All That We Share by Jay Walljasper

Jay Walljasper is a veteran writter for Ode. I picked up an old magazine at the library for 25 cents.It liked the title: Ode for intelligent optimists!!! It was interesting and easy to read.  I like Walljasper's arguments about commonness in our global community.
Once again,the World is not perfect or imperfect. And I am not perfect or imperfect.  I am a monad among monads. I am a dreamer among dreamers. We are different but the same. And we have common dreams under the same moonlight.

Here the article from Ode

In All That We Share, veteran journalist Jay Walljasper, a former editor at Ode, presents the ultimate guide to save ‘the commons,’ which he defines as “everything we inherit or create together and must pass on.”
What is the commons exactly?
“It is, in short, what we share together, in contrast to what we own individually. It includes everything from parks and streets to the environment and the Internet. It covers the world’s most ancient folk tales and the latest dance steps. When you start to think about it, a lot of essential elements of our lives exist outside the realm of private property.”
In your book, you claim the commons is under threat. How did that happen?
“The last 30 years has witnessed an overwhelming trend to privatize valuable things that once belonged to all of us. Big companies, for example, are now taking over control of public water systems, which has sparked huge protests in South America because people suffer higher prices and have no say on how this precious resource is managed. Many things that we share have been neglected to the point of ruin. If something does not make a profit, in the eyes of many politicians and business executives, it is not worth anything. That’s why we are seeing more libraries with their doors locked, parks where the playground equipment is falling apart. A sad symbol of this is public drinking fountains everywhere that do not work. We are all supposed to buy bottled water now.”
Which initiatives to save the commons have inspired you?
“Wow, this could take all day! Among the most compelling mentioned in my book are community gardens; open source software; Creative Commons Licenses (an alternative to copyrights, where creators allow their work to be freely shared for certain purposes); a new public square in downtown Detroit that has brought hope and significant private investment back to a battered city; a Mexican farmer who revived indigenous farming techniques to make severely eroded soil fertile again; and an art group in San Francisco that makes a point about public space by turning parking spaces temporarily into mini-parks.”
What can we do to revitalize the commons?
“The first step is simply to be aware of all the various forms of commons that are important to your life. This includes groups of people working together toward the common good, like Wikipedia and public health agencies. The next step is to strengthen these commons in every way possible as voters, activists, social entrepreneurs, and good neighbors.”