Henry George (1839 - 1897)

Mon Sep 02, 1839

Henry George, born on this day in 1839, was an American political economist and journalist known for his widely influential text "Progress and Poverty" and advocacy of the "single tax", also known as the Land Value Tax.

George also inspired the economic philosophy known as "Georgism", based on the belief that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, economic value derived from land and other natural resources should belong equally to all members of society.

George and Karl Marx were aware of each other and feuded over conflicting ideas about the nature of capitalism. Marx called Georgism "capitalism's last ditch" and wrote "theoretically [Henry George] is utterly backward!…His fundamental dogma is that everything would be all right if ground rent were paid to the state."

George's writing was immensely popular in 19th century America. His most famous work, "Progress and Poverty" (1879), sold millions of copies worldwide, possibly more than any other American book before that time.

The text investigates the paradox of increasing inequality and poverty amid economic and technological progress, the cyclic nature of industrialized economies, and the use of rent capture such as land value tax and other anti-monopoly reforms as a remedy for these and other social problems.

"The great cause of inequality in the distribution of wealth is inequality in the ownership of land. The ownership of land is the great fundamental fact which ultimately determines the social, the political, and consequently the intellectual and moral condition of a people."

- Henry George

• Date: 1839-09-02
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.henrygeorge.org, merionwest.com, www.gutenberg.org.
• Tags: #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org