What about risk? What is the value of risk? Should people be rewarded for taking on risk when others are unwilling to do so?

Example: I own a rental property. We had people in it for a long time who, unfortunately, could barely afford it (though they certainly had a lot of junk including TVs larger than ours). Though rents all around our property went up, we kept ours the same. We accepted their late or incompletely rent payments, and we were happy when they could make them up a little at a time. We often got notices about the yard not being kept up, and later we found out from the neighbors how they were, well, terrible neighbors. They also trashed the place with junk over the years they were there.

A couple months ago, they almost burned the house down. $50k in damages, including a new roof.

Should we have kicked them out years ago and rented to others who would appreciate the value of the risk we took on to invest in that property, repair, and maintain it? What value can be given to the money earned to purchase the house in the first place and take on the risk of renting it to others?

Maybe my example isn't helpful because you're talking about an empty property. Well, right now, our property is empty. The repairs are finally done, and our property manager is in the process of looking for new tenants who will respect the house and the neighborhood. If a squatter were to live in it now, that would dramatically impact our ability to find a tenant who would appreciate living there. It may not harm me personally in a physical sense, but it would take away value from me as I'm still paying the mortgage. If people staying in that house without my consent prevented me from renting it out to someone else, is that okay?