Companies and startups are aspiring toward an economy, and an Internet, that is more fully ours with the use of cooperatives, "commons-based peer production," and cryptocurrencies.
It's been called "America's untrendiest trend." The evidence that millions of people are finally walking again is as solid as the ground beneath our feet.
Organizations that aim to reduce the use of toxic chemicals have long focused on shutting down offending businesses. But this story from Boston shows another way.
From the Deep South to the West Coast, these entrepreneurs are making sure jobs and dollars grow鈥攁nd stay鈥攊n places hardest hit by hurricanes, poverty, and gentrification.
From kitchens that buy and sell locally grown food, to a waste co-op that will return compost to the land, new enterprises are building an integrated food network. It's about local people keeping the wealth of their land at home.
Manufacturing jobs are returning to the U.S., but to fill them we鈥檒l have to train a new generation of workers. That鈥檚 what this school is doing in a struggling neighborhood that once hosted the country鈥檚 biggest candy empires, as factories return.
Local economies can be strengthened through the large purchasing power of local institutions. Here鈥檚 how the nation's second largest school district is doing it.
Carbon reduction alone cannot solve our climate crisis, because it is continuously fed by our economic crisis. But renewables can be a critical driver in building a healthier economic system, free of the fossil fuel industry.
A proposed community-owned solar project on an abandoned coal mine in Arizona illustrates how cooperative economomics make it possible to stop extracting fossil fuels鈥攚ithout leaving workers behind.
How can potential leaders from underprivileged backgrounds tackle economic inequality and climate change when they spend most of their time trying to earn a decent living? Here鈥檚 what we learned in Massachusetts.
Why did some of the cooperative institutions built in the 鈥70s鈥攅specially food co-ops鈥攇et to scale and thrive in subsequent decades, while others faded away?
鈥淥ur full humanity is expressed only when we have the capacity and the opportunity to be productive, to do for ourselves, meeting our needs in our communities.鈥
Next Monday, YES! and the New Economy Coalition kick off New Economy Week鈥攆ive days of national conversation about the ideas, strategies, and projects that make up the movement.
Gas stations aren鈥檛 great for the climate, but the move is a step toward local control over economic decisions鈥攁 model that holds great potential for developing renewable energy in the long term.
Seattle's path to a $15 minimum wage is a winding tale of effective organizing, smart messaging, and blind dumb luck. It is also a roadmap for bypassing partisan gridlock鈥攐ne city at a time.
Cooperative Home Care Associates' 2,300 workers enjoy good wages, regular hours, and family health insurance. With an investment of $1.2 million into the cooperative sector, New York City is hoping to build on the group's success.
Coal production is gradually leaving Appalachia鈥攈aving already extracted much of the region's natural wealth. Local people are figuring out how to build a new economy based on shared vision and community knowledge. If transition can happen here, it can change the debate everywhere.
The Appalachian Transition Fellows are young people who will spend this year building diverse job opportunities in the coal-country counties that need them most.