Free as in Freedom, though never 0

[Patrick Anderson]

Originally posted to http://Blog.P2PFoundation.net/wikipedia-governance-the-power-of-admins/2008/02/06


Owners may lock gates closed for exclusive private property.
Or they may open them a bit for access that is proprietary.

Even owners that want a perfectly inclusive public utility,
must be able to exclude those that would destroy the community.

So how do we build the perfect restaurant,
that helps hungry eat while keeping dirty hands out?

Who is it that determines when something is good or bad?
It's the owners that decide, but how did get that badge?

They organized first. They invested and took risk.
They are the OWNERS dammit! To exclude is their right!

But again, just what if. What if we started again?
Could we figure this out? Could it ever be right[eous]?

What about the Johnny-Come-Late? The non-owning worker?
Can he ever progress, or will he be forever a serf?

If he cannot gain real ownership himself,
he will never have say; he will never have vote.

The proposal I have is that ownership is good.
But only if new users can somehow gain ground.

In the 'real world' an investment is made
when a consumer pays more than it cost to create.

Wages are a cost, so don't worry about that.
But profit should be treated as a plea for more growth.

This is more difficult 'online', where costs are still real,
but so small that collecting from each user is too annoying.

WE (the users) need a way to pay costs
to the collective others that will organize with US.

WE also need a way to bid against each other,
and pay more than cost when the property WE own is not yet enough.

WE will treat the payment of cost as a property retainer,
and any amount above as that same user's investment.

This way joint property can finally be free.
Free as in Freedom, though never 0.