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What is The Commons?

There is government, the "public sector." There is profit-making businesses, the "private sector." Then there is the commons: What we own together, we and future generations.

Air. Water. Oceans. Public lands. Public services. Institutions. Non-profits. Traditions. Community. The airwaves. The internet. Open source software. The public library and public radio. Basic human rights, including equal access to health care.

Government has failed to protect or support it, sometimes "commodifying" it and selling it off in little pieces to the highest bidder. Entrepreneurs and corporations have exploited it, mining profits without paying the true costs of doing business. Citizens have let it happen because we have believed that government or private enterprise would take care of us-- we have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage.

open quote If you steal $10 from a man's wallet, you're likely to get into a fight. But if you steal billions from the commons, co-owned by him and his descendants, he may not even notice.
– Walter Hickel, former Alaska governor close quote

It is a complicated subject, and I can recommend a book which I recently found in the public library (of course), All That we Share: A Field Guide to the Commons by Jay Walljasper, (New Press, 2010). It is a good introduction to the subject and includes contributions by a number of people in various fields, including Robert B. Reich, Jeremy Rifkin, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

No, the idea of the commons is not un-American. We have a lot of history and common experience to draw on. Yes, it is going to take tax reform (it's our money!) and a paradigm shift: a new way of looking at things.

The author compares the old story, which is familiar to us all, with the new story which he sees as "taking root among small groups around the world." (pp. 33-34; emphasis is mine):

Old
  • Our value is determined by economic status. Hope for the future is tied to making more money to buy more goods & services.
  • It is natural that there are big winners and sorry losers in society. The winners have earned their wealth, fair & square. If you have not lived up to your expectations, the fault is largely yours.
  • We are all on our own. Competition is the only efficient, rational way to run a society, so don't expect much help in getting ahead. You can make it if you try.
  • Lower-income people have mostly themselves to blame. Watch out for them; they want what you have but aren't willing to work for it.
  • Government intervention in the economy tends to reward the undeserving, thereby weakening the whole society.
  • Infinite economic growth is the measure of a strong economy.
  • Economic health is more important than environmental health.
  • Frugality and conservation are old-fashioned virtues that are not really important to our future.
  • Don't talk about your salary or economic standing with anyone else-- it is inappropriate under any circumstances.
 New
  • We are better people, more caring & sharing than how the old market paradigm defines us.
  • In most ways, the market-based society failed to deliver on its promises. Even those 'winners' who amassed wealth did not generally experience a sense of happiness or fulfillment. They continued to need more and more stuff. And the rest of us were left feeling anxious, insecure, and disconnected from each other.
  • The old economic order is not the natural order of the universe. We can work together to create an economy that looks out for everyone, bringing us together rather than driving us apart. We can feel secure without working long hours, doing meaningless work, and seeing poorer people as a threat.
  • Both government and the market can make positive contributions to our lives, if they operate in ways that boost rather than deplete the commons.
  • The measures necessary to restore our natural environment and save the planet will actually strengthen our communities and enhance our lives rather than diminish them.
  • There is enough to go around. Sufficiency, not wealth, is the opposite of poverty.
  • There are many valuable assets that belong to us all, and they should be used in a sustainable way to create an equitable world.
Reviews, entry posted/last updated 5/2/2011