Apeless Carriage - A Hitchhiker's guide to Driverless Vehicles

The Last Great Commons From the Village Green to the Divided Highway In pre-industrial England, every village—and even many urban neighborhoods—had a central shared space: the commons. Think of it as a kind of miniature Central Park, proportioned for small communities. These were lands not owned by anyone, yet essential to all—used for grazing animals, gathering fuel, or simply being together. They were the social and cultural heart of everyday life. That changed with enclosure. Starting in the 18th century, these communal lands were subdivided, fenced, and converted into private plots. The shift was disruptive and often devastating—people were displaced, and long-standing traditions collapsed. But enclosure also played a foundational role in modern Europe. It encouraged agricultural efficiency, increased land productivity, and helped lay the groundwork for Britain’s rise as an industrial and food-secure power. Still, something was lost. And it wasn’t just the land. The Original...