Down with People This is the real enigma of our
times, and I sus- pect that it colours all our other problems. If our society is sick, the sickness surely springs from a condition in which a few blokes can make a regular million, free of tax, on margin, from exploiting property values which were created not by them, but by the working community. The ordinary working joe, and his judy, can hardly be blamed for idolising the fast buck when the arch-heroes of our age are the non- productive millionaires. The industry they ex- ploit does produce something, admittedly—office buildings. Only office buildings can produce the rents required to pay off the inflated land values in cities. But the high value of city land depends on the presence of city populations, and as we build more offices, we are chasing the popula- tions out to' exile in the suburbs. Even if you believe in the profit motive (and okay, it has its uses, 1 .won't argue for the moment) it can't be allowed to operate against the human race. Even- in our staunch capitalist society, we outlaw profit-taking in some fields. If we ban commerce
'Heard the one about the Widow's miter in women's bodies, there's no reason why we shouldn't legislate to protect our cities from rape by speculation.
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