COMMONS MAGAZINE
The #Occupy movements that spread across the nation this fall are taking citizen activism in a new direction—toward the commons. The protests create actual commons, shared public spaces that have become both a symbol and an example of the more cooperative, hopeful future that 99 percent of Americans want to see. That’s why these action have been able to shift the political debate by galvanizing public support for a more equitable economy.
A breakthrough for the commons came in 2009 when Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize for Economics. The first woman awarded this honor, the Indiana University political scientist not only made history but also helped debunk widespread notions that the commons inevitably leads to tragedy. In 50 years of research from Nepal to Kenya to Switzerland to Los Angeles, she has shown that commonly held resources will not be destroyed by overuse if there is a system in place to manage how they are shared.
Elizabeth Warren points out that there “is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody.” Meaning: if the rich don’t pay their fair share of the taxes that educate their workers and provide roads, security and many other things, they are essentially stealing from everyone else.
The biggest “theft” by the 1 percent has been of the primary source of wealth—knowledge—for its own benefit.
The first Tuesday in August is a red-letter evening in many towns and cities— National Night Out . This year August 7 is the occasion for tens of thousands of people across the U.S. to renew their commitment to stopping crime by looking out for one another. It’s also a celebration of community and all that we share as neighbors.
The commons is under attack in Washington, D.C..
There’s nothing new about that— what belongs to all of us from the environment to public services have been continually threatened over the past two years—but the latest target comes as a complete surprise: bikers and pedestrians.
What in the world could be less controversial than biking and walking? They’re good exercise, fun to do and—as an alternative to driving everywhere—help us save money and the environment.
Little Free Libraries are small structures that serve as an informal book exchange. Usually positioned atop a post in someone’s front yard, by a bike path or in a park, they seem to have an almost magical effect on people. Once people realize that they can “take” any book they want, they also become aware of a desire to share their favorite reads.
Host David Gregory complained about Occupy Wall Street protestors “demonizing banks” and wondered, “Is this not a reverse tea party tactic?”
It’s a chilly day, but the “Occupy” protesters in jackets and scarves are warmed by each show of support from passersby. They chant “This is What Democracy Looks Like” and “We Are the 99 Percent” to the accompaniment of plastic water bottles thumping on trash can lids.
The crowd resembles a random sample of all ages and backgrounds, from an 87-year-old lawyer in a Detroit Tigers ballcap (they lost the pennant that evening in the play-offs) to a grade schooler holding up a sign, “What About My American Dream?”
Through our experience with numerous community projects, we’ve come to see how deeply contemporary society is immersed in the market mentality. So long as market fundamentalism remains the lens through which most Americans see the world, it will be very difficult for people to envision a commons-based society, let alone work to revive actual commons that are under threat in their communities.
Through our experience with numerous community projects, we’ve come to see how deeply contemporary society is immersed in the market mentality. So long as market fundamentalism remains the lens through which most Americans see the world, it will be very difficult for people to envision a commons-based society, let alone work to revive actual commons that are under threat in their communities.
1. Seeing the World Differently
Have you ever looked at a bizarre building design and wondered, “what were the architects thinking?” Have you looked at a supposedly “ecological” industrial-looking building, and questioned how it could be truly ecological? Or have you simply felt frustrated by a building that made you uncomfortable, or felt anger when a beautiful old building was razed and replaced with a contemporary eyesore? You might be forgiven for thinking “these architects must be blind!” New research shows that in a real sense, you might actually be right.
“This time we have to succeed. And I’m not talking about regulating the banks and increasing taxes on the rich, though that’s important. I am talking about changing the underlying values that govern our society. That is hard to fit into a single media-friendly demand, and it’s also hard to figure out how to do it. But it is no less urgent for being difficult….Let’s treat this beautiful movement as if it is most important thing in the world. Because it is. It really is.”
A few months ago Nassim Taleb, author of the Black Swan, an influential book about the crucial importance of unpredictable, unforeseen events on our financial system was asked whether the hundreds of thousands taking to the streets in Greece was a Black Swan event. He replied, “No. The real Black Swan event is that people are not rioting against the banks in London and New York.”
This week will be an exceptional one.
It will mark a decade at war and the beginning, perhaps, of a sustained, cross-issue, multi-generational struggle to create real change in this country we care so much about.
Another general assembly is beginning here in Zuccotti Park, a small park at the corner of Broadway and Liberty in Manhattan’s financial district, two blocks from the World Trade Center site, three blocks from Wall Street. Zucotti, renamed “Liberty Plaza” by its occupiers [which was actually its original name], has been held as a home base by protesters since September 17. This, in itself, is a kind of achievment.
Looking for some hope that the commons might soon emerge as a campaign issue in the next election?
Well take a look at this video of Elizabeth Warren at a campaign appearance in her race for the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by Ted Kennedy.
Warren, who came to prominence as passionate champion of middle-class Americans suffrering from the financial crash and subsequent corporate bail-outs, offers an eloquent explanation of how the commons works.
Elinor Ostrom shared the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009 for her lifetime of scholarly work investigating how communities succeed or fail at managing common pool (finite) resources such as grazing land, forests and irrigation waters. On the Commons is co-sponsor of a Commons Festival at Augsburg College in Minneapolis October 7-8 where she will speak. (See accompanying sidebar for details.)
What Am I/you/…what are WE…/ Waiting for, America?
In the midst of the consequence and sorrow of this 10th anniversary of the period between 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan, I ask myself….”What am I waiting for?”
It is not an innocent question. I am not innocent. Knowing what I know of the myriad costs of the wars, calculable and incalculable, how is it that I am continuing to live as if those costs were bearable?
In the next few days we may decide the future of the Post Office. The signs are not auspicious. President Obama has agreed to a plan to cut Saturday delivery. The Post Service’s management wants to close 2500 post offices immediately and up to 16,000 by 2020. Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) has introduced a bill that could end free door-to-door delivery.
Republicans have been railing at the government post office for many years. But for most of us, it is a “wondrous American creation”.
Here’s some great news in these tough times! Everyone has a long lost aunt who’s giving us an inheritance of incalculable value: clean water, public services, the Internet, parks, scientific knowledge, fashion styles, and much more.
The name of our aunt is the commons—and while she is metaphorical, the commons is as real as the Great Lakes, Route 66, the National Weather Service, your favorite recipes, the local fire department (either volunteer or municipal), open source software, libraries or the latest dance steps.