Fine the Landlords

Part 1

By M. Randolph Hamilton

I came across a site recently that claims to be libertarian in nature. This site calls a title to a parcel of land a "welfare permit". They also go so far as to compare a "landlord" to government and rent to taxes. The first thing that should be noted is the incorrect use of the term "title" as it is used on this site. I only point this out to support the author's lack of knowledge in real estate. A "title" is usually the certificate of ownership issued by a state as proof of ownership for personal property. A "deed" is the proof of ownership of real property that is filed with the county clerk.

Their basic argument is when a landlord rents a parcel of property to a tenant, he is renting something that was not "produced" by the landlord. They claim the landlord is therefore receiving welfare. We will address this issue that The Thomas Paine Network claims libertarians do not want to address. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of what a free market is, what real estate is and the difference in welfare, tax and voluntarily paid rent. It seems that some people who claim to be libertarian don't have this understanding.

Socialism

To fully understand what we are talking about, we should first look at a definition to a common political structure. The one that primarily fits that being proposed by The Thomas Paine Network is socialism. Let's take a look.

As defined on Dictionary.com we have for socialism

1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

Take note of the first definition wherein land is included as one of the items listed as controlled by the "community as a whole".

Also take note of the last definition. This is exactly what is taking place in the united States of America. We have been going through a "transition of society to communism". We just have not move far enough in that direction for the government, or collective, to own all of the means of production. This gives us an understanding that although the "community as a whole" does not have "ownership" of the land, it is still a socialist ideal to have the "community as a whole" control the land.

Real Estate

Now let us take a look at what real estate is. Different dictionaries define it differently, but all of them include two things. They include "land" and "buildings" or "appurtenances to lands, as buildings, crops, or mineral rights". This means that anything that is attached to the land is part of the land or real property or real estate. (A real estate is that part of an estate made up of real property as opposed to personal property or chattel.)

The Thomas Paine Network states, "The only kind of legitimate land title is one that gives a landowner the right to control the use of that land, the right to own buildings and improvements, or to rent buildings, or sell them to other people, if he wants - but not to collect welfare payments from people, by charging them for merely using the land, which the landowner did not produce."

Two things are at issue here;

1. the right to own buildings and improvements or rent them
2. and the landowner did not produce the land.

Libertarian or Not?

The Thomas Paine Network lists several noted "libertarian" people from our past as a basis for improvising this socialist idea.

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