Saturday, October 17, 2009

Which Marxisocialliberalfascist Said This?

No Fair Clicking Through Till You've Posted a Guess:

Hint: Glenn Beck and the teabaggers love this writer:

In taking the matter upon this ground, the first principle of civilization ought to have been, and ought still to be, that the condition of every person born into the world, after a state of civilization commences, ought not to be worse than if he had been born before that period.

...

It is a position not to be controverted that the earth, in its natural, cultivated state was, and ever would have continued to be, the common property of the human race. In that state every man would have been born to property. He would have been a joint life proprietor with rest in the property of the soil, and in all its natural productions, vegetable and animal.

But the earth in its natural state, as before said, is capable of supporting but a small number of inhabitants compared with what it is capable of doing in a cultivated state. And as it is impossible to separate the improvement made by cultivation from the earth itself, upon which that improvement is made, the idea of landed property arose from that parable connection; but it is nevertheless true, that it is the value of the improvement, only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property.

Every proprietor, therefore, of cultivated lands, owes to the community ground-rent (for I know of no better term to express the idea) for the land which he holds; and it is from this ground-rent that the fund prod in this plan is to issue...

...I shall now proceed to the plan I have to propose, which is,

To create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property:

And also, the sum of ten pounds per annum, during life, to every person now living, of the age of fifty years, and to all others as they shall arrive at that age.

hat tip to Think Progress.

4 comments:

J Hugh Thomas said...

This was interesting, although I am very dissapointed in the comments following the post. It's no wonder out country is at a stalemate. People simply engage in what amounts to a "yo mamma" contest or "who can demonize the best" contest rather than an honest discussion of what is best for our country.

The PaulR said...

Based on your hint I'll guess that it's W. Cleon Skousen, author of The 5,000 Year Leap.

I've done a little reading about him and all I can say is that when even the John Birch Society considers you too far to the right you've got problems.

nathan s said...

Paine. It's gotta be.

Norm M said...

I'm going with John Locke