I received an email this morning from Gar Alperovitz a noted historian, political economist, activist, writer, and government official. He is the president of the National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives and is a co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative, a research institution developing practical, policy-focused, and systematic paths towards ecologically sustainable, community-oriented change and the democratization of wealth. He is also the co-chair of the Next System Project, a project of the Democracy Collaborative.
I am sharing the information with you. Please pass it on to your group of friends, relatives and neighbors – those who are interested in or, maybe, need to hear the message.
Over the past several months, I have been working with The Democracy Collaborative staff on a short animated film that offers a framework for thinking about one way to develop a new cooperative and democratic systemic direction—the “pluralist commonwealth.”
We have also partnered with Yes! Magazine to highlight six concrete steps that can help you build towards a Pluralist Commonwealth vision in your own communities. Included in these steps are: engaging city council members around public banking and participatory budgeting; investing directly in worker cooperatives; pushing universities and hospitals to shift their procurement budgets in favor of green, community-building options; and other strategies to begin democratizing the economy.
Read my article in Yes! Magazine
Finally, to provide educators and students with an array of resources for further learning, we are making available an annotated transcript of the film which expands key points and links to supplemental texts, video, and other material connected to the various aspects of the pluralist commonwealth vision.
The Village Market 
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