Does it have to be this way? Do we need to kill the Earth and ourselves? On a less intense level, do we need to work hours on end for dwindling pay and benefits? Can we move beyond what is coming to be out-and-out slavery? Can you feel the whip upon your daughter's back as she hears the scream: "Do more, b*tch, so I can become richer and have more power! Medical Benefits!? Ha! Ha! Ha! Do you think I care if you die? Dance you lil b*stard!"
Interestingly, most ancient cultures lived in unison with the land and each other. They were not apart from the ecosystem in which they lived. They were a part of it. Indeed, the entire Earth was seen as what we today call the "Commons".
But, then came the Greeks and Romans. These folks created an actual "legal" definition of the Commons. As illustrated in the following:
The concept of the commons dates back to Roman law. According to the Romans, property was divided by distinct definition. One definition was being private, which of course were things that people could own. The other was public, which was defined as those things built by municipalities, governing bodies, and the government. http://www.environmentalcommons.org/commons.html
Of course, this doesn't take into account what is natural, such as the air we breathe or the water we drink. Nor does it account for the wild animals, plants and landforms that provide us and other creatures with food, shelter and companionship. Are any of these truly our property? Is our wife or husband our property? Are our children our property? Are the animals we bond with and help us with survival truly ours?
These are deep questions we need to ask ourselves. It is interesting that Native American tribes often explored the ramifications of a decision they were contemplating unto the 7th generation. Our shortsighted corporations meanwhile tend to look at their profits for one to five years and don't attend to the future generations. "Our children be damned," is the battle cry. Take another look at the tar sands oilfields that will become our children's hell. Do we remember the dust bowl of the 1930s? Do we understand that we are headed to a thousand times worse in the 2030s if we don't honor the commons?
Ultimately, everything we do affects everything else. Everything IS the commons. Even breathing entails a dance of keeping a balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. We operate as one living planetary system! Planet Earth is THE Commons.
One of the primary champions of the Commons is David Bollier. David is an author, activist, blogger and consultant who spends a lot of time exploring the commons as a new paradigm of economics, politics and culture. David has written, co-authored or co-edited thirteen books. In his most recent book, Think Like a Commoner, David describes the logic, worldview and ethics of the commons, and the burgeoning international movement of commoners, especially in Europe and the global South. He summarizes the book by stating it, "provides a succinct overview of the great diversity of commons in the world and the many pernicious enclosures now being fought." This masterpiece has received glowing endorsements from the likes of Bill McKibben, Ralph Nader, Maude Barlow, David Korten, Michel Bauwens and Peter Barnes.
Some powerful folks there!
David also states, "the commons is not so much a fixed, universal thing as a general concept describing durable, dynamic sets of social relationships for managing resources -- all sorts of resources: digital, urban, natural, indigenous, rural, cultural, scientific, to use some crude categories. Each commons has its own distinctive character because each is shaped by its particular location, history, culture and social practices. The term commoning means to suggest that the commons is really more of a verb than a noun. It is a set of ongoing practices, not an inert physical resource."
Think of this "commoning" in terms of Earth scientist James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis which states that the Earth kindled biological life on this planet by a system of interactions. These interactions helped to unfold the potentials of the creatures and plants that have inherited and populated this Earth. These interactions are not in conflict, overall. Indeed, we breathe in oxygen that plants breathe out and the plants breathe in carbon dioxide, which we breathe out. It is by this relationship that this planet works.
This planet is a Commons! While David may not say this blatantly, I would bet he at least respects what I'm saying.
Yet we sell our Soul, our children's Soul, and the Earth's Soul to the Corporation. Or, as the song sings:
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt!
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