Toward a New Economy:
Introduction to Summer 1983 issue of Connexions
(Volume 8, Number 2)

Dear friends,

So much has been written and said about the present world-wide economic situation that we decided to produce an issue on economic alternatives. We solicited materials from across the country, asking you to tell us how you are working “toward a new economy”.

The summaries in this issue reflect two basic responses to the status quo. The first is a critique of the current situation from the standpoint of those whose interests are not served by the dominant economic system. The other response is the creation of alternatives which seek to embody those values of community control, economic participation, and production for human need which are lost in the grab for profit.

When collective members discussed the materials summarized, we found we had differing interpretations of the work being done to build a new economy. Some were disappointed and thought we have not yet been very effective in bringing about the changes required to establish a new economy. Strategies such as worker control, production for need rather than profit, and ecologically-sound planning seem still to be confined to the fringes of an economic system driven by completely different imperatives. This is hardly surprising, given the strong opposition of those whose interests are served by a profit-based system and the rhetoric of recession. Nonetheless, some thought that most alternative projects had accepted this relegation to the margins and had not made new approaches visible, attractive, and believable to the large numbers of skeptics who cannot imagine that anything is realistic or workable except the status quo. Other collective members questioned the whole concept of alternative economies, suggesting that they act as a safety valve, releasing the pressure of discontent and anger from the system.

Still other collective members were more optimistic and excited. They thought that innovative work is being done by unions (including unions of the unemployed), churches, and other community organizations to create a better understanding of the present system and to develop alternatives. They were surprised that so many projects were surviving in the face of opposition and recession. An increasing number of people seem to be thinking more critically and developing clearer visions of a more just and equitable economic order.