Peter Barnes and the Commons

In "Capitalism 3.0," author Peter Barnes argues that we need to update our current system of capitalism into one that better utilizes the commons in a more efficient, environmentally friendly way. The first section introduces us to the harsh reality of our current environmental state. Americans use a vast amount of resources and we will eventually run out. Then what? This problem cannot be pushed back any longer, and it is up to our generation to combat the damage that is being done to the environment. When talking about our future, Barnes states something worth worrying about, "little by little, we're pushing the others out of their living spaces. The result is a wave of extinctions comparable to that which wiped out the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. The difference is that, while the dinosaurs' extinction was triggered by a freak event, the current extinctions are being caused by our everyday activities" (Barnes 4).

This startling statement brings forth the reality that we are only hurting ourselves with our mass consumption of resources and wasteful nature. What can we, as individuals, do to help stop this? There are loads of actions we can take to help save the commons and our own local environments. Each day, our group has given something up, such as straws, plastic utensils, etc. in order to do our part.

Today, our group will be giving up newspapers. Instead of wasting loads of paper every day on a newspaper that we will probably only read for 20 min, we will get our news from digital sources, such as the internet or television. It is amazing how much paper is wasted with newspapers.