We want people over us that’s concerned about the people because we are human beings. . . . And we can no longer ignore the fact that we can’t sit down and wait for things to change because as long as they can keep their feet on our neck, they will always do it. But it’s time for us to stand up and be women and men. —FANNIE LOU HAMER1

The stakes are too high and the stubborn hopefulness of those struggling to re-create this gloomy world too contagious to resign myself to dour pessimism.

The postindustrial era has concentrated political and economic power in just a few hands and denied ordinary people control of their own lives. Overwhelmed by unfathomably large forces, Americans can no longer think and act as fellow citizens. We look for answers in private panaceas, fixed ideas, group identities, dreams of the future and the past,