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..:*¨¨*:·....·:*¨¨*:..The Promised Land..·:*¨¨*:·....·:*¨¨*:·..

 Exploring the Land Issue
by Debbie Clark

 "The earth is given as a common stock for man
 to labor and live on." -- ThomasJefferson

Henry George, a social and economic philosopher of the late 19th century and author of the important book, Progress and Poverty and also  Social Problems, wrote in his article, "The Single Tax, What It Is and Why We Urge it" (1890):

"We propose to abolish all taxes save one single tax levied on the value of land, irrespective of the value of the improvements in or on it.  What we propose is not a tax on real estate, for real estate includes improvements. Nor is it a tax on land, for we would not tax all land, but only land having a value irrespective of its improvements, and would tax that in proportion to that value. Our plan involves the imposition of no new tax, since we already tax land values in taxing real estate. To carry it out we have only to abolish all taxes save the tax on real estate, and abolish all of that which now falls on buildings or improvements..."

That, in a nutshell, is the whole of Henry George's ideas about land -- the simple idea to abolish all taxes save for the single tax on the value of land irrespective of improvement.

Henry George wrote:

"...the rights of all men to land must be equal and inalienable. There must be exclusive right of possession of land, for the man who uses it must have secure possession of land in order to reap the products of his labor. But his right of possession must be limited by the equal right of all, and should therefore be conditioned upon the payment to the community by the possessor of an equivalent for any special valuable privilege thus accorded him.

"When we tax houses, crops, money, furniture, capital or wealth in any of its forms, we take from individuals what rightfully belongs to them. We violate the right of property, and in the name of the State commit robbery. But when we tax ground values, we take from individuals what does not belong to them, but belongs to the community, and which cannot be left to individuals without robbery of other individuals.

Are those who disagree on this really so different in their fundamental philosophies?  Are they irreconcilable?  How can those who love life and liberty as much as libertarians do be so divided on such a fundamental matter as land?  These are questions that I will attempt to explore here on this website, which I will allow to evolve to reflect the current pulse of libertarianism on this issue and more.

Mr. Smith has also written scripts for many audio tapes, including those on John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and others produced by Knowledge Products. as well as tapes on The Ideas of Liberty, Classical Liberalism, and The Modern Quest for Liberty, produced by Cato University.  These are available from Laissez-Faire Books.

Excerpts of my debate with Mr. Smith regarding Henry George's ideas are followed by some questions and rebuttals by several geolibertarians, predominantly Mr. Dan Sullivan, whose website may be found at Dan's Geolibertarian Page.
 

Peace.
Debbie

My Debate With George H. Smith
Dan Sullivan's Rebuttal to George H. Smith
Response From Harry Pollard & More
Nebraska Roots