SIDEBAR ~ Public Commons endgame
Fragment from Thank God We Got Rid of the Men; A Story of Restoration for Planet Earth text in progress
Leaving aside rebooting the United Nations, the other most advanced concept the women got behind in 2020–2050 was organizing so natural watersheds and some contiguous land parcels could be made into and governed as a Public Commons.
Green New Deal 1, 2, 3, 4 all led public awareness up to two Democratic Socialist “holy grails,” worker-owned and operated businesses and expanding Land Trust technology and extending it to watershed management.
These two dreams did not manifest much until the 2040s, after significant think tanks had been formed for each, college curriculum worked out for each and the public more educated and comfortable with the nature of these innovations.
What was the nature of these healthy socialist innovations? Put local communities in charge of managing their own wealth and resources.
Jumping forward to 2045 for a moment, the women said,
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“You know, it’s only the men who want to rule endlessly and be in charge endlessly. Anyone with a whole-brain in their head understands intuitively the cheapest and most responsive government is going to be local and community-run. The same is partly true for local economy. You want a heart attack if you want to run and control the economy. Why not let the people most affected by local economy and closest to local resources manage them? That’s working smart instead of working hard.”
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Public commons explained in 100 words or less
In terms of sustainability and equitable wealth sharing for the 99%, three orders of organization exist:
- Private or investor ownership, extract-exploit, the least-good option. Wealth accumulates in the hands of a few. Mercantilism, colonialism.
- Public ownership thru the Government, like National Parks. Better, still not empowering many. Bureaucratic and subject to political winds.
- Public Commons. George Monbiot suggests drinkable water is where to expand on Land Trust theory and practice. In England each watershed is already a clearly defined geographical region. Everyone living in it has interest in maintaining drinkable water. Empower them to manage it. Support them.
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To Learn More
In 2019 the only actual model of a Public Commons you have is Land Trusts.
An elegant summary and overview occurs in a comment to a George Monbiot article:
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[From comments in support of George’s piece]
…the problem is land ownership per se. Historically, land which was gifted by nature has been forcefully appropriated into private ownership. This is done by a ruling minority who then deny access to the majority.
Tho we take it for granted, land ownership is the most radical form of privatization Private ownership of land is a key capital asset and how the elites generate rents and distribute their money wealth to their children. This has led to the polarization of society into owners and renters, workers, rich and poor.
This maldistribution of wealth can only be addressed by returning land to the principle of the commons. Freehold could then become a form of leasehold. Rent generated being collected by the State and re-distributed as investment in infrastructure and other benefits for the 99% in exchange for loss of public access. Wildlife could also be compensated by restoring natural habitat and denying guns and shooters.
John Stone (Guardian UK reader comment)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/02/class-war-over-the-british-countryside
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