George Raymond Geiger: 1903-1998
His Life and Thought
Jack Schwartzman
[Reprinted from Fragments, July-September
1998]
George Geiger, one of the most famous "interpreters" of
the philosophy of Henry George, died March 19. 1998, in Yellow
Springs, Ohio. He was 94 years of age. This is his story.
He was born in New York City on May 8, 1903, the only child of
Nina and Oscar Geiger. Oscar, a furrier and onetime ordained rabbi,
resigned from his religious post and turned his attention to social
problems. He achieved his goal when, in 1932, he founded the Henry
George School of Social Science (still in existence today). He
became its first director, but died two years later. George Geiger,
his son, dedicated his first book to his father, and the second to
the memory of his father. However -- as will be discussed later --
there seemed to be a psychological barrier in their relationship.
The famed author, Harry Golden (1902-1981), who briefly wrote for
FRAGMENTS, was George Geiger' s lifelong friend. Shortly before
Golden's death. I interviewed him at his home in Charlotte, North
Carolina. (My son, Steve, accompanied me.) Golden recalled various
incidents that concerned George Geiger, whom he affectionately
called "Gigs." Golden reminisced about the time when Oscar
Geiger, George's father, established a boys' Round Table Literary
Club (which continued into their adulthood), and both George Geiger
and Harry Golden were members of this club. Golden also spoke of
George Geiger's first love -- baseball. When George Geiger was a
student at Columbia University, he became the team's first baseman
-- but was soon replaced by one of the greatest of them all: the
immortal Lou Gehrig!
In Golden's autobiography, The Right Time (1971), he
declared: "Gigs instead became a philosopher, one of the most
profound students of Dewey and pragmatism the academy has ever
known. John Dewey wrote the introduction to George Geiger' s
published doctorate, The Philosophy ofHenry George.... Baseball's
loss was philosophy's gain. I suspect if the single tax [of Henry
George] hadn't entered George's life..., he would have become an
actor. He was an extraordinarily handsome man and a superb
dancer.... George was always the first to congratulate me. He was
happy when I married; he sent me a wire when I was paroled, when I
published the first edition of the Carolina Israelite, when Only in
America came out, and when I told him I was writing this
autobiography." (68-69)
Golden's thoughts were always with his friend Gigs. In one ofhis
letters to me, Golden wrote: "I am sorry I did not get into the
Anniversary Issue. Did you contact George Geiger?" In another
letter, Golden requested: "Please send... FRAGMENTS... to Prof
George Geiger..., calling attention to Critics of Henry George.
Thank you."
George Geiger became a noted professor of philosophy at Antioch
College where he remained for fifty years. In its obituary of
Geiger, the Yellow Springs News of March 26, 1998, noted: "In
1989 he [George Geiger] was characterized in an Antioch publication
as a 'scholar, raconteur, critic, athlete. reader, dapper dresser,
writer, actor, editor, leader, bon vivant, journalist, philosopher,
Antioch Review co-founder -- but above all -- TEACHER.' "
In a June, 1998, summary of George Geiger' s life (submitted to
the American Review of Economics and Sociology), Christopher K. Ryan
and Helen B. Ryan wrote: "In the classroom Geiger excelled, as
his colleagues and ex-students testified.... He attracted the best
students and profoundly affected them.... He taught in a rehearsed,
dramatic form. This flair for drama was further expressed in his
private life as he was for three decades a stalwart of the local
community theater.... He was married to Louise Jarrat who taught
Spanish at Antioch. She died in 1982.... Fate would smile on him in
a few years as Joan L. King became George's friend and companion for
the last ten years ofhis life. He loved classical music and was a
skilled pianist." (10)
* * *
Henry George's single tax theory, Harry Golden observed in his
autobiography, "ruled not only Oscar Geiger' s working life and
his leisure hours but his family relationships." Oscar
indoctrinated his son (who was named after Henry George) with
Oscar's belief that Henry George was the most important thinker in
the world. My late friend, Robert Clancy (a one time director of the
Henry George School), wrote (in A Seed Was Sown, 1952): "George
Geiger entered Columbia University at an early age and enjoyed a
brilliant academic career.... For his doctorate thesis, his father
suggested thathe write on Henry George's philosophy. Doubtful,
George consulted John Dewey, who had been his philosophy teacher.
Dewey said, 'Not only would I urge you to write a book on Henry
George, but I myself would write a preface to such a book.' George
undertook the task and produced the definitive work, The Philosophy
of Henry George, with the dedication,'To my father.' "(17-18)
I often used George Geiger's "definitive work" as an
invaluable reference book, and cited it frequently in my various
writings. I find the book to be a great source of Georgist
information. Since the book was dedicated to Oscar Geiger, Ionce
suggested to George Geiger that he write a biography of his father.
In reply, I received a curious letter (dated February 23, 1981):
"Thank you for your letter..., and congratulations
on your work with FRAGMENTS. ...As to writing some memoirs about my
father, you raise some difficult problems. For one thing, I am doing
no writing now chiefly because of the tragic condition of my wife.
Because of hardening of the arteries of the brain, she has been
failing for almost a decade, and for almost two years now has been
confined to a nursing home. ...As Harry Golden knows -- but perhaps
does not appreciate -- the strain on me has been almost unbearable.
What energies I have must be directed to my teaching. So I have in
almost every case turned down invitations to talk or to contribute
papers...
"Writing about my father presents special problems.... I was
away teaching during that period and Bob Clancy would be better
informed than I. Harry Golden and Bob both seem to know things about
my father that I can neither corroborate nor remember. Many persons
here [in Antioch College] and elsewhere have asked me to write my
own memoirs (which is a ridiculous suggestion), and others have
suggested writing a life of my father. But I need data, and I have
none or almost none. I am not a psychiatrist, so I can't estimate
our relations to each other. There is nowhere to research anything.
beyond what Bob and Harry have attempted, with indifferent success.
So, I'11 have to leave it to them to continue with their
impressions. Believe me, I am not taking this lightly, but to
explain my position fully would require the book I am not going to
write."
I discussed this letter with Bob Clancy and Harry Golden, and they
were both startled by Geiger's comments.
* * *
In addition to a (possibly) strained personal relationship, Oscar
and George also differed in their interpretations of some themes in
the philosophy of Henry George. The latter constantly referred to "Natural
Law" and "natural rights" as the governing forces of
the universe. In his celebrated book, Progress and Poverty (1879),
Henry George stated:
"The laws of the universe are harmonious. (329)... If one man
can command the land upon which others must labor, he can
appropriate the produce of their labor as the price of his
permission to labor. The fundamental law of nature, that her
enjoyment by man shall be consequent upon his exertion, is thus
violated. (341)... We have seen that the waste of human powers and
the prodigality of human suffering do not spring from natural laws,
but from the ignorance and selfishness of men in refusing to conform
to natural laws." (559)
Oscar Geiger was in total agreement with Henry George regarding
the terms "Natural Law" and "natural rights." In
his pamphlet, Natural Law in the Economic Field (an address
delivered in 1927, and reprinted by the Henry George School), Oscar
Geiger wrote:
"Not to understand Natural Law... is not to understand
Nature, for only through Natural Law can Nature be understood. This
is generally recognized in Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, and
Biology, but it is very little, if at all, known in the Social
Sciences, and this is rather unfortunate for the Social Sciences, as
Natural Law operates equally in this field as it does in all fields
of being and living. (4)... Society is an entity, as is evidenced by
the fact... that it creates a fund which fully equals all its
legitimate requirements. Who but a professor of economics would fail
to recognize in this the working of a Natural Law? It is a violation
of Natural Law to deprive the individual of his product -- Wealth.
It is equally a violation of Natural Law to deprive society of its
product -- Rent. The violation of Natural Law does not remain
unpunished. (6-7)... Observe the Law -- the Natural Law -- which is
the word of God, and let each take his place at the banquet table
God has provided for all." (15)
The "dig" about "a professor of economics"
would just as easily apply to a professor of philosophy, the title
held by the revered John Dewey, as well as by his star pupil --
Oscar's son, George... Both John Dewey and George Geiger repudiated
the concepts "Natural Law" and "natural rights."
In his Foreword to George Geiger's The Philosophy of Henry George
(1933), Dewey emphatically asserted: "The present writer does
not believe in the conceptions of nature and natural rights which at
first sight seem to be fundamental in the social philosophy of Henry
George. For, as I see the matter, these conceptions are symbols,
expressed in the temporary vocabulary of a certain stage of human
history of a truth which can be stated in other language without
serious injury to the general philosophy implied." (xii)
George Geiger, in his book, wholeheartedly agreed with Dewey. "[Henry
George's interpretation of a 'natural right to property,'... was an
ethical one. That is to say, while George's approach was undoubtedly
phrased in absolutist terms,... the concept of 'natural' was used by
him critically; 'natural,' in a word, was that which ought to be
law.... Economics may become richer and more vital if it puts aside,
at least partially, certain feverish efforts to resemble physics or
biology." (510, 514)
* * *
Concerning the ideas of "individualism" and "society,"
Oscar Geiger attempted to balance the equation. "The welfare of
the mass... does become the concern of the individual, and the
well-being of the individual must be the business of society."
(A Seed Was Sown, 68)
George Geiger sharply distinguished the meanings of "individualism"
and "socialism." In his book, The Theory of the Land
Question (1936), George Geiger observed: "A... connotation that
often surrounds the concept of land value taxation hinges on the
philosophical contrast between 'individualism' and 'socialism.'...
It may be observed that even Henry George himself never really met
some of the problems that arose. For instance, although he and his
followers are ordinarily classed as individualistic in their
philosophy, the very program of single tax must tremendously
strengthen the power of the state by giving it tremendous control of
social life in the disposition of the huge revenues from ground
rent." (179-80) In their essay, Ryan and Ryan stated: "Geiger...
clearly favored the 'socialist' over the 'individualist'
interpretation of Henry George's programme.... At some point Geiger
is reported to have lost interest in Henry George, and his only
comment was 'That's another long story.'... One might speculate
that... [the] libertarian/liberal split among followers of Henry
George may have contributed to Geiger's 'loss of interest' along
with the obvious general lack of interest, not to mention the
scarcity of supporters in academia.... However, despite Geiger's
virtual silence for decades on Henry George, his was not an apostasy
of Georgism but a resignation from its advocacy." (4, 6, 7)
* * *
If George Geiger' s "virtual silence... on Henry George"
is supposedly Geiger' s last (negative) "comment" on
George. then I shall add a "post-last" (positive) comment.
Geiger's book, The Philosophy of Henry George, unlike
Geiger's "silence," presents a brilliant exposition of
Henry George's thinking. It will live and inspire readers for
decades to come. It will cause them to "beat a path" to
Henry George's door. May the book live forever!
