Editorial: how communities are building new foundations for our society and economy
“Everybody seems to agree that the system we trusted to run things is no longer working,” observes folk singer Martha Tilston. So what’s the alternative? Politicians talk of responsible capitalism, but others see those two words as incompatible.
A way forward is emerging. The special section on community in the spring print edition of Positive News shows how people are getting together to build new foundations for our way of life. People are pooling their skills, money, time and imagination, leading to an increase for example, in groups setting up their own local currencies, generating their own electricity or growing and selling their own food.
As captured in a new film about the Transition movement, this shift is happening rapidly, with the global community as the ultimate framework and with a different set of priorities to the dominant profit motive of today’s capitalism. To live in true community is to care about each other, the land where we live, our livelihoods and our collective future. With that care comes co-operation. “Real happiness is as much about what we can contribute as what we can get for ourselves,” Mark Williamson reminds us.
As well as controlling local resources for the benefit of local people, communities can also determine their own stories of how they see the world and of what the future could look like. So enjoy reading the spring issue of Positive News, and with your own life write what happens next – they are your stories now.
This editorial was adapted from the print edition of Positive News. To receive a copy please support us by becoming a member.
