COMMONS MAGAZINE
“Greater Des Moines Neighborhood Conference”:http://rebuildingtogetherdm.wordpress.com/events/dmnc/
September 12, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Plymouth Church/Waveland Hall
4126 Ingersoll Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50312
“Built Environment and the Outdoors Summit”:http://www.kansasbeos.org/about-the-summit.html
September 25 – 26
Ramada Convention Center
420 East 6th Street
Topeka, KS 66607
Stay tuned for further details on Walljasper’s 2013 speaking engagements.
Last year the Oregon legislators unanimously passed and the governor signed a bill paving the way for students to attend public universities without paying tuition or taking out traditional loans at all.
How to describe your first time in a green lane? There’s nothing quite like it.
For me it happened on a business trip to Copenhagen. I saw bikes everywhere, beginning with the taxi ride from the airport where I spotted business executives toting briefcases on bikes, wanna-be fashion models wearing high heels on bikes, kids heading to school on bikes, parents pedaling toddlers to daycare on bikes, old folks chatting to one another on bikes.
One of the more provocative talks at the Economics and the Commons Conference in Berlin last May was Andreas Weber’s critique of the “bio-economics” narrative that blends social Darwinism and free market economics. Bioeconomics is the default worldview for contemporary economic thought, public policy and politics. The only problem is that, by the lights of the latest biological sciences, this narrative is wrong, seriously wrong.
On June 20, 2013, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law an act permitting – as a pilot program – a tax reform that turns traditional taxation on its head, as it also embraces the idea of the commons as a resource for the community to provide for the everyday public life of urbanized areas. That program is land value taxation (LVT) . Initially, three communities will have the opportunity to apply for permission to use the program, with more to follow if LVT is proved successful.
What is LVT
At one point in my life, my neighbors and I were fighting battles on two fronts to protect our community. Our modest Kingfield neighborhood in Minneapolis was threatened on one side by the widening of a freeway, which would rip out scores of homes, and on the other side by the widening of an avenue, which would escalate traffic speeds on an already dangerous road.
One of the sharper satirical jabs in People, a recent play by the English writer Alan Bennett, occurs when a consortium of wealthy investors decides to purchase Winchester Cathedral. “I know it’s pricey,” says an absurdly practical-minded archdeacon, “but Winchester is such a good idea.” “Isn’t it?” replies the consortium’s smooth-as-silk agent.
As part of On the Commons’ efforts to strengthen commons connections and reinvigorate public life in communities, I was invited to Winona, Minnesota—a city of 27,000 on the Mississippi River 135 miles south of Minneapolis. During a two-day residency sponsored by Winona State University, I met with the newly elected mayor, a city council member, the director of parks and recreation, business owners, citizen leaders and university students, and faculty and staff. I also spoke to four classes, participated in media interviews, and gave a public talk.
An Opportunity for Your Community
The time-proven practices of the commons can transform where we live and how we live, That’s why On the Commons focuses on Public Life & Placemaking and regularly visits communities for talks, workshops and residencies about strengthening community connections and opportunities.
You may get a glimpse of our future by strolling the tree-lined streets of South Bend, Indiana, between the University of Notre Dame campus and downtown. That few people ever make that walk—too far, too slow, too dangerous—doesn’t diminish the importance of places like this in determining the fate of America and, perhaps, the earth.
You may get a glimpse of our future strolling the tree-lined streets of South Bend, Indiana, between the University of Notre Dame campus and downtown. That few people ever make that walk—too far, too slow, too dangerous—doesn’t diminish the importance of places like this in determining the fate of America and, perhaps, the earth.
We are witnessing a significant social shift in which people are rediscovering common connections and recognizing the collaborative power we share for strengthening our communities.
On the Commons documents these examples of the commons in action in our new guide to placemaking, public space and convivial living by Senior Fellow Jay Walljasper, who writes, speaks, and consults nationally about this emerging trend. CLICK HERE to download your free copy of How to Design Our World for Happiness.
We are witnessing a significant social shift in which people are rediscovering common connections and recognizing the collaborative power we share for strengthening our communities.
Rajendra Singh, founder of Tarun Bharat Sangh, (TBS, or Young India Association), always wanted to be a farmer. Bowing to family pressure, he studied to be a doctor of traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine and after school moved to the Alwyn district in the arid state of Rajasthan. Singh was not simply practicing medicine, he wanted to test some ideas about healing ecosystems.
Last month we had the opportunity to attend the Economics and the Commons Conference in Berlin, where commoners from around the globe gathered to discuss the commons as a worldview and practical approach for addressing today’s most pressing problems.
At the conference we were inspired by the sheer number of people working to protect and advance the commons all around the globe, and we would like to highlight the breadth of the commons movement here.
One hopes that in next year’s elections, the stark evidence emerging from state capitols about the difference between the parties can lay the foundation for a nationwide debate on the purpose of government in American life.
At half past three in the morning, Alec Johnson rolls out of bed, puts on his Metro Transit uniform, and walks a block to one of Nice Ride’s bike sharing stations in the Seward neighborhood. He unlocks a neon green bike and pedals down the Midtown Greenway, a former railroad corridor in Minneapolis that now holds biking and walking paths, to 32nd Street and Nicollet Avenue. After docking the bike at another nearby Nice Ride station, he pulls a bus out of the Nicollet Garage and starts his first shift.
How can we organize ourselves for human and ecological survival? And what solutions do the commons, both historic and emerging, offer toward survival?
These are two of the most urgent questions before us today
In a major triumph for protecting genes as a commons, the US Supreme Court ruled last week that human genes cannot be owned and must be available to anyone for study and medical innovation. The case involved a Utah company, Myriad Genetics, that had claimed patents on “breast cancer susceptibility genes,” which gave the company a monopoly on a $3,000 diagnostic test that could detect heightened risk of getting cancer. The patents were widely criticized for impeding breast cancer research and stifling cheaper, more competitive diagnostic tests.
Douglas Kearney is a poet, performance artist, and singer, as you can see on YouTube. His second manuscript, “The Black Automaton,” was chosen by Catherine Wagner for the National Poetry Series and published by Fence Books in 2009. It was also a finalist for the Pen Center USA Award in 2010.