Privatization of The Commons

One of the results of the late, advanced form of capitalism at work in the world today has been the attempt of the rich to acquire exclusive rights to those resources which used to be considered as openly available to all people. Those open resources are also called the ‘commons,’ after the common ground in medieval European village systems on which anyone could keep their animals.

The commons, from an economic perspective, are famous for the phenomenon of the Tragedy of the Commons: if everybody has the right to use something and no responsibility for ensuring its sustainability, then inevitably the usage will intensify until such time as the system collapses and the resources are exhausted completely. This may be seen in the case of the oceans, which have to a large extent been denuded of important food fishes with what appears to be disastrous results for the ecosystems involved.

Rather than seek to determine acceptable limits of use and fair sharing rules, capitalism demands that the powerful solve the problem of the Tragedy of the Commons by obtaining exclusive access to the resource concerned. This has the innate problem that there are likely to be insufficient restrictions on the sole exploiter of the resource and one person or organization can over-exploit a resource as much as many people. Indeed, under current conditions of capitalism, regulation of actions are considered to be unnecessary ‘bureaucracy’ or ‘red tape’ which holds back aggressive investment and any regulations that might be enforced should be not just ‘light touch’ in nature but should involve self-regulation. The disastrous bank-led economic crisis we are suffering today is sufficient evidence of the failure of this approach, let alone the environmental disaster sites that litter the face of the unregulated earth.

Nevertheless, capital presses on to acquire more exclusive rights for itself in new fields. In and around cities, gated communities are accompanied by attempts to deny people the right to walk along streets around them or to pass through privately-owned land, irrespective of having had the right to use public roads for decades. The net neutrality rules affecting possible regulation of internet traffic may be seen in the same light. Attractive tourist destinations with delicate ecosystems are secluded from the attention of the rest of the world, with access provided only to a privileged few able to pay. The recent World Cup in South Africa was held in a country with millions of fans unable either to afford tickets to attend matches or to pay subscription fees for cable television services. The privatization of water and electricity has led to misery for millions and massive profits for a few. Eventually, new plans for the rights to oxygen and to land not menaced by global climate change will be unveiled.