War Peace and Commons Rent

War, Peace and Commons Rent –Presenters from the UK, Philippines, and the US explore the connection between war and the forceful taking of natural resources and/or the private appropriation of land rent combined with the legal plunder of private banking systems. Policy solutions include "commons rent" public finance giving fair share rights to earth and Public Banks.

Presenters’ Topics:

Alanna Hartzok – The “Four Charts” narrative shows the root injustice built into the current economic paradigm that led to the appropriation of great wealth by an elite few. This has created the military-industrial-financial complex and an imperialist US foreign policy. The way forward to “earth rights democracy” recovers the “commons rent” for the benefit of all.

Charles Avila - The Philippine case highlights Invaders and Resisters and the imperial wars that never really end, at incalculable costs. Christianizing, civilizing, genociding: what could be more instructive than the case of the Philippines? Is there a Judeo-Christian prophetic voice for the economics of peace?" Charles Avila

Fred Harrison – There will be a convergence of four existential crises in 2028 that will generate global conflict on a scale never before experienced by human kind. To navigate through the threat to humanity, a new narrative is needed. Nations would be united by understanding the unique qualities of Commons Rent which contains the secret to conflict resolution and sustainable peace.

Speaker Bios:

Charles Avila is the author of the now classic book Ownership: Early Christian Teachings, former mayor Tanauan Leyte in the Philippines, and Executive Director of the Confederation of National Coconut Farmers’ Organizations, He has served as Consultant of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, Secretary-General of the 18-nation Asian Cultural Forum on Development, a Research Fellow at the Centro Intercultural de Documentacion in Mexico, at the Institute for Food and Development Policy in San Francisco, and Deputy Secretary General of the Philippine Congress of Agrarian and Industrial Workers.

Fred Harrison is Research Director of the London-based Land Research Trust and author of As Evil Does: Anatomy of a Killing Cult, The Predator Culture, The Traumatized Society and several other books. Harrison has been very active in the UK media, with dozens of newspaper and magazine articles, and many TV and radio. With the fall of the USSR, Harrison took an opportunity to work with the Russian government[4] in developing economic policy. He spent 10 years in Russia advising their Federal Parliament (Duma) and local authorities on property tax reform. He organized the Duma's Land Policy Congress and conducted several hearings and studies commissioned by a wide range of Russian authorities. “Western ("neo-liberal") culture has been shaped by rent-seeking to deliver sub-optimum outcomes through tax policies that have the permanent effect of mal-distributing wealth and power,” says Harrison.

Alanna Hartzok is an educator, activist, and lecturer in the areas of economic justice, land rights, and commons rent public finance. Her book The Earth Belongs to Everyone received the Radical Middle Book Award. Is a recipient of the International Earth Day Award. A candidate for Congress for the Green Party (2001) and the Democratic Party (2014) she initiated a tax reform bill for the state of Pennsylvania that passed with a nearly unanimous vote (all yes, except for one abstention.) She is the Administrator for the Baltimore Thrive commons rent policy implementation project.

Recommended prep reading and viewing:

An International Declaration on Individual and Common Rights to Earth: International Declaration - TheIU.org
Commons Rent Public Finance Platform Planks of eleven Green Party and related other groups from six countries:
Green Party and Other Environmental Organization Platforms for Commons Rent/Land Value Tax Policy - Common Ground U.S.A. (commonground-usa.net)
“We render you, corporations obsessed with war profiteering, accountable; answerable!”
- Cornel West, Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal Member. Go to The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal Home - Merchants of Death
“What I’ve Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy: The War Against The Third World" - YouTube A powerful video documentary compilation by Frank Dorrell. Pay particular attention to the land and resource conflict themes.
“What I’ve Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy:The War Against The Third World" - YouTube

Children’s Health Defense (CHD.TV) “The Defender Show” presents Robert Kennedy, Jr. in conversation with CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou in a fascinating eye-opening conversation.
https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/the-defender-show/cia-whistleblower-john kiriakou

The War, Peace and Commons Rent program is sponsored by the International Union for Land Value Taxation, working for commons rent policy implementation worldwide. Sign up for the newsletter here: TheIU.org - The International Union for Land Value Taxation