We will never stop until we find a way to correct poverty.
Henry george (1839 ~ 1897) was born in the family of a customs tax collector in Philadelphia, belonging to the lower middle class. /kloc-before his 0/4 birthday, he left school and worked as a clerk in a company for two years. /kloc-at the age of 0/9, he went to California for gold and entered the San Francisco Times as a compositor. After many years, he worked as a compositor and editor in several newspapers, and developed his writing and speaking skills, but he didn't make much economic achievements. At the age of 30, henry george came to new york and founded a news agency. After being crushed by the monopoly organization, his small news agency closed down.
After struggling to run a newspaper in new york, the young reporter often walked silently in the street, and he was surprised by the various manifestations of great wealth he saw.
Since 1930s, when 19 was adopted, all sectors of American capitalist economy have embarked on the road of all-round development. With the formation of American market system, the rapid establishment of modern industry, the rapid development of productive forces and profound changes in all aspects of society. With the unprecedented accumulation of social wealth, the polarization between the rich and the poor in society has also intensified, and industrial turmoil and crises have occurred frequently.
Similarly, in new york, poverty and depravity, lack and shame can be seen beside the luxurious houses like princes. George also saw that land speculation blocked the vast land and left the workers with nothing. People hoard land everywhere and devote themselves to occupying land, not for use, but for the price increase of land.
Why is there such inequality? Why are mountains of wealth associated with such a serious shortage? George vowed that he would never stop until he found the cause of poverty and the way to correct it. With these thoughts, George wrote down our land and land policy in the four months of 187 1. This 48-page booklet advocates a single land tax (also known as land rent) to eliminate land monopoly and cancel all other taxes.
Written in 1879, "Progress and Poverty" further elaborated his own views. This manuscript was sent to new york to find a publisher. Some publishers think he is divorced from reality, while others think he is too intense. Most publishers think his idea is dangerous, and almost all publishers think that his books will not sell well, or they can only recover the typesetting cost. Finally, with the author paying most of the typesetting expenses, the book was finally published.
In the process of creation, George tasted poverty and was often forced to pawn his personal belongings. When the "Author's Certificate Edition" was printed, George sent one of them to his beloved 8 1 year-old father. The letter wrote: "Thank God for letting me finish it alive, and you can live to see it. This book will not be taken seriously at first, maybe for a while, but it will be considered as a valuable book in the end. I am convinced of this, although we may never see it. However, the belief I expressed in this book, we have another belief in life, which makes me feel that it doesn't matter if I can't see it. " Later, it turned out that George's expectation for this book was quickly realized.
Assumption of Eliminating Poverty —— Single Land Tax
George found the place with the most dense population, the most wealth and the most developed production and exchange. At the same time, there are situations such as the worst poverty, the fiercest struggle for existence and the most forced idleness of the poor. In many cases, huge production capacity can not eliminate poverty or reduce the burden of those who are forced to do hard work, but only deepen the gap between the rich and the poor and make struggle for existence more intense. The new productive forces are like a huge wedge, not entering from the bottom of society, but passing through the middle of society. The situation above the split point has risen, and those below the split point have been crushed.
George believes that poverty and progress go hand in hand, which is a mystery of the times. It is a riddle put forward by the ill-fated Sphinx to human civilization, and it will be destroyed if you can't answer it. If progress only accumulates huge wealth for individuals, increases luxury and widens the gap between rich families and poor families, then progress is not real progress and it is difficult to last.
Many people pay attention to the coexistence of poverty and progress and put forward their own views. Economic works at that time said that the current recession was due to excessive consumption. However, some economic authorities believe that this is due to overproduction. Others think it is because of the waste of war; The extension of the railway; Workers try to keep higher wages; Stop using silver coins and issue paper money; The increase of labor-saving machines; Open short-distance trade, etc.
Henry george thinks that the unfair distribution of wealth is the curse and threat of modern civilization, and its root lies in the private property right system of land, and the countermeasures put forward are public ownership of land. But George's land ownership is not to buy private land, nor to confiscate private land, but to levy a single land tax, leaving only a certain proportion of land rent to land holders. Land rent is the "core" of land ownership, and owning land is just a "shell". Turning most of the land rent into public ownership can abolish all other taxes, which is beneficial to all classes and may make mankind enter a higher and more brilliant civilization.
George pointed out that it is hasty, wasteful and uncertain to make land private property in order to guide the improvement of land. What is necessary to use and improve land is not its private ownership, but to ensure that what labor and capital produce on this land will be invested in the future. As long as the land reformers get such a guarantee, private ownership of land can be eliminated smoothly.
Henry george has high hopes for a single land tax. He believes that the tax of land rent is the lowest and easiest to collect among all taxes, which can greatly reduce the burden of other industries and stimulate economic development. Regarding the nature of private property rights of land has not been changed, henry george believes that as long as the land rent is collected by the government in the form of tax, the land will become a de facto public property right no matter in whose name, and every member of society will share its benefits. That is to say, the nature of land property rights is not important, what is important is that the land rent as land income can be socialized and socialized, and the income from development can be enjoyed by the society.
Cultivating Enlightenment Thought —— China's Practice
Henry george's single land tax is one of many land nationalization schemes. As early as 1895, this idea spread to China through the missionary Ma Lin, which gave birth to Sun Yat-sen's idea of equal land rights, the most advanced economic reform idea in China at that time, which was of enlightenment significance.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of China's great democratic revolution in modern times, praised henry george: "The United States has henry george ... Who wrote a book called" Progress and Poverty ",which means that the more civilized the world is, the poorer human beings are, and because of the improper distribution of economics, they advocate public ownership of land."
On the basis of accepting most of henry george's viewpoints, Sun Yat-sen formed his own theory. He summed up this theory in four words: "equal land rights" and made it a policy and a land program of China's democratic revolution. 1905 in explaining "equal land rights", Dr. Sun Yat-sen said: "The well-being of civilization is enjoyed equally by all citizens. When improving the social and economic organization, the land price in the world is recognized. Its existing land price still belongs to the original owner; The increased cost of social improvement and progress after the revolution belongs to the state and is enjoyed by the people ... Those who dare to monopolize to control people's lives will abandon it. " This is a China expression of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's solution to the gap between the rich and the poor, from land rent in henry george to rising prices.
(Author: Hainan Provincial Taxation Bureau, State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China, People's Republic of China (PRC)) 2021-07-1400: 00: 00.
Wang Weijun Henry George: Dr. Sun Yat-sen's famous economist.
Source: China Tax News.