Georgism Should be Implemented in the United States

I haven't been on this website for a very long time, but I've returned with a completely new worldview.I look forward to this debate. First, some preliminary definitions:Land:Land is any property which is not created (water, earth, the electromagnetic spectrum, forests, etc.)Monopolize: To monopolize is to exclude others from the justified use of propertyCitizens' dividend:The citizens' dividend is the surplus money distributed to individuals in a locality. GeorgismGeorgism is a socioeconomic philosophy proposed by Henry George, an American economist, in his book "Progress and Prosperity". It basically boils down to these bullets: Every economy, no matter how developed, is still a land-based economy Land-based economy means that, ultimately, the market functions according to the monopolization of land. Land does not go up in value because of capital investment, it goes up in value because of the community that builds up around it. A person is entitled to the fruits of their labor Land, being not created by any human cannot be said to be the fruits of the labor of a human. Therefore land cannot be rightfully owned by an individual. However, markets work pretty well at distributing goods efficiently in an economy and markets require the firm to have the power to exclude other firms from the use of their land so, while land is necessarily a common property that no one can rightfully own, the market functions better when it is owned. With those bullets in mind, Georgism is a system in which the land in an economy functionally can be monopolized, but philosophically cannot be. This logical discrepancy is solved by having the capitalist "rent" the land from the community in the form of a land-value tax (LVT). Ideally, this LVT would be levied on a local basis and would pay for the functions of government first, and the surplus would be equally distributed to all the members of the locality, rich and poor. Another central tenet of Georgism is the reduction or elimination of other taxes. The income tax is unacceptable because it taxes a freedom. When you work a lot, you get taxed a lot. That isn't an incentive system that I support. The same goes for sales tax which taxes people on the free exchange of goods. In a Georgist economy, there would be almost no other taxes with a very high LVT. Benefits of LVT: Benefits of taxing the value of land instead of property a. Taxing the value of property disincentivizes improvement of that property. If you add improvements to your house, your taxes will go up. This incentivizes rundown neighborhoods. b. When you tax property, the big vacant lots are being essentially subsidized by improved lots nearby. To incentivize the unproductive use of land is silly. c. Along the same tact, real estate firms hold huge power over the economy without being conspicuous. While everyone likes to blame the banks for the recent global recession, they were just following the money. The corrupt ones were the big real estate firms that buy lots of property and engineer scarcity to artificially inflate prices by refusing to sell certain lots until they've held them for 12 years. Tax evasion: The vast majority of capitalist firms require land to produce/sell. The reason the land value tax should replace other taxes is that it will not ever cause a firm to move to evade taxes. A McDonald's gets it's money from existing on land. Firms in New York City must remain in New York City. Miscellaneous: Georgism allows the free market to work and still totally eliminates poverty and acknowledges the existence of the Commons. Name dropping: Milton Friedman: Nobel conservative economist with his "negative income tax" F.A. Hayek: Nobel conservative economist with his basic income guarantee Martin Luther King Jr.: doesn't need an introduction, I imagine. Thomas Paine: The founding father of the United States in his pamphlet agrarian justice (Many of the founding fathers also believed economies were ultimately agrarian in nature [land-based]) Another couple benefits of Georgism a government could significantly reduce its social welfare programs which are one of the most costly functions of government. Georgism means the end of wage slavery. No longer would you have people working dead end jobs just because they have to make ends meet. It would allow people to pull themselves out of the ruts they have found themselves in. Pre-emptive responses: One might say no one will ever agree to it. I have one rebuttal to that: It is already happening in Alaska. The oil in Alaska belongs to all residents of Alaska so they get money for the use of it as a resource. It's not a lot as it's only one common good, but it alleviates their tax burden. One might say that having a citizens' dividend would cause people not to work. I have two rebuttals to that 1. nuh-huh. (Just kidding) A basic income guarantee has been tried in many pilot programs in the United States, Canada, and once in Namibia. Analysis afterwards has found that employment was only significantly affected in two groups: new mothers and teenagers who support their family by working. Those teenagers opted to go to school instead. 2. Even if it did cause people not to work, it would only be in jobs they didn't like. That's not a bad thing. The current system amounts to slavery. Employment is not voluntary if you have to do it in order to survive. That is the opposite of voluntary. 3. We already have programs that allow people not to work. The vast majority of people still choose to work because we want MORE money and we don't want to seem to be a leech on society. 4. A system that allows people not to work creates a truly free market. The employers would have to entice workers to join their crew instead of sitting comfortably knowing the workers have no real choice but to throw stuff in a fryer for minimum wage. Our workers are enslaved. It's time to change that. I look forward to reading the rebuttal. Sources: Progress and Prosperity by Henry George http://www.basicincome.org... (General proof) https://en.wikipedia.org... (Alaska oil dividend) http://www.cbc.ca... (Canada experiment) http://www.bignam.org... (Namibia experiment)