> > Kevin Tarr wrote: > > > > > Actually this has a wider point: you don't own ANY > > > property, you are just renting it from the government. > >
> Matt Grimaldi wrote: > > > > That is a gross untruth. When you own property, you have > > many, many more rights than if you merely rent it. Ownership > > entitles you to the rights to whatever minerals you happen > > to dig up, (snip) Julia Thompson wrote: > > What about the cases in which someone *else* owns the > mineral rights to what's under your topsoil? At some point, one non-governmental person or entity owned all the rights to that land. Perhaps, later on, they sold the rights to live on that land while retaining the mining rights, and the then separated rights parted ways, possibly being transferred through a long line of owners. Other (even worse) cases can be found in some communities in Orange County, CA, where the original owner of the land never actually sells it. They sell a 99 year lease to live on the land to a developer, who then sell the lease plus a house to the homebuyer. Neither of these situations have the person living on the property truly "owning" the property outright, but at the same time, they are not "renting from the government" either -- Matt
