fruits of that labor. The distinction is labor (the fruits of which I should own) versus naturally occuring thing I had no role in making (which I should not own).