I don't see the need to move to SouthAmerica, even tho it sounds tempting, If the dollar or US gov goes down the tubes then every other gov will go as well and you have less resources. You will live in the same poverty as they do. There is more rubble or salvage possibility to pick from or choose over here. With the caveat that the US might become a crime or mad max nation if people get too desperate. Large cities nor suburbs are viable.
One problem that I perceive is that most of the land that is at all affordable, is not arable. Californians flock to places like western Montana where only a very few crops will grow. Much of the BEST farmland has already been covered over in asphalt and tract houses. One more problem is that price levels and tax levels in North America and Europe are so high, that it is practically impossible to make a family farm profitable.
Furthermore, inheritance taxes are skyrocketing. From
none in the 19th century, to now hitting north of 50% in many countries, it is becoming impossible to keep family farms and family businesses operating. In about one or two generations, the last family farms in Europe will be gone...by design. The economic central planners claim that plantation operations are "more efficient" (I doubt it).
In the USA, the exemption for inheritance tax is falling from $2 million down to $1 million in 2011. Between the decreased exemption (and don't forget it includes lifetime gifts
) and rising inflation, it will probably impact most owners of any significant real property, including farms and small businesses, and cash. If you own a modest small business building in Seattle (say) that alone is worth far more than $1 million.
I am aware of the practice of fudging the value of farms, but it's not enough, and never will be. Land speculation has put their imputed market value in the stratosphere.
The whole point of inheritance tax is to prevent capital accumulation over multiple generations.
I do not have a permanent solution...because where governments are weak enough now not to track down your spare capital, things can change. Ask my wife's aunt, who still has deeds to properties confiscated by the Communists. There have also been land grabs in the USA, such as during the Teapot Dome scandal, and also immediately after WW2, when numerous eastern (mostly) cities were grabbing properties by raising taxes and keeping rent frozen (price controls during WW2). In Seattle, the county government grabbed 1/3 of the real estate by keeping taxes at pre-crash levels after the beginning of the Great Depression. Nobody could afford their taxes. (This is happening again...property taxes are going UP not down).
In lieu of a solution, I am choosing a stopgap measure.
Question: will any land still be owned by govnts or prvt owners if we have a meltdown? Or will squatters be able to use "abandoned" land by default?
I would be surprised by a meltdown that was so bad that all the titles disappeared. One type of land up for grabs is what has been foreclosed on--there is no longer any clear title on many properties. The courts will surely want to have a say in that, and it will be one costly battle!
In general, if conditions are ripe for land grabs, then sorry to say but the precedent seems to be that it's whoever the next government is, or on the other hand whoever is a member of a group favored by the next government, that grabs it. Of course I would not discount the possibility of temporary squatting, that lasts until someone throws the squatters out.That is indeed fairly common worldwide.
