Over the years I have been privileged to publish a number of articles on emerging democratic economic alternatives in Tikkun — and how many of these also intersect with some of the social and philosophical principles of leading Jewish theorists like Martin Buber. For those who are interested, here’s a talk that builds on such work, on my book America Beyond Capitalism, and on ongoing research to suggest that the emerging historical era offers hope of a slow and steady construction, from the ground up, of a “new economy” based on democratic and ecologically sustainable principles:
Gar Alperovitz – Our Time in History: The Possibility of Fundamental System Change from New Economics Institute on Vimeo.
I have great respect for the insights of Dr. Gar Alperovitz. We have no economic problem. In US there is 192,000 dollars for each family of four. We haven’t learned yet how to manage the economy which needs to be democratic and ecologically sustainable. Worker-owned cooperatives following the Mondragon model are our future. Credit unions are our future. Nationalizing the banks are our future. There are now 130 million Americans in Credit Unions and Cooperatives. If the public is keeping the 35% floor under the economy, why aren’t we going in the direction of more public ownership? If the public is paying for it, why doesn’t the public own it?. We need to re-read Martin Buber.
System Change and Sustainable Cities are emerging now right before our eyes, and with many of us involved in creating this change and sustainability. We just need to recognize that corporations and governments are incapable of leading this change. They are too vested in the old world where money rules and elitist values hold sway.
In the new emerging paradigm of World 5.0, the principles of integrity, peace and love hold sway and a system of ethics drives our culture. One wonders about the predicted ‘end of times’ coming this winter solstice and its context applied to System Change.