Will They Still Kill Each Other For This?
The Jews and Palestinians have killed each other over land for thousands of years.
I was wondering. The Palestinians have controlled the land for more than 1200 years. Would the Jews mind allowing them to have the land for 60 years if that means peace? Probably not.
Some are assholes and will fight. However, most Jews are known for being good capitalists. Why fight if they can earn something peacefully even if that means it’ll take 60 years longer.
And what about the other way around? What about if the Jews say, “Look, I want the land for 60 years. After that, it’s yours.” Will Hamas choose to fight?
Well, they’re willing to fight for the land even if that means fighting for 300 years. Would they settle for peace if all they need to do is waiting for the next 60 years to get the land?
The answer is yes for some because some people are total assholes that just want to fight. The meek do inherit the earth though. Most will say no.
Would people kill each other for a 60 years lease of land? Probably not.
You see our basic instincts are designed when we’re evolving. When we’re evolving, there is no such thing as 60 years lease. So we do not get emotional about that.
What’s the point?
Do you know how much does it cost to lease a land for 60 years? About the same with the price of the land.
Think it this way. How much will it cost to rent a land for 1 year? Probably not much different than the interest rate for the value of the land, assuming the price of the land is constant. If not, it’ll be about the same with the difference between interest rate and the price increase of the land.
If it’s higher, people will borrow infinite money from banks, buy land, and rent it away. I know people do and make money doing it. However, let’s ignore this arbitrage for a while. Their profit really comes from taking calculated risk and work required to settle the deal. That’s why they can’t do that infinitely.
How much will it cost to rent a land for 2 years? Obviously more than it would cost to rent a land for 1 year. However, the present value of the second years rent is less than the first year rent. That’s because the money will grow in the bank first for 1 year and then used to pay the rent.
How much will it cost to rent a land for 1 billion years? You guess it. Buying a land is equivalent with renting it forever. However, most of the value is in the next 60 years.
Assuming the price different between interest rate and land price increase is 5%, rent cost of 60 years of land should worth 94.64% of the land price. If the rate difference is 10%, the 60 years rent cost should worth 99.67%.
You see why the British eventually return Hong Kong to Chinese? So they can get something as good as owning the land while letting the Chinese government, weak at that time, to safe face.
People kill each other because they think they can get the land permanently. However, they will not kill each other for a 60 years lease of the land. It’s kind of strange isn’t it? Could this be a solution for peace?
Imagine if UN or somebody told the Jews and Palestinians. Look, one of you will own the land for 60 years; the other will own it after ward. Both will jump wanting the second option, which worth only .33% of the economic value.
Things get better when we see that capitalists often earn way higher than interest rate.