Common Wealth - for a Free, Equal, Mutual and Sustainable

Many readers must be wondering if we can really go back to a pre-credit crunch business as usual situation. Martin Large sees the possibility of a completely new arrangement whereby the three sectors of government, business and civil society can come into a new relationship of balance. Drawing on the pioneering work of Nicanor Perlas and others, he provides a vision of remaking society on a fresh basis. This will entail the transformation of capitalism and a re-drawing of the boundaries, going beyond the situation where current business interests have captured the state and culture, establishing a largely plutocratic and environmentally destructive regime. Specific proposals include a citizen's income, land taxation and trusteeship and education on a human scale. The case is made in considerable detail, with examples drawn from a variety of local projects that represent practical alternatives. The question is how we get from here to there, given the inertia and embedded vested interests of the current system. Large provides prophetic signposts of the future and of the principles on which it must be based. It is very much a bottom-up rather than a top-down vision, encouraging people to begin implementing his ideas initially at a local level.