by Alanna Hartzok, Scotland, PA
This report covers several events that I and
several other Georgists participated in during September
and October of this year.
"Earth Rights and the Global Ecovillage Movement"
was the title of a 90 minute lecture I gave on September
25th to more than 200 students and faculty at Rensselear
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. The lecture was
sponsored by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences
and the four part fall lecture series was entitled
"Creative Visions: A Lecture Series for the Globally
Responsible, Spiritually Inspired,
Aesthetically/Technologically Inquisitive Human Being."
The invitation to give the lecture came from Dr. Julie
Gutmann who had attended the panel at the US Society for
Ecological Economics last spring which was organized by
Bill Batt who had invited Jeff Smith and myself to
participate. Julie wanted me to come to RPI to "inspire
the students." (Jeff was also invited to give lectures
elsewhere after the Eco Economics conference.)
During the lecture I showed a short videotape on
the global ecovillage movement, then went through a series
of transparencies on the principles and policies of
Georgist economics and green tax shifting. The connection
between the ecovillage and tax shift portions of the
lecture was that the land tenure and tax policy approach
provided a suitable macroeconomic framework to encourage
sustainable development. RPI students are very thoughtful
and interested in tangible solutions. In the days
following the lecture I received several emails from
students with their comments and additional questions.
Earlier that day I gave another 90 minute lecture -
this one called "Globalization, Environment and Human
Rights" - for two classes combined at Russell Sage College
at the invitation of Dr. Adeline Apena, another colleague
of Bill Batt. Dr. Apena recently emailed me to tell me
that "Students were fascinated by you and still are..this
body of knowledge is invaluable. Let us keep in touch.. I
have a lot to learn from you." (She is Nigerian and has
now joined our Niger Delta Fund Initiative which was
launched 15 months ago.) (See Nov.-Dec. 2002 GroundSwell)
Two days before the RPI lecture I was interviewed
by Steve Breyman for the 60 minutes "On The Barricades"
program of WRPI radio. "On The Barricades" is a weekly
progressive public affairs show which is a Pacifica
affiliate that "acts as a voice for the progressive
community in the New York and western New England area."
(Bill Batt recorded the show on audiotape for anyone who
would like a copy.)
I left the Albany area on train to New York City
for an evening think tank and Chinese dinner with Pat Aller
and George Collins to discuss our UN NGO work. Next day I
went home for two days before flying to Boulder, Colorado
for "Sustainable Resources: Solutions to World Poverty."
This founding conference was designed around the Millennium
Development Goals selected by the UN in 2000 and created a
"meeting of the minds" and a platform for multidisciplinary
exchange among the 750 participants who represented NGOs,
philanthropists, funding agencies, humanitarian
organizations, academics, engineers, business people and
students.
The conference literature urged us to imagine a
world with safe drinking water for the 1.2 billion without
it, shelter for the 1.2 billion who are homeless, light for
the 1.7 billion living in darkness, education for the 4.2
billion who can't read, food for the 1.1 billion who go
hungry, and economic opportunity for all.
This was one of the very best conferences I have
ever attended! Everyone (yes, all 750 people there) was
dynamically proactive and pioneering ways to build a world
that works for everyone. Conference themes included water
for life, reinventing education for a sustainable world,
new economic paradigms, learning from native cultures,
infrastructure and shelter alternatives, feeding the world,
and ecotourism.
There were more than 100 interesting and very
informative exhibits and over 150 presentations. Featured
speakers included Matthew Fox, Paul Hawken, Hunter Lovins,
Paolo Lugari, and Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers
Without Borders. One memorable two-hour intensive
conversation I had was with a rocket scientist who was now
involved with sustainable community development. It was a
real Rocky Mountain high that he listened deeply to what I
had to say about Georgist economics and the land problem.
I was on a panel chaired by Fritz Kramer of
International Development Enterprises. My theme was
"Financing and Developing Ecovillages and Sustainable
Communities." The session, attended by about 60 people,
turned out to be an excellent way to bridge between the
growing global ecovillage movement and Georgist economic
ideas. Kramer has had a 30-year career in international
development and he immediately saw the importance of tax
shifting. He wants to continue the discussion in future.
My partner Rob Wheeler had arranged for a Chinese
delegation of six, which included several businessmen and
the Minster of Forestry for 30% of China, to come to this
event. They gave a 30 minute evening program to the entire
conference body which was well received as they are
launching an effort to "green" a massive amount of China
that is now desert. I am also happy to report that a
Nigerian sustainable development expert (now based in
Oakland, California) that I met at the conference will be
joining our Niger Delta Fund Initiative project.
The conference ended with a fantastic Saturday
evening international music and culture program with many
performers, the last of which had hundreds of us dancing
wildly to African tribal drums for more than an hour. You
can order audiotapes and cds of all the conference
keynotes, workshops and sessions at
www.sustainableresources.org.
Flying home from Colorado to Pennsylvania on
Sunday, I had all of that evening and the next morning to
prepare to take off again for Dublin, Ireland. I arrived
at the Tara Towers Hotel with plenty of time to rest up and
prepare to participate in "Land: The Claim of the Community," a two-day conference organized by
Feasta - the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability
- and the Henry George Foundation of UK. This terrific
event brought together 22 speakers from Ireland, England,
Scotland and the US for the purpose of addressing "the core
issues of land ownership, to review initiatives abroad and
to suggest workable mechanisms for delivering social
cohesion and sustainable development in Ireland."
Since joining the European Union Ireland has been
experiencing a period of heightened development and
consequently an intense escalation in land prices pushing
exorbitantly high housing costs and sprawl development.
The time was ripe for such a conference and the organizers
promoted it to political officials, development boards and
organizations, tenant rights, homeless and anti-poverty
groups, architects, planners, building societies and
banks, environmental and sustainability organizations.
The conference promotional material was very
professional and attractive and brought more than 100
people to the event.
The first day session chairs were John Jopling and
Rob Gibson and included these speakers and topics: Fred
Harrison: Keynote on Land - the Claim of the Community;
Vincent Salafia: Land Tenure under the Ancient Brehon Laws;
Patrick Duffy: Land and Rural Housing from 17th century -
Alternative Histories; Paul McNulty: Recent Experience -
The Emergency of the Affordability Gap; Michael Punch &
Declan Redmond: Critical Perspectives on Housing, Land and
Social Need; Emer O'Siochru: The Tragedy of Freehold and
the Irish Village; Tom Dunn: Development Levy - The Case
for Charging for Value; Richard Douthwaite: The Holy
Trinity of Economics - Money, Debt and Land; Albert
Catterall: Business Problems - The Case for Land and Tax
Reform: Alanna Hartzok: Land, Resources and Ecological
Justice and Case Study on Resource Rents in the Niger Delta
and Alaska.
The second day chairs were Dave Wetzel and Antonia
Swinson and speakers were: Josh Vincent: Keynote on Paths
to Reform; Kevil Cahill: Space and the Future Community;
Pat Conaty: A Solution for Permanently Affordable Housing;
William McCluskey: The Problem of Funding the Public
Sector; Dave Wetzel: Transport - Congestion Charging in
London; Joshua Vincent: Urban Space - Tax Shifting in
Philadelphia; Peter Gibb: Marginal Communities - Community
Land Tenure; Pat Conaty: Housing - Community Land Trusts
in London; Fred Harrison: The Consequences of Failing to
Secure the Community's Claim; Dave Wetzel: Realizing the
Claim of the Community; Peter Gibb: Staking Our Claim.
The break-out sessions themes were transport,
international development, housing, energy, marginal
communities and urban renaissance. The conference ended
with a discussion on The Way Forward - Land Reform Ireland?
The "Land: Claim of the Community" conference was
an impressive event. It assuredly marked the beginning of
a strong movement for land value tax shift in Ireland.
Because Ireland had eliminated all property taxes on land
and buildings during past decades, the approach taken
probably will be one of shifting taxes off of labor and
production and onto land values and other resource rents.
Feasta, the main organizer of the conference, is a
fairly new organization, founded in 1998, and is therefore
deserving a more thorough introduction to GroundSwell
readers. The Gaelic word "feasta" means "going forward" or
"in the future" and is taken from the Irish poem "Kilcash"
that lamented the twin destruction of the Gaelic culture
and oak forests of 17th century Ireland. Feasta's mission
is to identify the characteristics (economic, cultural and
environmental) of a truly sustainable society, articulate
how the necessary transition can be effected and promote
the implementation of the measures required for this
purpose.
In the few years since its founding Feasta has
organized numerous public events and produced several
publications "to engage with mainstream society and educate
public and private sector decision makers, professionals
and academics, producers and consumers alike."
The conference was enriching to me personally as it
was the first time that I met our inspiring Scottish
Georgist colleague Peter Gibbs in person. Joe Glynn kindly
hosted me the first evening after I arrived by touring me
around the sights and sounds of downtown Dublin. Joe is a
long-time leading Georgist advocate who deserves much
credit for keeping the land rights flame burning in
Ireland.
I will always remember the pleasant walk and talk
along the beach next afternoon with one of the main Feasta
founders, John Jopling, author of a new book called Gaian
Democracies. John gathered handfuls of wild edible greens
while I picked up cockle and mussel shells, singing in
Dublin's fair city, alive, alive-o. I was also very pleased
to have had some good talks with Feasta leader and
conference co-ordinator Emer O'Siochru, an outstanding
organizer and articulate spokesperson for all things good
and sustainable. She is an emerging guiding light of
Ireland.
My only regret was that I had to leave Ireland a
day early to make it back to Philadelphia in time to meet
with Hazel Henderson at the Office of the City Controller.
Hazel is a world renowned futurist, consultant on
sustainable development and author of Beyond Globalization
and seven other books. Her editorials appear in 27
languages and more than 400 newspapers syndicated by
InterPress Service and her articles have appeared in over
250 journals. This year she has been called upon by the
new government in Brazil to consult with them about a
transformative new direction beyond neoliberal economics.
Hazel was in town for only a short time as she was
to be the featured speaker at the Earth Charter Summit on
October 11th. The day before was my window of opportunity
to get her briefed on the progress of land value taxation.
The nearly 90 minute meeting with City Controller Jonathan
Saidel, Hazel, and about 10 other Georgist supporters went
exactly as I hoped. Hazel was impressed. She said
(something like), "Wow, the land value tax work is much
further along than I had thought!" She discussed with
Jonathan the possibility of having him on her upcoming
globally syndicated television show, Ethical Marketplace. Thank you to Bruno Moser, an
Assistant City Controller and our "in-house Georgist" for
making the arrangements for this meeting. Hazel mentioned
our meeting and the importance of land value tax for
Philadelphia the next day during her talk at the Earth
Charter Summit.
This was the third annual Earth Charter Summit held
in Philadelphia. These summits take place simultaneously
in many other cities around the world. The Earth Charter
is the result of a global grassroots drafting process that
involved thousands of people (including this writer) over
the course of 12 years and was launched at the Hague Peace
Palace in June, 2000. It is an inspired and inspiring
document that sets forth principles and policies for a
building a world of peace, justice and environmental
harmony.
Dan Sullivan and I gave workshops at this year's
Summit. Dan conducted a morning session on "American
Indian Land Tenure: comparisons to Saxon common law and
other early systems and connections to the American
Revolution and to classical liberalism." His afternoon
session was on "The Myth of Corporate Efficiency: how
preoccupation with labor efficiency has obscured the
inefficient use of land and resources."
My session, which was webcast live, was called
"Land Value Taxation: An Earth Rights and Economic Justice
Policy for Philadelphia." I drew from several sections of
the Earth Charter to clarify how land value taxation can
support and further the rights to shelter, education,
sustainable livelihoods, the equitable distribution of
wealth, and development without debt. I also discussed how
to support the efforts of the Office of the City Controller
to implement land value taxation.
Dan's and my workshops were well received. At the
end of the afternoon I was sitting beside someone who had
attended all three of our sessions. He leaned over to tell
me that what he had learned had changed his life.
Thus you have a detailed glimpse of the complex and
richly textured weave of a portion of the tapestry of
worldwide Georgist networking and movement building.
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Alanna Hartzok may be emailed at earthrts@pa.net.
She is Co-Director of Earth Rights Institute,
www.earthrights.net