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PointNemo wrote (edited )

I'll take the land.

But I do not think the hypothetical is plausible. When has a state ever given land to people, for free? What does the state stand to gain from such a transaction?

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a_zed_9 wrote (edited )

States often give settlers free (or extremely cheap) land. This actually still happens in America (I forget where/when but there was some story from maybe a decade ago of some town doing it) and Isreal still does this though it usually jumps through a few hoops first since these settlements go against international law.

Edit: if it's not apparent the gain for the state is to push out indigenous people, "civilize" the land (primarily make it productive), and benefit colonizers as a class/indentity.

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PointNemo wrote

Good points. But as the landholder, I can elect to not exile any indigenous people or other indigenous elements. I can gum up plans for settlement.

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a_zed_9 wrote

Ultimately though this amounts to even less then the current reservation system (assuming this land is still part of the U.S. am thus subject to its law). As well even if you were given large swaths of land, ultimately your piece of land would be miniscule compared to that which is being settled. As well if this piece of land had any ability to harm the institution of settler colonialism it could through other mechanisms (such as zoning laws or even fabricated evidence or just outright force) be dismantled/reclaimed.

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PointNemo wrote

Yes, I would expect that if the government gave me land to help them settle/colonize, they would eventually take back the land after realizing that I am actively working against their goal rather than for it. But I could certainly slow them down in the process.

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