And yet...
There are still those among us with vibrant visions of what could be, what is still possible even at this late date. It is perhaps best represented by what is known as the Green New Deal. One of its chief proponents in the United States is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasion Cortz who, along with Avi Lewis, scripted and narrated a short film of what could be, the idea being to use art to fire the imagination of people. Writes Naomi Klein:
Just as [Molly] Crabapple and I started mulling over the idea of a Green New Deal short film, The Intercept published a piece by Kate Aronoff that was set in the year 2043, after the Green New Deal had come to pass. It told the story of what life was like for a fictionalized “Gina,” who grew up in the world that Green New Deal policies created: “She had a relatively stable childhood. Her parents availed themselves of some of the year of paid family leave they were entitled to, and after that she was dropped off at a free child care program.” After free college, “she spent six months restoring wetlands and another six volunteering at a day care much like the one she had gone to.”The following is the film that seeks to dispel the pessimism so many of us feel about the future.
The piece struck a nerve with readers, in large part because it imagined a future tense that wasn’t some version of “Mad Max” warriors battling prowling bands of cannibal warlords. Crabapple and I decided that the film could do something similar to Aronoff’s piece, but this time from Ocasio-Cortez’s vantage point. It would show the world after the Green New Deal she was championing had become a reality.
Should you be interested in becoming more informed about the possibilities, I recommend Jeremy Rifkin's book, The Green New Deal, which offers substantial detail on how this brave new world can be accomplished.
I remain a cynic. These are wonderful, inspirational messages but aspirations aren't enough. How is Naomi and Ari's Leap Manifesto progressing? I even bought "This Changes Everything" only to realize, when I finished the book it changed nothing. That is not to say that we don't need advocacy of this sort. We do, as much as we can possibly muster.
ReplyDeleteSome say Biden's platform is a de facto version of the Green New Deal but Congress can and will try to thwart White House initiatives just as it did so successfully during Obama's presidency.
There'll have to be revolutionary change in Congress and that starts with effective campaign finance reform of the McCain/Feingold sort. It will be a glorious morning if we wake up on November 4th with that sort of Congressional upheaval.
I'll keep my fingers crossed.
If Biden gets elected, Mound, whatever plans he has to advance the Green New Deal (I read that he has committed to a $2 Trillion allotment) are clearly contingent upon who also gets elected to Congress. Obviously, time is very short.
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