:57:05
We can really begin to take
a look at the emergence
:57:08
of the modern age with
the enclosure movements
:57:10
of the great European
commons in the fourteenth
:57:13
fifteenth and
sixteenth century.
:57:15
Medieval life uh was
a collectively lived life
:57:18
It was a brutish
nasty affair.
:57:20
But there was a collective
responsibility
:57:23
People belonged to the land;
:57:24
the land did not belong
to the people.
:57:26
And in this
European world
:57:29
people farmed the land
in a collective way
:57:31
because they saw
it as a commons.
:57:33
It belonged to God.
:57:34
And then it was
administered by the church
:57:37
the aristocracy
:57:38
and then the local manors
as stewards of gods creation.
:57:43
Beginning with Tudor England
:57:44
we began to see
a phenomenon emerge
:57:46
and that is the enclosure
of the great commons
:57:49
by Parliamentary
Acts in England
:57:50
and then in Europe.
:57:51
And so first we began to
take the great landmasses
:57:54
of the world
:57:55
which were
commons and shared
:57:56
and we reduced those
to private property.
:57:59
Then we went after the oceans
the great oceanic commons
:58:02
and we created laws
and regulations
:58:04
that would allow countries
:58:05
to claim a certain amount
of water outside
:58:08
their coastal limits
for exploitation.
:58:10
In this century we
went after the air
:58:12
and we divided it
into air corridors
:58:14
that could be bought
and sold
:58:16
for commercial traffic
for airplanes.
:58:18
And then of course
the rest is history.
:58:31
With deregulation
privatization free trade
:58:35
what we're seeing is
yet another enclosure
:58:40
and if you like private
taking of the commons.
:58:45
One of the things I find
very interesting
:58:46
in our current debates
:58:48
is this concept
of who creates wealth.
:58:51
That wealth is only created
when it's owned privately.
:58:56
What would you call
clean water fresh air
:58:59
a safe environment?