Real Estate: a walking tour

Nothing in the public realm could be more foolish than asserting that some have a superior right over others in occupying planet Earth. We might say nothing could be more offensive, or more arrogant, or more snobbish, or more absurd . . . but none of these feelings takes us directly to the hard economic reality of being foolish.

In saying that some have a legal right to exclude others from use of a portion of planet Earth without having to somehow duly compensate those excluded from their self-evident right to use Earth, upon equal terms with those holding a paper title, we are in fact condemning an enormous portion of humanity to pay others for their mere existence. That's economic foolishness.

Oh, it's true there are large areas of the globe where one may practically live location-rent free, out of sight of society or the nominal land owner, but human beings are social beings, and whenever two or more human beings desire to make use of the same bit of Earth, value arises. Value that can be measured in willingness to spill blood or in the exchange of economic opportunity cost.

When one human being arranges with another to take possession of an urban parcel, that doesn't satisfy the rest of humanity in its interest in that location. In such cases--and they are ubiquitous--the equal right to make a living from life on this planet is denied masses of people.

Come along on a free walking tour exploring the role the privatization of location values plays in sustaining racism, low wages, massive debt, and perennial housing challenges.

By walk's end you'll have a clear understanding of what political agendas are all about--conveying privilege in location and resource values. We'll be looking at 11 San Francisco social movements, but current events in Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, Haiti, and Sudan supply all the merit this way of looking at things matters.