Another World Is Possible

Lessons for America from Around the Globe

Natasha Hakimi Zapata

Real-world solutions to America’s thorniest social problems—from housing to retirement to drug addiction—based on original reporting from around the world

“Learning what has already been accomplished elsewhere will open Americans’ imaginations to the kinds of progressive reforms that are not only attainable, but have already been proven to be wildly effective.” —from the introduction

A new generation of Americans has declared that another world is possible. And yet, the stubborn problems of inequality, climate change, and declining health seem as intractable as ever. Where might different answers lie?

Intrepid journalist Natasha Hakimi Zapata has traveled around the world, from Costa Rica to New Zealand, and Estonia to Singapore, uncovering how different countries solve the problems that plague the United States. Through in-depth reporting, including interviews with senior government officials, activists, industry professionals, and the ordinary people affected by their policies, Another World Is Possible examines innovative programs that address public health, social services, climate change, housing, education, addiction, and more.

In each instance Hakimi Zapata provides a clear-eyed assessment of the history, challenges, cost-effectiveness, and real-world impact of these programs. The result is a compelling, frame-shifting account of how we might live differently and create a safer, healthier, more sustainable future.

A work of keen analysis as well as enormous heart and optimism, Another World Is Possible is destined to crack the mold of current debates, and to refresh our sense of what might be possible tomorrow.

Praise

“It only takes a few months outside the country to realize that political culture in the U.S. is profoundly provincial; to see that the richest nation on Earth suffers from a debilitating lack of imagination. Natasha Hakimi Zapata relies on years of global experience to show U.S. Americans what they are missing. Often, U.S. political elites act as if other societies barely even exist; the sympathetic reporting in Another World Is Possible makes them feel deeply real.”

—Vincent Bevins, author of The Jakarta Method and If We Burn

“Natasha Hakimi Zapata will lift your spirit with evidence that another world is not only possible but that it is already here—if we look and fight for it.”

—Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece and author of Technofeudalism

“Zapata debuts with an illuminating survey of how America’s most pressing social issues have been handled by other countries. . . . The result is a fascinating and inspiring glimpse of how rational governance operates.”

—Publishers Weekly

“As Americans, it’s striking to live in the wealthiest society ever known and yet be surrounded by needless suffering and political demoralization. Natasha Hakimi Zapata reminds us that social-democratic solutions to the problems that plague our country have already have been put into place across the world. Clearheaded and optimistic, her book provides a rousing response to those who say the progressive left is out of ideas.”

—Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor of Jacobin, president of The Nation magazine, and author of The Socialist Manifesto

“Full of lessons for American activists on how to bring enhanced social welfare programs into reality, despite the odds.”

The New Press

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