Why do activists fail in their efforts to create positive change? The main reason, according to activist and attorney Tom Linzey of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, is that activism starts with the faulty assumption that we live in a democracy. As unnerving as Linzey’s observation is, he says it’s central to a new solution for reclaiming control of our lives and communities from corporations.

“Perhaps we’re in this mess today because we’ve never had a democracy in this country,” Linzey said at the 2006 Bioneers Conference. “Perhaps that corporate cultural IV in our arm has been working so well that it’s hard for us to even imagine what self-government would look like.” Until now, that is.