[GJM] Who owns the World?

[Janos]

Greetings Robert,

>Maybe because it REALLY is superfluous in the 21st Century.

Lets argue about this :-).

It is easy to believe that one understands something after looking at it 
through the glasses of one's own convictions.

In my humble opinion (IMHO) few critics of LVT really understand the issues*.

Surplus wealth flows into land values like water in rivers flows into lakes 
and oceans.

* It is worth recalling a one Tom L. Johnson's encounter with Henry George in My Story.
      ...I read Progress and Poverty. It sounded true--all of it. I did not want to believe it, though, so I gave it to my lawyer... L A Russell... "I want you to... save me from becoming an advocate of the system of taxation it describes."
      [Russell gave the book to a Mr Moxham to read and] Mr Moxham read it once, carefully marking all the places where,in his opinion, the author had departed from logic and indulged in sophistry.

      [After a while Mr Moxham] said to me "I've read Progress and Poverty again and I have had to erase a good many of my marks, but I don't want to talk about it yet."

      And then in due course of time there came a day when he said, "Tom, I've read that book for the third time and I have rubbed out every damn mark."

      Some time later [on a visit to New York, Mr Moxham, Mr Russell and Johnson] spent our evenings in my room at the hotel smoking and discussing Progress and Poverty. Mr Russell's avowed intention was "to demolish this will-o'-the-wisp." Every time he stated an objection either Mr Moxham or I would hold him up to explain exactly what he meant by such terms as land, labour, capital, wealth, etc. As fast as he defined their meanings his objections vanished one by one, and that trip worked his complete conversion and was brought and was brought about by his own reasoning, and not by our arguments. the effect of all of this upon me was to make every chapter of that book almost as familiar to me as one of my own mechanical inventions.

      [The story does continue but I will discontinue recounting it here after one more excerpt. Two years after Johnson became interested in Henry George, he] ...went to call upon Mr George at his home in Brooklyn...
      Before I was really aware of it I had told him the story of my life, and wound up saying:
      "I can't write and I can't speak, but I can make money. Can a man help who can just make money?"
Although this story is from the last quarter of the nineteenth century it is painfully relevant today in view of near total lack of effective advocacy today (I say "near total" because I know of one such advocate but he seems to be "a voice crying in the wilderness").
Sadly, as far as I am aware, there are no Tom L Johnsons today (or possibly there is one that I am aware of).


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "robert searle" <dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk>
To: "Janos" <abel at lightnet.co.uk>; "Discussion Forum for Global Justice" 
<discussion at globaljusticemovement.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 5:23 PM
Subject: Re: [GJM] Who owns the World?


>   Maybe because it REALLY is superfluous in the 21st
> Century.
>
> R.Searle.
>
>
> --- Janos <abel at lightnet.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> It is even more incredible that Kevin Cahill does
>> not believe in Land Value
>> Taxation.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "robert searle" <dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk>
>> To: <discussion at globaljusticemovement.net>
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 3:53 PM
>> Subject: [GJM] Who owns the World?
>>
>>
>> >
>> > Dear All,
>> >
>> >        On TalkSport I happened to hear a somewhat
>> > short interview with Kevin Cahill who has
>> research,
>> > and published material concerning who owns the
>> world.
>> > Incredible as it seems Queen Elizabeth II owns
>> most of
>> > it (including the former colonies of course!!)This
>> is
>> > due to a legal arrangement, and appears in what is
>> > called The Land Registry Act which is "medieval"
>> in
>> > character, and originates from that time.
>> Apparently,
>> > there was an attempt to "repeal" it in 1875 but
>> later
>> > in 1925 it was put back on the statute book
>> without
>> > any real consultation with Parliament.
>> >
>> > When people "own" property "freehold"in England,
>> and
>> > in the former colonies presumably they do so only
>> as
>> > TENANTS to the Crown!! Most people know next to
>> > nothing about this! The danger of this (in
>> theory)is
>> > that Her Majesty's Government can take away any
>> > property from anyone without  much (if any) legal
>> > redress.
>> >
>> > Indeed, one caller to TalkSport claimed that they
>> had
>> > a compulsory purchase order which they took to the
>> > European Court of Human Rights. However, it is
>> > expensive to do this.
>> >
>> > It must be remembered too that the UK has no
>> written
>> > constitution, and people are seen as "subjects"
>> (or
>> > "serfs" to the Crown!!)as opposed to "citizens".
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > http://www.whoownstheworld.com/
>> >
>> >
>> > Robert Searle
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