Defending the Commons

"Who owns the patent on this vaccine?" Edward R. Murrow, Radio & TV Journalist
"Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. COuld you patent the sun?" Jonas Salk, Inventor of the Polio Vaccine.

What is most valuable to you? Is it your house, your car? What about your planet?

All private possessions are derived from the goods we share in common - earth, air, water, and the collected sum of all human knowledge and experience, including science.

Science and the commons are increasingly being threatened by our wanton destruction, blatant disregard and diastrous misinterpretation of what science and the commons really are.

We have the right to own things. But where does the line get drawn? Who owns the works of the ancients, and should our greatest discoveries be in the hands of a few?

In a publicly participated democracy, the centuries of generations who have contributed to our way of life and knowledge base would be shared. Should be shared. Progress depends upon our ability to own commonly the knowledge gained.

These days, the patent process is so overblown that it is now extending into the realm of DNA. And it is greatly hindering, not helping, progress and humanity.

"Patents for living organisms impoverish human society ethically, ecologically, and economically." Vandana Shiva, Physicist and writer.

Our democracy is dependant on our common goods. As we wither away our commons, we have less and less common space. Common space is where the poor and rich meet on equal footing. It is where we can share one another's company, without having to pay a cover price. It is where the rights to free speech and assembly are protected.

We must protect what is common to all: The land, waterways, knowledge, the Internet, the sky, airwaves, public space, and our rights. The commons are very much like our democracy - not something which we can idly continue to have, but must actively continue to be vigilant in protecting and expanding.

"The law doth punish man or woman
That steals the goose from off the common,
But lets the greater felon loose,
That steals the common from the goose."