Copyright Resilience
Tl;dr: We are facing an overlapping set of crises that our dominant institutions seem unable to address. While many have withdrawn in disillusionment, their latent desire for change can be redirected toward the Commons: a real, actionable alternative grounded in community-driven systems of provisioning. The world and its inhabitants have always faced crises of various kinds, sometimes existential, sometimes benign. But today we seem to have reached a tipping point, and this time it is largely of our own making. What confronts us now is not a single crisis, but many unfolding at once: environmental, economic, and social. And there is strong reason to believe that these are not separate challenges but deeply interconnected—compounding and reinforcing each other in what some have called a polycrisis. Crisis 1: Environmental degradation First, there is the pressing ecological crisis. The world’s life-support systems are under unprecedented strain. Of the nine planetary boundaries—a scientific framework defining thresholds of vital Earth processes beyond which the stable conditions of the last 12,000 years cannot be guaranteed—six have already been transgressed. With current trends and policies, we are well on the way to breach eight by 2050. Environmental degradation not only threatens flora and fauna, but also the very foundations on which our civilisation depends. Climate change is impacting harvests and water levels, while driving more frequent and severe natural disasters worldwide. Our planet’s rich biodiversity is shrinking at alarming rates. And the Earth’s regenerative capacities are overwhelmed by relentless resource extraction and waste dumping. Scientists have repeatedly warned us for decades of the disastrous long-term consequences of inaction. But while we seem to finally have woken up to the realities of the climate emergency, action lags far behind this growing public awareness. Despite countless pledges and initiatives, each year we continue to set new records in emissions, waste, and resource use. Crisis 2: Economic malaise Second, our financial and economic systems have remained in a state of near-permanent crisis since the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-08. Our economies face structural weaknesses as an ageing population and debt-crushed households are holding back spending. Long-term economic growth—still heralded as the major guarantor of ‘progress’—has been sluggish for more than two decades. Public and private debt levels have reached wholly unsustainable levels. Unemployment remains high, masked in part by people working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Real wages have mostly stagnated. Meanwhile, stock prices, dividends, and executive pay have reached record highs. Much of the economy today is dominated by multinational corporations that scour the planet for cheaper labour, resources, subsidies, and tax breaks—squeezing out small businesses that struggle to compete. The unchecked growth of the finance sector has fuelled speculative frenzies largely detached from real economic activity. Rent-seeking behaviour—extracting value without creating it—has become pervasive across all major sectors. These dynamics have resulted in staggering levels of wealth and income inequality—not only between countries, but also domestically. The richest 1% now own roughly 35% of global wealth, while the bottom half share a mere 2%. Nearly identical figures can be found within the United States, heralded as the richest country on Earth. All over the world, the middle class is shrinking, social mobility is stalling, and the gap between rich and poor keeps widening at alarming rates. Crisis 3: Social breakdown Third, a growing set of social crises now strikes at the foundations of our societies. Anxiety levels, particularly among young people, are through the roof. Mental illness and loneliness have soared and are now considered major contributors to early mortality. Vandalism, crime, and violence are on the rise. So too are substance abuse, addiction rates, and homelessness. Social fragmentation is deepening as neighbourhoods become divided, families break apart, and local clubs and community gatherings are in decline. These forms of connection are increasingly replaced by isolated, screen-based interactions. Meanwhile, the tone of public discourse—now largely shaped by social media and online news—is deteriorating rapidly. This growing polarisation is reflected in the rise of political extremes, both on the left and right, that capitalise on the collapsing trust in government, media, and public services. Voter turnout is falling in many countries, as many people no longer feel represented by a political system that appears captured by elite interests through outrageous campaign financing and corporate lobbying. The sense that ordinary voices matter is quietly disappearing. Why Institutional Responses Tend to Fail There is no shortage of initiatives aiming to address any one of these challenges. Some are led by “the Market” (private corporations that compete for profit): green growth through technology innovation and decoupling, voluntary climate pledges and ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) initiatives, carbon trading and capture, market-based insurance and private pensions. Others are driven by “the State” (governments managed through centralised bureaucracies): environmental regulations, social safety nets, multilateral climate agreements, and international tax coordination. Some have seen moderate success. Yet the crises continue unabated—and, in many cases, are getting worse. Why? One reason is that most initiatives lack a more holistic vision and treat problems as isolated issues. Another—and in my view deeper—reason is that many efforts, indeed any serious attempt at change, are undermined by the systemic forces unleashed by our economic and financial systems. What if the so-called polycrisis were in fact a metacrisis: a tangle of crises that are not only interconnected, but also share a common root cause? If the underlying condition is systemic—baked into the very structures of our money, economies, and institutions—then how can we expect that treating the symptoms alone will have any meaningful effect? Let alone using the same ‘medicine’, administered by the same ‘doctors’? I like to believe that most people in government and business are well-intentioned and sincere in their desire for a more just and sustainable future (I also know many would disagree with this charitable interpretation). Yet they are structurally constrained: by electoral cycles, limited budgets, shareholder pressure to maximise profits, institutional inertia, global complexity, and—above all—the system’s dependence on continuous growth for survival. Like a powerful riptide, this relentless drive for endless expansion sweeps away the best of intentions. And as any swimmer caught in a riptide knows, resisting the current only leads to exhaustion—the only way to survive is to surrender and drift with it. The same is true for everyone caught in the cogs of this immensely powerful, amoral machine: those who do not submit to its logic are cast aside and swiftly replaced; those who comply are pulled ever deeper in. These deeper systemic forces maintain an impenetrable grip on our society’s institutions—and on the people staffing them. They shape perverse incentives that, in turn, determine much of our collective behaviour. If the profit motive is elevated as the ultimate arbiter of value and the organising principle of society, then follows naturally a world in which traits such as ruthlessness, competition, and greed are not only encouraged, but rewarded—and even celebrated. In the words of the philosopher Slavoj Žižek: “The problem is not corruption or greed; the problem is the system that pushes you to be corrupt.” Some have recognised the need for a more holistic approach that tackles the structural flaws of our current system. There are now major proposals for large-scale monetary, economic, fiscal, and institutional reforms, backed by serious advocates and discussed in global policy circles. However, they all rely on unprecedented levels of global coordination and top-down restructuring. While important and laudable, I believe they face insurmountable barriers to achieving meaningful change at the scale and speed that are needed. There is a widespread feeling in society that “things are not right” and ought to change. But how? Most people feel trapped and powerless in the face of these forces beyond their vision and control. They do not believe that those in power have the willingness or capacity to push for real reforms. They see few practical or realistic alternatives worth pursuing. And, consequently, they fail to see meaningful ways for creative engagement. One of the most powerful effects of this system is not just the damage it causes, but the belief it instills that there is no alternative to it. This loss of meaning and personal agency—believing that one’s actions do not matter—breeds fatalism, apathy, or even worse, cynicism. Is it any wonder, then, that so many are withdrawing from politics, civic life, and even the workplace? This retreat is often mistaken for laziness or a personal failure to take responsibility. But more often it is a rational response to a system that ignores fundamental human needs and denies agency. Caring without power is exhausting. Gradual disengagement then becomes a coping mechanism: a deliberate act to stay sane in a world that appears increasingly insane. And, cynically, the very system that causes this retreat often finds ways to monetise it—selling distraction, entertainment, and escape to numb the despair it helped create. Yet, disillusionment also reveals something else: that a deep longing for something better remains latent. Most people still care deeply—and would gladly take action if offered a meaningful outlet aligned with their values. This presents a unique opportunity. The question is: how can we channel and mobilise this widespread desire for change into concrete, positive action? By offering people something real to build, something that is relevant, practical, and participatory. What is needed is not another utopia or theory, but a realistic and proven alternative that is available now—and that they can join from wherever they are. The good news? Such an alternative already exists. Enter the Commons: Community-Driven Systems of Provisioning In fact, this alternative has existed for nearly as long as humans have walked the Earth. It can be found across the world, on all continents, in forms and settings as diverse as the cultural and regional contexts in which they emerged. Its principles and practices have been applied in areas from land, food, and housing to finance, energy, and knowledge. Some of its instances have operated successfully for many centuries without interruption. This alternative is called the Commons. It involves communities coming together to collectively manage shared resources for mutual benefit. They do so according to clear rules and practices that are jointly established, monitored, and enforced by the people who use and depend on them. Where markets “commodify” and states “collectify”, Commons initiatives “commonify”: rooted in a culture of collaboration around the needs of a community, they mutualise the benefits that arise from collectively created wealth—through systems owned, governed, and maintained by the community itself. And so, rather than waiting for change from above, the Commons empowers people to become active agents of transformation from below. These parallel, community-led systems of provisioning operate on a fundamentally different logic. Grounded in reciprocity, participation, and regeneration, they prioritise cooperation over competition, and long-term stewardship over short-term extraction. By fostering mutual aid, shared responsibility, and trust, they actively strengthen social cohesion. Shared wealth stays and circulates within the community, often transcending narrow economic definitions of value. Emerging from the ground up, these initiatives can be started anywhere, by anyone, and are often especially effective at sustaining and caring for the natural resources—and the broader social and ecological systems—on which they critically depend. As Commons author and scholar David Bollier puts it: “[Real-life commons] integrate economic production, social cooperation, personal participation, and ethical idealism into a powerful single package of self-help and collective benefit. The commons is essentially a parallel economy and social order that quietly affirms that another world is possible. And more: we can build it ourselves, now.“ This article marks the beginning of a five-part introductory series. In the coming weeks, we will go deeper into the Commons and its role as an actionable response to the polycrisis. Part 2 will unpack the major features of commons-based provisioning and how it differs from both State and Market logic. Part 3 will explore the core tools—economic, legal, technological, cultural, social, governance, and financial—that make commons-based models work in practice. Part 4 will look at real-world examples of successful commoning across sectors and geographies, illustrating that this is not just a theoretical idea. Part 5 will offer concrete steps and entry points for individuals, communities, and organisations to get involved— starting from where they are. Before You Go… This Substack is written by and for people who want to reimagine the way we meet our needs—with practical, concrete actions that have real-world application. We are part of a growing alliance of individuals, communities, and organisations determined to seed and grow the Commons across different domains. 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