Words from an interviewee:
My gut reaction was, “yeah, right.”
But then I realized... this is an invitation to fantasize and go creative. The flip side of not being achievable.
I tie racism and capitalism.
Imagine a U.S. without racism.
With one gone, with the benefits of racism and the structural function of it no longer needed, it looks like...
most folks’ needs -- basic needs -- being met;
people being honored just for who they are;
being cherished.
Daily interactions – not just interpersonal – but interacting with agencies, institutions, the experience of being on public transit or walking down the street, all of that is possible without the powers that be, the structures that value a wealthier life or a wealthier neighborhood over another tied to race. Those daily experiences are not damaging and limiting.
It’s happening in small ways.
People are doing work all over this country all over the world to engage people in thinking about a totally different way of being. Right now, capitalism influences everything, even the way we think of ourselves, our bodies our wellness. Everything is commodified to serve accumulating more capital. There are places where people are developing collective leadership and getting people elected who are not beholden to corporations and who truly serve the people. There are pockets where that can happen and has happened.
And there are places where people have tried alternative systems of money, based on bartering and so on. There’s a long history of that. There’s a long history of collective land ownership, collective land use.
I think of Fannie Lou Hammer. She’s known as a civil rights figure but looking at the work she did creating farming collectives that’s something I didn’t know about for a long time about her.
We’re learning that we can accomplish these things.
History informs us and reminds us that we can.
Learning history is so key.
If at the very local level we can rebalance power and care for one another...
Neighbors helping neighbors.
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