Tag: On The Commons

Public art is attracting government funding, but can it effect social change?

Camille Gage interviews the poet, activist, and director of Split This Rock.

Increasingly states are quashing the power of local governments—and thwarting innovation.

Ecological ruin stems from what happens to—not what is caused by—the commons.

Our National Forests cover 191 million acres in forty states.

Public water systems, public education, public libraries, and public roads are modern innovations.

By US law, the airwaves belong to all of us. But there’s no sign of that today.

How the commons makes everything else work.

In the early 20th century, progressives saw urban land as common property.

Hunger and human rights abuses threaten fragile rural communities.

And what we must do to get it back.

Idle No More: Indigenous people mount a high-profile challenge to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s policies.

The Post Office will close half its processing centers this year and end Saturday delivery.

What’s right and what’s wrong with Libertarians’ vision of a volunteer society?

The essayist and critic interviewed on the cultural dynamics of the commons.

Even if they cut into charitable giving.

More than ever, we need common ground where all kinds of people can interact, learn, and have fun.

As foreign investors eye their public utilities, water workers scramble to create cooperatives.

Increasingly frequent disasters like Hurricane Sandy and Typhoon Bopha raise the question of global sharing.

How did New York City manage to control pollution in its water supply on the cheap?

Sandy has been a vivid reminder of the role of Government.

The Supreme Court is poised to decide major issues like voting rights and marriage equality.

Where does the rage in the Republican Party come from?

The problem may not be their lack of integrity, but how we frame the issue.

Young people are making a difference in the cities they call home.

A case study in traffic calming, and why it’s sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Can the free market exist without the government’s imposition?

The NFL has made its fans complicit in Roger Goodell’s union-busting.

A vision of citizenship expressed in Obama’s convention speech might signal a new direction for his administration–and the country.

This autumn, four states will have the chance to become the first to defeat a same-sex marriage ban.

The Great Lakes are a commons, not a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.

A history of the concept of the commonwealth in American politics sheds some light on who exactly is the we in We Built It.

With penalties laughably low, what should we expect but continued criminal activity on the part of corporations?

Received wisdom aside, good customer service is easier to come by at government agencies than many private businesses.

Southwest Detroit has defied the stereotype of urban decay.

Has the fight against climate change just taken a monumental step forward?

The neighborhood is a powerful, but often overlooked, tool for social change.

Peter Orszag, Obama’s former OMB director, stands to benefit from the privatization of U.S. Postal Service.

The American debate over healthcare seems absurd most everywhere else.

Ivan Illich traces poverty and consumer dependency back to the enclosure of the commons.

Many public spaces have long been neglected, but it’s time for their revitalization.

Land-grant schools can play an important part in America’s educational future.

Now that Obamacare has been upheld, the next steps are preventing its repeal and moving towards a public option.

Competition between the public and private sectors is rigged—and in not the way you might think.

The U.S. Postal Service is scaling back in the face of a massive budget deficit. Did it bring this on itself, or is someone else to blame?