The 1909 Group - The 1909 Group - Comments

Nice idea...

webmaster — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:58:27 +0000

I was actually hoping to get the young Dan Snow to participate in something like this as a great-great-grandson of Lloyd-George and a representative of the generation most suffering at the moment. But I've yet to contact him about the idea. Lloyd-George's Limehouse speech about land tax and the 1909 budget was probably aimed at a more populist audience.

I did look to buy a copy of those early Churchill speeches, but if I recall correctly found them only available at upwards of a hundred pounds! But project Gutenburg has some of them.

I was also thinking about getting some masks done to wander around party conferences masked up as key figures like Churchill, Masterman, Lloyd-George and so on.

An Idea for Gaining Public Attention to the "Land Question"

ejdodson — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:46:32 +0000

We in the United States can be excused, to some degree, for not realizing there is a problem with land monopoly. We control a huge territory and (from the air or when driving) we see miles and miles of open space, not realizing that almost all of that land is owned by just a very small percentage of the population. And, in fact, much of the privately-owned land here is owned by corporations or foreign nationals. Another difference between us and you in the U.K. is your long history of struggle to reign in a very privileged, landed class.

It occurs to me that one way to reignite the land question as a serious political issue in the U.K. is to bring Winston Churchill's early speeches on the subject back to life. This could be achieved by finding an actor to portray Churchill delivering these speeches. The actor's portrayal would be followed by a discussion with the audience led by knowledgeable representatives of the Liberal Democrats.

For the greatest dramatic effect, live programs would seem to be best. However, by recording the portrayal to be shown all across the U.K., a large number of people could be reached within a short period of time.

There may be other key figures from the 1909 period who delivered similarly-powerful speeches in their day. This material could be reproduced in booklet form (as was Churchill's speeches in the pamphlet, "The Peoples' Rights").

I hope the above ideas are of some value in your extremely important effort to bring truly constructive change to the people of the U.K.

Edward J. Dodson, Director

School of Cooperative Individualism (U.S.A.)

http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org

The new edtion of Progress & Poverty

ejdodson — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:28:10 +0000

I have read this new edition of George's classic analysis. The editors have done an excellent job of preserving George's insights, while simplying some of the language and removing historical references in which modern readers would find of little added value. This is a book that adherents to Henry George's ideas can pass on to others with confidence they will find the reading fully accessible.