Yes, this is somehow a confusing title. What is Capitasim 2.0? It is the global-reaching money-machines, made by global companies we see today… according to Peter Barnes, author of “Capitalism 3.0“. I haven’t read this book yet, but it seems, that there are some interesting thoughts included, that are maybe interesting for Creative Commons enthusiasts. For example:
Common wealth is like the dark matter of the economic universe-it’s everywhere, but we don’t see it. One reason we don’t see it is that much of it is, literally, invisible. Who can spot the air, an aquifer, or the social trust that underlies financial markets? The more relevant reason is our own blindness: the only economic matter we notice is the kind that glistens with dollar signs. We ignore common wealth because it lacks price tags and property rights.
It’s time to notice our shared gifts. Not only that, it’s time to name them, protect them, and organize them. One way to do this is through common property rights.
He criticized the recent politic, to give the global companies too much institutional and property rights, while at the same time narrowing the commons. It seems, that we need to reinvent the wheel at this place, in order to build a new, updated system. In his words, Capitalism 3.0 is a new operating system for our economy. It preserves what’s best about capitalism while fixing several tragic flaws. Oh, before anyone asks. The book was already published in 2006.
Some thoughts in this book remind me on the discussion upon the “Kulturflatrate”, mostly from the perspective I’ve heard from the Green Party (please correct me, if I’m wrong) like that (the quote is from the book again):
What we need is a parallel economy for non-corporate art. Fortunately, models of such an economy exist. For example, there’s the San Francisco Grants for the Arts program, funded from a tax on hotel rooms. Since 1961, the program has distributed over $145 million to hundreds of nonprofit cultural organizations. It’s a prime reason the city pulses with free concerts, murals, film festivals, and theater in the park.
But the book would not be about capitalism, if the private sector would not be able to establish a system like that, too (well, that’s a guess from me now). Like private funding of the commons or the like.
