Utne The Idea of a Local Economy A TOTAL ECONOMY is one in which everything — “life forms,” for instance, — or the “right to pollute” is “private property” and has a price and is for sale. In a total economy significant and sometimes critical choices that once belonged to individuals or communities become the property of corporations. A total economy, operating internationally, necessarily shrinks the powers of state and national governments, not only because those governments have signed over significant powers to an international bureaucracy or because political leaders become the paid hacks of the corporations but also because political processes — and especially democratic processes — are too slow to react to unrestrained economic and technological development on a global scale. In default of government protections against the total economy of the supranational corporations, people are where they have been many times before: in danger of losing their economic security and their freedom, both at once.
The Glory of the Commons by Timothy Noah July/ August 2013The Glory of the Commons Jonathan Rowe’s brilliant posthumous meditation on the shared, non-commercialized realms of life that sustain us. By Timothy Noah Our Common Wealth: The Hidden Economy That Makes Everything Else Work by Jonathan Rowe Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 123 pp. One of the sharper satirical jabs in People, a recent play by the English writer Alan Bennett, occurs when a consortium of wealthy investors decides to purchase Winchester Cathedral. “I know it’s pricey,” says an absurdly practical-minded archdeacon, “but Winchester is such a good idea.” What makes the joke funny is our understanding that a hallowed monument like Winchester Cathedral could never belong to anyone but the public. Jonathan Rowe, alongside whom I worked at the Washington Monthly in the early 1980s, and who died two years ago at the distressingly young age of sixty-five, would describe Winchester Cathedral as part of “the commons.” Hardin’s theory was not without value.
An Update on Ken Wilber's Health Ken Wilber April 14th, 2013 Your rating: None Average: 5 (6 votes) Over the past few years there has been a tremendous outpouring of compassion and concern from the integral community for Ken Wilber's wellbeing. As many people know, Ken has been dealing with some health-related challenges in recent years that have impacted his ability to show up for public appearances, and worse, has forced him to take a brief sabbatical from his writing. Ken is writing again! Watch this free video from the 2012 What Next Media Collection to learn what Ken is up to these days.... This clip is excerpted from the 2012 What Next Media Collection, and is part of Ken's full 2 hour 15 minute keynote address. Here you can find the full media collection for the 2012 What Next Conference. The collection includes: Get the entire collection for just $149.99 and experience the future of consciousness, culture, and creativity! Learn more Other Pieces You May Enjoy Sign up or log in to join the conversation!
70+ book picks from TED speakers and attendees The tables in bookstores can be overwhelming: Every book cover looks appealing, every blurb glows with praise. Sometimes, you just need a recommendation from a human, someone you trust. Below, 10 members of the TED community — with very different points of view — share the books they think you’ll enjoy this summer. Their selections are wonderfully untethered to new releases and bestsellers, with a little something for everyone. Mind-bending fiction, picked by David Eagleman David Eagleman is a neuroscientist whose sensory vest may just expand the limits of human perception. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. The Bear by William Faulkner. The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive by Brian Christian. The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. Things That Are: Essays by Amy Leach. Books on art and race, picked by Anne Pasternak