In my last campaign report I said I would offer “a practical plan to expand and improve the U.S. Real Estate market.” To assess my plan, it is necessary that we first think conceptually. That we all consider it as one potential “Unifying Financial Idea or Theme.” And that we note the established financial precedent for such an idea.
First, Consider: When we play Monopoly, a real estate game, a major difference exists from how the U.S. Real Estate Industry works. In Monopoly all players begin by owning land. In America, the cards are stacked. Only some people own property. Many, if not most, Americans can’t play in the game.
Therefore, the concept I offer is that instead of allowing only some Americans to experience lives with ownership of America’s land, why should we not enact law that every legal citizen of our country by birthright owns a beginning piece of land?
Before you leap to any kneejerk conclusions about the feasibility of this concept, let’s do a little math together. America consists of approximately 3 Billion acres of land. Assume about 4 pieces of property per acre, and you have about 12 billion parcels or pieces of land capable of maintaining some sort of dwelling or business venture.
The most simple articulation of this real estate concept, therefore, is: why should not every American citizen, by birthright, possess at least one real estate piece of America with which to begin life?
The present real estate industry makes its money by limiting ownership of American real estate. Thousands of people with capital speculate in this market. That keeps prices inordinately high, actually preventing many families with reasonable income from acquiring land.
If more real estate were made available at reasonable prices, we would have a much larger market, with vastly increased persons both able to have places to live and work. It would be a much more liquid market and it would offer financial opportunities to millions of Americans now without means to participate.
That is only the broad concept. It does not spell out how to manage the many issues that arise from such a concept. There is no room for me to immediately do that in such a short report as this. So, I can only address them gradually in more following reports. Now, though, let’s look at a couple.
First: Where would the land come from? The Federal, State, and Local governments now own the vast majority of American property. The land is essentially controlled by the corporate world though their financial backing of almost 100% of all political candidates, either Left or Right. They control banking, lending, the real estate, its insurance, and all of its many affiliated supporting industries.
Politicians don’t commonly get elected if they don’t silently go along with the fact that governments and wealthy own most all land. There is, however, excellent precedent for proposing that all Americans be allowed and aided in acquiring and trading land.
Gold, which used to officially support our dollar, was in about 1972 released by government to be traded on the open market. There is no reason for government held American land not to be made available through a similar means to all American people.
I can immediately hear the cannonballs being shot at my head from every possible direction. Please, hold your fire until we discuss exactly what must be managed in such an endeavor. The solutions are in the details.
What are the details to work out? The first single detail would be how the American people could defend the concept against the entrenched, immensely wealthy market controllers, the present owners of most major U.S. real estate? (One of whom is our president, by the way.)
I’m glad you asked. I’m going to deal with that in my next report. I’ll also deal with how we decide exactly what government land to protect as parks and sanctuaries, and what land remains eminently reasonable to add to the current real estate marketplace.
I’ll also deal with how everyone now without land can financially acquire it. How, through a legally-binding contract with America, they can be taught how to rationally manage their new asset. And – most important – how and why this will greatly enhance the United States economy as a whole, just as the release of gold has done.
Vital is that the prime initial benefit that will emerge from this innovation is the massive increase in jobs created by its enactment. As the creation of a massively large new marketplace in America of its two most valuable resources, Land and People, it will benefit all of us.
