How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. It used to be that there were some services and institutions so vital to our nation that they were exempt from market pressures. Some things we just didn’t do for money. The United States always defined capitalism, but it didn’t used to define us. But now it’s becoming all that we are.” --Bill Maher
We are all richer than we think. The Federal Government owns about 1/3 of the land in the USA. This land is what is known in economic parlance as 'commons', which derive from the old English idea. Air, water, forests etc. which corporations exploit without returning a thing except to their stockholders, are all commons. Why then should they not be managed like any other asset, with returns given to the shareholders - you and me? The state of Alaska does this already, returning 25% of its oil profits directly to the people in the form of dividends. Oil profits are what funds the health care systems in Scandinavia. In other words, private property, while a great concept, doesn't have to be the be all and end all for society. Capitalism, for all its power to generate wealth, also moves that wealth into fewer and fewer hands as it drives the economy. It's the inevitable result. We've seen it before, and we see it now. Peter Barnes, the author of Capitalism 3.0 has written a book which can be downloaded free in PDF format: Peter Barnes’ concept of commons trusts is nothing short of brilliant. If applied on a large scale, it would fundamentally change capitalism. This idea has legs. Marjorie Kelly, author, The Divine Right of Capital
Barnes also came up with the idea of Cap and Dividend, which is like Cap and Trade, except that companies who exceed their carbon emissions limits pay a dividend to you and me in return for ruining our air, rather than playing a little shell game with each other. I'm currently reading this book, and would sure love to have a few folks from LiA join me. Perhaps we can explore this old idea within a modern framework in more detail. Here's a quote from the forward: For years the Right has been saying—nay, shouting—that government is flawed and that only privatization, deregulation, and tax cuts can save us. For just as long, the Left has been insisting that markets are flawed and that only government can save us. The trouble is that both sides are half-right and half-wrong. They’re both right that markets and state are flawed, and both wrong that salvation lies in either sphere. But if that’s the case, what are we to do? Is there, perhaps, a missing set of institutions that can help us?
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