Fixing the Future Documentary Response

David Brancaccio first visited Bellingham, WA. There he spoke with Balle Business Alliance Director Michelle Long, Economic Analyst David Korten, Owner of Lummi Island Wild Riley Starks, Architect Peter Fraiser, Mayor Dan Pike, and the President of Wood Stone Corporation Keith Carpenter. Then he visited Cleveland, OH where he spoke to Evergreen Cooperative Laundry Operations Manager Medrick Addison and Cooperative Advocate Ted Howard. Then he briefly went to Berkely for a sustainability conference where Addison spoke. Brancaccio then visited Austin, TX where he interviewed Yo Mamas Cooperative partners Sylvia Barrios and Raquel Rodriguez. Yo Mamas took a class that was led by the Co-Director of Third Coast Workers for Cooperation Carlos Perez de Alejo, who he also interviewed as well as Eco-Wise worker Jessica Holmes.

In Fargo, ND he interviewed Randal & Michelle Thompson about their farm. The Thompsons are customers of Bremer Bank; Brancaccio interviewed Ron Mueller who works at the bank. He also spoke to the editor of Economist Magazine Matthew Bishop. He then took a train to St. Paul, MN where he attended a fair. Finally, Brancaccio wrapped up in Portland, ME where he interviewed Robert Ellis of Hour Exchange Portland, their founder Richard Rockefeller, customers Jennifer London and Stephen Buckett, and the author of The Evolution of Finance Jane D’Arista.

Several "main street" economic approaches are discussed in the documentary. The first is local living economies which centers around employing local people in local sustainable businesses creating a connection between the consumer/investors/the business. Another is the tiny house movement which illustrates how much excess humans have that could be conserved. Work co-ops in which workers are part owners in the company they work for were also discussed. A different approach to banking was suggested where investment institutions work in long-term interests and reinvest into the community they get their money from. Another example was time banks where people give their time to complete services for other people in order to get services they need. It is an alternative currency and due to its non-monetary nature is nontaxable! The final approach discussed strategies for more locally based retirement investing which involves investing in 401ks that everyone in a community puts into and knows exactly where it’s going.

I had a few key takeaways from watching this documentary. The first is that these business models don’t work if people think they need to keep accumulating. I think the reason the current global economy, especially in the U.S, is the way it is because people are greedy and always want more, even if they don’t need it or could give it to someone else. As long as that’s true these business models won’t spread, so I have little faith that local, sustainable business practices could substantially take root in this country. The second is that economic measures don’t take into account quality of life and non-monetary value or environmental impact. By valuing countries on GDP more than most other factors, we don’t see at what cost that economic success comes and it’s almost always the environment or human rights. The last is that sustainability is so much more than compost and recycling, and doesn’t mean material sacrifices (unless you have way more than you need). I’ve always found the idea of most sustainable practices, aside from the commonplace behaviors of not being wasteful and mindfully disposing of waste, too granola for me to internalize. After learning about how I can engage in a more sustainable economy rather than just individual practices, I feel a lot more interested in educating myself about and practicing sustainability.