Superphysics
Land Reform: Usufruct Land Titles
3 minutes • 543 words
Table of contents
The Mercantile period from the 16th to the 18th centuries led to the amassment of land ownership to a few wealthy individuals such as European conquistadors and religious orders. These were often connected to the colonial governments.
This led to the modern development of native lands, at the cost of creating huge inequalities in wealth. This is because those land owners acted like feudal lords.
These inequalities hurt the country in the long run as it reduced the productivity of the land.
The period of Nationalism in the 20th century led to the redistribution of such lands to the people or to private interests.
This is because private attention is better at increasing the land’s productivity.
To improve land with profit, like all other commercial projects, requires an exact attention to small savings and small gains.
A man born to a great fortune is seldom capable of this attention.. He would rather focus on ornaments which please his fancy.
This led to land reform as a means for economic development.
Should Land Be Broken Up or Kept Whole?
Some policymakers think that landholdings should be made small and distributed to small families for them to cultivate it better.
For example, Adam Smith believes that the land should be broken up in order to:
- spread the risk of loss
- increase productivity and cost-efficiency by letting the owners micro-manage their land better
There are still some great estates in the United Kingdom which have continued without interruption in the hands of the same family since feudal times.
Compare the present condition of those estates with the possessions of the small proprietors near them, and you will see how unfavourable such extensive property is to improvement.
The problem is that, nowadays, land is distributed to anyone regardless of their ability to farm or to make the land productive.
This is especially common in socialist countries such as Venezuela wherein its leader, Hugo Chavez, gave land to poor people who didn’t know how to farm or maintain irrigation equipment.
This policy backfired and led to decreased agricultural production, which then led to hyperinflation.
Maximized Farming and Usufruct Land Titles
To solve this we introduce Usufruct Land Titles which are the same as freehold systems.
The land belongs to the state, but is leased to private people under certain conditions.
For agricultural land, the condition might be for the lessors to bond together in a Social Company and implement Maximized Farming.
The lease will then be jointly transferred to the children after the death of the original lessor or father.
This joint transfer will prevent the land from being broken up.
