Our Common Wealth: The Hidden Economy That Makes Everything Else Work

by Jonathan Rowe, Peter Barnes

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.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling, accessible, and interesting. Rowe brings up a lot of interesting ideas on how to tackle commons degregration. Private trusts that pay the American people when perpetrators pollute or degrade common resources (oceans, forests, etc...). He also questions the tragedy of the commons, and argues that people have always valued each other's interests as much as their own. Instead, corporations have degraded and stole from the publics resources for far too long (natural gas and wood). It wasn't you or I. Worth a read even if you don't agree!

[Ray Johns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Rowe's slim ,but insightful book has done invaluable service to showing how our 'Commonwealth' is not just the material accounting of our nation's material resources stock ,but that it is a larger social system co-equally important to the orderly functioning market-capitalist economy. Jonathan Rowe, "The market will continue . It answers a genuine need for initiative, enterprise,and yes, products.But the market should exist in equilibrium with a commons economy that does some things better and cheaper. One of government's jobs is to maintain boundaries between the market and the commons.It should provide a structure of law and support for the commons,just as it does for the market-no more and no less."

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a slim volume, a quick read broken into short essays, that addresses big, important concepts in an accessible way. The author was hardly a progressive leftist, yet he worked to bring progressives and capitalists together for cases that weren't handled well by either the state or the market.

The premise of the book is, "all wealth is in fact a coproduction among an owner, society, and nature. In many cases, the bulk of the value comes from the latter two" (p. 50). Society and nature are "commons," things that everyone "owns" collectively, together.

Despite the famous essay that implies "The Tragedy of the Commons" is inevitable, in point of fact people didn't abuse common property because social strictures held everyone in check. Even the creator of the phrase "acknowledged that overuse is not due to common ownership per se, but to the absence of rules governing access and use" (p. 20). The real tragedy happened to the commons, when corporate, governmental, and private forces took over and exploited it for money without thought for the future.

Since the problem is absence of rules, a progressive might jump to government regulation or ownership. Sometimes that's appropriate (e.g., New York City's Central Park), but governments can be short-sighted, too. Instead, trusts could be formed to "own" different commons: they're private property owners in the eyes of the law, but they can sue for damages, charge for use, and regulate their own resources, with the benefit spread equally among the people by definition. It's a convenient way of recognizing costs that are otherwise "externalized" by corporations and absorbed, often invisibly, by society.

Rather than government intrusion, it's the returning of rights to their owners (namely, all of us). The commons is neither market nor state, neither conservative nor liberal, but something that supports the market and gets protection from the state just as private property does.

[Mark Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a book!

This book is so many different things. As a person who wrote my Master's Thesis on Community, I wish I got to this book before then. Rowe's way of viewing the Commons is both very simple, and very thought out.

This books has its limits and datedness, sadly. It is quite a hopeful read for its time, but reading it now is kind of depressing. A fight for the Commons is more important than it ever has been (in the era of rising fascism, corporate greed, financialization of all aspects of life, post-pandemic economies, shifting global power structues, etc.), but it feels as though it is still in the background. The commons is a root solution to basically so many problems. From a purely US perspective, more Commons means more social interactions.
More common spaces would: Decrease car dependency; Decrease levels of lonliness; increase senses of communities outside of pure city-center areas; protect areas for existence for existence's sake.

The book loves its classical libertarian arguments of "it's not Left or Right, it's freedom," which I fundamentally disagree with. Pushing for such societal changes in defense of the Commons is an inherently progressive sentiment. I understand the use of such language to wrap up a larger audience, but I stand by my point.

This is a Must Read basically for everyone that I know who is even vaguely interested in Community and how it impacts our lives more than the surface.

[sweetchillisauce · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was good, I kinda skimmed it though so please don't ask me any questions in class about it

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introductory, light, easy and quick looks at different aspects of the commons and commoning.

[Jan Burch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short book that was recommended to me by a friend. Well worth devouring

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. It was published posthumously. I’m sorry the author isn’t still around - he would be interesting to talk with I’m sure. His emphasis on something that is hidden - is especially useful to me as I’m trying to write about things that are hidden. He focuses on the commons - everything from sea to common spaces in cities and villages and rural areas to the Internet. I learned from his perspective and the history lessons buried in this tiny little book were helpful. It makes me think about our neighborhood and the empty lots that proliferate. It gets me thinking about what I’ve heard neighbors talk about there and I wonder if any of them want to use some of those spaces enough to actually do it - and if so, how can I support them? I’m very glad I read this book.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

concise, practical analysis of the imbalance between the corporate, governmental and commons sectors and how it could be improved