Our Common Wealth The Hidden Economy That Makes Everything Else Work

A huge part of our economy is invisible, invaluable, and highly vulnerable. "The Commons" is a generic term that denotes everything we share, our entire life support system, both natural and social. Some parts of the commons are gifts of nature: the air and oceans, the web of species, wilderness and flowing water. Others are the product of human creativity and endeavor: sidewalks and public squares, the stories of childhood, language, customs and traditions. But they all "belong" to all of us, if that is the word. No one has exclusive rights. We inherit them jointly and hold them in trust for those who come after us. This concise, comprehensive work examines the history and tragic neglect of the commons and offers pragmatic advice for strengthening and protecting it at a time when privatization and control are economic mantras. It is both reflective and practical, exploring the complex but vital relationship of the commons to the market and the state and the importance of the commons in the modern world.

Jonathan Rowe was a Nader’s “Raider,” a US Senate aide, an editor at the Washington Monthly, and cofounder of OntheCommons.org.
Peter Barnes (editor) is a cofounder of Working Assets/Credo and the author of Capitalism 3.0.

Foreword by Bill McKibben
Introduction by Peter Barnes
Part One: Theory
1: Our hidden wealth
2: How tragic is the commons?
3: A new commons story
4: A parallel economy
5: Stop the invasions!
6: The myopia of money
7: Human nature and the commons
8: Common property
9: Takers and givers
10: The community of goods
11: Conservative commoners, once
Part Two: Practice
12: Accounting for common wealth
13: Tollbooths of the mind
14: Subsistence from the commons
15: Build it and they will sit
16: Sidewalks of the information age
17: Reallocating time
18: Service banking
19: Who owns the beach?
20: From alleys to commons
21: New institutions needed
22: Seeds of a commons movement
Afterword by David Bollier
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author
About the Editor
About On The Commons
About West Marin Commons