For 50 years, government, public goods, and our mutual interdependence have been under assault by profiteers. They cook up stories about “efficiency” in think tanks, peddle myths in the media, and stoke racist fears in order to bend public policy into an instrument for private profit. This isn’t just a matter of money: it’s also about democracy and power. In every sector of our economy from public health to social media, corporations, private equity firms and other profiteers hold enormous power over our lives, and they’re completely unaccountable. But the tide may be turning. People’s movements are decrying private control over our health care, housing, water, and other public goods, and are building new models of public, community and worker control. 

On February 22, three fantastic speakers joined us to explore the half-century march toward privatized control, and potential pathways to a just, democratic economy:

• Donald Cohen, In the Public Interest, and co-author of The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back
• Amy Fried, University of Maine, and co-author of At War with Government: How Conservatives Weaponized Distrust from Goldwater to Trump 
• Kenyon Farrow, Managing Director, Advocacy & Organizing, PrEP4All; former Co-Executive Director of Partners for Dignity & Rights
• Moderator: Ben Palmquist, Partners for Dignity & Rights