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Canaletto (1697-1768). San Marco Square.

Thanks for the bump. Interesting concepts.

The dismissal of cultural issues as another negative effect of the commons often looks like plain evasion. It doesn't offer any guidance to a present-day libertarian politician in a non-libertarian world; since the public increasingly views the cultural issues as pivotal in determining how it votes, it is no wonder that libertarians win so few elections.

Although I disagree with several points of this article, this statement is extremely perceptive. The Libertarian Party cannot succeed in a democratic government, period. Democracy, by its nature, collectivizes property and moves everything into the public square. The failure of the Libertarian Party to take a firm stance on issues of culture makes them a party with no issues stance at all.

On the other hand, the libertarian is quite correct that the controversy surrounding cultural issues is a direct outgrowth of the existence of the commons. Obviously, it is a tragedy if the community is balkanized by a holiday display that contains a sap to every philosophy under the sun. No meaningful community can come from a "celebration of diversity" -- for that is a celebration of disagreement, of un-likeness. But if only the dominant members of a community are given a voice, the minority is now supporting a commons that does nothing for them. Neither of these situations is just and arguing over which view of the commons is "less unjust" is worthless.

Minority groups were able to flee a poorly run commons in the past. But as America's frontier closed, the cost of moving away from bad government began to exceed the gain. Since secession is unavailable as an option, the underrepresented minorities now began to agitate for more say in how the commons was used. The civil rights movement can be seen as a direct result of the closed frontier combined with the perceived illegitimacy of secession. The ongoing culture wars are part of this process.

As one the Founders pointed out (perhaps someone can remind me which one), there has never been a Democracy that did not destroy itself. Modern America is in the process of proving that. Essentially, those who consider the rights of the minority paramount will have victories until they have purged the culture of any real substance. Then those who consider the rights of the majority to have been disregarded will "restore order." Decadence will be followed by Dictatorship.

Anyone wanting to break this cycle will first have to admit that society does not need "areas of open access where various cultural players can project messages across property lines." Property defines boundaries, it makes the distinction between what is respectful and what is disrespectful clear.

Free Republic itself is a clear example of this ideal. FR is a forum of ideas, but it has rules of decorum and clear standards. This is precisely because FR is not a commons. The fact that FR is privately owned doesn't diminish its capacity to be a place where "cultural players can project messages" but it does allow for a just means of regulating how those messages are projected -- a feat which a commons in fundamentally incapable of producing.

thanks for the ping, will read later

As you fairly well restrict the definition of the public square to the grounds of city hall, I think private property conversion is out of the question.

However, I agree with your basic conclusion and am interesting in seeing how you would extend this to the public arena which is politics.