Common Ground
North Carolina-Virgnia
The equal right of all men to the use of land is as clear as their equal right to breathe the air — it is a right proclaimed by the fact of their existence. For we cannot suppose that some men have a right to be in this world, and others no right.
- Henry George
LAND
VALUE
TAX
Land Value Tax reduces the incentive to engage in idle speculation of land and other things which rightly belong in common to all mankind. This means that wage earners no longer have to purchase the opportunity from a rent-seeker to use the commons in securing for themselves a decent wage.
Land Value Tax encourages land to be put to its most productive use and discourages inefficient uses of land. Say goodbye to square acres of parking lots in valuable urban areas and unaffordable single family home sprawl as far as the eye can see. Homes, affordable for all, will be made plentiful at all income levels.
There exists more than enough wealth to ensure that all live free of want, but expropriation of public wealth via private ownership of the commons results in an unequal and unjust distribution of wealth. Land Value Tax will ensure that any man or woman willing to put their labor to good use will have somewhere to do it.
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"The term land includes all natural opportunities or forces"
- Henry George, Progress and Poverty
COMMUNITY
LAND
TRUST
In a rent-sharing land trust, home and/or farm owners have title to their buildings and improvements, but pay the full current annual ground (i.e., land) rent to a trust for the underlying land. The trust – which could be either a public or non-profit entity — uses the collected land rent to pay any property taxes imposed on the homes/farms, with excess rental revenue used for common purposes approved by the trust.
Our conclusions point to a solution. It is so radical that it will not be considered if we believe less drastic measure might work. Yet it is so simple that its effectiveness will be discounted until more elaborate measures are evaluated.
-Henry George
