The Berlin Senate froze rents for roughly 1.5 million apartments in February 2020, capping them at 2019 levels and threatening landlords with fines up to 500,000 euros for charging more. Politicians sold this as relief for working Berliners getting priced out of their  --- ## Comments > **TAX LAND, NOT MAN @TaxLandNotMan** · [2026-09-21](https://x.com/TaxLandNotMan/status/2102029375281500476) > > What prevents fair housing prices is obfuscation of "the land issue". Land, unlike capital, is a daily biological necessity because the human body requires sleep. So, until the tax on land is high enough to prevent holding it as a store of value, systemic poverty will persist. > > > **augmented.marshall @marshallpittman** · [2026-09-21](https://x.com/marshallpittman/status/2102041482823704692) > > > > Why tax at all? Taxes produce perverse incentives uncorrelated to human behavior. Government spends tax revenues in efficiently, unlike landowners. > > > > > **The Homeless Economist @HomelessEconomy** · [2026-09-21](https://x.com/HomelessEconomy/status/2102044047195926627) > > > > > > You're almost making the argument for land value tax. The current tax system taxes work and capital investments and subsidizes rent seeking. We should reverse the incentives and tax rent seeking. Out of town shell companies driving up land values is awful for the locals > > > > > > > **augmented.marshall @marshallpittman** · [2026-09-21](https://x.com/marshallpittman/status/2102102550010835077) > > > > > > > > Taxes should not be coercive or social engineering tools as a primary design. > > > > > > > > Our current taxes are far too high since government spending is far too high and at a significant deficit. > > > > > > > > > **TAX LAND, NOT MAN @TaxLandNotMan** · [2026-09-21](https://x.com/TaxLandNotMan/status/2102123752767000615) > > > > > > > > > > All taxes should be abolished except on land ownership. We don't need to be punished for producing wealth. But land price speculation produces zero goods or services. Also, taxing legal ways of making money creates a reward for criminal ways. > > > > > > > > > > > **augmented.marshall @marshallpittman** · [2026-09-21](https://x.com/marshallpittman/status/2102131790982926509) > > > > > > > > > > > > If something does not produce income, where does the money come from to pay the tax? > > > > > > > > > > > > Your proposal would make it so every retired homeowner without a mortgage or an income would then be taxed, and sure to lose their property without due recompense through seizure. > > > > > > > > > > > > Only economic > > > > > > > > > > > > > **TAX LAND, NOT MAN @TaxLandNotMan** · [2026-09-21](https://x.com/TaxLandNotMan/status/2102174456772690324) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > If the only thing taxed is land, its relative price will be minimized along with the tax on it. Also, home values will not be taxed at all. Only land. So, most homeowners' tax will be vastly reduced from what it is now. And the value of labor and commerce will be far higher. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > **augmented.marshall @marshallpittman** · [2026-09-22](https://x.com/marshallpittman/status/2102371907844587613) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Okay. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Good luck getting rid of all other taxes. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Even a small tax on something that does not produce any income is an infinite expense (division by zero). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Taxes should flow from economic production and activity, not inert land. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Tax land when it sells. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Current property taxes > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > **TAX LAND, NOT MAN @TaxLandNotMan** · [2026-09-22](https://x.com/TaxLandNotMan/status/2102445903835767095) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I agree that current property taxes are immoral, but it's because we tax improvements. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > We are trained to think taxation gives government the ability to improve reality, but it doesn't. Taxing the quality of life makes things worse. The only tax that helps society is on land. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > **augmented.marshall @marshallpittman** · [2026-09-23](https://x.com/marshallpittman/status/2102561199481045091) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I do not believe our governments have a right to tax beyond their duties enumerated in the Constitution. State and Local powers, which are not specified there, should be sparse. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > There is far too much bureaucracy ( as in "an organizational system run by non-elected officials who enforce fixed rules, clear hierarchies, and specialized tasks to manage large institutions") and paperwork for a citizen to maintain. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > thanks for the discussion, again.