Land back to earth jobs back to work
The first man who enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying ‘This is mine’, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society. From how many crimes and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not anyone have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows, ‘Beware of listening to this impostor, you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody"
Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality (1754)
If only we had listened to Rousseau's advice. It is claimed that currently 432 private land owners own 50% of the private land in rural Scotland. The latest estimate of Scotland's population is 5,327,000 , so this means that half of a fundamental resource for the country is owned by 0.008% of the population. www.gov.scot
How long before this process of inverted colonisation concludes and they own the lot?
Dereliction of duty
"People in Glasgow have been living with
derelict land or buildings for years, and
attention must be explicitly drawn to the routes
to address the issue."
"Communities must be specifically informed of their rights - if
we look at an example across the pond, projects in New
York City have placed signage on undeveloped land, stating
'This Land is Your Land', with the details of the city agency
responsible for it underneath along with a link to a website
explaining the rights of communities. People in Glasgow
have been living with derelict land or buildings for years,
and attention must be explicitly drawn to the routes to
address the issue."
Exploring the case for Asset Based Community
Development Commonweal