They hang the man

Back in Tudor times it was the rich and powerful took land of the peasants. There was a rhyme about it, then ..

They hang the man and flog the woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
Yet let the greater villain loose
That steals the common from the goose

Nowadays there is no land left to take. All that's left in the way of common land is scrappy and infertile.

So the modern form of 'enclosure' is taking resources and enterprises. The privatisation of public property ... railways, telecommunications, water, etc. ... is just another form of 'enclosure'.

And just compare what Britain did with its North Sea oil wealth (pissed it up against the wall in tax cuts for the wealthy) with what Norway did with its oil bonanza.

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose
The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine
The poor and wretched don't escape
If they conspire the law to break
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back
[Seventeenth century protest against English enclosures]
Variations
They hang the man and flog the woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
Yet let the greater villain loose
That steals the common from the goose
The law doth punish man or woman
That steals the goose from off the common
But lets the greater felon loose
That steals the common from the goose
The law locks up the hapless felon
who steals the goose from off the common
but lets the greater felon loose
who steals the common from the goose
The fault is great in man or woman
Who steals a goose from off a common
But what can plead that man's excuse
Who steals a common from a goose
[In The Tickler Magazine 1 February 1821]

Notes

These protest rhymes from Seventeenth century England remind us that what we today call "privatisation" of common resources is an old story.
Let's subvert the paradigm, by supporting public institutions like schools, libraries, and parks.