~ C-PAG-B-ADGOPDTODSPABOKFMAR-ECIS-BEHEIRTAS-R-L-LH-A-SOT ~ Commons – Persist And Grow – Because – A Defined Group Of People Develop Their Own Distinctive Social Practices And Bodies Of Knowledge For Managing A Resource – Each Commons Is Special – Because Each Has Evolved In Relationship To A Specific – Resource – Landscape – Local History – And – Set Of Traditions

~ TIN-SF-O-B-FCAC-NITCSPOU ~ There Is No – Standard Formula – Or – Blueprint – For Creating A Commons – Nor Is The Commons Some Panacea Or Utopia

~ TC-IA-PP-F-S-G-RM-A-‘LW’ ~ The Commons – Is A – Practical Paradigm – For – Self-Governance – Resource Management – And – “Living Well”

~ ACCITTOSPT’D’FACAAUPSTWOBE-TCLTPPFACR-O-W-AC-F-F-A-TDTR-TIKAA-‘CAP’ ~ A Constant Challenge Is The Tendency Of Some People To “Defect” From A Common Agreement And Undermine Potential Schemes That Would Otherwise Benefit Everyone – This Can Lead To Private Profiteering From A Collective Resource – Or – Worse – A Chaotic – Free-For-All – That Destroys The Resource – This Is Known As A – “Collective Action Problem”

~ ACI:AR+AC+ASOSP ~ A Commons Is: A Resource + A Community + A Set Of Social Protocols

~ WCIIA?-A-WA-TF-ME-MFPI? ~ Whose Commons Is It Anyway? – And – What Are – The Fairest – Most Effective – Means For Protecting It?

~ T-‘DWU’-PTCEIWMTCPSVAP-A-SCTCEAP ~ The – “Diversity Within Unity” – Principle That Commons Embody Is What Makes The Commons Paradigm So Versatile And Powerful – And – So Confusing To Conventional Economists And Policymakers

~ TC-INOASR;IMATSPAVTWDTMT ~ The Commons – Is Not Only About Shared Resources; It’s Mostly About The Social Practices And Values That We Devise To Manage Them

~ WPCT-STSEAP-A-AABOPKAT-ASOPSCE ~ When People Come Together – Share The Same Experiences And Practices – And – Accumulate A Body Of Practical Knowledge And Traditions – A Set Of Productive Social Circuits Emerges

~ ACH-B-R-SN-A-SAF-R ~ A Commons Has – Boundaries – Rules – Social Norms – And – Sanctions Against Free Riders

~ ACRTTBACWTAAACSOAR ~ A Commons Requires That There Be A Community Willing To Act As A Conscientious Steward Of A Resource

~ ‘CPR’ ~ “Common Pool Resources”

~ WDA-CMHEAT-CRM ~ When Disputes Arise – Commoners Must Have Easy Access To – Conflict-Resolution Mechanisms

~ TGINTMMGAAM-B-TMSTOFHE-TC-PU-IATPAEOS ~ The Goal Is Not To Maximize Market Gains And Amass Money – But – To Make Sure That One’s Family Has Enough – The Commons – Properly Understood – Is About The Practice And Ethic Of Sufficiency

~ TFOMEACARIDADC;TDLTC ~ The Forces Of Market Enclosure Are Cruel And Relentless In Deconstructing And Destroying Commons; They Don’t Like The Competition

~ GGPTMRTSSSOC-TT-C-ATBA-TI-IAU-EITASOCRTP ~ Governments Generally Prefer To Manage Resources Through Strict Standardized Systems Of Control – To Them – Commoning – Appears To Be Altogether – Too Informal – Irregular And Unreliable – Even If The Actual Successes Of Commons Refute That Prejudice

~ ABUOTCMITAOTDAMOE ~ Any Basic Understanding Of The Commons Must Inevitably Take Account Of The Dynamics And Meaning Of Enclosure

~ E-ASFOTTALN-IPB-GOPAKRILT-BIAC-RT-B-TAOU-O-TDC-ABTI-C-OPAFWD ~ Enclosures – A Special Form Of Theft That Attracts Little Notice – In Part Because – Governments Often Play A Key Role In Legitimizing Them – But In All Cases – Resources That – Belong – To All Of Us – Or – To Distinct Communities – Are Being Transformed Into – Corporate-Owned Properties And Free Waste Dumps

~ NS-E-TTIWTAOPT-S-OACTOG-MTON-A-PTCAWOL ~ Not Surprisingly – Enclosures – Tend To Interfere With The Ability Of People To – Self-Organize And Control Their Own Governance – Meet Their Own Needs – And – Protect Their Culture And Way Of Life

~ VPO-A-A-LA-ACRFAFILG-CRHFPD-TSOEOCLIM-A-SITDOC-OTLAS-CCNL-GAHTOF-DW-O-HWG-EASTCAC ~ Vast Portions Of – Africa – Asia – And – Latin America – Are Currently Reeling From A Fierce International Land Grab – Commoners Rarely Have Formal Property Deeds – The Scale Of Enclosure Of Customary Lands Is Massive – And – So Is The Displacement Of Commoners – Once Their Lands Are Seized – Commoners Can No Longer – Grow And Harvest Their Own Food – Draw Water – Or – Hunt Wild Game – Enclosures Are Shattering Their Communities And Cultures

~ WCBMLTTPSOTPEAABP? ~ What Could Be More Lucrative Than The Private Sale Of The Public’s Equity Assets At Bargain Prices?

~ GB-IAEFO-E-‘I’ ~ Genetic Biodiversity – Is An Important Form Of – Ecological – “Insurance”

~ P-P-S-AIIE-D ~ Public – Physical – Spaces – Are Important In Enacting – Democracy

~ ITIK-OAATA-CHGTTI-CAIITM-TI-MBTMSPOINE ~ Infrastructure That Is Kept – Open And Accessible To All – Can Help Guarantee That There Is – Competition And Innovation In The Marketplace – The Internet – May Be The Most Significant Piece Of Infrastructure Now Endangered

~ FTI-HBHFSTCWEO-CHABAI-E-A-T-ECW ~ From Time Immemorial – Human Beings Have Freely Shared Their Creativity With Each Other – Culture Has Always Been About Imitation – Extending – And – Transforming – Earlier Creative Works

~ A-HABA-C-I-AOB ~ Art – Has Always Been A – Communal – Intergenerational Act Of Borrowing

~ CCTWACOSC ~ Culture Cannot Thrive Without A Commons Of Shared Creativity

~ IAS-CGOOTM-V-DC-IB-ANKOCTM-BC ~ In A Sense – Creativity Generated Outside Of The Marketplace – Via – Digital Commons – Is Becoming – A Robust New Kind Of Competition To Market-Based Culture

~ IIEPF-MAC-T-‘PNT’ ~ It Is Entirely Possible For – Markets And Commons – To – “Play Nicely Together”

~ B-ITMSPIDTF-MTTSNBGAP-PATBRTEN-EHCR-EAD-CADOVR ~ But – If The Market System Presses Its Demands Too Far – Monetizing Things That Should Not Be Given A Price – Privatizing Access To Basic Resources That Everyone Needs – Enormous Harm Can Result – Ecosystems Are Damaged – Commoners Are Dispossessed Of Vital Resources

~ CTTBNWOSOPAIR-A-T-ANWI-TIOADCTBTLOTCATIOIHE-TIWMCTIT-IOP-I-‘PZ’-T-O-O-BPARFI ~ Commons Tend To Be Nested Within Other Systems Of Power And Institutional Relationships – And – Therefore – Are Not Wholly Independent – There Is Often A Deep Creative Tension Between The Logic Of The Commons And The Imperatives Of Its Host Environment – This Is Why Many Commons Thrive In The – Interstices Of Power – In – “Protect Zones” – Tolerated – Or – Overlooked – By Power Accidentally Remote From It

~ HRACGBM ~ Human Reciprocity And Cooperation Go Back Millennia

~ ETWLTC-‘I’-A-‘C’-A-O-ITCTTTBAIICW-TTANME-BR-DY-A-YC ~ Even Though We Like To Contrast – “Individualism” – And – “Collectivism” – As – Opposites – In The Commons They Tend To Blur And Intermingle In Complicated Ways – The Two Are Not Mutually Exclusive – But Rather – Dynamic Yin-And-Yang Complements

~ H-C-R-A-N-RB-AJASFA-‘CR’-A-‘UM’ ~ Human – Cooperation – Reciprocity – And – Non-Rational Behavior – Are Just As Significant Forces As – “Competitive Rationality” – And – “Utility Maximization”

~ IS-RSE-LATHO-H-I-C-A-C ~ In Short – Reciprocal Social Exchange – Lies At The Heart Of – Human – Identity – Community – And – Culture

~ L-INJ-FW-AI;I-IA-I-A-S ~ Law – Is Not Just – Formal – Written – And Institutional; It – Is Also – Informal – Oral – And – Social

~ CRVIAABATAOFLBIROOTFWTFLCBMATTP ~ Commoning Remains Vitally Important As A Bulwark Against The Abuses Of Formal Law Because It Represents One Of The Few Ways That Formal Law Can Be Made Accountable To The People

~ CAM-BSSWTC? ~ Can A Market-Based Society Survive Without The Commons?

~ TROTDC ~ The Rise Of The Digital Commons

~ TCS ~ The Commons Sector

~ TOAR ~ The Open Access Revolution

~ SC ~ Subsistence Commons

~ VACAHTDISMUTSOTM ~ Virtually All Commons Are Hybrids That Depend In Some Measure Upon The State Or The Market

~ STC ~ State Trustee Commons

~ TPOACCFTASPTAI ~ The Power Of A Commons Comes From The Actual Social Practices That Animate It

~ WSS-A-S-S-B-O-EF-AP-W-LEAE-RT-MBM-T-R-A-P? ~ Why Should Some – Abstract – Self-Serving – Bureaucratic – Or – Economic Framework – Automatically Prevail – When – Local Expertise And Experience-Rich Traditions – May Be More – Trustworthy – Responsive – And – Practical?

~ TS-SORT-S-OCCPCFME-T-T-S-O-M-A-WGP-L-F-A-P ~ The State – Should Openly Recognize That – Self-Organized Commons Can Perform Certain Functions More Effectively – Than – The – State – Or – Market – And – With Greater Perceived – Legitimacy – Fairness – And – Participation