Index

A

accountability, 9–10, 57–58, 98–100, 165–66

advertising, xv, 23, 30, 121–24, 145

Affluent Society, The (Galbraith), 23

air. See atmosphere

air trusts, 140–41

airwaves trust, 124–26, 145–46

Alaska Permanent Fund, 44–46, 73, 76, 106–7, 164

algorithms of Capitalism 2.0, 49–53, 65

American Community Gardening Association, 138

American Permanent Fund, 143–44, 147, 162, 165

Americans for the Arts, 71

anticorporate ascendancy, xv–xvi, 47, 155

arts funds, xv, 120–21

arts/artists, 12, 118–21, 132, 175

atmosphere

air trusts, 140–41

as joint inheritance, 12, 157

ownership of the, x–xi, 73

B

bailouts, 38, 45

balance

and common property trusts, 88–90

and commons algorithms, 131–32

commons and private property, 16–17

corporate and commons sector, xiv–xv, 65–66, 76–78, 164

predistribution of property, 105, 106, 164

Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, 129

Berners-Lee, Tim, 159

birthrights. See universal birthrights

bottom lines, multiple, 51–53

Breslow, Marc, 140

broadcasting industry, 19, 37, 121, 123–26, 145–46

Buffalo Commons, 142–43

Bureau of Land Management, 43

Bush, George W., 34, 109, 164

C

cable companies, 125–28

campaign financing, 37–38, 47, 145–46

Campus Martius Park, 139

Canada, health care in, 113–14

capital, divine right of, 80–82

capitalism

ascent of corporations, 19–22

and community, 101

decline in partnerships/sole proprietorships, 22

decline of the commons, 15–20

destruction of nature, 25–26

and discontent, 29–31

as distorter of democracy, 34, 45

distribution of wealth, 26–29, 144–45

and illth, 12

importance of commons to, 5

modern day conditions, 25–30

nature of, 14

and negative externalities, 9–10

as root problem, ix, xi–xiv

shortage capitalism, 23–24, 164

from shortage to surplus, 23–25

See also surplus capitalism

Capitalism 1.0, 23–24, 164

Capitalism 2.0. See surplus capitalism

carbon emissions

control valve for, 87–88

global atmospheric trust, 147–49, 151

management of, 41, 162

permits vs. taxes, 40, 140, 143–44

Cato Institute, 58

cell phones, 125

Center for Economic Policy Research, 129

Center for Public Integrity, 36

CERN, 159

Chief Seattle (Suquamish tribe), 73

Children’s Opportunity Trust, 108–12, 144–45, 147, 153

Christian Broadcasting Network, 125

Cisco Systems, 71

Coase, Ronald, 58–60, 90, 92

common assets

balance sheet for, 88–89

dividends from, 75, 106–8

and the economic operating system, 102

right to, 157

as shared gifts, 5–6

value of, 69–71

common property, 6, 61–62, 72–73, 106

common wealth

and common property, 76, 106–7

corporate use of, 105

overview of, 6, 66–69, 71

value of, 68–71

commons

decline of the, 15–20

defined, 4–6

public land, 42–45

tragedy of the, 7–8

See also common assets; community; culture; nature

commons entrepreneurs, 158–60

commons rent

and pollution rights, 94–96

and poverty, 93–94, 96–98

and scarcity, 92–93

commons sector

algorithms of the, 131–32, 165

balance with corporate sector, xiv–xv, 65–66, 76–78, 164

birthrights and the, 104

common property, 6, 61–62, 72–73, 106

and the economic operating system, 101, 163

enclosure of the, 128

enlarging the, x, xv

governments role in the, 152–53

local initiatives, 136–40

national initiatives, 143–47

natural assets, 70

organizing principles, 73–76, 105

overview of the, xiv, 6, 65–66, 135–36, 167

regional initiatives, 140–43

social assets, 70–71

See also common assets; common property trusts; common wealth; global atmospheric trust; health care

commons tax credits, 146–47

commons trustees, 47, 48, 91, 98–100

commons trusts

accountability and democracy, 98–100

as balance to corporations, 88–90

and the divine right of capital, 80–82

effect on poverty, 97–98

examples of, 84–86, 136–37, 142–43

management of, 86–88

need for, 79–80

overview of, 84–86

and pollution rights, 90–92, 106

tax credits for, 146–47

trustees, 47, 48, 91, 98–100

See also commons rent

Communications Act of 1934, 124

community

and capitalism, 101

and the commons sector, 66, 164, 165

fortification of, 131

and local art, 120

as part of the commons, 5–6

public spaces, 139

scope of, 68

time banks, 139

and universal birthrights, 104

community gardens, 138, 175

Congress

battles over Internet use, 126, 128

broadcast frequency giveaway, 19, 125

and copyright terms, 119

limitations of, 48

and lobbyists, 36–38

and tax laws, 39, 110–11

conservation easements, 85–86

Constitution

drafting the, 34

Equal Protection clause, 45

limitations of the, 38, 99

Ninth Amendment, 103

as rules for democracy, 8

and universal birthrights, 103, 156

contract and converge, 149–50

copycat research, 129–30

copyright, xv, 74, 118–21, 132

corporations

and the airwaves, 125–26

algorithms of, 50–51

ascent of, 19–22, 72

bailouts of, 38, 45

balance with commons sector, xiv–xv, 65–66, 76–77, 163, 165

battle over Internet access, 126–28

bottom lines, 51–53, 79–80

charter system, 20–21

clash with commons algorithms, 131–32

control of culture, 118–21

divine right of capital, 81

domination of government, xv–xvi, 47–48, 98–99, 155

and enclosure, 45 “influence industry,” 35–38, 145

and negative externalities, 9–10

patent ownership, 128–30

personhood, 21, 72

and pollution rights, 41, 91, 94

socially responsible, 50, 58

stock market use fees, 107

thneeds, 10–11

and trusteeship, 84, 100

Costanza, Robert, 70

culture

and the airwaves, 124–26

arts/artists, 12, 118–21, 132, 175

copyright, 74, 118–21, 132

as joint inheritance, 5–6, 12, 68, 117–18

and limits on advertising, 122–24

patents, 128–31

social assets, 69–71

See also Internet; science

D

Declaration of Independence, 103

Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, 131

democracy, 8, 34, 45, 98–100, 145–46

Department of the Interior, 35–36

Desert Land Act of 1877, 18

Diamond, Jared, 4

digital divide, 127

digital frequencies, 19, 125

discontent, 29–31, 65

Disney Corp., 119, 125

distribution of wealth, 26–29, 105–6, 143–44

See also inequality

Divine Right of Capital, The (Kelly), 80

Dole, Bob, 19

Domesday Book, 82

Dr. Seuss, 10, 72, 73

Dudley Street revitalization, 136

E

economic operating system

and birthrights, 102–3, 110, 116

and common property trusts, 88, 100

and the divine right of capital, 80–82

illth and thneeds, 9–11

levers, 86–87

overview of our, 8–9

plan for transforming, 163–66

and poverty, 97

and start-up shares, 102–3

and state of the world, 3–4

stock market, 67–68, 71, 107–8

and trust in, 67, 68

upgrading our, xiii–xiv, 4, 11–14, 31–32, 47

See also surplus capitalism

Economist, The (magazine), 52

economists, 9–10, 88–90, 161

ecosystem services, 70, 86, 89–90

ecosystems

and common property trusts, xv, 88, 91

management of, 86–88, 99–100

models for preservation of, 82–84

as property-less, 38–39

education, 18, 44, 103, 104

Edwards Aquifer Authority, 138

emissions. See carbon emissions; pollution

Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 81

enclosure, 17–20, 26, 45, 128

Endangered Species Act of 1973, 81–82

England, 16–17, 109, 114, 118, 119

entrepreneurs, 158–60

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), 36, 88, 141

equality. See inequality

externalities, 19–20, 91

F

Fairfax, Sally, 44

Fairness Doctrine (FCC), 125

farmers’ markets, 138–39

farmers/farming, 81–82, 92, 151, 165

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 124–25

Federal Reserve, 40–41, 86–88, 124

Federalist Papers (Madison), 99

feedback loops, 8–9

food production

local food sources, 138–39, 165

organic, 92, 151, 165

and politics, 81–82

pollution, 141–42

Founders of U.S.

on birthrights, 103

on democracy, 99

on property, 34, 108, 110

on the pubic domain, 128

See also Constitution

free market environmentalism, 58–61

future generations

as beneficiaries of commons trusts, 65, 74–75

and commons trusts, 84–85, 88, 89

and commons trustees, 48, 99, 100, 153, 164

as property-less, 38–39

responsibility to, 11, 12, 14

and state of our planet, 3, 10

G

Galbraith, John Kenneth, 23

Gates, Bill, Jr., xiv Gates, Bill, Sr., 111–12

Geisel, Theodor (Dr. Seuss), 10, 72, 73

General Electric (NBC), 125

General Social Survey, 29–30

George, Henry, 93–94

Glaxo Wellcome, 37

global atmospheric trust, 147–50

globalization, 28, 97

government

bias towards property owners, 39

corporate dominance of, xv–xvi, 45, 47–48, 155

corporate/commons sector balance via the, 76–78, 162

limits of regulation, 35–39, 58, 59

and pollution rights, 39–42, 60–61

role in protecing the commons, x, 33–34, 47, 152–53

Grassley, Chuck, 37

Great Britain, 16–17, 109, 114, 118, 119

Great Plains, 142

“green taxes,” 39

groundwater trusts, 138

H

Haggin, James, 18–19

Hammond, Jay, 46

happiness

and community, 101

and property, 110

and surplus capitalism, 29–31, 65

as universal birthright, 103, 164

Hardin, Garrett, x, 7–8, 33, 49, 169n7

Hawken, Paul, 55

health care

as birthright, xv, 104, 112–15, 157, 164

management of, 109, 153

pharmaceutical lobbyists, 36–37

universal health insurance, 113–15

Hickel, Walter, 19

Homestead Act of 1862, 18

Hurwitz, Charles, 53

I

illth

and the commons, 9–10, 19–20, 45

definition, 9

need to address, 12

and pollution rights, 58–59

and valve keepers, 88, 163

incentives, 13, 95

inclusivity, 6, 75

inequality

and birthrights, 103–5

and capitalism, 26–29, 50, 65

and commons trusts, 88

and commons rent, 96–97

in distribution of wealth, 26–29, 105–6, 143–44

in Internet access, 126–28

“influence industry,” 36–38

infrastructure, as joint inheritance, 12, 71

inheritance tax, 110–11

intellectual property, 119

Internal Revenue Service, 112

Internet

digital divide, 127

“net neutrality,” 128

as product of publicly funded research, 131

resource guide, 175–76

as social asset, 70–71, 75, 118, 126–28, 157

two-tiered Internet, 128

wi-fi access, 126, 140, 145

World Wide Web, 159

J

Jefferson, Thomas, 103, 108, 110, 128–29

John, King of England, 16

joint stock corporation. See corporations

K

Kelly, Marjorie, 28–29, 80, 81

Kennedy, Robert F., Jr., 59–60

Kyoto Protocol, 148, 149

L

labor

and the bottom line, 50, 54, 80

collective bargaining, 103

decimation of unions, 47, 157

Land Ordinance of 1785, 18, 44

land trusts, 136–37, 142–43, 147, 175

Lasn, Kalle, 122

lawyers, 160

liquidity

of common property, 76

premium, 67–68, 71

live arts, 120–21

lobbyists, 35–39, 162

local food sources, 138–39, 165

local initiatives, 136–40

Locke, John, 16–17, 74, 103, 110, 119

Lorax, The (Seuss), 10, 72, 73

Losing Ground (Murray), 28

M

Madison, James, 99, 108

Magna Carta, 16

managers

and capitalism, 50, 157

enlightened, 51–54, 65

free market environmentalism, 59

shareholder activism, 56

trusts, 45, 83–84, 163

Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), 85–86, 136

Massachusetts Climate Action Network, 140

Maxxam, 53

MBNA, 36

media companies, 19, 37, 121, 123–26, 145–46

Medicare, 37, 75, 130, 153

Mill, John Stuart, 93, 94

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 25

Mining Act of 1872, 43

Mississippi basin, 141–42

Monopoly (game), 8, 102, 106

Monsanto, 36

Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862, 18, 44

multiple bottom lines, 51–53

municipal wi-fi, 126, 140

Murdoch, Rupert, 125

Murray, Charles, 28

Music Performance Trust Fund, 121

N

NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement), 81

National Science Foundation, 131

National Trust (Great Britain), 84

natural assets, 70

Natural Resources Defense Council, 59

nature

and capitalism, 25–26, 50, 65, 80, 81

and the commons sector, 66, 165

corporate disregard of, 54

desperate state of, 3–4, 11, 25

duty to, 79–80

fortification of, 131, 165

as joint inheritance, 12

as part of the commons, 5–6

and pollution taxes, 39–42, 91

powerlessness of, 38–39

See also common property trusts; ecosystems; global atmospheric trust; nonhuman species

Nature Conservancy, 73, 84, 143

NBC, 125

negative externalities. See illth

“net neutrality,” 128

New America Foundation, 145

New York Times, 36

Newton, Issac, 117, 118

Ninth Amendment, 103

nonelderly poor, 11, 89

nonhuman species

as beneficiaries of commons trusts, 88

biodiversity, 4

and the Endangered Species Act, 81–82

as property-less, 38–39

responsibility to, 12

North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 81

Northwest Ordinance of 1787, 108

O

Ogallala Aquifer, 138, 142

Olson, Mancur, 38

operating system. See economic operating system

Oregon Water Trust, 137

organic farming, 92, 151, 165

P

Pacific Forest Trust, 86, 136, 175

Pacific Lumber Company, 53, 73

Paine, Thomas, 17–18

patents, 74, 128–31

Paxson, Lowell “Bud,” 125

Pennsylvania’s constitution, 33–34

pension funds, 56, 81

pharmaceutical industry, 36–37, 129

Phillips, Kevin, 37

Pigou, Arthur, 39, 40

Popper, Deborah and Frank, 142

Polanyi, Karl, 17

politicians, 36–38, 98–99, 145–46, 162

pollution

and common property trusts, 87–88, 90–92, 106, 143–44, 162

and commons rent, 94–96

cumulative effects of, 3–4

and free market environmentalism, 58–61

and pollutees, 65, 90–91

taxes on, 39–42

See also carbon emissions; global atmospheric trust

Portland’s Pioneer Square, 139

poverty. See inequality

predistribution of property, 105, 106, 164

primogeniture, 108, 111

private wealth

and common assets, 71, 107, 164

and debt to society, 111–12

primacy of, 81

and stock ownership, 108

value of U.S., 66, 68–69

privatization

of the airwaves, 125–26, 146

and capitalism, 49–51

and common property, 61–62

and free market environmentalism, 58–61

of Social Security, 109, 164

and statism, 33

professional sports, 102–3

profit, 50–53, 80–81

Progress and Poverty (George), 94

property

assumptions about, 88–89

ownership and power, 34, 39, 65

predistribution of, 105, 106, 164

rent, 92–94

unearned increment, 93

property rights

common property, 6, 61–62, 72–73, 106

and common property trusts, 88, 98, 143

and economics, 72–73, 94, 158, 164

enduring nature of, 47

and exclusivity, 6, 75

and free market environmentalism, 58–61

historical views of, 16–18, 108

and power, 34, 39, 45, 48

and protection of nature, 79–80

proprietorships, 22

public domain, 74, 118–21, 130

public goods, 89, 92, 97

public lands, 35–36, 42–45

public spaces, 139

public trust, 33–34

publicly funded research, 130–31

R

Rawls, John, 105

recording industry, 121

redistribution of income, 105, 106, 164

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, 140

regional initiatives, 137, 140–43

regulation

limits of, 35–39, 45, 47, 58, 59

and surplus capitalism, 65

regulatory capture, 33–34

religious leaders, 161

rent, 92–94

research, and corporate control, 128–30

Ricardo, David, 93

Rio Convention of 1992, 148

Robertson, Pat, 125

Romney, Mitt, 141

Ruskin, John, 9

S

San Francisco Grants for the Arts, 120–21

Sargent, Aaron, 18

scarcity, 23–24, 92–93

schools, and public lands, 18, 44

Schumacher, E. F., xi–xii

science

corporate control of, 118–19, 128–30

joint inheritance, 12, 68

screened investment funds, 54–55

shareholder activism, 55–56

shareholders

and capitalism, 50

and corporate responsibility, 51, 81

and distribution of wealth, 28, 108

shortage capitalism, 23–24, 164

Sim City, 135

sky trust, x–xi, 147

Small Is Beautiful (Schumacher), xi

Smith, Adam, 20, 39, 93

Smith, Vernon, 46

social assets, 69–71

Social Security

privatization of, 109

success of, 11, 144, 164

socially responsible corporations and enlightened managers, 51–54

limited impact of, xii–xiii

spectrum trust, 145–46

Spitzer, Eliot, 141

start-up capital, xv, 108–12, 144–45

state. See government

state assets, 69, 88

statism, 33, 49

Statute of Queen Anne of 1710 (England), 118

stock market, 67–68, 71, 107–8

stockholders. See shareholders

subsidies, 38, 45

Superfund, 36

Supreme Court, 21, 45, 99

surface water trusts, 137

surplus capitalism

algorithms of, 49–51

and destruction of nature, 26

fueled by advertising, 23, 122

and quality of life, 23–24, 29–31

shortcomings of, 65, 145, 165

Sutton, Paul, 70

T

tax credits, commons, 146–47

taxation, 39–42, 45, 47

technology, 26, 70–71, 130–31

telephone companies, 125–28

Tevis, Lloyd, 18–19

thneeds

and advertising, 122

definition, 10

and surplus capitalism, 23–24, 65

timber industry, 37

time banks, 139, 176

tobacco industry, 37 “Tragedy of the Commons, The” (Hardin), 7, 33, 169n7

Trebah Garden, 82–84

triple bottom line, 51–53

trust fund

as birthright, xv, 102, 104

Children’s Opportunity Trust, 108–12, 144–45, 147, 153

Great Britain, 109

trustees/trusteeship, 45, 83–84, 163

See also common property trusts; commons trustees

trusts

advertising, 123–24

air, 140–41

for the arts, 120–21

and conservation easements, 85–86

and the economic operating system, 67, 68

and ecosystem preservation, 82–84

land, 136–37, 142–43, 147, 175

and pollution rights, 60

state land, 44–45

See also common property trusts

U

unearned increment, 93

Union of Concerned Scientists, 30

United Nations, 25

universal birthrights

arguments/counterarguments for, 116

Children’s Opportunity Trust, 108–12, 144–45, 147, 153

and community, 101

demanding more, 155

and economic operating systems, 102–3, 110, 116

expansion and extension of, xv, 103–5

health risk sharing, 112–15

historical view of, 17, 103–5

University of Texas, 71

university research, 129

U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, 130

U.S. Department of the Interior, 35–36

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 36, 88, 141

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 124–25

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 43

U.S. Forest Service, 43, 44

U.S. Internal Revenue Service, 112

U.S. Patent Office, 128, 129

U.S. Supreme Court, 21, 45, 99

V

value of common wealth, 68–71

valve keepers, 86–88, 163

W

wage earners, 156

Walt Disney Company, 119, 125

Waste Management Inc., x, xi

water, 12, 81–82, 157

water trusts, 137–38, 141–42, 147

wealth distribution. See distribution of wealth

Wealth of Nations, The (Smith), 20

Whitehead, Alfred North, 7

wi-fi (wireless fidelity), 126, 127, 140, 145

Will, George, 102–3

work ethic, 116

Working Assets, ix–x, xii–xiii, 54, 67–68

working forest conservation easements, 86

World Trade Organization (WTO), 81, 150

World Wide Web, 159

Wright, Ronald, 4

Y

Yankelovich poll, 122