Friday, February 1, 2013

Thomas Hedges — An Economic Alternative to Exploitative Free Market Capitalism

In 1649, a group of English communists started fighting the notion of private property in what became known as the commons movement. They were using the unstable period in England’s history to introduce a new economy, one that would see land, wells and other means of wealth as shared resources. This group would prevent a small class of people from collecting and consolidating the rights to basic human life, such as water and food. In an annual celebration that doubled as a protest, they would circle the village commons and level or dig up any hedges and fences that designated spots of private ownership. They became known as the “levelers” or “diggers.”
Truthdig
An Economic Alternative to Exploitative Free Market Capitalism
Thomas Hedges | Center for Study of Responsive Law

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. Everyone should know more about the English Civil War and the Commonwealth. It really was the cradle of many modern ideas, long before they were re-expressed and popularized in the Enlightenment.