The Commons

Last weekend, I visited with a friend who is an amateur astronomer. We set up his home built telescope, based on a design by one of the members of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, on the patio of his apartment. Although this is not an ideal location, given that we were doing this in a lull between rainstorms, it was safer than a trek to a more suitable location.

I took these photos, using the camera features of my phone, through the lens of the telescope. I was amazed at the quality of the photos.



I have had the pleasure of viewing many astronomical wonders with my friend over the years including Haley's comet, the occasional Iridium flare (glint of sunlight off of a satellite), various Nebula, eclipse, and on and on. I always enjoy these experiences as they are a true reminder of our place in the universe.



A recent Wired Magazine article ("Slicing up the Moon" WIRED MAGAZINE: ISSUE 15.12) discussed an International race to carve up resources, on the moon and in the arctic, where the receding polar ice caps have exposed, previously inaccessible preserves of fossil fuels.

The earth is already staked out by Nations, and subsequently Corporations, as domains containing valued resources already under their control. The availability of yet to be claimed resources, is seen as a new frontier for those who hope to exploit them for their own profit.

I recently saw "Who Owns Nature? An Address by Robert Kennedy, Jr" on Link TV. This along with a documentary series on Coal Mining in West Virgina "Toxic West Virgina" - VBS TV, has revived in me, a spirit of dissent, that I have not felt this strongly since the glory days of Ralph Nader.

Before: The little building front and center is one of the few remaining homeplaces in the mountains outside of Mud, West Virginia. The majority of the town has been uprooted by the expansion of Arch Coal’s Hobet-21 surface mine, which covers over 12,000 acres of former hills and hollers. This picture was taken in June 2005.

After: And here’s the same spot this past October. The section to the lower right that looks like green-painted concrete is actually the “reclaimed” land from an earlier removal. Mining companies are supposed to recreate the “approximate original contour” of the mountaintops they remove and restore as much vegetation “as possible.”

I have always felt a strong sense of concern over how the commons have been exploited, and the fact that corporations have ignored the liabilities of their actions, that the communities which they impact are forced to live with, while reaping the benefits for themselves.

The definition of Free-Markets as envisioned by so-called conservatives has also ignored the liabilities. The Free-Market, described by Robert F Kennedy Jr. in his speech, attacks this misconception directly. If the commons, that are owned by all of us, are to be exploited in any way, then those who benefit, must share the burden of the liabilities in equal measure. In addition, the profits they enjoy, should be fairly distributed to those who are impacted by their efforts to extract and process the resources as a means of compensation.

There are many ways in which this scenario appears in our economy. Another example is with the airwaves. While some would say that the airwaves are not owned by anyone, and that anyone who has the means to exploit them for their own profit is free to do so, the laws of our Country say otherwise. The FCC licenses the airwaves and in doing so places certain obligations on the licensee. These obligations include a variety of services they are responsible for providing to local communities that they serve.

We have lost track of that responsibility. To use the current Presidential campaigns as a glaring example, Bill Moyers pointed out the issue of who profits from campaign advertising. Winning the Vote: Campaign Ad Spending, points out that Scholars found that local TV news coverage in 2004 spent just 86 seconds on each political story — much less than on weather, sports, and crime. And nearly half of all campaign reporting was of the "horse-race" standings.

Considering the fact that the biggest beneficiaries of Campaign Advertising will be media conglomerates which have been buying up more and more local TV stations. This means that in spite of the fact that local television channels are obligated to serve local communities, these media conglomerates are providing 86 second "horse race" coverage along with 30 second campaign ads to provide us with the background on these candidates. In turn we are expected to make a very important decision about the leadership of our nation for the next 4 years.

Genuine investigative reporting has been abandoned in favor of repetitive misinformation based on polls, deceptive advertising, and debates that fail miserably to probe the issues in sufficient detail for us to make an informed decision.

Consider the impact on the abuse of the commons across all areas of our economy, and you will become very angry. To me, this is a call, loud and clear for an uprising of the people. We must demand change. But not the way it is being packaged by the pack of presidential candidates. Listen to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His voice needs to be heard. While I find it difficult to bear another reign of the Bush or Clinton aristocracy, I would welcome this Kennedy.