Andy Carloff

What Would Happen if Land Was Managed By Society?



Posted: Monday, October 19, 2009

by
Punkerslut Freethought

We are living in a world where the land is held by a very few. The apartment complexes belong to real estate developers, the mines belong to the wealthy stock owners, and the farms belong to agricultural corporations. From the factories and the manufacturing plants to the seaports and the trains -- the majority of the land and its improvements belong to a small fraction of the people.

The few control the industries, so the land is managed and organized for the benefit of the few. Imagine a world where the land and all productive wealth was controlled democratically by the people -- a world where each person had an equal say in how land was organized and how industries operated. Instead of the majority of land operating for the benefit of the few, it would operate for the benefit of all!

Poverty and unemployment are caused by Capitalists and investors seeking what is personally good for them. There is plenty of empty land all over the world; plenty of idle factories. If we let people work there, and keep the fruits of their labor, we would be feeding families and supporting communities. But Capitalists don't allow it to happen because there is more profit in starving the market.

Capitalists can make more money by increasing the price significantly, and only selling a few, than by overproducing, and selling many at a cheap price. This is the cause of famines, of coal shortages in winter, and the endless unemployment throughout the nation. From homelessness to world hunger, there is a benefit to the Capitalist when there is want -- it makes people desperate, and it puts them in a perfect position of subjugation and control. An army of the unemployed, always present, is going to put every employed laborer at the mercy of their master.

If society managed the wealth, the lands would be developed, the fields would be farmed, and the environment would be protected. By letting people work the lands, we are creating workers and consumers. We are creating those who create wealth, as well as those who consume the wealth of other laborers. This would be a community organization of the economy -- for the interests of the people in the community. If we struggle to create this world, we might eliminate poverty and unemployment.

Punkerslut,

Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has traveled all across the United States and has experienced American life in the urban centers, as a homeless squatter and as a blue-collar, working-class laborer.  His ideals are ultra-leftist: politically an Anarchist, economically a Socialist, and culturally a Syndicalist.  His writings are available through his website: www.punkerslut.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by David Tanguay
 2 years 97 days ago.
186 fans.
I hear you Andy
» left by Andy Carloff 2 years 92 days ago.
4 fans.
Thanks for listening, David. I only wish this wisdom was common to the rest of the population. Thanks again.
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