POV-RED: Yielding to power

[Jeffery J SMITH <geonomist@juno.com>]

Hi;

Good to hear Ravi is helping SA BIG. Re landowners yielding: In Denmark
in the 1840s, they yielded to an enlightened king, an authority figure.
In California (1890s) and Australia (1900s) they yielded to legislatures
- the scene of vast tracts in desolate areas (at that time) being held by
just a few was too absurd. In Taiwan (1940s), they yielded to a desperate
generalissimo. So twice they yielded to powerful leaders, twice to
conscious (not necessarily conscientious) legislators. More recently, in
the 1990s, Estonia's legislature taxed land, but landowners were not yet
completely back in the saddle after the fall of the Iron Curtain. In
Mexicali, Mexico, the mayor persuaded urban landowners; in Allentown, PA,
voters voted it in. So again, an even split between autocratic rule vs an
aware populace. Given most poor countries lack democracies, I suppose an
advocate there would try to convince rulers to become better off in a
better off country. Where democracy reigns, persuade a critical mass of
same. While the persuading can include altruism, it can also target
self-interest - becoming really better off becomes possible only in a
really better off society.

SMITH, Jeffery J.
President, Geonomy Society, www.progress.org/geonomy
Share Earth's worth to prosper and conserve.

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