[P2P-F] [Commoning] new capitalism and commoning

Tue Feb 8 14:39:54 CET 2011

On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 4:42 AM, Stefan Meretz <stefan at meretz.de> wrote:
> "Non profit business" -- there is no such thing. Business means profit, if
> there is no profit, you are quickly out of business.
>
> So: "are these people 'enemies'"? No, capitalism is not about people, it
> is about structures being exclusive or inclusive. Thus "enemies" are not
> people, but those structures which exclude people.
>
> Generally, markets are exclusive, because you can not participate if you
> have nothing to sell or to buy -- be it on the world market or on Tahiti
> square.
>
> Thus business can not be a commons.

There are many examples from history where groups of people created a
corporation, or "business" entity *not* for the purpose of
participating in markets, but rather to solve a specific problem or
set of problems for a community. The corporations in some cases were
specifically created to handle the pooling of resources among
participants. In the early days of the United States, these types of
corporations were required to be dissolved when their purpose was
fulfilled. Around the time of the US Civil War, railroad companies
lobbied and fought in court to change the nature of corporate law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad

I can imagine that laws, cultures, and traditions around this type of
organization vary around the world.

-- 
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Sam Rose
Future Forward Institute and Forward Foundation
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"The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human
ambition." - Carl Sagan