Imagining a Guaranteed Future
Authors: Daydriane Chapman, Digital Strategy Associate
As the Digital Strategy Associate here at Common Future, I had the opportunity this spring to interview Natalie Foster, president of the Economic Security Project and author of The Guarantee. This book asks us to imagine an America where housing, health care, a college education, and more are not only attainable by all but guaranteed for everyone. I want to dive deeper into our conversation. How might these safety nets shape our economy? How might they impact our lives? Here’s what Natalie sees.
A Love Letter to Organizing
Decisions don’t always start on Congressional floors. They have historically been driven by grassroots organizers and advocates who are bold enough to stand up and speak loud enough and long enough to grab the attention of higher levels of government.
Natalie doesn’t shy away from our economy's past and present failures in her book. But she also boasts about the incredible progress made, which became possible nationally during the pandemic. As we chatted about The Guarantee, she called it a ‘love letter to organizing.’—“As I looked around at the eviction moratoriums, the rental assistance to help keep people in their homes, and free vaccines in people's arms, all of this powerful policymaking didn't just happen. It wasn't just handed down from on high; it had advocates, organizers, and technologists who laid all the groundwork.” She reflected. “People believed in a new economy, city by city, state by state, so when the pandemic hit, these ideas were picked up, and they were moved forward and became policy in the United States of America. [The Guarantee] is a love letter to the advocates and organizers who have laid the groundwork. That's one example of how progress happens.”
Imagine shifting to a “guarantee economy” where all our needs are met. Here, we drop feasibility and pick up possibility. We let go of scarcity and embrace abundance. Here, we have room to breathe. Natalie wrote that the government’s temporary response to the pandemic proves that the guarantee economy is possible, but what would it take to make it permanent?
The Future of Activism
In the last several weeks, the Futurists team has been digging deeper into what it means to be a Futurist. Part of it is seeing what the future brings because you helped to shape it. People like Natalie are building the future I want to build momentum behind. I asked her how activism might shape future economic policies, especially with all the changes discussed in her book and what’s happening now.
“The future of organizing and activism is entirely in our hands right now. We have this important election coming up in the fall—think that's something we will be determining. When we look back, I want us to see what we're doing today. This is all happening at a moment when a lot of our freedoms are being rolled back. The rise of fascist power is very frightening. That is all true. But so is the progress.”
—Natalie Foster
She added. “But that is the work for us advocates to do. If we don't believe it's possible to build this new economy, it won't get built. It's built because plans are laid. There are blueprints created, architects lay them, and then people build them. That's what I see us doing.”
We must believe in a future worth fighting for because there won’t be one if we don’t. We owe future generations more than the inherited shame of bootstraps that never worked for any of us. When we look back at this moment years from now, let it be the moment we decided to believe in something different. I’ve learned that our ability to imagine new ideas or possibilities is often limited by our experiences and what we’ve already seen done. I have the incredible honor of writing and co-creating for our Futurists account on Instagram, where I’ve been exposed to new ideas and ways of thinking. It’s so much easier to grasp the possibility of a better future when tens of thousands of people believe alongside you. Arundhati Roy wrote, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
When was the last time you stopped to listen?
Hope is a Discipline
In light of the approaching presidential elections and the uncertainty surrounding our nation’s identity, it’s never been more important to remember that hope is our superpower. Believing that we’re worth the future we’re fighting for is what gets us there. So, where do we go to find hope? When I’m finding it hard to be optimistic, and the issues around me feel too big to handle, I lean on the wisdom of others and the fact that I’m not the first person to face the problems I’m facing.
“Our liberation is tied up with everyone else's liberation. That is the work to do, [to] keep hoping because there are a lot of people out there who need us to show up…It's not always easy, but it's a discipline.”
—Natalie Foster