Resist & Build: Preparing the World for System Change |
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by Jim Tarbell
The Solidarity Economy Network was ready for this historic moment for change. Before the pandemic, they planned to gather a dozen or more key national groups working on system change at the Highlander Center in Tennessee on March 19-22 for a Summit on Resist and Build. Then the pandemic intervened and they moved to Zoom.
Their goal is to “build a collaborative process for system change.” They are a collection of groups that, along with AfD, are leading the movement for system change. They include:
Almost all of these groups educate and train people to build a new economy and future. As coalitions or networks, they have a broad reach to implement system change, which concentrates on expanding and supporting solidarity economies.
They use their monthly Zoom gatherings to construct a movement that resists the depravities of the current systems and creates new systems to replace the old, ensuring a vibrant and fair future for people and the planet.
They have four specific objectives in coming together. They want to:
Their discussions range from the importance of building new systems driven by love and compassion, to an awareness that conservative forces are aiming to rewrite the US Constitution to take us back to the eighteenth century. The growing urgency of the moment, and their joint desire to help the world move into a sustainable, equitable future, makes their efforts vitally important.
One of their first efforts examined how our present economic/political/medical systems' response to the pandemic differs from how a social-democratic economy or a social solidarity economy would have operated during the pandemic.
The information below is an abridged version of their conclusions. The differences are so dramatic that they clearly illustrate the need for everyone to become involved in system change.
The Solidarity Economy Network was ready for this historic moment for change. Before the pandemic, they planned to gather a dozen or more key national groups working on system change at the Highlander Center in Tennessee on March 19-22 for a Summit on Resist and Build. Then the pandemic intervened and they moved to Zoom.
Their goal is to “build a collaborative process for system change.” They are a collection of groups that, along with AfD, are leading the movement for system change. They include:
- The Democracy Collaborative that facilitates the Next Systems Project;
- The New Economy Coalition that gathers a vast swath of systemic change groups to their Common Bound Conferences;
- Cooperation Jackson, which is developing a cooperative solidarity economy in Jackson, Mississippi, facilitating black lives taking charge of their future;
- Business Alliance of Local Living Economies, now known as Common Futures, that has been in the vanguard of the localization movement;
- Transition USA that has been helping communities transition off fossil fuels, living in balance with resource limits, and building equity for all.
Almost all of these groups educate and train people to build a new economy and future. As coalitions or networks, they have a broad reach to implement system change, which concentrates on expanding and supporting solidarity economies.
They use their monthly Zoom gatherings to construct a movement that resists the depravities of the current systems and creates new systems to replace the old, ensuring a vibrant and fair future for people and the planet.
They have four specific objectives in coming together. They want to:
- Strengthen and build relationships among national groups working on system change;
- Sharpen their analysis of post-capitalism vs. reform capitalism system change;
- Articulate a collective position on resisting the maladies of the current system of monopoly capitalism; and
- Build alternatives for a vibrant future.
Their discussions range from the importance of building new systems driven by love and compassion, to an awareness that conservative forces are aiming to rewrite the US Constitution to take us back to the eighteenth century. The growing urgency of the moment, and their joint desire to help the world move into a sustainable, equitable future, makes their efforts vitally important.
One of their first efforts examined how our present economic/political/medical systems' response to the pandemic differs from how a social-democratic economy or a social solidarity economy would have operated during the pandemic.
The information below is an abridged version of their conclusions. The differences are so dramatic that they clearly illustrate the need for everyone to become involved in system change.
Three Different Systemic Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic
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Our Present Money-Fueled Democracy
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Social Democracy
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Solidarity Economy
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