If you thought it was outrageous that some states have outlawed single-family zoning, you should be horrified at the suggestion that all private property should be outlawed.

In this article from The Nation, the author somehow suggests that rural property owners are ‘unsafe’ and hurting the environment, as if the fires that struck were their fault.

The subtitle of the article states “If we want to keep cities safe in the face of climate change, we need to seriously question the ideal of private homeownership.”

Further their article concludes that somehow, private property ownership is racist or exclusionary.

“If we can reframe debates about the future of cities beyond rote acceptance of property ownership, it will free up space for us to think about new, more just, and climate-attuned modes of urban living. Responding to climate change in just ways entails radically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting against or adapting to climate change impacts, and doing all of it without further marginalizing oppressed groups of people.”

You will note that many years ago when we created this website, we included a quote in the right sidebar from the United Nations, which basically said the same thing — property should only be owned by the government.

“Land… cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle in the planning and implementation of development schemes.
Public control of land use is therefore indispensable….”

~ Item #10 in the UN agenda at the 1976 Habitat 1.

Everyone should be concerned, since American delegates supported this policy…

Read more at The Nation