Owning Land Was The Best – and Usually Only – Way to Be Rich in the Ancient World

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For millennia, humans eked out survival atop the surface of the Earth and land had no unique value. Eventually, however, humans turned land into an advantage. For several thousand years, control of land meant control of natural resources, like water and wild animals. For several thousand more years it meant agricultural production, raising domesticated animals, harvesting timber. And finally, land became economic might invested in Kings, chiefs, and political leaders around the globe. Large landowners sat atop the pyramid of social hierarchy.

Today’s guest is Michael Albertus, author of “Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies.” We see how modern history has been defined by land reallocation on a massive scale. From the 1500s on, European colonial powers and new nation-states shifted indigenous lands into the hands of settlers. The 1900s brought new waves of land appropriation, from Soviet and Maoist collectivization to initiatives turning large estates over to family farmers. The shuffle continues today as governments vie for power and prosperity by choosing who should get land.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Noble gold investments is the official gold sponsor of History Unplug, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals.
0:07.8	Learn how you can protect your wealth with noble gold investments.
0:11.3	Noble gold investments.com.
0:19.1	Scott here with another episode of the History Unplug podcast.
0:22.4	Since approximately 10,000 BC, the end of the Ice Age, being wealthy meant owning land.
0:28.3	In the Neolithic period, control of land meant control of natural resources like water and wild animals.
0:33.7	With the agricultural revolution, it meant farm production, raising domesticated animals,
0:38.2	and harvesting timber. And since the Bronze Age, land ownership meant economic might
0:42.4	invested in kings, chiefs, and political leaders. It meant selling crops, harvesting taxes,
0:47.2	and controlling labor. In the Middle Ages, kings gifted knights with land ownership,
0:51.4	and the reason millions scrambled to the new world in the early modern
0:54.2	period is because it gave the poor the possibility of owning land, which would be completely
0:58.1	impossible in the old world. We're looking at the history of land ownership in this episode,
1:02.7	and why most people today, if they think about it, they imagine surfing Zillow, but it misses
1:07.0	the point that modern history has been defined by land reallocation on a massive scale.
1:11.6	We're speaking with Michael Albertus, author of Land Power, who has it, who does it, and how that determines the fate of societies.
1:17.8	Land ownership pushed the age of discovery, global colonies.
1:21.5	It brought misery with the land collectivization schemes of Soviet and Maoist farms.
1:26.7	And in the 21st century, some of the most
1:28.9	cutting-edge technological social reforms have to do with putting land deeds on the blockchain
1:33.3	and decentralizing the entire process. Hope you enjoyed this discussion. And one more thing
1:41.3	before we get started with this episode, a quick break for a word from our sponsors.
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