Charles Mueller wrote,
> If this is an exclusively Georgist group--with a welcome mat out
>only for fellow believers in the Henry George truth--it is well within its
>rights and I have no desire to be an interloper, an unwelcome guest. If so,
>I'm in the wrong church and will leave the group in peace.
Don't worry, this is not an exclusively Georgist group. I'm not a Georgist,
but I think I can understand the exasperation that Georgists feel and
perhaps sometimes express inappropriately. I buy the story that Henry George
was The Big Name in economics a century ago and that neo-classical economics
was, in part, a public relations scam by monopolists to divert attention
from George's contribution. The result is that Georgists have to spend a lot
of time presenting what should be clear and simple ideas in front of a
distorting mirror that has been custom designed to make those ideas look
strange.
But it's also true that a lot of pr money has flowed in the service of
discrediting Karl Marx. And where the antagonistic pr leaves off, often the
devotees have finished the job.
Perhaps what we need is a science of crucifixion that goes something like this:
* a 'prophet' comes up with some observations and explanation that makes
things clear
* the prophet and the prophet's ideas begin to attract a large public
following -- a movement
* the powers that be devote massive resources to eliminating the prophet and
obscuring the prophet's ideas
* the prophet's followers try to preserve the ideas, but can't help
including a new element -- martyrdom
* the message ceases to be the prophet's ideas and becomes instead the
martyrdom of those ideas
Maybe "martyrdom" is the real reason repression works so well.;-)
Regards,
Tom Walker
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