George's Arguments Against Private Ownership

The writings of Henry George stand as a clear condemnation by him on the concept of privately owned land amongst other ideas which he staunchly regards as both immoral and impractical. In his work George attacks the validity of private ownership and calls for distinction between land and personal property. He depicts such ownership as being unjust, indefensible and even akin to slavery with regards to the liberties of the tenants who may reside there, urging instead for a fairer and more productive alternative. Over the course of this essay we shall examine
George’s arguments against privately owned land drawing in particular on a number of key points; does an individual hold a right to private ownership of land; is there a moral …show more content…
Further criticism can be levelled at George by making the argument that by creating public ownership of land you are not actually removing ownership of that land but rather exchanging it to another who is just as capable of abusing it as any other should the land be presided over by a selected representative. In response to the Tragedy of the Commons argument, George makes the case that it is not the impossibility of mutual co-operation that leads to the failing of the commons but rather social maladjustment which can again be attributed as a result of the problems bred by the philosophy of private ownership in the first place – mistrust, greed and the desire for personal gain at the expense of others. In this I find myself in agreement with George as the results of co- operation must first be felt if one is to properly compare them to the gains of …show more content…
With promises of gains, moral imperative, more fairness and a claim to sustainability George’s argument is attractive. He further explains the public good that could be done when the funds raised from the rent of public land, even going so far as to claim it could replace taxation altogether.

However all of this is given in the context of George’s own time. Whether George’s argument translates well into the present day is another matter. It appears certain conditions are necessary if one were to put his proposals into practise. Firstly, to overcome the Tragedy of the
Commons, there would need to be a combined and understood effort on the behalf of the persons of the public. In this I feel conditions have improved for George with the greater availability to education within society though even this could require improvement to ensure comprehension of the greater good involved and the pitfalls of abuse. The problem of scarcity restricts application