“Think Like a Commoner" Author David Bollier on the Commons & Why Open Platforms Aren't Enough

When a community wants to organize itself, it might decide between private ownership and state control. David Bollier has spent decades arguing that that’s a false binary, and that there is a better way: The commons. "The commons is as old as humanity," David says. "It's kind of the default setting for coordination and governance. It's just in the past 200 years or so, we've tricked ourselves into thinking that we're isolated individuals and that the social context and the Earth is irrelevant." Today on Revolution.Social, David and Rabble talk about why a platform being “open” isn’t enough to keep it safe from corporate takeover; the success of podcasting as a type of commons; and why we need to build parallel institutions rather than just protest existing ones. They also talk about the lessons from Bitcoin's governance conflicts, the vulnerability of shareholder value to collective action, and how the internet can “get back to the garden.” Read David's books Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/