On Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

Edward J. Dodson

[A Report from the 19th annual North American Conference of the Council of Georgist Organizations. Held July 8-13, 1999 in Gaithersburg, Maryland and Arden, Delaware]

Delaware Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., in a Memorial Day address delivered in 1884, advised his audience: "As life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at peril of being judged not to have lived." Most of us will pass into history without being judged in the manner Holmes suggests. There are so many of us trying to do good that our efforts and accomplishments become increasingly part of a much larger whole, so that our individual contributions receive little public recognition. What Justice Holmes might have said, instead, is that these days our commitment to principles causes some of us to sit in judgment of ourselves. The motivation to make a positive contribution is within us. For me, that motivation has for twenty years come from a deep conviction that certain, specific changes must occur if we to ever emerge from the plagues of chronic poverty, repeated periods of broad unemployment, widespread criminal behavior on the part of so many people and the corruption of a relatively unknown objective -- participatory governance.

I did not come to the principles I believe in by some divine revelation or religious experience. In fact, I am today astounded at how strongly I resisted acknowledging the truths others patiently helped me to comprehend. The beginning of my activist education began in 1980, when I entered a small building at 413 South 10th Street, in one of Philadelphia's quieter Center City neighborhoods. This building was home to the Philadelphia extension of Henry George School of Social Science, and the dwelling where Henry George actually lived during the first few years of his life. Today, the building is restored to look much as it did in the early 1830s. A marker in the front of the building pays homage to the importance of the person who once lived there.

For those of you who have never heard of Henry George or the School founded in his name, I offer a short history. George emerged in the late nineteenth century as a dynamic crusader in defense of true liberty. Decades earlier he had left home for adventure on a merchant vessel that took him to India and Australia, then finally to San Franciso, where he tried prospecting for gold before settling down to the profession of journalist and newspaper editor. Along the way he taught himself political economy; and, in his writings, challenged any conventional wisdoms he found to be in conflict with facts and logic. One biographer described him as "The man who raised hell!" Which he did, making countless enemies and even more friends along with way. In the 1880s and 1890s, millions of people all around the globe looked to him for inspiration in their struggles against unjust governments, against monopolistic corporations and – most of all – against those who denied them their birthright to the land and natural resources from which all material wealth must come. For a time after his death, a global political movement founded on his ideals struggled to right these wrongs. The First World War, the Great Depression, another global war and then the long Cold War diverted the attention of nearly everyone away from George's examination of fundamental principles and solutions to problems. But, thankfully, not everyone. In 1932, a small group of Henry Georgists founded the Henry George School of Social Science to ensure this great man and his ideas would not be forgotten. They opened the School in New York, with John Dewey as its honorary President, expanded all across the United States and in many other countries over the next thirty years. For many reasons, much of this growth was lost, but the School remains vital in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and several other U.S. cities. The overseas extensions and affiliates failed to create a new generation of supporters and have mostly disappeared.

After more than a year of study at the Philadelphia extension, I was asked by the director (a talented and articulate Jamaican-American named George Collins) to become a member of the volunteer faculty. Twenty years later I continue to serve in this capacity under the current director, Mike Curtis. My own teaching has reached, on average, around fifty people each year. Many people exposed to the writings of Henry George are moved by the clarity of his thinking. A few respond with something approaching my own intensity of commitment. Changing the course of history a few people at a time is hard work. So, each year some of us who feel compelled to devote ourselves to this mission get together to share experiences, console one another and recharge our batteries for the year to come. This year, the gathering took place in Gaithersburg, Maryland (at the outer edge of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area). After five days, about half of the 100 or so attendees regrouped in the Delaware town of Arden for discussions on education and outreach (more on Arden below).

Officially described as a conference, attendees come to be participants in panel discussions, deliver presentations, hear speakers from other groups with similar concerns, conduct business meetings of activist and educational organizations and to see old friends and colleagues. My primary contribution to this year's conference was as part of the entertainment – holding a jeopardy competition with categories somehow relating to Henry George, his life, his writings, and the people who have worked together in this effort over the last century and a quarter. Even this version of Jeopardy is competitive. However, the biggest laugh came at my expense, rather than one of the contestants. One of the answers I prepared read: "Jimmy Stewart starred in the film adaption of this John Steinbeck novel." Well, even people under age 30 knew the lead actor in "The Grapes of Wrath" was Henry Fonda and not Jimmy Stewart. Oh well, I'll keep my day job.

For most of this century, Henry George's sweeping proposals have been narrowed by practical politics. Georgist activists (working alongside others who never heard of Henry George but found his proposals sound) have kept working in cities and state capitals to introduce legislation that would gradually reduce the taxation of improvements people make to property, so that government at the local level would increasingly rely on taxation of land values (actually, to be more precise, a tax on the rental value of parcels of land) as the primary source of revenue. Convincing elected officials and their advisers that long-standing tax policy is destructive is not easy. However, in the face of crumbling cities and deteriorating infrastructure, many conventional wisdoms are beginning to be successfully challenged. This work has been undertaken by many volunteers, local activist groups, and often with some technical and financial support from the Henry George Foundation of America [http:www.smart.net/~hgeorge]. Few Pennsylvanians are aware that an amendment to the Pennsylvania constitution adopted back in the 1920s permits cities have the option to tax peoples' houses, apartment buildings, office towers and other types of structures at a low rate than land parcels -- or not at all. This amendment came as a result of efforts by members of the Henry George Foundation. Josh Vincent, the Foundation's current director spends most of his time visiting city officials to explain why this is a good idea. A sister organization, The Center for the Study of Economics, prepares studies on the impact on property owners of any shift to a land-based property tax. Josh's work, along with that of other activists across the Commonwealth, has resulted in fifteen cities (not including Philadelphia, I am sad to say) adopting the shift in tax base. Recent legislation now permits all Pennsylvania boroughs to do likewise, if they so choose – and Josh reported that the Foundation is receiving more requests from borough officials to come to their council meetings than can be responded to. At the conference, we heard reports from all around the country about interest in how this change stimulates new construction and economic activity, generally. There is even some interest on the part of Washington, D.C. The City of Baltimore may be the next major city to make the move.

Henry Georgists will not be satisfied even should every community in the United States -- and elsewhere – exempt all property improvements from taxation and move to a land-based structure. Why not? Well, the short answer is that on principle we oppose having government confiscate earned income from whatever the source. We think that what we produce with our physical and mental labor ought to be our property to dispose of pretty much as we see fit so long as we do no harm to others, to the property of others or to the environment. On principle, we also see most impediments to commerce – even international commerce – as interfering with our liberty. Do all of these things and, down the road, we would not be worrying about foreign competition destroying employment. There would be more jobs looking for people than people looking for jobs, which means higher wages and better benefits for all workers. An utopian vision? Perhaps. So that this full employment scenario can be experienced without overly disrupting things, we tend to support gradual change -- so long as that change is in the right direction. After reading all of this back in 1880, Karl Marx denounced George as an apologist for capitalism. England's Fabian socialists wrote that many of them became activists because of reading Henry George (although they ignored his advice). And, the laissez-faire monopolists of his day denounced him as a socialist because he proposed to end land monopoly. Confused? In our own time, environmental groups have warmed to Henry George's taxation proposals as a "tax shift" that rewards behavior we want to encourage (e.g., using land and natural resources wisely and not as a commodity that is exploited then discarded), while penalizing behavior we do not want (e.g., pollution, destruction of ecosytems, etc.). People concerned about sprawl and quality of life issues are championing Henry George's taxation proposals as a way to stimulate private investment in our crumbling cities, to rebuild them as places where people can live, work and play – safely and without dependence on the automobile as a primary means of transport. To explore these issues, the conference featured David Roodman (a senior researcher at the World Watch Institute) and Courtney Cuff (the legislative director of Friends of the Earth). Each brought their own perspective and emphasis but left attendees with the sense we are on the same page. The next day, we all boarded a bus headed for the Sam Rayburn Building in D.C., where Rep. Ron Paul (a libertarian) had arranged the use of a meeting room to hold a Tax Reform Summit. One of the presenters for this event was N.J. Assemblyman Michael Arnone, a very pro-business and conservative Republican who is working to have the New Jersey Constitution amended to permit New Jersey communities to do what Pennsylvania's communities are able to do. Other panelists who spoke in support of this policy shift included economics professor named Nic Tideman (from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a leading adviser to the Russians on land privatization), Rick Rybeck (the deputy administrator in the office of intermodal planning for the District of Columbia) and Deborah Katz (of the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities).

Not every presentation or discussion at this conference conveyed a story of advances or successes. Two reports from outside the United States – one on South Africa, the other on Australia – remind us just how much of a slippery slope exists in the struggle for change. Despite its disturbing racial and ethnic policy history, White South Africa had incorporated a dose of Henry George's ideas in how its government raised revenue. We heard from Robert Andelson (a professor emeritus from Auburn University and the president of the International Union for Land Value Taxation and Free Trade) that the new central government in South Africa is moving to impose a uniform property tax system on all cities that effectively moves them back toward heavy taxes on buildings. William Pitt, of the Henry George Foundation of Australia, reported that huge land owners and some union leaders have embarked on a campaign to put taxes on buildings in Australian cities that have for decades been collecting revenue from land values alone. Visit Melbourne and one finds no slums – no areas decimated by the flight of people and jobs to the suburbs. The fact that Melbourne has not burdened development with taxes is an important reason. I cannot help but hope the citizens of Australia will not sit by and allow land speculators and misguided union leaders to destroy the very policies that have made their cities the envy of much of the rest of the world. The message for activists is clear: constant vigilance is necessary to prevent loss of not merely our political liberties but equality of opportunity in the economic arena as well.

The conference in Gaithersburg ended early Sunday afternoon, July 11. Many of us reconvened that evening at the community center in Arden, Delaware for another two days of workshops and discussions, organized by Lindy Davies, director of the Henry George Institute [http:www.henrygeorge.org], with the title: "Education IS Activism." As a teacher, I certainly found the program to my liking. But, before describing the program in more detail, first a few words about Arden. Or, perhaps, why Arden? Well, Arden was founded back at the turn of century by people who sought a better quality of life than they thought they could get in other cities and towns. With a grant from philanthropist – and one of the most committed Henry Georgists – Joseph Fels (whose family owned the Philadelphia-based soap company), they purchased a farm and created Arden. In Arden, the town keeps title to the land, leasing parcels to people who want to live there and build homes. All sorts of individualists, socialists, anarchists, artists, and crafts people found their way to Arden over the decades. And, today the town thrives just off of Interstate 95 (by way of I-495 and the Naimens Road exit heading south from Philadelphia, and the Harvey Road exit off of I-95 heading north from Wilmington). The town collects a ground rent from each lessee and uses the revenue to pay the county and school taxes as well as for improvements to the town itself. One of the discussions we had with the members of the Georgist Guild of Arden centered around the fact that the town collects only about one-third of the full rental value of the land, the result of which is (economists and land speculators will understand this; most others will wonder what I am talking about) that the uncollected rent is imputed income to the lessee, which is capitalized by the market into a selling price for the lease. Thus, in Arden, even though you lease the land and do not have title to it, when you sell your house you get paid for the land as well. (Send me an email at ejdodson@msn.com if this raises any burning questions you would like to have answered.)

Monday, July 12, was jam-packed with all sorts of discussions and concurrent sessions about how to reach and teach others. The Henry George Institute offers correspondence and internet-based courses to people all around the globe and has a great staff of volunteer teachers. By far, the most successful website is operated by Hanno Beck, director of the Banneker Center for Economic Justice [http:www.progress.org/banneker/]. Hanno reported that the Center's website received nearly a half million visitors during 1998. At a concurrent session, I had the opportunity to discuss the course I teach at the Henry George School, "Liberty and the Just Society," and attempted to recruit teachers who might want to offer the course in their own communities. Later that day, there was some interesting discussion of economic theory, chaired by Professor Jerome Heavey of Lafayette College.

Many of us who from time to time call upon city officials, finance directors and other people involved in the decisions of how government ought to tax us, expressed our sincere gratitude to another speaker, Ted Gwartney (former chief assessor for British Columbia, a top real estate appraiser, and now Executive Director of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation in New York). Ted walked us through a paper he has written on how to value land that addresses many of the concerns we hear from everyone from politicians to home owners.

Exhausted, yet invigorated, I returned to my day job on Wednesday and my own educational outreach project on the internet, The School of Cooperative Individualism [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5148]. One thing I have learned is that activism seldom pays the bills. Nor should it, perhaps. In my course on the just society, I present the insights of another great thinker, philosopher Mortimer Adler, who wrote that among the "goods" that make for a decent human existence is having enough time in life for involvement in civic affairs. Despite being plagued by financial troubles for much of his own life, Henry George remained committed to civic affairs at great personal sacrifice. He wrote what he believed: "We cannot safely leave politics to politicians. ...The people themselves must think, because the people alone can act." If you are one who thinks and feels this way, there is much that needs to be done. Next year there will be another conference to attend as well. We would love to have you there with us. So, if you have sat in judgement of yourself and feel compelled to do something to make the world a better place, reach out to us. If my course on the just society doesn't light your fire, putting the words "Henry George" in any one of the major search engines will take you on a thought-provoking journey across cyberspace.