Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Thankfully, the elements of a new imaginary are all around us. The outlines of a new political economy that is both humane and in which the fulfillment of the person is conjoined to the well-being of one’s community are already visible…
If we ever thought we had secure access to things like education or health care, housing or income support, that sense of security is seeping away. In the US and across Europe, the rise of populism signals new depths of anger among people who feel betrayed by the powerful and out of control of their lives.
I want to share three similar examples of how citizens, when faced with a big challenge like we were, chose commoning and not only succeeded, but further developed their collaborative capacity ensuring they could better meet future challenges.
The late David Fleming was a maverick economist who left his imprint across British environmentalism from the Green Party to the Transition movement by way of the New Economics Foundation. In Lean Logic, he presents a lifetime’s thinking on how humanity might deal with a coming ‘climacteric’ – an interlocking crisis of climate, energy, water, food and other resources.
The commons is not just a battlefield between corporate predators and those who resist them – it is also a source of hope for those willing to imagine a world beyond capitalism. It represents a space between the private market and the political state in which humanity can control and democratically root our common wealth.
If endless growth is essential to prosperity and, at the same time, leads to ecological destruction, what should we do?
One reason that the Neoclassical School is so resilient to criticism is that it has a theory of value that provides its believers with a frame of reference that is both a core set of beliefs, and a means to generate coherent arguments across a wide range of topics. Post Keynesians deliberately eschewed that, and I think this is one reason they failed.
Rather than propose a glowing vision of a commons-based society, I am content to point to hundreds of smaller-scale projects and movements. As they find each other, replicate their innovations, and federate into a more coordinated, self-aware polity – if we dare call it that! – well, that’s when things will get very interesting.
Craft beer has begun to bring back many of the most important values and characteristics of beer that were lost for so long, going far beyond just taste. This is an important theme that Rob Hopkins, the co-founder of the Transition Town movement and founder of New Lion Brewery, explores throughout the episode.
Beyond critiques of the Silicon Valley-style “sharing economy”, Open Cooperativism questions the dominance of capital in the free and open source software economy, and suggests P2P-empowered digital solutions in order to lower the transactional costs of networked cooperative production.
Governments should recognize that cooperative platforms will mean more wealth staying in their communities and serving their constituents. Rather than trying (and failing) to say “no” to the likes of Uber, platform co-ops are something public institutions can say “yes” to.
In 1975, five penniless friends began restoring an old spinning mill in an attempt to revive the local wool industry. Today, the coop Ardelaine and its partners employ about 50 workers.
