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John de Graaf

John de Graaf is a filmmaker, writer and activist, co-founder of Take Back Your Time, the Happiness Alliance and And Beauty for All.  He has produced more than fifteen national PBS documentary specials and is the co-author of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic and co-author of What's The Economy For, Anyway? He has taught at Evergreen State College and serves on the board of Earth Island Institute. He is the Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Bread & Roses Party of the US.

Marten Lake reflection, WA Cascades

Campaigning for Bread and Roses

By John de Graaf, Resilience.org

The old word “beauty” speaks to our hearts as more academic or bureaucratic terms cannot.  I am especially persuaded by the power of the word to cross lines of political polarization. As, I believe, is the concept of Bread and Roses!

  • June 17, 2020
Vallejo

Rethinking the Good City: Vallejo’s Bold Vision

By John de Graaf, Front Porch Republic

“Fortunately,” he says, “we here in California believe in climate change. We believe in the ecology of our land. We believe that we can make the positive changes that need to be made so that we have life on this planet.” And not only life, but a good life.

  • August 6, 2019
Civilian Conservation Corp

The Promise of the Green New Deal

By John de Graaf, Front Porch Republic

In my view, the most glaring omission in the GND is its lack of any challenge to consumerism and our current obsession with economic growth.

  • March 28, 2019
Vallejo hills

A California City That’s Taking Beauty Seriously

By John de Graaf, Common Dreams

Bob Sampayan believes in the transformational power of beauty.  Now in his sixties, Sampayan is the mayor of Vallejo, California, a primarily working-class city at the north end of San Francisco Bay.

  • August 31, 2018
Society

Building a movement for happiness

By John de Graaf, The Daly News

Jefferson and other American revolutionary leaders including Washington, Adams and Franklin all believed that the main purpose of government was increasing the happiness of its citizens.

  • May 22, 2014

Strengthening our health

By John de Graaf, Solutions

America's health care system is more expensive by 40–60 percent than health care systems in any other industrialized country (it makes up nearly half the health care budget of the entire world), but the results it produces are arguably the worst of the group.

  • November 10, 2010
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