Existing comment:
Henry George, 1839-1897
"The great American Republic must be a republic in fact as well as form," wrote economist Henry George. As American industry after the Civil War spawned undreamed-of wealth for some and a new and excruciating poverty for others, George became a leading voice in efforts to reform the nation's free-enterprise system. His stinging yet highly popular critique of American capitalism, Poverty and Progress (1879), described with great eloquence the inequities in modern society. According to George, poverty's root cause lay in ever-rising land values. Levying a heavy "single tax" on those values would, he asserted, undermine monopolies, distribute wealth more evenly, and eliminate poverty. Although George failed in his attempt to win elected office, his writings found widespread support, especially within the burgeoning labor movement.
George de Forest Brush, c 1888 |