Real Estate is Finished - what will take its place

Recent financial market discord in the realty sector is a symptom that profiteering and speculation leads to a disturbing malaise in the relationship between the human community and land.
Land is actually priceless.  It cannot be owned any more that can the starlight that radiates down on us.  Neither can a nation own land.  The purpose of nations and states and provinces has come and gone. At this juncture in time, as ecological crises cross all notion of boundaries, it becomes evident that true nation-hood must comprise eco-zones  - or, rather, the world as one nation and its eco-zones as provinces. 

The origin of the term “real estate” hints that the modern land transaction game has little authentic bearing as a social institution. When the term was first coined, the notion to assert that it was “real” arose because, in fact, it had no basis in reality. After all, who ever said one could actually buy land, buy and sell portions of the Earth that, in essence, belong to all humanity, as well as all living beings upon the planet!
 It only takes a few moments of sitting in stillness with the question of private land ownership to realize that the concept of land as a commodity is a fabrication, and today’s real estate business has become a dilemma entailing an extensive web of karmic bondage.
 Earth Vision holds that to the degree spiritual evolution proceeds on the planet humanity comes to embrace alternative relationships with the land.  Further, any acts of profiteering from land transaction entail a transgression against the whole of the living community on a moral level.  When, for example, both parents of a young family are required to work full time for endless years to sustain adequate shelter, the children of the world suffer.
 Land allocation rendered on any basis other than what is best for the whole of a given ecosystem can only degrade both natural and social systems.
 

The modern house as existential burden 

The typical modern North American dwelling has become excessive and unwieldy, and not only unduly impacts the environment, but requires high initial investment, large cash infusions to sustain and furnish, and endless attention to maintain.  Consider for a moment, how the modern “home” of several thousand square feet is actually large enough to house 12-16 people, given that one or two hundred square feet is more than enough for an individual.
 When the time comes around to renew the roofing, or painting, or any of a roster of maintenance tasks, the bills are high.  Imagine the tiny maintenance costs of a minimal 200 square foot home?  Further, once one owns a large house, the natural consequence that follows is to fill it with “stuff”  - the environmentally irresponsible raison d’etre of modern society.  Shop ‘til the Earth drops.  Fill your big space with stuff, and spend the rest of your days paying it off (or else exploiting others to do so for you).
 And so the real estate game deepens, the distraction of the masses from a genuine lifestyle.

What then, are the alternatives?  In what ways can humanity enter into a new and viable relationship with the land?  Earth Vision points toward the illuminating vision of Rudolf Steiner’s Three-fold Social Order for answers, and proposes the following approaches to resolve the issue of private land speculation.  They are put forward as a starting point, while inviting input from any interested parties to add to the process, which, in turn, can help avert impending financial and spiritual demise.

Authentic forms of relationship with land

- Non-profit, or not-for-profit motivations

- Individual or group stewardship, versus notions of private property

- sustainable communities

- the return of north-south migration tracts for bison herds upon the prairies (See “The Return of Bison and Wolf”).

- the re-allocation of political/nation/state/provincial boundaries, so that the real boundaries, those of the eco-systems, will prevail  - e.g., the Hardwood Forest, the Great Lakes, the Boreal Forest, the Great Plains, etc.

- placing emphasis of ownership solely on assets such as buildings, while holding an attitude of tenancy toward the land itself.

- The one room cabin concept

- One room on wheels, a small mobile home

- ? (you are invited to expand on this theme.)

It should be noted, when reviewing the above concepts of land relationship, that none of the modalities entails a notion of ownership. Because of this, it becomes possible for the status of relationship to land to evolve into a state of custodial-ship, and to comprise qualities of reverence, gratitude, and a sense of open-ness to the needs of the Earth itself.  What does a particular area of land require from the human community to sustain and enhance itself?  What other species co-habit, and how can that co-existence be optimized?
 

for the full version of this article visit the Earth Vsion website.