+
upworthy
Heroes

Capitalism isn't working the way it should. Thankfully, we have options.

They say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Well, it's broke.

Money.

Sucks when you don't have enough, right?


Well, what if we could make it so more people could worry less about money?

I know I'd be all...

And, more importantly, what if we could do it without putting the health of the planet at greater risk?

We can.

They're calling it The Next System Project.

And they've assembled a phenomenal group of people to rally you along.

They say change doesn't happen overnight.

The truth is it's already happening. Maybe not in the places you'd hope — like Capitol Hill. (Side note: If you ask me, that's where too many good ideas go to die.)


OK, moving on...

Change could be happening right in your neighborhood.

In the video above, Angela Glover Blackwell refers to it as "the kernels of a systemic way to move forward."

She's talking about real-life, already-in-action ideas like...

A land trust is a non-profit that members of a community can establish to buy and develop land. These trusts can be used for commercial and retail purposes or, more commonly, for housing:

Ultimately, by separating the ownership of land and housing, this innovative approach prevents market factors from causing prices to rise significantly and, hence, guarantees that housing will remain affordable for future generations.

We all know fossil fuels won't last. And we should all know that burning them is making the world a less livable place. So why not invest more in renewable sources?

The main argument against it is money — oil and gas are "cheaper," which shouldn't actually matter. And at the end of the day, isn't money kinda pointless on an uninhabitable planet?


Farming isn't just for country folk. More people are coming around to urban agriculture as an alternative to the industrial food chain. Urban farmer and writer Rohit Kumar calls urban farming "the most important movement of our time" because of all the ways it benefits us beyond just the food:

  1. It boosts local economies.
  2. It reduces packaging waste, air pollution, and the use of chemical preservatives.
  3. It gets people more involved in local politics.
  4. It improves our attention on health and nutrition.
  5. It spurs interaction in communities.

Why should we give our hard-earned money to giant vampiric corporations? And why shouldn't more workers earn living wages and have a real stake in the businesses they're helping to run?

Cooperatively-owned businesses can make that possible while also generating billions of dollars in revenue, sparing the environment the punishment of conventional industry and pushing us to actually live our democratic ideals.

Those are just a few of the ideas we can elevate in the "next system." The whole idea is to expand on models that allow everyone to win. So what's not to like?

Let's not wait for the ship to sink, folks. We still have time to build a new one.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less

A beautiful cruise ship crossing the seas.

Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.

An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyer Spencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.

Keep ReadingShow less

A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

Keep ReadingShow less

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

Keep ReadingShow less