The Next American Revolution

With the long decline in US manufacturing and today's economic crisis, millions have been thrown out of work, and many are losing their homes. The usual economic solutions are not working, so some citizens and public officials are ready to think outside of the box, to reinvent our failing economy in order to restore long term community stability and a more egalitarian way of life.

Historian and political economist Gar Alperovitz points us to these alternatives. His documentary film The Next American Revolution describes alternatives already in the making in thousands of communities across the US – cooperatives, community land trusts and other such grassroots institutions that can check monopolistic corporate power, democratize wealth and empower communities. Alperovitz argues that these can take us beyond corporate capitalism without ending up in state socialism. He makes a convincing case that we are in the midst of a great transformation of our society that will better realize core American values.