Defending Paine’s agrarian justice and the “Ground-rent”

Michael E.  Weber

doi:10.21814/eps.5.1.168

Autores

Michael E. Weber Bowling Green State University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5863-8021

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21814/eps.5.1.168

Palavras-chave:

Thomas Paine, Justiça Agrária, Taxação de Recursos, Libertarismo de Esquerda

Resumo

A Justiça Agrária de Thomas Paine merece mais atenção do que aquela que até agora lhe foi
dedicada, pois nela Paine estabelece um argumento fundacional para um programa abrangente de
bem-estar social que não se encontra no seu mais famoso Os Direitos do Homem. Neste artigo,
explico o argumento de Paine em Justiça Agrária e considero a objecção segundo a qual a principal
fonte de receitas aí proposta – a “renda fundiária” – seria insuficiente para financiar o programa de
bem-estar social que propõe, na medida em que a contribuição dos recursos naturais para a produção
de valor é insignificante. Argumento que a renda fundiária justifica a imposição de um imposto não
apenas sobre o valor dos recursos naturais usados na produção de valor, mas sobre uma porção do
valor do trabalho aplicado sobre esses recursos, e que, portanto, ela pode ser uma fonte significativa
de receitas. Considerações similares são aplicáveis aos sistemas de taxação baseados em recursos
naturais propostos por outros autores tais como Henry George, Thomas Pogge e alguns libertários de
esquerda contemporâneos.

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