The commons are older than capitalism and have outlived every prediction of their disappearance. From the open-field villages of medieval England to the irrigation councils of the Spanish huerta, communities have governed shared resources for centuries through custom, council and care.
Today the model is finding new life — in community land trusts, in cooperative woodlands, in the seed banks and tool libraries quietly being built in every region. The lesson is patient and ancient: people can hold things in common, and often do it well.