The following is quoted from chapter 15 of my 1981 college textbook:
Henry George and the Metaconstitution
George's basic economic analysis of the two factors of production--"land" and labor--is strikingly similar to that suggested by the general theory of associations that has been presented in this text. The similarity is all the more striking in light of the fact that I had never read a word of George nor even a decent summary of his views until after having arrived at the same conclusions by a somewhat different route. Ironically, my conclusions were inspired more by the archreactionary novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand. Protracted study of the problems of regulating the American economy and of corruption led me to conclude that government privileges should go to the highest bidder for limited periods. This conclusion applied specifically to the right to broadcast programs over the radio and TV airwaves. The idea of generalizing this approach and extending it to land did not occur until I read the following passage in an essay by Rand:
There is no difference in principle between the ownership of land and the ownership of airways. Footnote 25
The statement was obviously true, but not in the sense Rand intended! Rather than applying the prevailing capitalist approach to airwaves as well as to land, Rand's assertion could equally well be read to suggest applying the approach appropriate to airwaves to land as well. In this sense, it might be rather impiously claimed that the solution to the problem of property suggested by association theory and metaconstitutional analysis is a dialectical combination of Ayn Rand and Henry George.
