The more accessible a good is, the less people want to pay for it. —Scott Moore

A government only has interest in funding its own roads, companies like Facebook only have interest in funding their own infrastructure. Very prevalent in open-source, some of the most used software in the world often goes unpaid and unfunded.

Commons in the modern economic context is any open-access and unregulated resource (e.g. atmosphere, ocean, rivers, etc.)

How we might focus less on speculation and more on participation?

Would be solved if people acted according Kant’s Categorical Imperative

Without Tragedy

Elinor Ostrom defines 7 requirements to govern a commons without tragedy:

  • Clear boundaries (private)
  • Managed by locals
  • Community makes its own rules
  • Community can monitor behavior
  • Graduated sanctions for those who violate community rules
  • Cheap, accessible means of conflict resolution
  • Self-determination

In a small community, everybody knows everybody, and can keep track of what they do. This makes small groups iterated games which rewards trust and penalizes sociopathic behaviour