EDITORIAL: The “Reclaiming Our Commons” Issue
By Rob Williams

In his new book Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming Our Commons, author and entrepreneur Peter Barnes defines the “Commons” as any society's “set of assets that have two characteristics: they're all gifts, and they're all shared.”

As with any other society, Barnes suggests, our 21st century “commons” here in Vermont consists of three main forks: our natural world (our air and our water, our fields and our forests); our communal resources (our streets, town greens and libraries, to name but three); and our collective culture (Joseph Bentley's science, John Dewey's philosophy, Robert Frost's poetry, and Grace Potter's music all come to mind).

"Vermont Commons" newspaper turns two years old with this spring 2007 issue, and we took our name from our abiding interest in the “Commons” here in the Green Mountain state. When we began publishing two Aprils ago, we decided to focus our efforts on answering a two-part question: how can Vermonters work together to make our little state more sustainable and more sovereign in a 21st century world shaping up to look very little like the 20th?

As the Green Mountains shed their snow and all of us emerge from winter hibernation, we continue with our sustainability/sovereignty focus in this new issue. Long-time energy citizen/activist Rick Foley's in-depth study of the Connecticut River hydro-power situation provides a historical look at Vermont's ongoing energy debates, highlighting the consequences of our collective decisions about Vermont's energy “commons” and pointing a way forward. Educational researcher and author Susan Ohanian asks some hard questions about our state's relationship with the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program. Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) president and Small Dog Electronics owner Don Mayer provides a window into how VBSR member businesses are moving beyond an exclusive focus on the bottom line to help preserve and protect our shared natural and social capital. In the first installment of a three-part essay, Don Livingston traces New Englanders' abiding interest in secession, providing some useful historical context for our political conversations. And Abe Collins details how many Vermont farmers are embracing innovative commons-centered ideas to help solve pressing climate change and global peak oil dilemmas.

Vermont Commons newspaper is also proud to be co-sponsoring the first of what we hope will be an annual “Commons Conference” at the Big Picture Theater in central Vermont's Mad River Valley. The goal is to bring together central Vermont's citizens, businesses and nonprofits to spend a day “celebrating our commons” and “imagining our future,” with a three-part conversational focus on land, food, and energy sustainability for this new century. The event is free and open to the public, with panel discussions, food, music and fun for all. We'll even have child care for the young ones.

For more information, contact the Big Picture theater at 802.496.8994 or www.bigpicturetheater.info.

Come join us and help celebrate Vermont's commons this spring!

Rob Williams
Editor