Homesteading: an idea that has come around again

[Anti Federalist]

Neb. Town Giving Away Land for Free

Newser – Beatrice, Neb., was founded by homesteaders, and now it’s hoping to recapture that 19th-century magic. In the midst of a budget squeeze, the city has passed “the Homestead Act of 2010,” a plan to give away city land to anyone willing to build a home there and live in it for three years. The goal is to make taxable property out of land it wasn’t doing anything with anyway.

“There are only so many ball fields a place can build,” the city attorney tells the New York Times. “It really hurts having all this stuff off the tax rolls.” Beatrice isn’t alone either. Dayton, Ohio, is trying out a similar scheme, charging would-be homesteaders only nominal fees for the land, as is Grafton, Ill. Dayton is particularly eager to unload its vacant properties; officials say they spend $2 million a year just mowing the grass on them.

http://www.newser.com/story/96446/neb-town-giving-away-land-for-free.html#ixzz0uoVd4fMW

Full story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/us/26revenue.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

[Southron]

I sure wish they would do this with National forest.

I had MUCH rather see this than the land sold to large corporations.

[Kylie]

Grafton is a great little town....when it's not under water. It's just now(this week) getting out from under the Mississippi. I heard it on the radio today that they were offering land.

We have yet to get the boat out on the river this year. Only took it out 2 or 3 times last year. It's been worse in the last few years(for river traffic) than it was in 1993. At least then, the flood only last a few months and you knew that it wouldn't be back for a while. These last couple of years it has been unpredictable.

[Matt Collins]

I sure wish they would do this with National forest.

I had MUCH rather see this than the land sold to large corporations.
Why not auction it off to pay down the debt? :confused:

[dannno]

I find it ironic that with all the cows in Nebraska, they can't get the lawns mowed cause they feed them corn which may lead to e. coli outbreaks :rolleyes:

[ChaosControl]

Neat idea. I'd probably go for something like that someday.

[Southron]

Why not auction it off to pay down the debt? :confused:

Because private property ownership is important in a free society.

Auctioning the West off to China would be a bad move imo.

That land would have been settled years ago if the Federal Government hadn't grabbed it.

Our people shed their blood taming that land and it makes sense that individuals and families should get priority.

That land will still be there long after our system of government is gone. It's worth more than paper.

[Matt Collins]

Auctioning the West off to China would be a bad move imo.Simple solution - only sell to individuals, and then require each individual to be a citizen of one of the States.

[Anti Federalist]

Because private property ownership is important in a free society.

Auctioning the West off to China would be a bad move imo.

That land would have been settled years ago if the Federal Government hadn't grabbed it.

Our people shed their blood taming that land and it makes sense that individuals and families should get priority.

That land will still be there long after our system of government is gone. It's worth more than paper.

Whoo, that ^^^

[Southron]

Simple solution - only sell to individuals, and then require each individual to be a citizen of one of the States.

And then the land ends up in the hands of a few individuals, which never would have happened had the land been settled naturally.

I'll have to respectfully disagree.

[heavenlyboy34]

and to think RPFers thought I was crazy for just the kind of argument the OP is making!

[Matt Collins]

And then the land ends up in the hands of a few individuals, which never would have happened had the land been settled naturally.

I'll have to respectfully disagree.Homesteading requires the land to actually be developed. And so what if it ends up in the hands of a few individuals? It would be privately owned wouldn't it?

[isrow]

Rothbard and Nock defined property as natural materials mixed with a person's labor and I have to agree. Why should the government have claim to it? They've been preventing natural civilization on it, they definitely shouldn't get paid to give up their title.

[heavenlyboy34]

Rothbard and Nock defined property as natural materials mixed with a person's labor and I have to agree. Why should the government have claim to it? They've been preventing natural civilization on it, they definitely shouldn't get paid to give up their title.

They were right (as was Locke) to an extent. Unfortunately, this Labor Theory Of Value is easily exploited by Statists of all stripes. (Marx was fond of it, construing it to mean, among other things, that employers "exploit" their workers-this twisting of the LTOV begat bloody conflicts and it still does today)

[tjeffersonsghost]

I could see myself taking advantage of something like this...

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

They were right (as was Locke) to an extent. Unfortunately, this Labor Theory Of Value is easily exploited by Statists of all stripes. (Marx was fond of it, construing it to mean, among other things, that employers "exploit" their workers-this twisting of the LTOV begat bloody conflicts and it still does today)

HB you should know better by now. Homesteading has nothing to do with LTOV. :confused: (I think he meant homesteading & not property -- as property is a catch-all term)