Today, we launched Change Nation, an action network designed to address the economic crisis in America. Our nation faces a jobs disaster: Some 25 million people lack good jobs. The jobs crisis is the most obvious symptom of a broken economy that is only working for those at the very top. Another glaring symptom is that the richest 400 people in America now have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans. These facts are related, and we are determined to DO SOMETHING about it.
Change Nation has a simple mission: give voice, power, and connecting tools to everyone in America who wants to build an economy that works for all of us. With out-of-touch politicians and greedy corporations blocking real solutions, the only way we can change America is to make sure all of us join together and make progress happen. Change has only happened in America when people band together, organize and speak from the power of “We.”
It’s a simple idea: A vibrant economy that works for everyone, created by people who have the courage and audacity to stand up and make their voices heard. Change Nation won't direct the burgeoning number of poor people or the shrinking middle class; it will build and create new volunteer organizing tools which allow people to bring their passions, hopes, anger and ideas directly to the institutions and people who stand in the way of an America in which everyone thrives.
It’s recently become clear that the tools we have for change aren’t enough. Political parties are crippled by the corrupting influence of money and power. Labor unions have fought valiantly to represent working class people but are now under a withering attack from the extreme right wing. Community organizations have heroically stood up for ordinary people, yet in their current form have not reached a sufficient scale to force the changes America needs.
What’s needed is a movement. In a movement there is place for everyone’s voice and in movement there is the real power to confront the forces that stand in the way of an economy that can work for all of us.
The most important part of building a movement to fix our broken economic system is listening to and connecting people. That’s what's different about Change Nation. We will create new tools that combine the best of offline and online organizing and then we will compile the ideas we hear, making the voices of all Americans heard.
For our part, we think such a movement could begin with a straightforward agenda: a good job for everyone who wants one.
But what we think isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is what those struggling to survive in the face of a fading American Dream think.
That’s why the first project of Change Nation will be to join other progressive groups to host over 1000 house meetings across the nation to discuss and generate ideas to rebuild the American dream. On July 16 and 17, Americans will gather at homes, church basements, and community centers across the country--not just to talk about what a new American Dream looks like, but to commit to each other that we'll stand together to make it happen.
Visit www.joinchangenation.org to find out more.