Newsletter

  • Let the flow of time take you

    On the Commons explores the deep roots and ongoing consequences of private property, commodification—from the Doctrine of Discovery to ancient enclosures of the commons, and more—along with love for this world and being human in the middle of… Read more

  • Sometimes it’s a fight to feel alive

    From Yellow Bay State Park, Flathead Lake, Montana I desperately want quiet. That kind of quiet you get in the midst of a forest where even the pervasive whine of traffic is too distant to… Read more

  • We are marvelous

    Graffiti Pier, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Several people have asked how No Trespassing, this book I’m writing, is coming along. It is, it’s coming along, I promise! Many months later than I’d planned, but given that I have… Read more

  • This counts

    The chickadees have been singing again and it’s time to order seed potatoes and onion starts. The year has barely had time to rub sleep from her eyes, and the frozen peaches are not even… Read more

  • Border, unruly

    I used to love crossing borders. When I was young, they smelled of adventure and exploration, of languages I hadn’t learned and could tune my ear to, of foods like a book to be tasted… Read more

  • For the love of winter

    These snowghosts! I like to think of them watching over the winter-quiet ranges all the way to Glacier National Park (the peaks of which you can see from here on a clear day) and beyond.… Read more

  • The Doctrine of Discovery’s Disastrous Legacy

    If you don’t know much about the Doctrine of Discovery and want to learn one thing of true importance this year, I’d make it that. You can start with any one of the resources linked… Read more

  • The starlight of integrity

    When I was 19, I watched my father walk into a meeting room with the Chechen mafia.  My father has run a small coffee roasting business in Moscow, Russia, since 1992—or ran it for 30… Read more

  • Competence Lost

    I’m going to be republishing some older essays, revised and updated, for the next few weeks, as a kind of field guide to specific commons- and ownership-related subjects that have been covered on my Substack… Read more

  • Co-imagine the future

    We had fresh snowfall recently, which was sadly washed out by rain for the next several days, but before it went I took a long walk around town to soak it all in. Look at… Read more

Welcome to On the Commons!

This is a mirror of the newsletter I write on Substack, On the Commons. Same writing, different platform!

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