What is Georgism?

The term “Georgist philosophy” refers to the economic analysis and social thought advanced by the American economist Henry George (1839-1897).

Central to Georgist philosophy is the conviction that social problems must be pursued to their root causes and remedied at that level, rather than by treating mere symptoms. Quite thrillingly, this conviction is buoyed up by a scientific approach to political economy, the study of the production and distribution of wealth.

A moment’s earnest consideration of the human condition will inform anyone that everyone is equally human and equally needful of access to earth in order to live. It is the aggregate human need and desire to use advantageous parts of the earth that imparts relative value to one piece of land over another. Taking these two observations together -- that all of us are equally earthlings, and that land values arise out of the social circumstance of humans -- leads Georgists to assert that the natural and proper source of revenue for meeting societal needs and wants is the annual value of land.

We Georgists see the natural world as a reservoir of abundance, not a battleground of scarcity. It is the hoarding of nature, induced by the privatization of land values, that produces poverty. Once land is treated as the commonwealth that it is, the obscene abuse of the earth for private gain evaporates. And just as the annual rent of land is socialized, just that soon are the blessings of society made crystal clear.

The value of land is the value of society. That may sound crass, but socialized ground rent manifests itself in a spiritual and very idealistic way. The ground rent the landlord now collects from you is enough to fund our schools, museums, rec. centers, parks, public transpor-tation! These are, after all, precisely what he is charging you for, location.