The commons

Creation of the COMMONS:

The commons represents the cornerstone of the globally renewed society. While ensuring the security of the individual, it guarantees a species-appropriate, and hence humane and decent life for all human beings in harmony with the natural environment within the context of a new social structure founded on solidarity. The protection of the commons and its unimpeded accessibility to all human beings irrespective of their race, sex, age, origin, education, language, social status and property, is the fundamental basic right of the individual. The globally renewed society as a whole, and individual human beings in particular, have the human right (= basic right) of access to the commons as the basic sustaining factor of everyday social and economic life.

Every human being will have a lifelong guarantee of a high overall and universal standard of living – in accordance with the new universal basic values – in order to eliminate the danger of sliding into poverty or of being exposed to economic and social exploitation, and, among other things, to guard against provoked criminality and to undermine a system of enforced economic growth and competition based on envy (scarcity) and disparities in wealth. The guaranteed universal standard of living should not be misunderstood as a uniform way of life. For, by providing the individual scope for shaping one’s life in accordance with socially defined basic values (the socioethical foundation), it enables all human beings to enjoy a high quality of life, with equal rights and at the same time facilitating each individual’s contribution to society.    

In a globally renewed society the commons as defined below, which includes a variety of spheres of life and vital components of a modern society, will be entirely demonetarised (it has no corresponding monetary value) and thus is available free of charge; it cannot be transformed into either individual or collective private property[1] and it can be administered only by the society as such, subject to participatory democratic oversight. The creation and availability of the Social Commons represent the foundation of a Universal Standard of Living (see also definition, chapter B.VII.2).

Components of the Social Commons:

  1. Information and communications systems

Free access to local and global news, to a corresponding objective news reporting, and to all kinds of information, must be guaranteed as part of the commons. The production of and access to information are basic rights and are not tied to individual privileges of any kind. By the same token the use of communications systems must constitute a freely accessible part of the commons.

  1. Education, vocational training, culture, science and research

Education and vocational training are basic rights and an elementary part of the commons, and hence everyone must have equal access to them. They can be defined and administered only by society. The institutional education and vocational training (inter alia schools and universities) of young people must be founded on a participatory, democratically organised determination of priorities. Just like the cultural offerings, education and vocational training must cohere with the basic values and the moral structure (socioethical foundation) of a globally renewed society, and indeed must constitute their spiritual and intellectual pillars. The accumulated cultural product is part of the commons and cannot be measured in monetary terms. Science and research are in turn important driving forces of a modern society and must be administered by it as part of the commons in order to ensure that they do not become the plaything of individual or collective interest groups.

  1. Public health system

A further elementary basic right of every individual in a globally renewed society is the right to health. Health advice and healthcare must be equally available to all human beings. Since it is part of the commons, the health service can be administered only by society.

  1. Housing and social security

Society provides each family, contingent on its particular circumstances, with housing – if possible in the shape of individual houses – including utilities (heating, water, electricity) as a basic value for their exclusive individual use. The family home, although a basic value and thus part of the commons, is de facto familial (individual) property, though it does not have a market value (money value). In principle, each family will be able to have at most two separate places of residence.[2]

The social security of each human being is a further basic right and is defined as such in the commons. In the case of indigence, whatever its cause, or of an emergency, or of inability to work as a result of age, illness or an accident, society will provide the individual within the framework of the commons with an appropriate basic level of social provision which respects the dignity of the person concerned and is defined in the universal standard of living.

  1. Basic diet, drinking water, air, sunlight

Every human being has an equal right to basic nourishment, drinking water and air to breath independently of race, sex, age, origin, education, language, social status and property. These must be provided to individuals at all times within the framework of the commons. Society guarantees every member an adequate supply of basic foodstuffs and drinking water.

The basic factors determining the biological survival of human beings and of flora and fauna – namely, sunlight, air and water – are uncontroversially part of the global commons and as such are under the protection of society and can be administered by it alone.

  1. Land, natural resources, mineral resources, the genome

Land beyond the maximum required (subsistence or self-consumption) for a family belongs to the commons but can be leased/used (free of charge) for economic or agricultural purposes subject to thorough examination on the basis of a corresponding application. All natural resources, such as flora and fauna, natural landscapes, rivers, lakes and seas and accessible mineral resources are likewise irrevocably part of the commons and are under the express protection of society.

Genetic material, whether of human beings, animals, plants or other biological life forms, belong to society and thus are a fundamental component of the commons and may be administered by society alone. Any corresponding research must be grounded in the basic values of a globally renewed society.

  1. Energy and transportation

The production and provision of energy for private and public households, for trade and industry, in a globally renewed society are part of the commons and must be administered accordingly. Likewise the construction of a massive, collective and environmentally sustainable transportation system (excluding fossil fuels and nuclear energy), such as rail transportation, air traffic and shipping, including space travel at present in its infancy, are integral components of the commons, which must therefore preclude by definition any kind of private or commercial control by individual or collective interest groups.

  1. Judiciary, personal security, police and military

Legal justice and personal security are basic rights of every member of society. Society must provide an impartial legal system, it must guarantee the personal security of all members of society and the protection of the commons. In this connection the judiciary, the police and the military exercise the relevant executive functions as they bear on the immediate protection of the individual and the commons, and on hypothetical external threats.

In addition, the social commons includes all means and services necessary for cultural and recreational activities (inter alia books, sport equipment etc.). These are available to all human beings as a basic right as part of the universal standard of living.

[1] Ultimately this is not possible either because the components of the commons no longer correspond to a monetary or market value but to a basic value (= human right/basic right).

[2] In order to prevent a general mass migration, for example to the tropical coast of Brazil, the autochthonous local populations must be granted and guaranteed absolute privileged access.