Comments on: Classic economics, modern times and land value tax http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/ Community-led economic change. Wed, 12 Mar 2014 12:12:14 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3 By: Peter Smith http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/#comment-842 Sat, 20 Oct 2012 02:25:27 +0000 http://www.reconomyproject.org/?p=4017#comment-842 Simon, my Henry George Society of Devon initiative is still in the very early stages. Ive set up a wordpress site (henrygeorgedevon.wordpress.com) and an e-mail address (henrygeorgedevon@gmail.com) and have a mailing list of about 10 people who expressed an interest at the talk I gave on Monday. Its a promising start. It seems to be a case of “if you move, the world moves with you”. I perceive a real desire out there to understand fundeamental economic realities. Given enough energy, intelligence and focus others will join!

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By: Simon Carter http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/#comment-838 Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:33:21 +0000 http://www.reconomyproject.org/?p=4017#comment-838 Hi Peter,

Very interested in possibly replicating this as you say, in the Gloucestershire area. Can you send me details?
I put Henry George Society of Devon into Google & got this from the link?

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You don’t have permission to access /2012/10/13/mainstream-economics-is-bankrupt-georgism-economics-explored-for-the-21st-century/ on this server.
Apache/2 Server at http://www.peoplesrepublicofsouthdevon.co.uk Port 80

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By: Peter Smith http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/#comment-836 Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:40:07 +0000 http://www.reconomyproject.org/?p=4017#comment-836 Shane, you ask if I see anyway of the Land Value Tax and the local grass roots approach linking together. At present it appears to be a case of two parallel tracks as there is no organisation I am a aware of linking these two together. I guess if there is a link it is in the minds of individuals – a case of more and more people who are attempting to make progress through local initiatives becoming aware of the big picture economic forces centred on land and land ownership. Thats where a Georgist economic understanding can help to make sense of things. The nature of the brick-wall one bashes into becomes clear. Although the solutions may seem a long way off at the present time the first step is to understand whats really going on. Ultimate progress will require a critical mass of individuals gaining this understanding so that the solution will finally be within reach pollitically. Thats why education is the key and thats where organisational effort needs to be put. Thats why Ive founded the Henry George Society of Devon. As far as I know its the first such group in the UK set up for a specific local geographic area. I see an advantage of this approach being that it fosters more direct contact in person (ie the old school approach to community building) rather than just internet based connections. If successful it might be a model to be replicated elsewhere.

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By: Robin Smith http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/#comment-765 Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:42:35 +0000 http://www.reconomyproject.org/?p=4017#comment-765 Agreed.

The central problem is very simple. We love ourselves more than others. But deny that furiously. Especially against the ones who point it out.

We are all ‘Rent Seekers’ in varying degrees.

http://gco2e.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/rent-seeking-fastest-way-to-get-rich.html

The getting of the work of others, without the giving of your own in return.

Nature gives wealth to work, and to nothing but work. Yet most people today actually believe that it grows on trees. Or that they can own mother earth. Or that something invisible, money, is the problem. That’s insane denial.

The scribes and pharisees (social reformers) do this the most intensely. Utter hypocrites. Bankers and landowners too but openly as rogues. The one no better than the other when it comes to what matters. . . love of others.

So we all live in constant fear that we are running out of everything, hating anyone who has more than us, when basic observation shows there to be way more than enough for all. Insanity and psychopathy.

The politics and economics are mere dark manifestations of this denial. We take one ideology or the other, left or right, as a smoke screen pretending now we are saints but really still collecting all that lovely rent.

This is written everywhere as a central theme at the inception of all civilisations. Today too there are allegories. I call it The Matrix, Paul Levy calls it Wetiko. Christ called it. . . well read the book, esoterically not literally and youll find it there too as the central theme.

The problem is you cannot get to the higher ground right away. it has to grow naturally. This is what LVT is trying to do. But even then there is a problem.

No matter who perfect your policy, if people still hate each other, and love themselves, nothing will change.

So does real reform start within ourselves as individuals? Or should we keep on blaming others? Its a free choice.

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By: Simon Carter http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/#comment-760 Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:51:43 +0000 http://www.reconomyproject.org/?p=4017#comment-760 Fascinating article. Well worth reading from beginning to end. Should be economics lesson 1 in every schools, which begs the question, why isn’t it?. Maybe the answer is to be found in John D Rockefeller’s quote, ‘competition is a sin’. I have no problem with ambition, but historically this always seems to be a two stage process, one, climb the ladder of success, two, pull it up behind you. The opportunity to do so is indeed largely made possible as a consequence of enclosure.
My personal conviction is this kind of economics enlightenment is not imparted in schools because the system is controlled by the land owning minority from top to bottom & our political classes answer to them, firstly because very often they are one & the same, & secondly because they are the first to benefit from the top down distribution of wealth. The last thing the system wants is a well informed majority capable of critical thinking. As such the elite retain control of capital & power not through their control of land & their rent advantage, but through controlling what I recently heard described as the cognitive map, in other words through the way that we think, or even more starkly, brain washing.
The interesting things is that if the proliferation of social unrest is anything to go by, for example riots in opposition to austerity measures, then these self appointed masters of the universe may well be pushing their luck, but for that to manifest itself in any meaningful way for the majority it will take a mechanism as described in the paragraph taken from the above article.

‘Although a growing number of academic economists and journalists are beginning to reject the current ‘autistic’ state of the discipline, political leaders appear deaf to calls for a new understanding of economics. This being so, the only way forward is for a critical mass of people committed to progressive change to engage seriously with the economic question as the basis for a popular movement. Only when large numbers have a clear understanding of economic realities will it become possible, through the ballot box and other mechanisms of a vibrant democracy, to make a difference’.

In other words, the minority retain control of land because the majority allow it. They haven’t earned it, & they certainly don’t deserve it. If the majority understood this, problem over. Don’t expect our schools to ‘educate’ our children on this, or our mass media & news networks to educate the adult population, in fact expect the exact opposite. It is for this reason that I feel passionately that REconomy must pick up the mantle of helping to educate the majority. Transition has lead the way & the seeds have been sown, but it is REconomy that has extended Transition into the arena of economic crisis from the initial focus of peak oil & climate change. This question of education must be an integral element of their remit, in fact I would argue the most important one.

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By: Admin (Shane Hughes) http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/#comment-749 Sat, 29 Sep 2012 13:52:33 +0000 http://www.reconomyproject.org/?p=4017#comment-749 Hi Peter, thanks for you comment. Do you see anyway of the Land Value Tax and the local grass roots approach linking together? or are they just two parallel activities with no real direct links? and if the later, are they complimentary? Cheers

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By: Peter Smith http://reconomy.org/classic-economics-and-modern-times/#comment-748 Sat, 29 Sep 2012 13:43:30 +0000 http://www.reconomyproject.org/?p=4017#comment-748 Thanks for posting this Shane. Its a long read but well worth it! Mark Braund’s piece is a valuable resource for those seeking an understanding of econoic fundamentals. I agree with you that the local pragmatic approach to land use issues taken by grassroots organisations like Transition seem to be connecting up with the broader vision of Henry George that places land and natural resources at the heart of economics.

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