Common Ground USA

Overview

Common Ground USA (Common Ground-U.S.A.) is a national network of American Georgists advocating for land value taxation and the public collection of land and resource rents. It describes its work as "Applying Georgist principles to tax reform," and serves as a connective organisation for local activists, educators, and reformers across the United States.[1]

Its mission statement reads: "Common Ground-U.S.A. is dedicated to the principle that all persons have equal and common rights in the earth and its resources and each individual has an exclusive right to the income from his or her own labor and capital investment." The statement adds that the organisation is also dedicated to supporting and improving the free market, including the purchase, ownership, and sale of real estate.[2]

The organisation was founded in 1985: Richard A. "Dick" Noyes is documented as "one of the founding directors in 1985 of Common Ground-USA" and as editor and publisher of its newsletter Groundswell from 1986 to 1993.[3] It is based in Plainfield, Indiana, and operates through regional chapters — including California, Mid-Atlantic, Minnesota, New York City, and Oregon–Washington — and a Better Cities Committee.[1]

Role

Common Ground USA promotes public education on Georgist economics, supports state and local land-tax reform efforts, and links American Georgists to the international movement through the International Union for Land Value Taxation. It works alongside the educational and research institutions — the Henry George School, the Schalkenbach Foundation, and the Lincoln Institute — as a grassroots advocacy arm. Its Groundswell newsletter is a long-running movement publication (a Groundswell Archive is maintained on its site), and it tracks contemporary land-value-tax-shift activity in US state legislatures.[1]

See Also

• Council of Georgist Organizations — the dissolved umbrella body whose resources and activities are transitioning to Common Ground USA
• International Union for Land Value Taxation · Richard Noyes · Henry George School · Schalkenbach Foundation

Sources

1. Common Ground U.S.A. — official site (home page and About/Chapters). commonground-usa.net — used (fetched directly this session) for the "Applying Georgist principles to tax reform" description, the Groundswell Archive, the regional chapters and Better Cities Committee, and the Plainfield, Indiana location.
2. Common Ground U.S.A., "Our Mission." commonground-usa.net/about-us/our-mission — used for the mission statement, quoted verbatim (organisational self-description, C-claim).
3. Dick Noyes, "What One Founding Father Foresaw," Georgist Journal biographical note, and the Eagle Tribune obituary (May 2009) — cited on Richard Noyes: "one of the founding directors in 1985 of Common Ground-USA… editor and publisher of Groundswell from 1986 to 1993." Used for the 1985 founding date and the Groundswell editorship (A-claim; two independent sources, reused from this session's Noyes page). georgistjournal.org