Conversation

'The privatization of land has been justly described as “perhaps the weirdest of all undertakings of our ancestors.”* The transformation of common resources into private property involved not only new ways of using the land, but also, as both cause and effect, new ways of thinking about it. The idea that individuals could claim exclusive ownership of parts of nature on which all humans depend was very weird indeed. Contrary to the oft-expressed view that greed is inherent in human nature, the shift from commons-based to private profit-based farming was not accepted easily—in fact, it was denounced and resisted as an assault of the laws of God and the needs of humanity.'

--- Ian Angus. The War Against the Commons.

*Karl Polanyi. The Great Transformation p. 178.

https://search.worldcat.org/title/1348139994

#Capitalism #Enclosure #Commons #Commonism #Resistance #Anarchism #IanAngus