What can we do?

The vast majority of the nation’s citizens do have the power to alter the rules of the market to meet their needs. But to exercise that power, they must understand what is happening and where their interests lie, and they must join together. We have done so before. If history is any guide and common sense has any sway, we will do so again.

–  Robert R. Reich       .

This is the last paragraph in Robert Reich’s new book, Saving Capitalism for the Many, Not the Few, who spoke at Town Hall on October 19. Hoping a “spoiler alert” wasn’t needed, we offer it as a partial response to a question that has come up at Penny U in the past: “Faced with an economic system that doesn’t work for many, many people, what can we do?” 

Early in 2014, SEIU’s president, Andy Stern, also spoke at Town Hall about the broken economic system. We just don’t have great set of new ideas for how to fix it, Stern said. His biggest hope is that “a whole group of people will come up with a whole new set of ideas about how to do this.” In an essay I wrote for Pacific Standard, “Unpaid, in Spite of Their Value,” I suggest that, as artists have learned, we’ll have to do this ourselves.

Edward and I invite you to join us to take up at least part of Reich’s challenge by asking ourselves what must we understand about what’s happening, and where do our interests lie? What do we, collectively, know already?

7:00 pm, Friday, December 4

Town Hall, downstairs cafe

Penny U’s format involves starting with a short intro followed by a set of questions. But the main event happens in small groups around the cafe tables where you get to bring your own questions and knowledge to the table. 

We hope you can join us!

Anne Focke & Edward Wolcher