They’re decommodification machines!
The library is the only place that Americans experience the fullness of what it means to remove goods from the market. It pings our consciousness. Hey we could love differently!
Internet friends, I understand if you are green with envy at me for attending this great talk last night!
"Who's afraid of libraries?" was the rhetorical opener and I loved the point (among many) that libraries are where things are free. "a CVS looks really weird after you've been to the library."
"Who's afraid of libraries?" was the rhetorical opener and I loved the point (among many) that libraries are where things are free. "a CVS looks really weird after you've been to the library."
April 8, 2025 at 12:25 PM
They’re decommodification machines!
decommodification is a goal, not a means
July 21, 2026 at 4:10 PM
decommodification is a goal, not a means
I'm seeing people talk about price controls as decommodification, which is bonkers. You can't take a micromanagement policy fully enclosed in the logic of the background permanence of the relevant capitalist market and just call it decommodification. That's like marketing fraud.
June 28, 2026 at 1:16 PM
I'm seeing people talk about price controls as decommodification, which is bonkers. You can't take a micromanagement policy fully enclosed in the logic of the background permanence of the relevant capitalist market and just call it decommodification. That's like marketing fraud.
Nobody advocating "decommodification" for housing ever follows up with "I will myself never sell my house for profit".
“Decommodify housing” means that the person you are talking to hates real estate developers and neighborhood change more than they hate high housing prices that enrich landlords and homeowners.
March 22, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Nobody advocating "decommodification" for housing ever follows up with "I will myself never sell my house for profit".
In the @financialtimes.com today on green planning and decommodification of life's essentials or bust post-IRA and Bidenomics. www.ft.com/content/dda5...
August 26, 2025 at 12:54 PM
In the @financialtimes.com today on green planning and decommodification of life's essentials or bust post-IRA and Bidenomics. www.ft.com/content/dda5...
Mayor Wu has somehow built a national reputation for municipal socialism without much socialism. No redistribution of power, no decommodification, and you still can’t safely bike from Dorchester to City Hall.
Socialist mayors in Seattle, Boston, NYC, and, soon, possibly LA. Under the national radar, but there is definitely a left.
September 21, 2026 at 1:16 AM
Mayor Wu has somehow built a national reputation for municipal socialism without much socialism. No redistribution of power, no decommodification, and you still can’t safely bike from Dorchester to City Hall.
The past few years have seen massive expansion of crypto (speculation), NFTs (speculation), sports betting (gambling), prediction markets (more gambling), and social media engagement farming (selling yourself or bots).
Surprising we don't hear more about decommodification in politics.
Surprising we don't hear more about decommodification in politics.
December 5, 2025 at 12:29 AM
The past few years have seen massive expansion of crypto (speculation), NFTs (speculation), sports betting (gambling), prediction markets (more gambling), and social media engagement farming (selling yourself or bots).
Surprising we don't hear more about decommodification in politics.
Surprising we don't hear more about decommodification in politics.
"Decommodification goes both ways." That's a perfect sentence, too.
August 17, 2024 at 3:15 PM
"Decommodification goes both ways." That's a perfect sentence, too.
Musk declared 2036 a deadline for full decommodification and nobody blinked.
August 10, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Musk declared 2036 a deadline for full decommodification and nobody blinked.
I love the “price gouging from the other side” and “decommodification” shit that is like poetically stupid
August 16, 2024 at 12:32 PM
I love the “price gouging from the other side” and “decommodification” shit that is like poetically stupid
mamdani putting the knicks games on the video ad screens is both Communization and Decommodification, imo
June 15, 2026 at 5:47 PM
mamdani putting the knicks games on the video ad screens is both Communization and Decommodification, imo
Vastly increased access to food has already been achieved and it wasn’t through decommodification. Communists have historically been pretty successful at uninventing modern agriculture and causing famines though!
July 21, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Vastly increased access to food has already been achieved and it wasn’t through decommodification. Communists have historically been pretty successful at uninventing modern agriculture and causing famines though!
My latest for Canadian Dimension - after decades of financialization Mexico has reversed course to pursue a campaign of housing decommodification.
Sheinbaum's model shows another path is possible. Canadians should take note.
Sheinbaum's model shows another path is possible. Canadians should take note.
Claudia Sheinbaum's government is using public power to build homes, operate affordable rentals, and renegotiate unpayable mortgages. Canada continues to subsidize developers and hope the market fixes a crisis it created. Mexico is showing that another path is possible.
Mexico is solving its housing crisis. Why aren’t we?
The parallel housing journeys Mexico and Canada have been on since the 1990s are now diverging. Claudia Sheinbaum’s government has shown that another path is possible. Canada’s misguided strategies, b...
canadiandimension.com
July 20, 2026 at 1:05 PM
My latest for Canadian Dimension - after decades of financialization Mexico has reversed course to pursue a campaign of housing decommodification.
Sheinbaum's model shows another path is possible. Canadians should take note.
Sheinbaum's model shows another path is possible. Canadians should take note.
"DECOMMODIFICATION GOES BOTH WAYS" i shout from atop my penny farthing
August 17, 2024 at 2:32 PM
"DECOMMODIFICATION GOES BOTH WAYS" i shout from atop my penny farthing
Mexican planners will advocate for the decommodification of housing and land value capture in the same lecture.
August 3, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Mexican planners will advocate for the decommodification of housing and land value capture in the same lecture.
long waitlists to live in housing in Soviet St Petersburg had nothing to do with supply and demand thanks to the decommodification of housing
July 21, 2026 at 9:25 PM
long waitlists to live in housing in Soviet St Petersburg had nothing to do with supply and demand thanks to the decommodification of housing
time for the decommodification of human needs.
June 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM
time for the decommodification of human needs.
The funny thing is no one ever attacks it from the other direction, ie. requiring homeowners to only list their home at their original purchase price, which is a conclusion of the phrase decommodification
December 4, 2024 at 3:10 AM
The funny thing is no one ever attacks it from the other direction, ie. requiring homeowners to only list their home at their original purchase price, which is a conclusion of the phrase decommodification
“decommodification goes both ways” is an incredible quote
Burning Man attendees encounter microeconomics. sfstandard.com/2024/08/15/b...
August 17, 2024 at 3:49 PM
“decommodification goes both ways” is an incredible quote
Decommodification.
Tis the season.
Tis the season.
November 12, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Decommodification.
Tis the season.
Tis the season.
There’s a collective action problem where many would trade some material purchasing power for some decommodification or to like not feel like you need to do self-promo branding on social media in order to ‘compete’
November 9, 2025 at 7:15 PM
There’s a collective action problem where many would trade some material purchasing power for some decommodification or to like not feel like you need to do self-promo branding on social media in order to ‘compete’
It's funny that people think we want automated labor but no other system like UBI at the same time (or just the entire decommodification of survival needs)
March 19, 2025 at 6:25 AM
It's funny that people think we want automated labor but no other system like UBI at the same time (or just the entire decommodification of survival needs)
and somehow the people advocating for the decommodification of housing are the unrealistic, naive ones! at least we’re saying that the framework we’re operating under now is broken!
January 28, 2024 at 4:54 PM
and somehow the people advocating for the decommodification of housing are the unrealistic, naive ones! at least we’re saying that the framework we’re operating under now is broken!
I told them about Economic Democracy and a Wealth Cap Ratio, and they love it. I explained to them about the decommodification of essential goods and services and of "natural monopolies", and they love it.
They're unwitting Democratic Socialists now lol. The same is true of every liberal I talk to.
They're unwitting Democratic Socialists now lol. The same is true of every liberal I talk to.
May 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I told them about Economic Democracy and a Wealth Cap Ratio, and they love it. I explained to them about the decommodification of essential goods and services and of "natural monopolies", and they love it.
They're unwitting Democratic Socialists now lol. The same is true of every liberal I talk to.
They're unwitting Democratic Socialists now lol. The same is true of every liberal I talk to.