09-26-2023, 11:50 AM
I'll be honest, I'm mixed here.
I'm no capitalist to be sure...I'd rather that the land be used for the benefit of the public, and I really think the value of the land to the public is greater than the sale price of the land.
So idealistically some kind of government or (non-corrupt) non-profit/co-op could/should own it and manage it for the benefit of the people.
But I also know our government is allergic to owning property, and it's one of these things where conservatives would have no qualms about selling it off and using the one time windfall to fund some kind of awful bad projects that conservatives love...you know, oil pipeline through town, highway into downtown...something awful.
Of course, I'm being mean intentionally here, but I am also being honest: I really do see the idea of government owning property as a risk that conservatives can exploit to their benefit. We'd need some kind of mandate or governmental norm that the government should own and manage property for it to be safe...that or some other legal mechanism to prevent it's later privatization.
I'm no capitalist to be sure...I'd rather that the land be used for the benefit of the public, and I really think the value of the land to the public is greater than the sale price of the land.
So idealistically some kind of government or (non-corrupt) non-profit/co-op could/should own it and manage it for the benefit of the people.
But I also know our government is allergic to owning property, and it's one of these things where conservatives would have no qualms about selling it off and using the one time windfall to fund some kind of awful bad projects that conservatives love...you know, oil pipeline through town, highway into downtown...something awful.
Of course, I'm being mean intentionally here, but I am also being honest: I really do see the idea of government owning property as a risk that conservatives can exploit to their benefit. We'd need some kind of mandate or governmental norm that the government should own and manage property for it to be safe...that or some other legal mechanism to prevent it's later privatization.