Interest Originating from Invested Rent: Social or Prwate Property? |
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Authors: | Robert V Anderson |
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Institution: | [Robert V andelson, Ph D, is professor of philosophy, Auburn University, AL 36849] |
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Abstract: | A bstract Herny George contends that rent , even whten derived from land purchased with the fruits of honest toil, cannot justly be privately appropriated, because land (not being a labor product) can have no clear moral title, and because its value is nto produced by the owner but by society Although he does nto explicity address the ethical propriety of interest earned by capital originating from invested rent, his writings yield the following implieit analysis Even as rent should be returned to the community, abstractjustice also demands that interest on capital that stems from rent should be returned to the community But there is no feasible way in which to implement this demand, since it is scarcely ever possible to separate interest derived indiretly from private rent from interest not so derived however, this poses no real problem if We seek justice for the present and the future instead of reparations for injustice in the past For the socialization of rent would render accumulations of private capital, regardless of how obtained, impssible to sustam (absent special privileges confeired by government) unless directed toward the satisfaction of public de mand as reflected in the marketplace |
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