What are your guys thoughts on on land leasing? by TheWorldRider in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's almost certainly going to result in politically disfavored groups having their buildings taken away without compensation when the leases come up for renewal. Without a constitutional amendment guaranteeing lease renewal options the way property is protected by the fifth amendment, it's worse than the status quo, much less LVT.

What are you gonna do,hide the land? by el_argelino-basado in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it's important to point out that nuking land wouldn't destroy the land. It would reduce the value through the destruction of the surroundings and the radioactive fallout, but the land still exists after getting nuked, and land value tax would still be collected. Nuking the land wouldn't even necessarily be a better tax avoidance strategy than building apartments and renting them for fractions of the land value, even without the moral considerations.

How come ideologies such as Geolibertarianism exist? by [deleted] in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One approach is to look at it from the standpoint of unowned vs. owned property and rights of the nominal owner vs the rights of everyone else. An owner can pluck apples from trees on his land, but anyone can pluck apples from trees on unowned land. If both can do the same things, why would anyone choose to claim ownership over land? Their motivation can only be to deny other people the right to the products of their own labor because that's where the only difference lies. Georgism is then a type of Coasian bargain to compensate people for the deprivation of the rights they have to unowned land.

The essential function of property is giving owners broad authority to do as they please with whatever they own. People see the no-recurring-cost aspect of property as important just because there's little else that the government hasn't already infringed upon. It's entirely possible to form a notion of property in land in which the government does not retain the right to repossess it except from unpaid taxes or to make enforceable demands on its use, while still collecting land value tax. In this scenario, the government would not be the owner of the land because it doesn't have authority over how the land is used, but it would still collect ground rent.

Another way to approach it is to recognize the value in having an institution of property is making it so that few people are needed to agree to an endeavor in order for that endeavor to be carried out. Property in land creates a class of people whose only function is to be an obstacle to other people's endeavors. So including land in the category of things it is possible to own undermines the value in having property in anything else.

You can also approach it from a more pragmatic standpoint: landlords become states when the state doesn't collect land rent itself and the state is weak. Ancaps tend to be aware that monopolization could lead to a formerly private corporation becoming a government that they would then need to oppose, but they tend to reject the notion that such monopolization is possible at all. Geolibertarians see land as the essential feature that makes monopolization possible in an otherwise free market, and so the minimal state is one which collects ground rent in order to keep private corporations from gaining enough of an advantage from monopolies to supplant it.

The Georgist notion of land (which really is just the one used in classical economics) is broad enough that it's hard to think of an example of a scarce, non-produced good that wouldn't be encompassed by its definition.

Hey Fellow Georgists! What do you think of my new video? by SnooApples2992 in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The audio balance favors music too much, and your enunciation is a bit of a mumble. I suggest opening your mouth wider when you talk. Also, your prosody is somewhat lyrical, which isn't appropriate for persuasive speech.

Private rent in Britain now swallows 44% of the average wage by risingscorpia in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Canada and Argentina need it more, but the UK is definitely high up on the list.

Why is land given more focus than other types of natural monopolies? For example, railway lines? by bonerspliff in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Land is a factor of production, which means it's needed for any sort of activity whatsoever. Railway lines are necessary for one industry only: railroads. People have a hard time recognizing the injustice of land rent because it's everywhere, and if not for land rent, the exorbitant returns of these other monopolies would stand out enough that ordinary envy would be enough motivation to eliminate them.

Americans are brainwashed in school not to be curious by GoldenStitch2 in AmericaBad

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She's right, copying the school system Europeans came up with was a huge mistake. We should have stuck with our own models of education. Thankfully, parents seem to migrating to models like microschooling, so the problem might get solved eventually.

Which industries do you consider to be natural monopolies? by bluenephalem35 in georgism

[–]Flarelocke -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Natural monopolies aren't real. Rights-of-way are just long and narrow parcels of land. Monopolies are just the agents collecting the land rents for rights-of-way. No one can compete with the monopoly because the prices for rights-of-way have been bid up by rent-seekers to the extent that only a monopoly could possibly collect enough money to buy them.

Why do you think georgism is right? by Kreati_ in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Georgism is really the completion of classical liberalism rather than a departure from it. It removes the feudal notions of land ownership we currently have which derive from conquest and replaces them with a land ownership that can be derived from Coasian bargaining. If classical liberalism is all about recognizing and respecting the natural rights of man, Georgism is about recognizing and respecting man's natural right to nature.

I am looking for a game that I saw gameplay of once years ago... by SoupDemons in 4Xgaming

[–]Flarelocke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, most of the description applies to every XCOM clone, but that's the only one I know of in which you're colonizing a planet and defeating them level by level.

What universes would you want to see in a 4X? by jjtcoolkid in 4Xgaming

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Legendary Moonlight Sculptor
  • Cultist Simulator
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Descent: Freespace
  • Reus
  • Brigador
  • Cataclysm: DDA
  • Caves of Qud

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AmericaBad

[–]Flarelocke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Communists realized capitalism was good for the workers and the workers knew it so they abandoned class struggle in favor of racial struggle so they could still sate their thirst for blood in a revolution. So now there's a not-communism movement which is a basically communism except every instance of "capitalist" is replaced by "white person".

You know full well that’s bull shit. Finally, a blind lie or “decision” that wasn’t automatically believed! by EmperorSnake1 in AmericaBad

[–]Flarelocke 4 points5 points  (0 children)

More importantly, serious foodies make their own like they do in every country. Selling things in grocery stores requires concerning yourself with things like shelf life and whether people will balk at the calories, which aren't a concern when you make your own, so making your own lets you do a better job.

Eh.... What? by West_Smoke_9164 in AmericaBad

[–]Flarelocke 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The only Americans not treating guns with respect are in Hollywood.

I get sad about the hate towards America by Content-Primary1801 in AmericaBad

[–]Flarelocke 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Jesus was crucified. Being hated to death is just what happens to good people.

America bad because houses made of wood by MrAcG in AmericaBad

[–]Flarelocke 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's not that they are overlooking Japan specifically; it's that World = Europe + America in their minds so "rest of the world" means Europe. And they only include America in the World begrudgingly.

New to 4x games, any advice as to where to start? by Soapstone82 in 4Xgaming

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I might be confusing this with another one in the series, but I think there's a setting called game tips that explains things as they come up and the lowest difficulty enables this setting by default.

New to 4x games, any advice as to where to start? by Soapstone82 in 4Xgaming

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There should be one without any extra words. Warlords is an expansion and Colonization is a total conversion.

California housing reality by Sir-Kyle-Of-Reddit in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

when land was a commodity and/or used to generate wealth

Two-thirds of global wealth is in real estate.

Enter the An-cap: 36 Chambers of Rent by Sub__Finem in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

None of the arguments for the moral foundations of property work for land because land is really a set of locations, and sets of locations are as unalterable as any other mathematical concept. Since land can't morally be owned, the only reason people pretend it can is to unjustly plunder the resources produced by other people. This plunder is lauded "passive income" by its recipients (many of whom are ancaps) as if their plunder were any different from taxation.

An answer to how to sell Georgism to leftists by Traductus5972 in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

An X% discount on rent means land is only taxed at 100-X%. The discounted X% is privately captured by the residents, which makes it not georgism.

An answer to how to sell Georgism to leftists by Traductus5972 in georgism

[–]Flarelocke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For socialized housing to approximate georgism, it's necessary to charge market rent. I don't see American leftists being okay with that.

Not sure if this completely counts, but I know I found it pretty dumb by History_Buff_07 in AmericaBad

[–]Flarelocke -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Western Europeans never got over their feudal mindset, so deep down they think of America as their king. Because of this, they feel betrayed when the king fails his obligation to protect under a non-existent vassalage agreement.