A-Infos (en) US, Boston, Anarchist journal BAAM #14 - Don't Be Afraid, Just Be Ready by Jeff Reinhardt

In a flash of a little over a month, the fi nancial sector of worldwide 
capitalism has seen its worst fears come true. A credit crisis has developed in 
the financial institutions at the top of the US economy and it has spread to the 
rest of the world's markets through neoliberal trade policies linking them all 
together. But these were not mistakes with actual repercussions for the banking 
elite, all thanks to the US government's bailout of these profit-gouging 
institutions. ---- The bailout package was intended to "save the economy" for 
all of us, because supposedly wealth "trickles down," when in reality it only 
directly benefits the few. I, for one, am not surprised by these ill-conceived 
actions, but I am also not worried. To me, the financial meltdown offers more 
hope for a better world than any fear of total collapse.

    As I sit in my neighborhood of Central
Square, Cambridge I can't help but think how
little has changed since the crisis started over
a month ago (and really long before that).
How have things changed on the ground?
In reality? I ask myself as I sit amongst the
homeless, the wealthy, the college students,
the newly immigrated, the middle class: What
has changed? The sky is still blue, cars and
bikes pass me; grocery stores are still open;
the internet is still available--and I real-
ize that the residents in Central Square have
hardly noticed a change at all. Perhaps some
are nervous--food prices have risen, personal
investments have floundered, but to the casu-

Beyond the Markets

al observer, life goes on relatively similar to
how it did a month ago.
    Giant financial institutions have for years
seen the world as only numbers, models, val-
ues, equity, leverage, and a host of other terms
which no one cared about until now. The truth
is, our existence as human beings is not bound
to these forces. In fact, this disconnect between
the world of money and reality is a root cause
for the current crisis.
For too long, the only solutions to the
world's problems have been rooted
in finances.
While I admit there is a need to put
money to work as it may be, it cannot suffice
as our means for survival. Indeed, there is a
reality beyond the numbers, and it might take
a total collapse of the worldwide banking and
financial system to realize this.
    Perhaps our biggest obstacle to making this
realization is the mainstream media--a tool
for the corporate elite. The most unacceptable
thing for the corporate media to do right now
is to offer people hope. This is a disastrous
message to send to the public. After all, these
major media conglomerates are scared, and
they should be. The infrastructure that sup-
ports them is crumbling. Thus, the media is
trying to scare us through a consistent broad-
cast of fear and no proposals for healthy, for-
ward-looking alternatives.
    What neither the mainstream media, the
government, nor the corporate elite will offer
to people is a way out of this mess. This is
precisely because the best way out involves
becoming less dependent on these institutions
and re-evaluating the system we live under.
Ignoring the media's relentless fear monger-
ing is the first step to creating viable alterna-
tives to face future challenges.
    No sector of the American people needs
this more than the working class, who will be
the first to feel the ill effects of the bad econ-
omy, but who will also be the first to adapt.
Many of these problems are already press-
ing: the building trades are at a standstill be-
cause no one is buying houses; homeowners
are getting tossed on the streets by foreclo-
sures; restaurants and even bars are hurting
because banks aren't lending money and peo-
ple are too scared or too poor to spend--but
everywhere you look, life goes on, and peo-
ple are learning new ways to help their neigh-
bors and co-workers. Workers are combining
their efforts to keep everyone on the job, the
food industry is localizing, and people are
even uniting to stop unjust evictions in their
neighborhoods.
    An economic depression is a frightening scenario--
money disappears, jobs evaporate, advantages we
once took for granted are no more--but it
also affords us a new view of the capitalist
system. After all, hasn't this system deter-
mined this less-than favorable position from
the start? In times of economic strife it is
essential to question this system, and to re-
cultivate the desire for a better one.
   Money does not feed us, clothe us, or give
us shelter. It has, over time, become the only
means by which we can acquire such things,
but each of these necessities actually needs
no money. This is a bold statement. We have
been taught to believe that this is not possible,
but it is time to prove to the world and to our-
selves, that it is.
    As the prospects of this collapse loom near,
I look around at the world and at the chal-
lenges various nations face and I see how
money isn't going to solve these problems.
For example, one development that has been
completely overshadowed by the financial
meltdown is the world food crisis. Even the
president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick,
came out and said that 33 countries are risk-
ing social unrest from a lack of food distribu-
tion. The division here is between the theo-
retical and the physical. While money may
lose value, food cannot. It is essential to life.
If we can begin to produce more food as a
society--a challenge in its own right--then
we can feed people. Money, in a sense, has
made feeding people harder than it has to be
by replacing the more basic need (food), with
a more complicated need (money) that can be
a lot harder to come by, especially for the im-
poverished people of the world.
    For too long, larger macro-economic forces
have determined the supply and affordability
of food. Impoverished areas typically have a
harder time supplying food for themselves be-
cause neoliberal trade policies have deprived
farmers of the ability to sustain themselves
and feed their own people. US agribusiness
has effectively wiped out small farmers do-
mestically and internationally. These methods
that almost 80% of the world's population
lives under $10 a day. The causes of such
large-scale global poverty are complicated,
but something can be said in that the rich-
est 20% of the world consumes 76.6% of its
goods. This inequality is rooted in financial
policies, and has little do with people's ability
to supply their own food.
    Ironically, it is these same neoliberal poli-
cies that have now thrown worldwide capi-
talism into chaos. In pursuit of profit, many
multi-national corporations have accrued
incredible debt in order to expand beyond
reasonable limits. And now the real damage
of Paulson's bailout plan is that we are, as
taxpayers, rewarding this elite class for their
debt-ridden, greedy practices that caused a fi-
nancial meltdown and leave millions hungry.
The banks have walked away with a hand-
some reward and the majority of country is
left dreading recession. But what can average
citizens do about all this?
    This is why I have hope. As seemingly
insurmountable challenges face us, we must
believe that a better world can be built. But
we need more than just hope. Locally, in our
communities, we need to start thinking of
ways to support our neighbors and ourselves
in times of economic strife--what we need to
survive. We can set up free stores using the
principles of gift economics, use community
resources to grow and get food to those who
need it, find ways to pool our heating supplies
for the winter, and begin to make decisions
for the community that are separate from any
official corporate or government body.
    Workers, too, must gain better control over
their own economies. We must move towards
more collectively run businesses that give
their employees equal bargaining power and
a stake in the company. This will keep busi-
nesses open for the sake of the workers and
the community, rather than trying to compete
in the open market. Workers make the world
go around, not money.
    Economic changes must also take place in
the household. The amenities of our time have
robbed us of practical methods of sustenance
that were common in previous generations.
Grassy green lawns can be converted into
space for growing food, waste can be com-
posted, and food can be canned for the winter.
We need to buy more locally produced goods
that support other members of our commu-
nities. We need to transform our households
into productive spaces that contribute to our
wellbeing.
    The extent of things that need to be done
is beyond this scope of this one article, but
I implore all who read to begin preparing. It
begins with talking to our neighbors, learning
about our communities, and beginning to get
a sense of what needs to be done to sustain
ourselves without the help of the financial
world. It takes patience, an open mind, and
the willpower to envision a new world. It's an
idealistic course, I know, but it might be the
best way out.

-----------------------------
See also:
http://baamboston.org (not allways avilable)
Email: wordup (nospam) riseup.net
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://ainfos.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en