Better
Traci: Julie, as we’ve been writing for the last few months, we keep referencing the idea of building a new and better world, once we are able to step out from under control of the Trump regime. I know we both have a strong belief in the power of articulating this vision - that being able to fight “that’s just how it is” thinking and demonstrate a better future is really important to breaking the hold this white Christian nationalist thinking seems to have on our power structures and many of our people. I know we could talk about policies and philosophies all day long, but I sometimes think in order to really help people shift the paradigm, it helps to be specific. So I wonder – what, exactly, does this look like?
I’ll start with a few specific ideas:
All kids in the country have enough to eat, and it’s healthy and nutritious and helps them develop their brains and bodies.
When people are sick, they could go to the doctor and get what they need, without having to sit in a waiting room for hours or argue with an insurance company about whether they really need it.
Families can go swimming at a local lake or river without it being completely polluted. (I think about this one a lot in the summer, since this was our annual vacation when I was a kid.)
What immediately comes to mind for you?
Julie: Yes to those! Here are some more:
It is easy and supported to both provide for and care for your family. You can rely on great community-based, free (or at the very least affordable) infrastructure including child care options, paid time to care for family members, home health care and more - and you are celebrated for spending your time in both ways - working and caring (including for your own well-being).
Neighbors look out for and support each other - sharing resources including meals and looking out for each other’s kids and other family members.
Schools are great and well resourced in every community. Teachers are well paid, and education includes a foundation of self compassion, community compassion and civics.
Traci: I remember during COVID, thinking to myself, “wouldn’t it be great if we all just realized that sick people should stay home and not spread an infection? Why did we ever think it’s okay to go sit in a room coughing and sneezing all over other people, and getting them sick, too?”
As I think about these ideas, it feels so intuitive, and universally appealing. Who wouldn’t want a world that looks like this? Even just reading many of these ideas makes my body relax a little bit. I would add to the above, the long list of popular ideas we included last week.
So I have to ask: what stops us from having this? I think it’s that we’ve somehow been convinced of two things:
1. That more is always better.
2. That if other people have something, it means you might not be able to have it.
The ‘scarcity mindset’ – the idea that there’s not enough to go around – is so powerful. It’s so often prevalent in our nonprofit space, too. I often find myself struggling with this feeling, and I sometimes think that the more you have, the worse this scarcity mindset is. As a friend of mine once told me, “When we were younger, I felt like I could take more risks. Now that we’ve got a bigger budget and more people depending on me, I’ve got so much more to lose.”
Julie: Yes - the “more is more” idea is definitely about selling and profit. Coupled with the idea of a zero-sum society where there’s not enough for everyone, it keeps us from being able to share in the good life together. The scarcity mindset is a myth created by those who have the most to keep everyone else fighting amongst themselves.
Sociologist Jessica Calarco writes about “the engineers and the profiteers of our DIY [do it yourself] society and the myths they have specifically created.” In her writing, she is talking about the myths that make mothers’ disproportionate labor seem “practical” and “natural” to justify having women do a disproportionate share of the caregiving labor. These engineers and profiteers have been very effective in that story and in the divisive stories about race, class, immigrants, gender and more.
I dream of engineering something new. A society where we know we are all part of the same fabric and it’s clear how my well-being impacts yours and vice versa. We are connected to our planet and its well-being. Our connections to each other are paramount. We recognize gender, race and class as the social constructs that they are. The gap between the haves and the have nots is not a thing because everyone has enough. Where enough-ness rules.
Friend, reader - what can you imagine a better America would have? What is on your dream list? We hope you’ll take some time to daydream about it and maybe even share in the comments?
I think about everyone having what we *need* covered, leaving us all free to figure out what we *want* and how to get it.
Where I work we're a few months out of a year-long strategic visioning and planning process that included dozens of "listening sessions." We heard from thousands of people from all walks of life from all across LA County in facilitated conversations about what it means to "live a good life" in LA. Most striking: people couldn't imagine a "good life" without first nailing down basic needs - housing, food, safety, ability to be outside. To get to the conversation we'd hoped to have - imagining a future that's wonderful for all of us - we had to first have a conversation about imagining a future that's *livable* for all of us.
I'll add, being able to live with honesty and integrity about human impact on our planet and other species, as well as historical facts. We may not like it, it may not always be pretty, but we don't have to feel guilty and look away. We just need to do what we can to make it better from here and hold others accountable to the same. When you know better, do better, you know.