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About David Morris

David Morris is co-founder of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its initiative on The Public Good. He is the author of New City States and four other non-fiction books. His essays on public policy are regularly published by On the Commons, Alternet, Common Dreams and the Huffington Post. More

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Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Aug 14, 2012

For Quality Customer Service Go to Government, Not Business

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/quality-customer-service-government-business/

In 2012 we accept as received wisdom that government is unresponsive while a competitive marketplace forces private business to offer quality customer service.  So when Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) introduced his warmly received bill, The Government Customer Service Improvement Act, we considered his announcement a truism, “When taxpayers interact with a government agency, they deserve… Continue reading

Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | 1 Comment | Updated on Aug 8, 2012

(Corporate) Crime Most Definitely Pays

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/corporate-crime-pays/

The New York Times reports that on August 7 a federal judge approved a settlement between the Justice Department and Morgan Stanley. Here’s the crime. In 2006 Morgan Stanley entered into a complex swap agreement with the New York electricity company KeySpan that gave it a stake in the profits of a competitor, enabling both… Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | 2 Comments | Updated on Aug 5, 2012

Charter Schools and Kudzu

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/charter-schools-kudzu-2/

On this, the 20th anniversary of the opening of the first charter school, kudzu comes to mind. In the 1930s the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) paid farmers $8 per acre to plant this Japanese vine whose deep root structure helps reduce erosion and enrich a depleted soil.  Farmers planted more than 1.2 million acres. Twenty… Continue reading

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Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Aug 3, 2012

Revolution of the Thirsty

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/revolution-thirsty/

Karen Piper, Professor of English at the University of Missouri in Columbia informs us of a factor behind the spring uprising in Egypt the mass media missed:  the privatization of water. The American media focused mainly on internal corruption and oppression. They did not report on the role of the international superpowers in influencing the… Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 27, 2012

The Health Care Debate: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/debating-health-care-american-bubble/

Nowhere is the phrase American Exceptionalism more appropriately used than when describing our debate over health care.  Outside the bubble that is the United States health care is viewed as a right, recognition that sickness and injury can strike anyone despite their best efforts and an acknowledgement of a basic obligation civilized societies have to… Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 26, 2012

The Chutzpah of Peter Orszag

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/chutzpah-peter-orszag/

If chutzpah is killing your parents then throwing yourself on the mercy of the court because you’re an orphan then Peter Orszag is the poster child for chutzpah.  In his recent article in Bloomberg News he insists the best fix for the post office is to take it private.  Where does the chutzpah come from? … Continue reading

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Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | 2 Comments | Updated on Jul 25, 2012

Texas Judge Rules The Sky Belongs To Us All

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/texas-judge-rules-sky-belongs/

“Texas judge rules atmosphere, air is a public trust”, reads the headline in the Boston Globe.  A tiny breakthrough but with big potential consequences.  And as we continue to suffer from one of the most extended heat waves in US history, as major crops wither and fires rage in a dozen states, we need all… Continue reading

filed under General | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 23, 2012

Noam Chomsky, the Magna Carta and the Commons

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/noam-chomsky-magna-carta-commons/

When Noam Chomsky speaks, we should all listen.  In a recent speech at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland he examines the history of that hallowed document, the Magna Carta in a way your history classes probably did not.  Chomsky begins by noting there were two Charters.  One dealt with defending the people from… Continue reading

Article filed under General | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 12, 2012

Et tu Europe?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/tu-europe/

Europe is taking a page from the U.S. playbook. “Local governments, desperate to find a way to preserve… (historic) sites before it is too late,” the Washington Post reports, “are making up for budget shortfalls by hanging ads, selling usage rights and, in some cases, putting the structures themselves on the market.” In France, the caretakers of… Continue reading

filed under General | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 9, 2012

A Wal Mart Becomes a Public Library

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/wal-mart-library-revised/

What’s the opposite of privatization? Publicization? In McAllen, Texas, an abandoned Wal Mart the size of more than two football fields has been converted into the country’s largest single story public library. The project won the 2012 Library Interior Design Awards. Unlike Wal Mart the library is a public institution. It won’t move or close… Continue reading