Resource rent
From Sustain
“You forget that the fruits belong to all and that the land belongs to no one.” Jean Jacques Rousseau
If we are ever to contemplate a path towards the Maxim, ever to aspire to an egalitarian society of shared quality, then private ownership of our natural resource needs to be repudiated. The massive extractions of rent and resource, founded on dubious proprietary claims, should be deservedly exposed as theft.
To be fair, the rules of the game have ever been such. The rules are patently flawed. I am not the first to come to these conclusions, and yet so few seem aware of the basic inequity of our approach to land and resource ownership. All use of common land and resource should be permissible only if rent, equivalent to market rates or replacement value, is paid into the common coffers as compensation to society.
This transformation in the terms of our relationship with natural resource would deliver many and dramatic benefits. Most importantly, if managed carefully, such a system would be the key means of guiding our collective consumption towards a sustainable balance with our environment. It would also correct a major source of inequality, while ecological pricing would help dispel ignorance of our own personal environmental responsibilities.
I am not blind to the difficulties facing implementation, both practically and in terms of resistance of those set to lose out. Regardless of the challenges, a switch to these principles is mandatory in the quest for the optimal society. This is not a nice to have aspiration, it is the only way for our flawed system of market forces to approach a stable equilibrium.
True pricing, alongside other technological advances, will enable the illiberal but necessary step we need to contemplate if we are ever to achieve sustainability: consumption control.
True pricing, alongside other technological advances, will enable the illiberal but necessary step we need to contemplate if we are ever to achieve sustainability: Consumption control.
