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Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
In Ostrom’s view, the commons are vibrant and self-governing, a complex system that can thrive because it is governed by a patchwork of formal and informal norms. In real commons, such as grazing lands, shepherds would talk to each other to ensure fields were not overgrazed.
They're bloody anarchists! Talking to each other without a power structure! How will you know whose boots to lick?
Wikipedia thrives on each participant’s commitment to a particular approach to information, a shared sense of mission, and trust that conflicts will be resolved through community-led arbitration. These examples, far from being a tragedy of the commons, bring enormous social benefits. We can think of them, in the words of legal scholar Carol Rose, as a ‘comedy of the commons’.43
