The Killing Fields

The Killing Fields is a documentary by Carlo Nero; following a screening of this thought-provoking film about wildlife, land, taxation and law, Prof Sir Richard Jolly (Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University) was joined by five guests to flesh out the various debates it provoked. One interesting debate concerned Polly Higgins’ proposal that there should be a worldwide recognition of the crime of ecocide, a crime of mass destruction against the environment, wrought by companies or countries, which is also a crime against humanity. The most important and striking discussion concerned the view that land rather than labour should be taxed. They made persuasive arguments for this motion and ended with a unanimous view that Land Tax was truly the only solution to the current economic and environmental crisis the world finds itself in.

Pavilion Theatre, Brighton Dome, 6 May 2012

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