Forum 3

Going off of Jessica’s point of water, it is supposed to be available to everyone in the world. But we bottle water and sell it to people everywhere. Therefore it is a common that has become commercialized. Also as many people mentioned parks, which are supposed to be about the scenery and experiencing wildlife whereas now people pay to camp and partake in parks activities such as camping and hiking. Museums also come to mind when thinking of a common that can be commercialized, sometimes we pay to visit a museum and learn about history, which I believe should be free. All of these things could be turned from commodities into commons and vice versus.

This forum is analyzing the idea of the commons, Jay Walljasper All That We Share explains the concept of commons and commodities and how they intertwine. I chose to evaluate this forum because I had never really thought about how assets that are supposed to be commons become commercialized. I read Jessica’s forum response, and she talked about water. I thought that this was a great example, bottled water is seen all the time and people pay for it when water is supposed to be available to everyone not at an expense. This was important to me because I think in the future more and more things will become commercialized and sold. Now a days, everything comes with a price, hardly anything is free anymore. Further questions that would arise are in the future what else will be turned from commodities into commons and vice versus? Also why is this happening?  I could have further explored the complexity of the issue by first expressing how this is an issue, or figuring out if it is one. There are positives and negatives, such as making money and helping the economy but things that use to be simple and free no longer exist.