Democracy (saving it, and ourselves)

Oct. 21, 2019

By now, you've heard a lot from us about the Green New Deal — and how this bold, integrated vision could guide us to a better future. But here’s the thing: to turn that vision into reality, we also have to talk about saving our democracy, right now.

That's why we made our latest animated explainer video, narrated by the great Danny Glover. It's not about what the Green New Deal says, but how we actually win it.

The stakes have never been higher. Around the world, we're approaching some of the most crucial elections imaginable: in Canada today, followed by Britain and the US in the months ahead. On one side, movement-backed candidates are pushing for transformative change — with big ideas like the Green New Deal and guaranteed housing for all. On the other side stand the forces of the planet-killing status quo — those who want to protect and further enrich the 1%, while using (or normalizing) racist attacks to divide us.

In all these countries and more, we've seen a wave of social movements engaging with politics in new, game-changing ways. Thanks to grassroots organizing, radical ideas like the Green New Deal have already gone mainstream. Now, to get these sweeping policies enacted, our movements have started taking the next step: winning elections and entering government. Meanwhile, to hold our representatives accountable — and stop the ruling class from sabotaging our agenda — we also need to build far more grassroots power outside government.

To deliver a simple, inspiring summary of this path to change, we couldn’t imagine a more compelling voice than Danny Glover. Check out our animated explainer video here.

With this video, we're kicking off our latest thematic deep dive: on our podcast, webinars, and social media platforms, we'll spend the next month exploring the links between climate and democracy. We're not going to talk about technical or procedural fixes; instead, we'll be asking the big questions about how our movements interact with mainstream politics — and how we can bring democracy into all aspects of our lives.

We hope you'll dive in with us — because reclaiming democracy is the key to changing everything.

In solidarity,

Rajiv Sicora, The Leap