With word re Earth’s worth out there, the first step to a new paradigm is taken.
Coda
The opposite of progress is Congress – ‘cept for a gathering of geonomists.
Imagine the crowds in Time’s Square celebrating not just a new year but a new number, a new high in the worth of Earth in America. It’s the densest location in America and the most valuable; and the former leads to the latter.
Since 2009, Times Square, the heart of Manhattan, which is the heart of New York City, which is the heart of urban America (proof: the map gracing the cover of The New Yorker), has become more like any other world-class city, going car-free, setting up sidewalk cafes. Even with more shoppers (especially in the summer), the value of land there continued its recessionary slide for a couple years. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
In actuality prices were still sky-high. But since 2011, values there have gone ballistic. Indeed, throughout much of the Big Apple, site values are in the stratosphere.
Because where the most people want to play – in city centers – that’s where people pay the most to live and work. Densely populated New York, London, Tokyo, et al, have the priciest real estate on earth. Buyers are billionaires.
Their stratospheric values are all due to location, to being situated in a prosperous nation engaged in nonstop, vigorous trade. For these United States, we tallied all the metro, natural, spectral, etc., values we could lay our hands on. Our project did collect, collate, and package stats in intelligible form.
An indicator for wasted land, for economic bounty, and for coming conditions is knowledge society can put to good use. We announced the tally to those who appreciate the effort to measure the value of all land plus privilege:
readers here, obviously, and those who helped along the way,
the foundation Schalkenbach pitched in,
the politician California Rep. Mike Thompson speaks knowledgeably and implored Congress’s research agency
professional helpers, like cooperative sources as within the Fed itself,
other agencies,
the hundreds who got cited earlier. Beyond them,
the agencies who should be doing this.
Beyond them, despite further concentrated media, all outlets—old print newspapers and magazines and 21st century e-media websites—using the most searched relevant words and visual memes for a press release, we disseminated summaries to communicators:
business reporters,
economic commentators,
editors of print media and websites; TruthOut publishes us on occasion,
They’re a start. Others will spread the word about a well grounded figure:
activists for economic reform,
visionary businesses like Zillow, and
* investment consultants.
Still a minority but perhaps a critical mass.
Along the way, we discovered the most searched relevant words and gathered visual memes; essential ingredients for a TED Talk. Let it become the next intellectual tour de force following on the heels of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century. Ours would be more like Land Rents in the 21st Century, but too few would grasp the special meanings of those technical terms. Counting Bounty feels better.
Broadcasting the news may cause a groundswell that reaches a critical mass who call for an official calculation of the worth of Earth in America. Now we wait, watching as readers and visitors connect the dots. One may feel like the first one at a school party to dance – awkward. But those who know what’s fun, or are the affirming type, go from the sidelines to gung-ho. Soon almost everyone is dancing, even if it’s an odd place to dance and all the participants are strangers.
With more investigative resources, one could focus in more exactly. To continually refresh the statistic, one could DIY. Could we be the caretakers of the mission? Follow in the footsteps of NBER, Lincoln, and Zillow, which once calculated land value? Or, having blazed a trail, leave the responsibility for tracking all rents in the best possible hands? Those who’d keep the effort alive until academia and officialdom inevitably take over.
As Mahatma Gandhi did not say, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Gandhi did write something similar albeit longer (Freedom’s Battle, 1922). The quote is actually from a speech by labor leader Nicholas Klein to a textile union in 1914. The adage neatly expresses the stages of social reform.
1st, those curious about the worth of Earth are being profoundly ignored. They can only hope soon will come …
2nd, the ridicule—they’d be one major step closer to their goal.
3rd, the elite and minions would oppose research fiercely; their last gasp might to indebt everyone, as by siphoning ever more frequent bailouts from public treasuries, most recently for the covid lockdown—again good news. Right around the corner …
4th, the quest to know the tally for America’s own assets becomes popular and after that, finally official.
Phew. Then society could finally get this genomic show on the road.
Paradigms shift, but not of their own accord. First, somebody has a new view. As Kuhn noted, somebody must come from outside the relevant field (as where we stand). The outsider’s new analysis makes sense. It gets resisted. But it still makes sense, so it spreads and eventually wins. Why wait?
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Please get in touch. Let’s have fun! Instead of dropping, maybe the Times Square ball could just keep rising.
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