The theme of our COMMON HOME conference is “Regenerating the Common Good” and our goal is to help advance a sense of urgency – the door to survival is shutting and we’re trying to stick a foot in – to slow things down.
Accelerating extinction isn’t a good business plan for anyone.
Very thankful to UCL’s Paolo Taticchi for helping us put the conference together in London. Thanks to Enrico Foglia and Philip Kotler – nothing would be happening without them. Thanks also to Assoholding– a steady partner in turbulent times.
And special thanks to all the incredible speakers – grazie mille! Download the event program here >>
There are enough wicked problems the planet has to deal with already, without adding or exacerbating the one we already have. Yet Comrade Trump and his fearless DOGE monkeys insist on breaking everything we hold dear as Americans.
What can be done?
Read our book. It’s timely and may spark a few ideas. There’s a reason the Republicans are banning books – they don’t want us to know that another world is possible.
As the world spirals into crazy, do you get the distinct feeling that you are powerless. Don’t. Our world is just programmed to make you feel that way.
A few days ago I stumbled upon this – “If you were going to take over society and keep humanity from reaching its full enlightened potential, how would you do it?” The question was asked by Rob Sidon of Common Ground.
Sound familiar?
Before we turn into crazy conspiracy theorists, let’s pause for a moment.
Why is everything such a disaster: our politics, mass deportations, the climate crisis, Ukraine, Gaza. COP 29, the World Cup,? How is it possible that on almost every single problem in the world, we make the wrong choice> Is it our flawed decision-making? Nope. Our democracy is doing exactly what our system was designed to do – protect the status quo and make the hyper-rich even more money.
So our book is finally here. At one point – when we were at 500 pages – I almost gave up. But then I remembered Gail Mazur‘s advice: “anything worth doing is worth doing badly,” and decided to carry on. Now, at 320 pages, this book tries to cover the various angles and sights and buzzwords we see creeping into the regeneration ecosystem (pun intended).
What’s the big idea? Actually we think there are several.
Climate change is the greatest market failure in history. Its costs are not priced into market transactions because third parties overwhelmingly bear them – they are euphemistically called “externalities.” There is a fatal misalignment between what is in the interests of the economy and the incentives of the companies that comprise it. Nature, and the communities we live in, are nowhere part of the equation!
Regeneration means regenerating the Common Good. Our position is this: The Climate Crisis and the Collapse of Society are both symptoms of the same fatal sickness: the destruction of the Common Good. We cannot compartmentalize the climate and separate it from the rest of society or our activities.
Here are the questions we – Philip Kotler, Enrico Foglia, and myself, asked ourselves:
The choice is clear. It is regeneration, or extinction.
Billionaire-owned media makes the “free-press” a mouthpiece for the ideology of the super rich. It ignores the urgency of the climate crisis, radicalizes readers, and actively promotes right-wing propaganda.
So here’s a quick rundown of billionaire-owned/controlled mediaoutlets:
Elon Musk, Twitter (with financial-aid from the Saudi billionaires)
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp
Rupert Murdoch, News Corp (Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, several Australian outlets)
Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg
Jeff Bezos, The Washington Post
John Henry, The Boston Globe
Glen Taylor, Star Tribune
Patrick Soon-Shiong, Los Angeles Times
Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Joe Mansueto, Inc. and Fast Company
Laurene Powell Jobs, The Atlantic
Marc Benioff, Time
Chatchaval Jiaravanon, Fortune
Cox Family, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mortimer Zuckerman, US News & World Report
Barbey Family, Village Voice
Stanley Hubbard, Hubbard Broadcasting
Carlos Slim Helu, The New York Times
Warren Buffett, regional papers (~70)
Lord Rothermere, The Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Metro and the i
The Barclay Brothers, The Telegraph and the Spectator
Patrick Drahi, Libération and L’Express
Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev, Novaya Gazeta, the Evening Standard, and The Independent
Billionaires also have collectives or consortiums – like the Economist, which is owned by the Agnelli family, the Cadburys (chocolate), the Rothschilds (banks) and the Schroders (banks), along with some staff and former employees.
So how does one escape the tyranny of Twitter? Here are a few articles to help you decide if Mastodon is worth moving to ( I have).
