Henry George and Cooperative Individualism
Edward J. Dodson
[Reprinted from
Fragments, April-December 2001]
We are all born with an instinctive moral sense of right and wrong,
nurtured from birth by those around us, and by society. Nature and
nurture combine in some fashion to give each person a sense of self.
Some accept the status quo. Some find refuge as "true believers"
in hierarchical and rigid socio-religious-political collectives. Some
are unable to cope and withdraw passively. Some, like me, are drawn to
research, seeking universal first principles that perfect our moral
sense of right and wrong. I found these principles in the philosophy
of Henry George.
Henry George is often described as a "self-taught"
political economist because he had no college training and did not
attend classes with other students in pursuit of a degree. Instead, he
embarked on a journey of skeptical research and discovery of his own
design. What distances George from other economists is an "intangible'
-he acquired a deeper (and to my satisfaction) a truer sense of right
and wrong. Henry George saw more clearly than most others truths which
he reasoned to be self-evident. His contribution to political economy
(economics), important as it is, must be relegated to a subordinate
position -second to his moral philosophy.
Political economy had always been a tool of the moral philosopher.
However, by the time Henry George became a public figure, the modem
era of specialization was already well under way. The
military-industrial State, engaged in acquisitive adventures of an
ever-expanding scale, required a cadre of technicians trained in the
arts of planning and production. Success on the battlefield required
that the State know what resources were available and how best to
command their production and distribution. Modem economics serves this
mission. The universities of today are funded to recruit and train
people in economics to meet the needs of the State.
Although a Georgist global movement developed during his lifetime and
after his death, involving tens of thousands of followers, such
movement was irrelevant to the real struggle of the times -- that
between the industrial-landlord statists and the socialistic statists.
Only a few of George's supporters grasped and accepted the essence of
the moral principles espoused by George. Most of them (but not all)
were captivated by George's revelation that the cause of poverty was
monopolistic privilege which could be eradicated by practical,
financial measures. Moral issues were seldom discussed.
Among those whose thinking was influenced by Henry George was Ernest
B. Gaston, an Iowa newspaperman who pulled together a small group of
idealistic reformers and headed south to establish the community of
Fairhope on the Alabama coast of Mobile Bay.
Gaston believed that communities must be constructed on the basis of
justice. He used the term "cooperative individualism" to
describe the ideals upon which Fairhope was founded. Historian Paul
Gaston (grandson of E. B. Gaston) wrote to me some years ago that E.
B. Gaston wanted to organize a "Bellamy-like socialist colony,"
with the collection of ground rents on land parcels as one of the key
principles of the colony. (By the way, Henry George was NOT a
socialist.) However, later generations of the founding families
exhibited less and less interest in the Georgist ideals of their
ancestors, and new arrivals sought nothing more than a comfortable
existence and steady employment.
Yet, this term -- "cooperative individualism" -- struck me
as the very essence of the moral principles espoused by Henry George.
I adopted the term as my own. My quest was fully to identify and
refine the principles of cooperative individualism, an effort that
took the form of a course ("The Search for the Just Society"),
which I developed and taught at the Henry George School in
Philadelphia.
Drafting, discussing, and refining the statement of the principles
over the last seven or eight years has often caused me to think of
Thomas Paine and his commitment to truth in the face of unrelenting
opposition. These are the principles I believe Paine and George would
accept and defend. I have, in fad, described Paine as the "architect
of cooperative individualism," even though he never used these
words to describe his moral principles.
Here is a list of these principles -- which I fully endorse.
1) All persons need adequate food, clothing, shelter, nurturing,
medical care, leisure, culture, and civic involvement for a decent
human existence.
2) All persons must form a "society" to fulfill the
satisfaction of such needs.
3) The source of the material goods necessary for human survival is
the earth, equal access to which is the birthright of all persons, as
is the full enjoyment of what individuals produce thereon.
4) Liberty is the basis for human moral behavior, provided that such
liberty in no way infringes on the liberty of others.
5) When human behavior violates the liberty of others, such behavior
fails within the realm of criminal license.
6) Orderly functioning of society requires the granting to
individuals of licenses that distribute privileges not enjoyed by
others. To the extent that such licenses come to have exchange value
in the marketplace, this value is acknowledged to be
societally-created. Justice requires, therefore, that society collect
this value as a fund for equal distribution to all members of society
and/or for societal expenditures democratically agreed upon.
7) A society is just to the extent to which liberty is fully
realized, where equality of opportunity prevails, and where criminal
acts are appropriately penalized. In a just society, the full exchange
of economic licenses is collected for distribution and/or societal
use, and the wealth produced by one's individual labor (directly, or
indirectly, with the assistance of capital goods) is protected as
one's naturally rightful property, and not subject to taxation or
other forms of confiscation.
In 1997, I committed myself to teach these principles, and founded an
internet-based educational project called The School of Cooperative
Individualism; I invite the readers of FRAGMENTS to visit
there often. I ask them the following question: Was Paine's torch of
cooperative individualism lifted from the ground by Henry George --
and its flame restored? Please reply.
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