Thread: 'collaborative commons'

I never heard the term before. In this video it is well described. Now I am an old dog set in his ways but new tricks are not outside my learning curve. In fact I participate in this collaborative commons thing a lot more than I realized. In fact all of us using SRP are gratefully participating. I have often wondered where this world is headed and this video sums up one of the biggest economic changes taking place right under our noses. Capitalism is being over taken by something it helped create and it maybe the saving of the world. Net neutrality is an important factor but so far we are winning that battle. I now feel there is some hope for the younger generations.





The old bumper sticker read " The one who dies with the most toys wins".
The new sticker reads, " The one who dies needing the fewest toys wins"

I've read two novels that explore aspects of this system, of course they are Science Fiction, but they are fascinating stories and examine some of these anti-capitalist Utopian type societies, certainly not academic studies, but fascinating nonetheless in that some of the most brilliant projection of the future comes from art and literature.

Anyhow, if you're interested in a good read. Try, "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin, and the Mars Trilogy, Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson. The Mars trilogy is about the process of terraforming Mars, it's very heavy on the technical, and if you're into geology, there's lots of it, including, like the Le Guin novel, the idea of what an economic system beyond capitalism, socialism, or communism. Both explore the idea beyond the concept of constant increase in production and explore human capital and coin a term referred to as "eco-economics". Off the top of my head, Mars is full of gold, it's everywhere, so what value does it have to someone who lives on Mars? What basis for goods and services would exist in such an environment, hence the exploration of alternative economic systems. Fascinating stuff, the video seems to discuss this same concept.

"The one who dies needing the fewest toys wins", is said virtually verbatim in the Mars novels.

Good post thanks!

I definitely have food for thought, I will respectfully refuse comment at this juncture.