Our Common Wealth

OUR COMMON WEALTH

 

THEORY

 

There is a body of thought surrounding the commons, and there are efforts in the real world to strengthen the commons. The first part of the book focuses on the former, the second on the latter. In short, theory and practice.

Rowe begins by painting a picture of the commons in the twenty-first century. This picture goes well beyond the familiar one from medieval Europe; it is shared wealth writ large. It includes innumerable gifts of nature and society, from the atmosphere to the Internet, science to children’s stories, soil to community strength. We inherit these assets jointly and hold them in trust, morally if not ...