Present Failings and Ways Forward: Private Sector, Public Sector. 19th annual conference of the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University.
What is missing from the discussion is a recognition that the socio-political arrangements and institutions of almost every society have evolved out of conflict over rights to property and over the distinction between property that rightfully belongs to all (i.e., the commons) and property that rightfully belongs to its producer. In this struggle, the most fundamental problem has always been the claim of ownership of nature and the natural assets provided to us free of charge in terms of labor.
What is missing from the discussion is a recognition that the socio-political arrangements and institutions of almost every society have evolved out of conflict over rights to property and over the distinction between property that rightfully belongs to all (i.e., the commons) and property that rightfully belongs to its producer. In this struggle, the most fundamental problem has always been the claim of ownership of nature and the natural assets provided to us free of charge in terms of labor.