This is very similar to Thomas Paine's proposal in his Agrarian Justice and
reflects the principal political commandment of the Old Testament -- the
"Sabbath of the Land".
>> The author asks, "What is the relationship between equity and economic
>> growth?" This is the central question asked by Henry George 120 years
>> ago in Progress and Poverty. His answer was that all livelihood
>> ultimately depended upon access to land (in which he included all
>> natural resources, and ALSO such things as government-created
>> monopolies (i.e. things like salt in Gandhi's India, taxi cab licences,
>> radio and TV licences, and all patents). Where those resources, which
>> were provided by nature as commons for the good of all, are held in a
>> few hands, the holders of them can and do claim all the value of both
>> labour AND capital, leaving the labourer or ordinary businessperson no
>> more than they need for elementary subsistence. George's answer was for
>> society to charge those who benefitted from the exclusive use of land
>> or any other part of the commons the full economic rent therefore, and
>> to distribute the rent equally to all so that all might benefit.
Tom Walker
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
