Land Ownership (its horrors)

The best way to discourage anything is to tax it. We are taxed for shopping (vat) , investing (investment tax), saving, and working (income tax). The landowners have carved themselves a niche out of the speculative price of the lands they own. They speculate on how much a piece of land is worth, add up all the properties on their land , houses , farms, etc ( and how much rent can be maximised from it ) and that is how they come up with their figures. Therefore the "speculative" price of the land is exaggerated out of all proportions, making them ( on the surface of it ) much wealthier.

One answer to this speculation of interest would be not making it such a free ride for the wealthy. As every-one will know the tax levels in this country beggar belief, and most of our brightest lights have flown away to other countries on account of tax being so high here. There is one resource that lies untapped at present , that if it was utilised this country would gain enough revenue, that it would not be necessary to charge income tax , investment tax, vat etc. That resource is Land. If land were taxed there would be far more money in our countries coffers, the landowners would not then be able to extract a maximised profit from the land ( which is not theirs , but a COMMON treasury, for all of us ).The money they make from charging rent is retained ,and most have access to rural rates releif etc so none payed back out. This creates their accumulative wealth. If land was taxed the money they make from land rent (at every-one else's expense) they would have to pay it back in tax ( like the rest of us), no longer would they have the land as an advantage.

At present all you have to do is own land to receive maximum output for minimum input. Money makes money. The time has come to redress the balance . The imposition of land tax would ,in its way, re-distribute the wealth. Having money is not a crime, but the wide gulf between rich and poor should be. Its unfair to have all your efforts taken away by over taxation . The way things work now is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Imagine a world where you could keep all you earned , how much incentive is there to work for ever, and chase your tail. The only reason these people are in that position over others is the fact that they can afford to. We are forced into a position where we must live under an imposed time schedule "Be in by 9 o'clock or we'll dock yer wages, Do as we say or we'll take away your job and leave you with nothing. These people have treated us like slaves long enough.

We should stand now ,but we can only do it together as one. If there are 100's of isolated voices its easy to shoot them down by denouncing us as lefty troublemakers, if there are 100's or 1000's of voices in unison they've got to listen ,keep on and they'll have to act.

Land for the people
(how to abolish taxation and end unemployment)

One reason why teenage crime is so prevalent today is the apethy that their parents/grandparents hand down to them. Unemployment has been blamed,but the apethy stems from dispossetion from the land. People are supposed to live on the land as their own, instead of which wer're taxed out of existence for the priveledge of living here.

Who did the first ever landowner pay rent to? Land as a commodity is a weird concept. Christians believe that God made the earth, so therefore why do the elite hold it as a commercial going concern? The land we live on is ours by birthright.
The surest way to discourage something is to tax it !! Yet government today imposes penalties on working (income tax),on spending (vat and import duties) and on investment (taxes on interest and dividends). The inevitable result of such taxation is that less is produced, trade is impeded and investment is directed into other channels, or indeed to other countries. To make good the resultant shortfall in revenue taxes are increased and new ones invented. Such taxation is always provisional , and is ever without moral basis. We need a properly and naturally founded public revenue base.

How is the state to raise revenue if not through taxes?

There is a source of revenue -barely tapped at present-which could provide a proper and natural income base to finance the state. That source is the value of the planets natural resources-"given to man in common"- but unnecessarily monopolised by greedy individuals . It is this community resource which should provide for our community expenses.
The rental value of land (and the rental value of other natural resources)-which is presently appropriated by private interests- should be collected in full by the state, to provide for societies common expenses. This is in fact the only fair way in which to finance the state, (the world's resources are a gift of nature, the wealth of which we each have a right to in equal share). Renting the land to us and taxing wages and salaries, on the other hand, whether directly or indirectly, is legalised theft, people should be free to earn and to keep what they earn. When rents are taken by the land-owners it is seldom re-distributed back into the community, therefore they receive maximum output for minimum input. They get richer and richer just because they own the land (from whom did they buy the land in order to charge us rent)????

Would rent be enough to pay for the huge budgets of modern governments?

Government statistics do not reveal what proportions of our national production is absorbed by rent, as opposed to that distributed as wages to labour and interest to investors. Rent accounts for a high percentage of the economy, some of this is required for state spending (although much of this goes to patch up damage caused by the inefficiency injustice of the present economic system. It is not unreasonable to contest that all necessary government functions could be funded by the collection of land and natural resource rents.

Wouldn't this discourage production just as taxation does?

No it would not, because land itself has no cost of production. The "value" of land lies in being able to monopolise a site.Where this value is not publicly collected, land speculation arises, land is held back out of use or underused, and land becomes a marketable commodity. Public (not private) collection of ground rent would encourage landowners to use their holdings efficiently, or otherwise release them.

Would Land owners not just pass on their new burden to their tenants?

It is true that taxes can normally be passed on in higher prices. Economists agree that this isn't possible with rent, due to the operation of market forces. Land monopoly (once described by Winston Churchill as " the mother of all monopolies") would be broken once and for all, to the benefit of all working people.

How would the rent on a piece of land be determined?

This would be done without difficulty by the regional assessor, who currently makes valuations for the community charge and commercial rates based on the value of the land plus improvements.

Is this not just another system of rates?

No, taking revenue from land rental values is fundamentally different. The present "rates" system of local authority unfairly penalises the owner of a piece of land for any improvements they make to it, such as buildings (or extensions to them), or drainage , or roads. Government revenue should be based ,not on the fruits of the individuals efforts, but solely on the value of that common resource ("lent" by the community) that he presently monopolises the land. ( The value of the improvements should be the individuals to keep).

How would all this help the low-payed and the unemployed?

Wasting land means wasting people. In Scotland today there is no shortage of work to be done, but the economy is stifled by the artificially high price of land. Land lies derelict and unused in our cities, and under set aside, idle even in the countryside. While land is idle it creates speculative value (how many property's can be built on it for rental) and increased wealth to the owner, the more land they own the wealthier they become. Imposing a land tax with penalties for land misuse would mean landowners would be forced to rent their land out so people would be more able to build workshops or premise's, and all would have equal chances to progress. Lets face it half the work involved in creating a new business is finding a premises, only to be charged extortionate rent on it. With fair access to land, the unemployed could soon be confidently and productively occupied in new business ventures either individually or co-operatively. This way people could begin to work for themselves, improving their self esteem, quality of life and general well-being. Creating your own employment and lifestyle is not possible when you are yolked to the plough, taxed and rented out of existence. Work is not a favour that should be granted to mortals by the captains of industry, it is a birthright. Easing the prospects for self employment would consequently improve the lot of the unemployed. Give people a sense of purpose and improve their self esteem.

Has this been tried before?

The concept of replacing taxes with rent is not new. For several centuries it has been advocated by various thinking men here and abroad. However during this time the landed interest has been the dominant force in government and has consistently misrepresented, denigrated and suppressed the idea. The government was populated by the land-owning gentry so it suited them better to maintain status quo. Today we are mainly talking about the multi-national companies who hold massive investments in land and natural resources. The idea of public revenue from land rent was most clearly articulated by Henry George, whose best known work "progress and poverty" insited widespread popular agitation for land reform when it was published over 100 years ago. It launched a movement in Scotland- The Scottish land restoration union) . This agitation continued throughout the UK until after WW2 when the welfare state removed poverty's worst features from view, and so disguised the on going need for radical change. Only now that it is again obvious that land monopoly is stifling the economy are people rejecting the inadequate doctrines of conventional economics.

What can I do?

Don't be robbed by the state! Kick up a stink about the taxation racket. Write to the press and your MP, they might take no notice, but at least they'll know they can't fool all the people all the time. Tell people about it.