The creation of Commons Trusts is the national political and economic policy goal of our organization. The success of The Great Campaign will establish the first such trust by an act of Congress – the Currency Trust. Creation of the Currency Trust will establish our right to a debt and interest free monetary system administered for the public good. This fundamental reform will restore to the people, where it rightfully belongs, the money creation process, and will make all the other reforms we desire possible. See the page on Money to understand the significance of this.
Other Commons Trusts that we might eventually want to create, not only on the national level, but on the regional and local levels include: A Sky Trust, a Wildlife Habitat Trust, a Fresh Water Trust, a Viewshed Trust and others.
Most Commons Trusts will have these characteristics in common:
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They “propertize” something that each and every American will then have equal and legal title to.
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They are each managed by a Board of Trustees who’s sole responsibility is to safeguard the integrity of the trust for present and future generations.
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Any use of the Commons titled by the creation of a trust by individuals, corporations or other private or public entities will be subject to rents and/or fees, with the proceeds going into the trust.
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Fees for use of any Commons in a trust will be determined by the auctioning of permits to users, the number and duration of permits to be set by the Board of Trustees.
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Accumulated revenues in any trust will be distributed as dividends to each and every stakeholder on a schedule (e.g. annually, quarterly) determined by the Board of Trustees.
Commons Trusts are an elegantly simple method to protect and manage, for the benefit of both present and future stakeholders, vitally important natural and cultural assets.
The need to “propertize” something like the atmosphere, or water, or habitat, that many would and have argued can’t and don’t belong to anyone, has become necessary because of the unchecked power of private property rights embodied most notoriously in corporations.
Government has proven ineffective at protecting the Commons from overuse and abuse at the hands of these corporations because of the sanctity of property law. Propertizing the Commons, by securing title to the people for each one identified, would afford legal protection where none currently exists, as Property Rights are the most enforcible law we have. The people’s property can then be readily defended against competing private interests on the basis of rents and fees for their use. Using the Commons for private gain is then subject to the contractual conditions established by the Trustees of each Commons Trust, with the revenue thus generated distributed as a dividend to all citizens equally as shareholders.
The Alaska Permanent Fund is an example of this kind of dividend distribution. The Alaska Permanent Fund distributes income from oil revenue and has paid around $1,4000 a year to each and every citizen of Alaska for the past ten years, The Commons Trust being proposed here, would also protect the Commons as well as benefiting their citizen owners.