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Homeownership a barrier to democracy? |
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Madrid Conference of the International Union, 2004
Scornik Gerstein ended the conference first day by offering what was perhaps a more pessimistic account of the prospects for radical land and tax reform around the world. His concern was focused particularly on the latin American countries.
He argued that in a country such as Spain, with its very high levels and spread of land ownership - 80% own their own homes - it would be very difficult to persuade voters to support a land tax. The high level of home ownership effectively turned a high proportion of the population into land speculators.
A democratic and truly international commonwealth
But delegates were more optimistic. Political solutions were offered which might ease the passage to reform, such as “citizens dividends and some sort of a “homestead licence to householders. Perhaps we should be more optimistic than Scornik Gerstein. Pursuing the type of international strategy of campaigning for an earthrights democracy, in which all the citizens of the world can share in its natural wealth, might offer an effective way to subvert these specifically national resistances to chain.
Perhaps we could move to value all human life - wherever it might be - in a way which echoes some of the most inspiring proponents of the “natural or human rights traditions. Then this move beyond narrow concerns of national sovereignty could allow us to establish a truly democratic and truly international commonwealth.
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