Over the last two months, we asked community members to share their feelings and questions about the economy–now we need YOUR help to analyze what we learned!
During our presentations on the G20’s harmful economic agenda, we invited people to explore their own thoughts about this thing known as the economy, asking “How does ‘the economy’ make you FEEL?” and “What questions do you have about it?”
Check out a transcription of all responses collected so far:
From feelings of despair and anger to empowerment and curiosity, the 50+ responses we received represent a diverse range of perspectives and the questions shared point to many potential avenues of inquiry and building towards liberatory futures.
At this participatory session, we will use art and discussion to analyze what we’ve learned and collectively shape the next stage of this process. No prior participation necessary — this session is for everyone who wants to move from an economic system built by the G20 to a human-centered economy we build for ourselves and each other!
As financial elites descend on Asheville for the G20 Summit, join us to learn what locals are doing to respond!
From August 29 to September 1, 2026, hundreds of government officials from across the world will converge on Asheville for the G20 international finance summit. They’ll be discussing things like: how to further deregulate transnational corporations that already have more power and money than god; how to lock in our dependence on the dirty energy driving climate chaos; and how to shove AI data centers and cryptocurrency scams down our throats before the biggest financial bubble in history bursts.
Since 1999, the G20 has been a space in which elites plan and coordinate the direction of a global economic order that harms workers everywhere and creates crushing poverty in the Global South. In other words, this summit exists to keep the world financial system ticking along, bringing the rest of us a little closer to crisis every day.
Adding insult to injury, they’re trying to sell the ridiculous story that hosting the summit in Asheville will help with Helene recovery. Exactly how stupid do they think we are?? Privatization, deregulation and austerity are the agenda of the G20. This summit will not help WNC recover or thrive. In fact, the policies advanced at the summit directly threaten the people and resources we depended on most during and after the storm.
If you don’t buy the story you’re being sold about the G20 in Asheville, join us for a deep dive putting the harms of this event into a wider historical context. We’ll delve into the political and economic history neoliberalism, the failures of multi-lateralism, and how the global working class is opposing the world the G20 wants to build!
We’ve also recorded a video presentation explaining the political and economic history of the G20 summit, with a focus on the financial track summit in Asheville this year. You can find it here: https://kolektiva.media/w/5XDRrdS8V6xLJdyTxrbsh9
Attend these virtual events to learn more about the upcoming Summit and decide how you and/or your organization would like to show up! • Session 1 • Session 2 (TBA)
Friday, 8/14 – Thursday, 8/27
Community Outreach & Canvassing
Spread the word to your networks! Utilize our Toolkit where you will find graphics and captions you can share to social media.
Friday, 8/28 – Tuesday, 9/1
BOYCOTT
No shopping (unless you’re supporting local businesses)!
Friday, 8/28 4:30-5:30 PM
Awareness Raising
We will hold banners at overpasses along I-240 & I-26 from Charlotte Street to AVL Airport.
Friday, 8/28 6:00 PM
Press Conference
“Nonument” (where Vance monument used to be).
Saturday, 8/29 11 AM – 2 PM
Line the Streets
Merrimon Avenue 500-700 block! Bring signs inspired by our messaging.
Sunday, 8/30 4:00-6:00 PM
WNC Community Summit
A space for grief and gratitude at Pack Square Park, celebrating what we’ve recovered from together and mourning what we’ve lost since Helene. Bring flowers, photos, words, candles
The story Asheville is being sold about the G20 — that it’s going to help with Helene recovery and is generally good for our region — is nonsense.
People have been resisting G20 summits for nearly two decades because these events are disruptive and unpleasant for locals, but more importantly because people understand that the agenda advanced at these meetings of global financial elites does not serve our interests.
Just look at how they announced this event to the public. From the moment it was announced, it was framed as a boost to post-Helene recovery, with claims that “The region’s tourism and hospitality sectors are expected to see an economic boost from the late-summer gathering.”
Does anyone who lives here really believe this event is going to make a meaningful impact on storm recovery for WNC?
Except for the owners of a handful of luxury hotels and restaurants in Asheville, will anyone see a significant benefit from this event? Will a single unit of affordable housing be built as a result? Will raise wages, or improve our transit system?
Or, put another way, just how stupid do they think we are??
At best, these summits serve as sites of maintaining the economic status quo. At worst, they are places where the people who rule us innovate new, even more cruel and irresponsible ways to ensure that multi-national corporations amass unfathomable wealth while rendering the rest of us (and the entire planet) disposable.
In 2023, the G20 summit hosted in New Delhi saw massive demonstrations by Indian farmers and labor leaders. Union organizer Sarwan Singh Pandher explained their opposition to the summit:
We are against this summit as the decisions taken by G20 countries had always been anti-middle class and BPL (Below Poverty Line) population. India is a developing country and so, efforts are always made to exploit its labour and natural resources by imposing pro-corporate policies.”
After more than a quarter century, the impact of these pro-corporate policies is clear: low-income countries now spend more on debt servicing than on social protection, education, health, and climate mitigation combined.
And global inequality is mirrored by inequality at home, because it is driven by the same economic policies. Wall Street gets bailed out, and we get sold out. Normal people have to pay taxes, but tax abuse and avoidance by wealthy individuals costs countries $480 billion a year. As times get harder, instead of greater public supports we get extreme cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
Everything about this system is running in the wrong direction. For example, in 2025, federal funding for MANNA food bank was cut by $4.5 million, even as visits to food pantries climbed from 190,000 to 220,000. As inflation and cost of living rise out of control, NC wages remain stagnant (NC teacher pay, for example, is shamefully $14,000 lower than the national average). And as a diverse array of WNC residents come together to decisively reject data centers in our region, Trump promises this year’s G20 summit will prioritize “pioneering innovations in AI.”
Privatization, deregulation and austerity are the agenda of the G20. Simply put, this summit will not help the people of our region recover or thrive. In fact, it will do the opposite. The agenda advanced at the G20 directly threatens the people and resources we depended on most during and after the storm.
Here is what is really at stake in these summits:
People vs. profit
Sustainability vs. unchecked growth
International solidarity vs. globalized capital
If you don’t buy the story you’re being sold about the G20 in Asheville, or if you just want to learn more, check out our link library for further reading and keep an eye out on this page for updates!
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Past G20s
2025: Johannesburg, South Africa
2024: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2023: New Delhi, India
2022: Bali, Indonesia
2021: Rome, Italy
2020: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Held virtually due to COVID-19)
