Introduction

The subject of this book is a moral intuition: the idea that there are some things in this world, like land and natural resources, that ought to be considered our common heritage, and that those who own or control these common-heritage resources owe some compensation to the rest of us who are excluded from their use. This insight has struck many individuals separately over the years. In at least three significant cases, as we will see, it was discovered and fleshed out independently in different domains: land, natural resources, and ecosystem services. As a work of history, this book tells the story of the discovery and rediscovery of this moral insight. As a work of theory, it explores the possibility of articulating a general theory of common wealth dividends and extending it to man-made commons. As a variant on the concept of basic income, common wealth dividends have two distinct advantages: the source of funding is baked right in to the plan, and the income is a right.