Global Teach In (Occupy the Economy) April 25th

[mcfuzz]

I was contacted by Jonathan Feldman, a professor of economic history living in Sweeden, about opening up a Chicago chapter to the Global Teach In (http://www.globalteachin.com/) for April 25th (11am-2pm). Currently I'm working with some members of preservation watch illinois, PWIL, including Lora Chamberlain who used to talk about getting illinois a state bank at GA's.

I met a couple more academics organizing it in New York City last week, and have been on calls and read info on it. I'm confident that this is something I personally, and OC generally, should get behind. However, we haven't solidified any plans yet for doing it in Chicago.

If anyone would like to help organize this in Chicago you are welcome to join a working group for it which is currently very small and has only myself identifying as from occupy chicago.

Just let me know if you want to join. Once we have some plans in place I will bring this to the GA to endorse.

About the Global Teach In:

There are global speakers, and local speakers from participating city chapters. Each city gets to provide 5 minutes of speaking that will be broadcast to everyone.
Here are current main speakers Gar Alperovitz, founding Principal of The Democracy Collaborative (US)
Pamela Brown, New School for Social Research (US)
Ellen Hodgson Brown, Chairman and President, Public Banking Institute (US)
Colin Hines, Convenor, Green New Deal (UK)
Robert Pollin, PERI, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (US)
Joel Rogers, Director, COWS (US)
Alice Slater, New York Director, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (US)
Jigme Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan (Bhutan)
Anders Wijkman, Tällberg Foundation (Sweden)
Among others.

The focus is on constructive rather than deconstructive alternative theories. Rather than extoll all the ways the current system fails us, and argue about how to change it, the global teach in is about practical solutions for today and tomorrow to get us creating alternative economies that will replace what we don't like in the world. Worker owned co-ops like Mondragon in Spain are highlighted, as well as projects in America. In some ways the goal of the global teach in is to connect the dots. When we can bridge public banking with public utilities and local worker-controlled manufacturing, well, that's basically the holy grail.

It is an opportunity for different people and groups working intentionally locally to share their knowledge publicly on a global scale.

I can tell anyone interested more. I'm thinking MultiKulti and Cermak are backup locations if we cant get a good college lecture hall or something else downtown.

contact mcfuzz@gmail.com if you want to work on this.