Land and wealth

Reconsidering Henry George

The New Republic, December 11, 1971

NO OTHER economics book that I have read possesses the lucidity, grace or compassion of George’s classic.  And while there are faults in George’s rea­soning, and much of what he says has been blunted by the passage of time, what strikes the modern reader is how ex­tremely pertinent this book remains.

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Bad Day at Black Mesa

The New Republic, July 17, 1971

The kind of progress Hopis can’t absorb is that which makes them dependent upon white man’s jobs or welfare, destroys their attachment to the earth, and profanes their religion.  The tragedy lies not only in our readiness to commit cultural genocide, but in our inability to listen to a people who’ve been around a lot longer than we have, and may know something we don’t know.

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Trinkets for the Navajos

The New Republic, July 3, 1971

The root problem is to decrease America’s appetite for neon glitter, artificial air and electricity-devouring conveniences such as aluminum beer cans — or, if that can’t be done, to arrange that those who desire electricity bear the full costs of its production.

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The Case for Land Redistribution

The New Republic, June 19, 1971

IT’S HARD for people in cities to appreciate the need for land reform in the United States.  Most of us have been so cut off from the land that, through ignorance, we accept present landholding patterns as desirable or inevitable.  They are neither.

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Oregon for Oregonians

The New Republic, March 20, 1971

The New Republic, March 20, 1971

MOST STATES in America welcome population growth. They like the clout it adds to the local economy, to representation in Congress and in the electoral college. Not Oregon.

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