The Commons Platform is based on the belief that we all have the capacity to connect, collaborate and create, and that when we experience fear and scarcity it is much more difficult.
There is enough of everything to go round (40-50% of all food produced is wasted, 50% of the world’s wealth is in the hands of just 8 people. we all own things that we could share, things are not built to last but to be thrown away etc…), but we have artificial scarcities in our society that create a sense of fear and separation, and systems that fragment us into individual consumers.
One of our key values is that everyone is safe to be who they are, and that all of their contributions are valued.
Perhaps the reason we are all so different from each other is that we all hold a vital piece of the puzzle, and that when we can all come together safely and be who we are fully, we can all work together to create the world we want to live in where all people and species can thrive, and none at the expense of any other.
As well as the safety to be ourselves, we all have other needs which when they are met allow us to thrive. Many of those needs are unmet – or at least harder to meet – in many of the societies we live in.
The safety to live without fear of poverty – income inequality is rising, the cost of living is increasing in comparison to wages, more and more in-work poverty, more exploitation by companies and corporations
The safety to be who we are without fear of judgement, rejection or violence: all around the world people face discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, sexuality, disability, social class, level of education; and hard-won rights are
Connection and community – loneliness is an epidemic, and one of the world’s biggest killers
Meaning – making sense of the world and our place in it, and how we fit in
Purpose – the sense that we can do something about our surroundings and the world we live in.
Belonging – being part of a group or community, doing things together
Hope – feeling that it is possible to make the world a better place for everyone
Be safe, be who we are, belong, create a better world
The Commons Platform – Be:longing for a better world
Here is how we create the conditions for that in the Commons Platform: