Jay Walljasper, in On the Commons, writes that the commons movement is at a historical juncture, comparable to the shift to neoconservatism in the eighties, but now moving in the other direction.
The concept of the commons may be the underlying rallying point for a new progressive movement.
Excerpt:
“There is evidence that the market may have passed its peak as the defining idea of our era. Serious concern about the fate of the earth, especially global warming, offered the first signs of a shift. Then, recent financial upheavals revealed the glaring weaknesses of the current economic model for all to see, forcing even many market true believers scrambling to embrace new policies and positions.
A sudden switch in the mood of the U.S.—the driving engine of free market policies for many years—was seen most dramatically in Obama’s and the Democrats’ decisive victories this fall. While Obama has not used phrases like “the commons”,” his clearly articulated approach to governance is built upon ideas of the common good, which creates an opening to talk about the commons to a much wider audience.
A group of activists and thinkers championing a commons-based society is prepared to do just that by challenging the lockhold market ideology now holds over society. At this point, they’re a small bunch with backgrounds in various social causes, movements and internet initiatives—not so different from the dedicated market advocates of the 1950s and ‘60s, except in where they place their hopes. These commoners, as they call themselves, argue that a commons paradigm is beginning to emerge which could replace the market paradigm.
This idea of the commons—which simply means things we inherit or create together that belong equally to all of us such as air, water, public spaces, the internet, social services, culture and much more—could become a rallying point for people of diverse ideological stripes who question the market party line now enforced by corporate bosses, government bureaucrats and the economics profession.
The current rash of crises in modern life—including climate change, global poverty and social alienation— arise from an over reliance on the market as tool to get things done. That inevitably leads to widespread devaluing and destruction of the commons, with negative effects that can be felt everywhere in our lives, from shabby conditions in local parks to the growing sense of powerlessness most people about the decisions that affect their futures.
The rise of a commons-based society would not mean wholly dismantling the market system of economics but taming it. Ideally, the market and the commons work together to keep society in a kind of natural balance. There is a difference between using the market as an efficient technique for allocating resources in appropriate situations (market tools) and prescribing it as an all-purpose solution for every social and economic problem (market paradigm). Rejecting the narrow “private sector vs. state” arguments that have defined political discussion for so long, commoners envision a society that utilizing the strengths of the market along with those of civil society and government to provide for the common good.
Public recognition of the commons is rising, best seen in this dramatic statistic from the source that best measures the zeitgeist of our times: google. In June 2004, a google search for “commons” turned up 6.3 million hits. That search repeated in November 2008 yielded 255 million— 40 times as many references in just over four years. Internet growth accounts for a part of this gain, but it’s clear that the phrase “commons” and the wealth of ideas behind it are entering popular consciousness.
But as powerful as this idea is, the commons is not widely understood by the public. The phrase resonates in most people’s ears, but is often understood to mean specific concerns such as public lands or civic spaces. The commons actually represents an interconnecting web of critical concerns that reach deep into the realms of culture, ecology, technology, economics, politics, human relationships and social systems. There is a need for public education campaigns that excite people from all walks of life about the potential of a commons-based society to improve their own lives and reorder society’s priorities.
The growing interest in creating a commons-based society is fueled in part by the auspicious historical moment that is dawning all around us. It’s reminiscent of the time thirty years ago when liberalism was losing its footing and conservative policymakers refashioned their old political rhetoric based on social exclusion and apologies for corporate capitalism into a shiny new philosophy known as “the market”. Previously the thrust of right-wing thought had been focused on what they were against (civil rights, labor unions, social programs etc.), but claiming the market as their mission allowed them to showcase what they were for. The success of that “re-branding” has shaped our world.
The commons now offers a similar opportunity to turn things around in the political land economic spheres. Yet unlike the theory of the market, the commons is not just old wine in new bottles; it marks a substantive new dimension in political and social thinking.
The promise of a commons-based society offers considerable appeal for progressives after a long period in which the bulk of their political engagement has been in reaction to right-wing initiatives. Activists across many social movements, now aware that an expansive political agenda will succeed better than narrow identity politics and single-issue crusades, are starting to embrace the language and ideas of the commons. This line of thinking also appeals to a few traditional conservatives who regret the wanton destruction of social and environmental assets carried out in the name of a free market revolution. In the truest sense of the word, the commons is a conservative as well as progressive virtue because it aims to conserve and nurture all those things necessary for creating a better world.
At this moment in history growing numbers of citizens—including many who never before questioned the status quo—are willing to explore perspectives that once would have seemed radical. Millions of Americans are now making shifts in their personal lives such as buying organic foods, trying alternative medicine, collaborating in creating software, and beginning to search for something that offers a greater sense of meaning in the world. They may not yet understand the idea of the commons, but they are looking for something different in their lives.
The time seems ripe today for a decisive shift in worldview. People everywhere are yearning to tap the potential of the human spirit to create a better world, and the dream of a commons-based society holds great practical potential to transform that hope into constructive action. “