Peter Smith

A Review of Churchill and the Two Variants of Democracy Fred Harrison | Clifford W. Cobb American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2026; 0:1–7 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.70026 To the modern observer, Winston Churchill is the bulldog of British conservatism, the wartime leader who defended the Empire. Yet, buried beneath this legacy lies a forgotten chapter: Churchill the Radical. In the early 20th century, Churchill was Britain’s most articulate champion of “Georgism”—the economic philosophy that land monopoly was the root of social injustice. Drawing on the analysis by Fred Harrison and Clifford W. Cobb, as well as Churchill’s own speeches from his “radical decade,” this article reconstructs the battle between two variants of democracy: an “authentic” democracy grounded in economic rights, and the “performative” democracy that ultimately prevailed.1. The Radical Vision: “The Mother of All Monopolies” Between 1904 and 1914, Churchill was a leading figure in the Liberal Party, d...

The Predator Culture: Is There a Single Economic Cause Behind All Wars? In a world increasingly fractured by conflict—from the ground wars in Ukraine and Gaza to rising tensions over Taiwan and Venezuela—the question of why we fight has never been more urgent. While conventional analysis often points to clashing ideologies, religious differences, or the psychopathy of individual leaders, a compelling alternative theory suggests a single, systemic root cause: the pursuit of economic rent. According to author and econo mic thinker Fred Harrison, wars are not merely failures of diplomacy but are intrinsic to a “predator culture” driven by the private capture of land and resource wealth. The Hidden Common Link When analysing the disparate conflicts of the 21st century, it is easy to get lost in the specific narratives of each region. However, Harrison argues that if we look closer, a common link emerges: the desire to appropriate the “net income” or “rent” of a territory. Economic rent, in...

Alternative History to Inspire Change? Did Thomas Cromwell strive to revolutionise Britain to become an economic powerhouse, to abolish poverty and restore its declining wildlife? What could we learn from him today? I have long harboured the idea that Thomas Cromwell was an early “Georgist” economist and proto rewilder, but this requires looking at the intersection of his real historical legislation and the modern interpretations popularised by historical fiction, most notably Hilary Mantel’s  Wolf Hall  trilogy and the scant evidence that exists that her did bring beavers back to the UK. While the terms “Georgism” (coined in the 19th century) and “rewilding” (20th century) are anachronistic, Cromwell’s actions in the 1530s bear striking parallels to these modern concepts. By viewing his actions through the lenses of  Georgism  and  Rewilding , we can see a coherent (albeit lost) strategy for a modern England that might have avoided centuries of social and envir...