Stealing and Selling Nature: Why We Need to Reclaim “the Commons” in the Curriculum

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/15

n the wake of superstorm Sandy and a presidential election in which both candidates essentially ignored climate change, it’s time that our schools began to play their part in creating climate literate citizens.

Hurricane Sandy, and the superstorms that will follow, are not just acts of nature—they are products of a massive theft of the atmospheric commons shared by all life on the planet. Every dollar of profit made by fossil fuel companies relies on polluting our shared atmosphere with harmful greenhouse gases, stealing what belongs to us all. But if we don’t teach students the history of the commons, they’ll have a hard time recognizing what—and who—is responsible for today’s climate crisis.

If the commons is taught at all in history classes, it’s likely as a passing reference to English enclosures—the process by which lands traditionally used in common by the poor for growing food, grazing animals, collecting firewood, and hunting game were fenced off and turned into private property. Some textbooks may mention the peasant riots that were a frequent response to enclosures, or specific groups like the Diggers that resisted enclosure by tearing down fences and reestablishing common areas. But they are buried in chapters that champion industrial capitalism’s “progress” and “innovation.”

[marmar]

1. k/r ...... Rugged individualism was all that was ever taught in my classes.

And I went to "Christian" schools all the way through high school.

[Magoo48]

2. "Atmospheric Commons" says a lot. Thanks for posting.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Small point...

these fossil fuel companies don't burn the stuff by themselves-- they sell it to us and we burn it. Or we buy electricity and products made from burning this stuff.

I firmly believe in the commons. I believe it to the extent that there should be no private ownership of real estate, but I'm now in the midst of a local battle over restoring the beaches of people who restrict us from walking on them and mentioning public ownership of all the beaches would get me shot, or worse.

It's easy to talk about this stuff, but find a way to get it enacted.