Commons Has Expanded, Not Shrunk, Over Past 200 Years
It took more than a century for public schools systems to be established everywhere, from 1779 when they were unsuccessfully proposed by Thomas Jefferson as governor, to universal education by the early 20th century. If you had asked the person next to you in New York or virtually any other city for a drink of water in 1825,they would have had a predictable response: go buy your own. It would be like today asking the person next to you for a Coke.
April 19, 2013
The hidden issue in this year’s campaign
There is this idea, not discussed because it is so widely accepted even on the political left, that some sort of independent, free-standing market exists with its own laws, similar to those of natural systems, such as the law of gravity. Democrats want to poke, prod and regulate this market; Republicans say they want to leave it alone. But this so-called free market doesn’t exist, not even as a valid concept. Governments create markets.
September 25, 2012