Inclusion

“This land is your land, this land is my land.”

Make no mistake: ownership is the ultimate form of inclusiveness. By which, I mean we all, collectively, own our world. Arguably, I own the bit I’m in more than any other bit, but that’s finesse to the principle.

What that most definitely does not mean is that we should be able to buy shares or property. Money inevitably separates us from our responsibilities.

As usual, the question is how we get from the present situation where people believe they own next to nothing and are responsible for even less, which is hardly surprising when the economic system considers every community as ripe for investment from half way round the globe, to the communitarian utopia outlined above?

This is mostly a matter of perception. Repeat the mantra: “This land is your land, this land is my land.” We already own it. Having said that, changing people’s perceptions is also the hardest thing to do.

The present situation does present a few opportunities to move things along the road of inclusiveness. Devolution is happening in small but encouraging ways: from the elected bodies for Scotland and Wales to the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070028_en_1). More obviously inclusiveness-related initiatives are happening: encouraging companies, organisations and governing bodies to be open in everything they do and involve those they effect (stakeholders) in planning future activities.

There is a chasm between stakeholder engagement and meaningful community ownership, but small steps add up (as Lao-Tzu kinda said).