Henry George The Crime Of Poverty Summary
Kalu Diogu
6/20/15
An analysis of the crime of poverty
Henry George had a very bold statement, and opened the speech with a bold argument. He was against inequality and believed that poverty was a crime. The unfortunate were victims of this “crime” and the curse of poverty could occur to everyone. He blamed the unbalance towards society, calling it a social crime. Poverty is unnecessary and that distress was only caused by poor distribution of coal, clothes, and food. Most of all, he blamed land monopolization as the reason for poverty and that no matter what, whether we attempt to reform the government and divide profits, it will only increase the land’s value. George found it absurd that people sell a land that they did not create, and believes that the only way to …show more content…
He says we can accomplish this by “abolishing taxes that now rest on the capital, labour, and improvements, and raising all our public revenues by the taxation of land values”. He argues that America had not fully abolished slavery; they had only abolished one form of it, which was chattel slavery. His main point that he argues is the absurdity of land ownership. He says that American’s treatment of land lies at the bottom of all social questions. He addresses the fact that when one pays for land, they are paying for something that no man has produced. This is unlike any other purchase because people labor to produce other items, but not land. He also argues that Americans had things reversed because the rich people should have earned their wealth by working themselves, but instead they have the poor people labor while the rich reap the benefits. George asserts that it is ridiculous that a dead man can own a part of the earth and give it away to whomever he pleases. This is unnecessary because the earth, Henry says, was made for the living, not the dead. He also says that poverty is not from God, but it
6/20/15
An analysis of the crime of poverty
Henry George had a very bold statement, and opened the speech with a bold argument. He was against inequality and believed that poverty was a crime. The unfortunate were victims of this “crime” and the curse of poverty could occur to everyone. He blamed the unbalance towards society, calling it a social crime. Poverty is unnecessary and that distress was only caused by poor distribution of coal, clothes, and food. Most of all, he blamed land monopolization as the reason for poverty and that no matter what, whether we attempt to reform the government and divide profits, it will only increase the land’s value. George found it absurd that people sell a land that they did not create, and believes that the only way to …show more content…
He says we can accomplish this by “abolishing taxes that now rest on the capital, labour, and improvements, and raising all our public revenues by the taxation of land values”. He argues that America had not fully abolished slavery; they had only abolished one form of it, which was chattel slavery. His main point that he argues is the absurdity of land ownership. He says that American’s treatment of land lies at the bottom of all social questions. He addresses the fact that when one pays for land, they are paying for something that no man has produced. This is unlike any other purchase because people labor to produce other items, but not land. He also argues that Americans had things reversed because the rich people should have earned their wealth by working themselves, but instead they have the poor people labor while the rich reap the benefits. George asserts that it is ridiculous that a dead man can own a part of the earth and give it away to whomever he pleases. This is unnecessary because the earth, Henry says, was made for the living, not the dead. He also says that poverty is not from God, but it