With land, it at least makes sense, because there's a very limited supply of it. So one could reasonably argue that it's just too valuable for society to fully surrender all control of even a part of it on a permanent basis.
The way you think markets work don't always apply to land. Land (distinct from buildings) is one of the few resources for which ownership without utilization or improvement is not only profitable but sometimes optimal.
Land is required for things necessary to human existence and it's not really possible to make more of it so if the market determines that the "best" use of it is for storing money society should probably step in and overrule the market.
what is the problem ? Land is a commodity and this fact has wide social acceptance, so let's let the market do its job, or let's start discussing the nature of the principle of private property.
I honestly don't understand your point much. But let me add this about speculation and land holding for the next user.
There is zero need for a private owner to hold it. The land will not disappear, it will always be there. Government on behalf of the community can hold it just as well without the incentive of preventing others of using it.
This makes land different from other goods where if there were no speculators (dealers who hold inventory) the market would dry up (stocks, bonds, used cars).
Land is in this regard more similar to concert tickets. There are speculators who acquire this limited commodity but their profit stems from preventing others getting them and selling it to them at a later date at incresead price.
Society looks at this type of business as highly unethical.
Lots of people refuse to trade land because they think it will be worth more in the future. Look at the housing markets of major cities. And that is when you have a highly localized set of potential buyers.
I would argue land is fundamentally different from other commodities.
1) It's essential for basic survival. Humans can't live in the sea.
2) You can't make more of it. Land that exists was created millions of years ago by powerful, continental scale geological processes. We can't create a new continent.
If a greedy individual buys all the toilet paper in a store, I can shop at another store, or order from anywhere in the country, or even overseas if needed. And someone can always decide to create a new company to make toilet paper and undercut the hoarder, though it might not resolve the short logistical problem.
Overall, I think one of the least bad solutions is to centralize zoning powers in a national government, weaken zoning as much as possible, and let the free market do its thing. For example, don't let someone build a chemical plant next to a residential area, but allow developers to build any residential housing they want, without interference from local owners. If a property developer wants to erect a condominium tower in the middle of a suburb full of 1-2 stories single family homes, they should be allowed to. Even if it depresses local home values. Even if it brings more traffic. Even if it blocks the view. Even if it compromises the "character" of the neighborhood (which is almost always code for white and well off). And, yes, it's a denial of local democracy, but it's the right thing to do.
Okay but what's your solution? The reason land is valuable is because many people want it in specific areas. I genuinely don't have an answer to the question.
but then if you choose not to interact with the market economy you cannot subsist off your own land, especially if everyone is buying up land and making it private so that there is no public access to nature
People should be free to buy the land they want with the money that they've earned or otherwise legally acquired. It's just a basic principle. The principal below that principle, is that you have autonomy over your own body, and your own labor, and you have a choice as to how you apply. And you have a right to the fruits of your labor and creativity and entrepreneurship. And you can spend those fruits, and all the ways that are legal, including buying land, including buying expensive land in desirable places. And that kind of land is expensive. Not everybody can buy it.
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