Everyday Life
Behold the Stick! A Classic of the Toy Commons
National Toy Hall of Fame inducts “the stick” into its venerable pantheon Read more...
Everyday Life; Politics and Government
It's Morning in America
The strange similarity between Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama Read more...
Everyday Life; Knowledge Commons
Studs Terkel’s Conversation with America Comes to a Close
The acclaimed oral historian leaves a legacy of stories by extraordinary and ordinary people. Read more...
Politics and Government
Environment; Politics and Government
Bush Rushes to Grant Oil Leases Near National Parks
With no concern for the impact on air, water and wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management is rushing through dozens of new leases for oil drilling on public lands adjacent to national parks in Utah. More than 40... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Felicity Barringer, "U.S. to Open Public Land Near Parks for Drilling," New York Times..
Media and Internet; Politics and Government
Designing the Obama Presidency
Will he build an open-source republic or a walled-garden of control? Read more...
Everyday Life; Politics and Government
It's Morning in America
The strange similarity between Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama Read more...
Environment
Environment; Politics and Government
Bush Rushes to Grant Oil Leases Near National Parks
With no concern for the impact on air, water and wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management is rushing through dozens of new leases for oil drilling on public lands adjacent to national parks in Utah. More than 40... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Felicity Barringer, "U.S. to Open Public Land Near Parks for Drilling," New York Times..
Climate Crisis; Economics and Markets; Environment
The Cap and Dividend Solution
Peter Barnes testifies before Congress about a commons approach to addressing climate change. Read more...
Commons Strategies; Environment
How State Government Can Protect Open Spaces
Sometimes enclosure is not a metaphor, but literal. A new report from Environment America, the public-interest group, documents how nearly 22 million acres of land – an area larger than the state of Maine – fell... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at “Preserving America's Natural Heritage: Lessons From States' Efforts to Fund Open Space Protection,” Environment America.
Commons Strategies
The Commons Moment Is Now
How a small, dedicated group of people can help transform the world Read more...
Commons Strategies; International
The Commons Comes to Schlossberg Hill
A memorable evening at the Elevate Festival in Graz, Austria Read more...
A Chance to Spread the Word
We’re creating a book, The Field Guide to the Commons—and need your recommendations of good articles and artwork. Read more...
Media and Internet
Media and Internet; Politics and Government
Designing the Obama Presidency
Will he build an open-source republic or a walled-garden of control? Read more...
Knowledge Commons; Media and Internet
The Lazy Smear of “Piracy”
The history of piracy reveals the real issue: freedom versus slavery. Read more...
Media and Internet; Politics and Government
Reforming the So-Called Presidential Debates
Every four years, the two parties and news media collude in this PR scam. It’s time for citizens to reclaim control. Read more...
Water
“10 Things You Can Do to Protect the Water Commons”
by Rachel Breen
in Invigorate the Common Well
published Jul 26, 2008
Here's a list to print out and post on your refrigerator.
Akron Voters Reject Privatization of Public Utility
Lost among the good news coming out of election day this year was a victory in Ohio for people working toward a commons-based society.
Alternet.org reports that voters in Akron rejected a proposal to privatize... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Alternet.
"Flow" Documents World Water Crisis
At a theater near you.
New film explores how water is being converted into private property. Read more...
International
Commons Strategies; International
The Commons Comes to Schlossberg Hill
A memorable evening at the Elevate Festival in Graz, Austria Read more...
Commons Strategies; Economics and Markets; International; Politics and Government; US Financial Crisis
It's Time to Reconsider Government Ownership of Companies
Baden-Württemberg, Germany
As we bail out Wall Street, America can learn an economics lesson from Germany’s most successful beer. Read more...
Food and Agriculture; International
What's a WWOOF Worth?
Commons lessons learned by two Iowa farm girls working their way across Europe in the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program. Read more...
Knowledge Commons
Everyday Life; Knowledge Commons
Studs Terkel’s Conversation with America Comes to a Close
The acclaimed oral historian leaves a legacy of stories by extraordinary and ordinary people. Read more...
Cultural Commons; Knowledge Commons
The Public Domain as a “Jungle”
Eva Wirtén’s new book, "Terms of Use," explores the clashing worldviews of North and South Read more...
Knowledge Commons; Media and Internet
The Lazy Smear of “Piracy”
The history of piracy reveals the real issue: freedom versus slavery. Read more...
US Financial Crisis
Economics and Markets; Politics and Government; US Financial Crisis
What’s So Bad About Spreading the Wealth?
With John McCain’s screeching all over the campaign trail about Barack Obama’s supposed plans to “spread the wealth,” On the Commons Fellow Chuck Collins started thinking about what has actually happened to our... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Sojourners Magazine.
Economics and Markets; Politics and Government; US Financial Crisis
When Free Market Fantasies Collapse
The Wall Street meltdown requires us to recognize markets as social creations -- and to reinvent our politics accordingly. Read more...
Everyday Life; US Financial Crisis
Commons Moment 2--This Is Home
A short verse on the occasion of uncounted numbers of homeowners ignored in the current Wall Street intervention. Read more...
Economics and Markets
Economics and Markets; Politics and Government; US Financial Crisis
What’s So Bad About Spreading the Wealth?
With John McCain’s screeching all over the campaign trail about Barack Obama’s supposed plans to “spread the wealth,” On the Commons Fellow Chuck Collins started thinking about what has actually happened to our... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Sojourners Magazine.
Economics as the Deliberate Mis-measurement of Life
OTC Fellow Jonathan Rowe talks with the Pacific Sun, the Marin County newspaper, about the erroneous ways that economists measure growth and progress – and the consequences for the rest of us. In the... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Pacific Sun, “It’s the Economists, Stupid" -- Interview with Jonathan Rowe. .
Economics and Markets; Everyday Life
A New Dismal Science -- “Happiness Economics”
Watch out! Economists are trying to measure happiness in order to guide public policy. Read more...
Cultural Commons
Cultural Commons; Knowledge Commons
The Public Domain as a “Jungle”
Eva Wirtén’s new book, "Terms of Use," explores the clashing worldviews of North and South Read more...
Cultural Commons; Media and Internet
Free Culture Convergence
UC Berkeley, California
Creative, free-thinking students are convening in Berkeley to advance a movement. Deja vu? Read more...
Cultural Commons; Media and Internet
Video Game Pits Commoners vs. Enclosure
Molleindustria introduces “The Free Culture Game” Read more...
Climate Crisis
Washington Post Endorses Cap-and-Dividend
A commons-based solution to global warming is picking up steam. The Washington Post in an editorial just endorsed the Cap-and-Dividend approach to climate change.
The Obama campaign has also "endorsed the... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Washington Post.
Climate Crisis; Economics and Markets; Environment
The Cap and Dividend Solution
Peter Barnes testifies before Congress about a commons approach to addressing climate change. Read more...
Climate Crisis; Community Life
Fighting Global Warming in Your Own Backyard
Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, USA and the United Kingdom
Five small towns show us how. Read more...
Community Life
Public Spaces as Sacred, Healing Spaces
Maryland and nearby states
Tom and Kitty Stoner show imagination and courage in creating scores of "sacred havens" in major cities. Read more...
The Great American Neighborhood
Welcome to Jacobsburg, which offers inspiring lessons in how to create a great community. Read more...
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Commons 101; Commons Strategies; Community Life Jonathan RowePoint Reyes Station, California — OnTheCommons.org Member |
Commons 101
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Commons 101; Commons Strategies; Community Life Jonathan RowePoint Reyes Station, California — OnTheCommons.org Member |
Commons 101; Economics and Markets
Debunking the Tragedy of the Commons
The fallacies of the “tragedy of the commons” argument have been made many times since biologist Garrett Hardin made them in 1968. But given the persistence of the metaphor as a justification for privatization, it... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Ian Angus, "The Myth of the Tragedy of the Commons," The Bullet, August 25, 2008..
Commons 101; Community Life; Water
Take Us to the Water
Minneapolis, Minnesota
A festival celebrates the wonder of a water fountain. Read more...
Science and Health
Economics and Markets; Science and Health
Treating Health Care as a Commons
Two physicians explain how the commons could be used to improve medical care. Read more...
Knowledge Commons; Media and Internet; Science and Health
Publishers Take Aim at Open Access
Conyers, Berman join publishing industry in trying to lock up taxpayer-funded medical research Read more...
International; Knowledge Commons; Science and Health
Defending Public-Sector Science
A backlash against the over-commercialization of science seems to be gaining new momentum. Two eminent Nobel prize winners--Sir John Sulston, a British geneticist and American economist Joseph Stiglitz – are... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at University of Manchester (England).
Indigenous People
Indigenous People; International
A Breakthrough for Indigenous People’s Rights
An historic event in the annals of human progress took place last fall with virtually no media attention in the United States.
After 22 years of negotiations, the United Nations voted 143-4 on September 13 to... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at Indian Country.
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Commons 101; Food and Agriculture; Indigenous People; International Jesús León SantosMexico City, Mexico — Commons Champion |
Environment; Indigenous People
Native Americans Buying Lost Land
Casino profits fuel new push to reclaim stolen tribal commons.
White Americans’ lust for money cost Native Americans their land in the 19th Century, as pioneers hungry to make their fortunes out West continually... Continue reading summary...
Read the source at the Star Tribune.
Food and Agriculture
Food and Agriculture; International
What's a WWOOF Worth?
Commons lessons learned by two Iowa farm girls working their way across Europe in the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program. Read more...
Commons for a Small Planet
Frances Moore Lappé on why today’s food shortages are not caused by a shortage of food Read more...
Community Life; Food and Agriculture
Local Food Gets Trendy
The re-localization of agriculture gains new momentum. Read more...
Blogroll
Kim Klein and the CommonsKim Klein is the founder and former publisher of the bimonthly Grassroots Fundraising Journal, which celebrated its 25th birthday in 2006. Her work with the Building Movement Project (www.buildingmovement.org) is allowing her to explore an interest in the idea of the commons - what do we and what should we own in common? Kim is in the research and development phase of creating workshops on the commons and on fair and equitable tax policy. Kim believes that the nonprofit sector has a critical role to play in the creation and maintenance of a democratic society.
