12 October 2006

Economics as Enemy of the Commons

A nicely provocative post from OnTheCommons.org, which points out the destructive effect of money on the commons:

What is called "economics" today is the world as seen through the myopic and tendentious lens of money and price. If something is transacted through money it has reality; if not it does not exist. It makes no difference that trees provide shade and neighbors provide comfort; it makes no difference that they serve real needs. They are not sold for money and therefore they do not count. Therefore, the more "the economy" destroys these things – the more it displaces that which is free for commodities that we have to buy for money – the more the economy is growing and the better life is getting, or so we are told.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

you can be free as a bird if you like eating worms.p