Another World Is Possible

The main theme underlying this blog is that groups of people working together can challenge entrenched interests, not only to block or reverse harmful actions but to imagine new approaches and new ways of doing things that are more positive, healthy, and sustainable.

Many like-minded people are making plans to attend the US Social Forum June 22-26 in Detroit, MI. The theme of this event is "Another World Is Possible - Another US Is Necessary." This will be the second US Social Forum (the first was in 2007), and is one of many regional gatherings which grew out of the World Social Forum, an alternative to the annual gathering of the world's economic elite in Davos, Switzerland. Rather than accept the label of "anti-globalization" assigned to these activities by the media, participants instead stress their vision of a different kind of globalization - one driven by the people of different communities working together on shared goals, rather than the agendas of for-profit corporations.

One group which will be represented at the US Social Forum is Healthcare NOW!, the single-payer advocacy group which held a "house-warming" event at its new Philadelphia office today to raise funds for the trip to Detroit. National Organizer Katie Robbins spoke with the group of 30 supporters, as did Donna and Larry Smith, who were featured in the Michael Moore film "Sicko". Donna now works for National Nurses United, and both she and Katie certainly offer the possibility of a different way of delivering healthcare in the United States; one in which all people have access to the care they need, without regard to their ability to pay, and that access cannot be lost due to job loss or graduation from school. That vision has been hard to communicate in the face of the corporate-driven healthcare "debate" which only permits discussion of minor tinkering within the existing employment-based private health insurance system, but it's a vision we must keep discussing.

These single-payer supporters enjoyed some laughs while watching the film "The Yes Men Fix The World", in which a pair of pranksters who pose as corporate executives or government officials help us imagine a world where Dow Chemical accepts full responsibility for the 1984 pesticide plant accident in Bhopal, India and sets up a fund for the medical needs of its victims, or the New York Times publishes articles on the passage of Maximum Wage legislation.

Challenging corporate power, as well as the paradigms they've encouraged us all to accept as unchangeable, is an essential step towards building a better world. People like Katie Robbins, Donna Smith, and the Yes Men are all helping us to think of creative ways to do this. As Donna said today, the balance of power is currently badly tipped away from the people, but each of us has to do our part to restore the balance, and we can never know which action will be the one that finally does so.

Or as John Lennon sang:
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one."