Land More Important Than Buildings

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Money is a means of exchange and it changes all the time. Those dollars in your wallet started as a promissory note, literally meaning it is a promise to pay. Promissory notes became paper money like pounds then cheques, then travelers’ cheques, then euro, then credit cards and finally internet banking.

Land is the only thing that doesn’t change, and what we mentioned above is based on land. It is real money. Banks are ‘rich’ because they back up money with solid ground, land. It cannot be moved or demolished like office buildings, night clubs, strip malls or abandoned churches.  The one thing that changes is land use.

Look at these two photos. Believe it or not, there were two buildings in that car park: a blues club, and a four-storey building used by homeless people who rented rooms for a day or a week. They were demolished last year (see the photo). I don’t use that street very much. That’s why I was surprised today, when I found the ground leveled and turned into a car park.

Who decided to demolish the blues club and the homeless building? Was it City Hall or a private developer? Land has a value today and tomorrow. We never know with money. Something might happen in the economy and we could be told that our money is worthless.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Blogger Without Borders

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