Chapter Eleven - We Don’t Need Permission

CHAPTER ELEVEN

We Don’t Need Permission

YOU DON’T HAVE to overthrow capitalism.
You don’t have to beg Congress.
You don’t have to elect a messiah.
You don’t have to draft a new constitution.

You can start now.

Georgism isn’t locked behind a revolution.
It’s not waiting on utopia.
It’s implementable today, and some places already did.

Property taxes already exist.
Land assessments already exist.
The infrastructure is already in place.

What most cities do is tax both land and buildings together.

But there’s a better way, one that’s tested, real, and not theoretical.

It’s called the split-rate tax.

Tax the land heavily.
Tax the buildings lightly.
Force land into use.
Let development breathe.

That’s it.

Back in the 1980s, Harrisburg in Pennsylvania was struggling.

Vacant lots. Boarded buildings. Urban decay.

Then they tried something bold:

They raised taxes on land and cut taxes on buildings.

Over time, building permits increased, over 5,000 vacant structures were returned to use, crime dropped, the city’s tax base grew, and blight reversed.

It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t perfect.

But it worked.

And it worked because it taxed the problem, unused land, instead of punishing people for building on it.

In 2011, Altoona, Pennsylvania tried something even bolder:

They became the first U.S. city to go all-in.

100% of property tax shifted onto land value.
0% on buildings and improvements.

It was pure Georgism, implemented in a modern American city.

And it started working.

Landowners holding dead lots started selling.
Developers picked them up.
Vacant spaces got used.
The city became more compact, efficient, and affordable.

And then?

They killed it.

In 2016, the experiment ended. Quietly, politically.

Not because it failed.
But because the old system wanted back in.

The lesson?

It was working too well.

Other cities have run similar models. Some towns in Pennsylvania, parts of Australia, and pieces of Taiwan, Denmark, and Singapore.

In every case studied, taxing land value alone makes speculation harder, development faster, and rent pressure lower.

And none of these required federal reform.
They were local choices.

Most people have never heard of this.
Not because it’s fringe.
But because it’s dangerous to power.

Once you see it, once you understand where rent comes from, how land hoarding works, and how value gets siphoned upward…you can’t unsee it.

And once one city does it right, really right, the proof becomes contagious.

This is how it spreads.

Pressure on your city council.
Pressure on your mayor.
Pressure on your neighbors to ask the question:

“Why are we taxing buildings, but not land?”

Push for pilots.
Push for assessments.
Push for split-rate shifts.
Push for something.

Because once this lands, even in a small town, you’ll see the changes.

And when you do?

The system can’t pretend anymore.