The Problem¶
What are the Commons?¶
- A Shareable Explainer: What are the Commons? →Commons should be understood as a dynamic, living social system — any resource that can be used by many could inspire people to organize as a commons. The key questions are whether a particular community is motivated to manage a resource as a commons, and if it can come up with the rules, norms, and sanctions to make the system work.
Further Reading¶
- Governing the Commons by Elinor Ostrom
- The Next American Revolution, Beyond Corporate Capitalism & State Socialism with Gar Alperovitz
- To deal with climate change we need a new financial system by Jason Hickel article
- Debt or Democracy by Mary Mellor → about the privatization of money and alternatives to our current model
Contributing to the Commons¶
For the Artists:
- Publish under a Creative Commons Share Alike License (CC-SA) or any other copyleft license so your work stays shareable and in the commons.
- Open Clip Art is a great resource and place to post vector(scalable) art.
- Blend Swap→ 3D art and resources
- Free Sound→ music clips and effects
- Open Game Art
For the Adventurers:
- Open Street Maps
- Street Complete→ Android App makes it fun and easy to contribute!
- Join the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)
- Hike outdoors and map with pencil and paper with Field Papers
For the Environmentally Oriented
- Public Lab → a community where you can learn how to investigate environmental concerns using inexpensive DIY techniques.
- Agroecology Lab
- Nomad Seed Project → Saving + sowing seeds of native, wild, perennial plants. Do-it-yourself restoration. Rewilding with plants.
- More about Seeds and Licensing by Open Source Seeds
For the Electronics/Programming Enthusiasts
- OpenHatch → training to get started contributing to open source projects
- Mozilla’s Bug’s Ahoy → list of bugs and mentored bugs to fix
- Open Wireless Movement → creates a future with ubiquitous open Internet.
- Run a Tor node.
For the Writers and Linguists
- Translate Wiki → an open source translation community
Divesting from Corporate Controlled Servers¶
- Libre Projects List
- Riseup.net (free but contact us for an invite)
- Mayfirst (membership fee based)
- Free Your Stuff download your data from sites that normally do not give you access.
Some Recommended Software for creating safer spaces
- Signal for encrypted messaging
- Tor Browser for anonymous web browsing and a handy interactive visual to explain how tor works (see what info is sent when you are using it!)
Just using Free and Open Source software can be a help! Check out the Prism Break and the Free Software Directory!
