We own land! Give us money to make it worth more!

Having watched this evening's news which seemed to centre around something called 'Copenhagen', it strikes me that there is a common denominator between:

a) These chaps from Pacific Islands, who, in the absence of any evidence whatsoever that sea levels are rising but which heralds The-End-Of-The-World anyway, say stuff like this:

“We know that [industrialised countries] did not respond to the calls from our leaders in New York last week. They have been responding, sympathising with our concerns. A lot of the countries are putting forwards funds to enable us carry out certain activities on mitigation, adaptation, capacity building and awareness raising..."

and,

b) Home-Owner-Ists in the UK who claim, in the absence of any evidence whatsoever that shifting the tax burden from economic activity to land or property ownership somehow heralds The End Of The World.

It's a simple fact that people who are prepared to pay for something, out of their own money, tend to value it more and look after it better than those who aren't so prepared. If it's true that these islands are sinking, well then they ought to do like the Dutch and build sea-walls, which they can pay for themselves, thank you very much. And exactly the same applies to the Home-Owner-Ists, who want everybody else to pay for all the services and benefits that accrue to them.