Conversation Pushers #4: Another World Is Possible by Natasha Hakimi Zapata
The hope embedded in the title is a bold promise these days, but she delivers.
Hi, friends.
I started this column as a way to use the time I spend reading and writing this newsletter as a force for change. Each month, I’m publishing in-depth coverage of a book that arms us for critical real-life conversations across parties. This month, that’s Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America From Around the Globe by Natasha Hakimi Zapata.
What is Another World Is Possible about?
Inspired by her experiences with the UK’s National Institute of Health (which provides free healthcare to everyone), journalist Natasha Hakimi Zapata decided to travel the world to learn how nine other countries have solved the biggest socioeconomic issues of our times. That includes:
The UK’s universal healthcare system, which provides free healthcare for everyone
Norway’s parental leave policies, which are generous and motivated by a desire for greater gender equity in the home and society overall
Singapore’s public housing for everyone, which has virtually eliminated homelessness
Finland’s public school system, which prioritizes teacher autonomy and achieves world-leading educational results
Portugal’s complete reversal of its drug crisis, thanks to decriminalization, care, and addiction support
Estonia’s digital infrastructure and net neutrality, not only provides free internet to everyone but also eliminates a great deal government spending (and citizen headaches) by simplifying bureaucracy
Uruguay’s record-breaking renewable energy, which is so successful they make more than they need
Cost Rica’s approach to biodiversity, which is saving lives and treating native people fairly
New Zealand’s universal pension program, which works about 100 times better than Social Security
In each chapter, she presents the history of these policies (including how they managed to succeed, politically), their cost-effectiveness, and the real-world impact they’ve had. She interviews people running these programs now, the people who helped establish each system (where possible), and everyday people whose lives have been affected.
Here is my full review — I liked it very much!
What are the key conversation points?
The biggest objection most people have to these programs is how much it’s going to cost them, as a taxpayer. But the truth is that US is already vastly outspending all of these countries in all of these areas. In fact, most of these policies pay for themselves. That is not the case for anything the US currently invests in.
In most cases, we could save taxpayers money by adopting simpler systems that treat everyone equally and investing in policies that are proven to make people healthier and happier — and therefore more likely to stay in the workforce and become more productive contributors to GDP. For example, the UK spends ~10% of GDP on healthcare. By contrast, the US spends ~17% of GDP — and the only programs we really have are Medicaid and Medicare. This is because our system is so much more complicated. We’re not only tripping over ourselves to prop up a private insurance market, we’re also giving different services to different people who must “qualify” instead of just giving the same services to everyone. The US spends $1,055/year/person on healthcare paperwork administrative processing, whereas the UK spends an average of $193.
Another example is Uruguay’s renewable energy system, which is so successful that they are a net exporter of renewable energy (meaning they make so much, they both power their country and have more left over to sell to other countries and increase GDP).
Now that they’re implemented, these policies are overwhelmingly popular across all political parties.
The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, which provides free healthcare for everyone, is so popular that the conservatives who originally opposed it actually try to take credit for it in their campaigning today.
We have all the tools we need to replicate these results here, but these policies don’t work in pieces; they work because they are complete, intentionally designed systems. These administrations didn’t propose something sweeping and then let opposing parties chip away at it until the plan only included drips and drabs of the original proposition. They worked with experts to design a system in which individual parts rely on one another to function as intended — and then they implemented that whole system.
For example, Portugal’s integrated strategy to solve their drug and HIV crises included 1) a prevention strategy to educate the public, 2) treatment, risk reduction, and reintegration plans for drug users, especially those with addiction, 3) an internationally defensible legal framework for complete decriminalization, 4) an analysis of what research and training the policy would require, and 5) designs for an organizational structure to implement the proposal.
What can we do right now?
Buy the book, read it, and talk about these policies with everyone in your life — regardless of party.
Policy change often begins at a municipal level. Get involved in local politics — from putting candidate lawn signs out front, to attending school board meetings, to speaking during the open comment period of town hall meetings, to running for office yourself.
Policies don’t get passed if we don’t elect the right people to office. Volunteer, phone bank, donate, etc in support of political candidates who support sweeping change — not baby steps. And donate to organizations like Swing Left, which helps move the needle by focusing on big-picture and hyperlocal races like counteracting Elon Musk’s super PAC’s efforts to take over the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Further reading
“Here’s What Working Parents Should Envy About Norway (and It’s Not Just The Electric Cars)”
“The Uruguay Way: Achieving Energy Sovereignty in the Developing World”
“Why Portland failed where Portugal succeeded in decriminalizing drugs”
Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives by Sami Sage and Emily Amick: I mentioned this one last month and still haven’t read it yet, but it comes highly recommended and I’m on my library hold list!
Because this book covers so many different issues that all tend to inform Democrats’ agendas here in the US, I donated and matched my Bookshop and Libro.fm commissions to Swing Left. I received $10 in commissions, so that was $20 this time.
If there are any particular books you’d like me to cover here in the future, let me know in the comments.
Until next time,
– Deedi (she/her)