Problems of Today (1908)

In all other English speaking countries, the people work the land; in Britain the landlords work the people. When the interests of the masses of the people require change in land tenure, the few owners can justly be required to forego their preferences, or submit to increased taxation if they decide to enjoy privileges injurious to the community as a whole. The greatest amount of wealth created in any branch comes from enhanced values of real property. The obvious creator of this wealth is not the individual, but the community. No other form of wealth should contribute to the nation so generously. The most comfortable, but also the the most unproductive, way for a capitalist to increase his fortune is to put all his monies in sites and await that point in time when a society, hungering for land, has to pay his price. Andrew Carnegie, (1835-1919) US steel magnate