Clement – AFR
Letter to the Editor
Australian Financial Review
Sept 1, 2015
Proponents of increasing either payroll tax or the GST are like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, dancing around and seeming to argue, yet holding hands (“Payroll tax surfaces as the next GST”, AFR August 28). If we get more payroll tax, we will have fewer jobs and lower wages and take another step back towards the corvée system of ancient Egypt. If we increase GST, we will stifle economic activity in much the same way as the window tax of 18th century England caused people to board up their windows and suffer for 150 years from want of sunshine and fresh air.
Yet there is a remarkable alternative – the barbecue-stopper of the 21st century – that we have to have. If we abolish all taxation and instead collect land values for public revenue, the price of land will go down and employment and real wages will rise. Citizens, let us not be timid about the need for true tax reform. The future of our children and our nation depend upon it.
Ronald E. Johnson
Association for Good Government (ACT Branch)
Canberra, ACT
Good Letter Ronald. If something logical is stated plainly enough times without attacking any persons then eventually it will take hold. The though passes first to the most rational people who are thinking about these matters and then finds its way out from there. This letter is good because it raises doubt about assumptions while suggesting a solution.
I am now going to suggest that the supporters of Prosper and land rent have a look at how another organisation is going about a similar project. After a lot of looking around about how to shift the message on Climate Change and Carbon pricing I found a USA organisation called Citizens Climate Lobby. Like Prosper they have settled on one simple positive agenda. In this case it is to charge a fee for carbon emissions and then distribute the whole of that revenue fairly to all households. http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org But the really interesting thing for us Georgians is the political process they use. They train groups of citizens in the art of respectful and effective lobbying and op ed writing and developing relationships with editors and with local elected representatives. After only 4 years they are now in sight of having an active “chapter” in every congressional seat in the USA. And now we have started CCL in Australia and it is taking off in several other countries.
Because their proposal makes sense and is actually acceptable to conservatives if they will pause and listen and think and because CCL use a studied approach, they are having great success in convincing Republican congress persons. But it is done one at a time in respectful private meetings and never by public media headbutting.
Letters to the Editor always propose the rational solution without disparaging those with different views. Meetings with congress persons are not relayed to the public. No one has to defend themselves against CCL.
I would like to suggest that supporters of Prosper might like to join CCL in Australia and avail of the free “training” and then see how we can use the same process to really start shifting things. Its not about pressure and argument, but about clear thinking.
I’ll never understand how people in the past allowed to be robbed in this way?
I had to “flee” my country, and set up myself in a tax-free jurisdiction, in order to enjoy my freedom. How did people, 50-100 years ago, allowed the governments to rob their high earned cash in this manner, without even fighting against it?
Violence was not even necessary, somehow people believed it was fine to give out half of what they earned? Amazing…