"Saving Capitalism from Itself"
BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR and PHILIP KOTLER As the dust settles from COP 26, the world is left with a sense of deep dread. The numbers don’t add up. And our billionaires are busy either rigging democracy or planning to run off to Mars. But what if there was something constructive the four horsemen – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, … Continue reading “Make the Sahara Green Again” – Elon, Jeff, Bill, and Zuck?
BY Betsy Weatherhead, University of Colorado Boulder With the United Nations’ climate conference in Scotland turning a spotlight on climate change policies and the impact of global warming, it’s useful to understand what the science shows. I’m an atmospheric scientist who has worked on global climate science and assessments for most of my career. Here are … Continue reading The science everyone needs to know about climate change, in 6 charts
BY ANDREW SPICER, University of South Carolina and DAVID GRAHAM HYATT, University of Arkansas What a difference the birth of a granddaughter can make. For Lee Scott, who ran Walmart from 2000 to 2009, the arrival of his granddaughter not only convinced him the threat of global warming was real but set him on a course … Continue reading Walmart tried to make sustainability affordable. Here’s what happened
BY PHILIP KOTLER & CHRISTIAN SARKAR The cover of the May 20, 2020 issue of Forbes magazine carries a picture of Larry Ellison, billionaire founder of Oracle Corporation. On page 114, there’s a Billionaires Index that runs six more pages in very small print. The following becomes clear: Almost every country has billionaires. Even Venezuela and … Continue reading Why Can’t Billionaires Advance the Common Good?
BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR and PHILIP KOTLER In our work on cultural narratives, we’ve proposed that cultural narratives create meaning for our place in the world, and provide a map for the journey ahead. The structure of a cultural narrative can be diagrammed as follows: In politics, the structure of a cultural narrative becomes an ideological framework for living … Continue reading Biden vs. Trump: A Tale of Two Narratives
BY ROBERT REICH Trump will do anything to be re-elected. His opponents are limited because they believe in democracy. Trump has no limits because he doesn’t. Here’s Trump’s re-election playbook, in 25 simple steps: 1. Declare yourself above the law. 2. Use racist fearmongering. Demand “law and order” and describe protesters as “thugs”, “lowlife” and … Continue reading Trump Doesn’t Believe in Democracy—Here’s His 25-Step Reelection Plan
BY JESSICA CORBETT A new report examining the federal budget illuminates the deep connections between the climate emergency and the U.S. military, arguing that the shift to a green economy requires a just transition away from both fossil fuels and endless war.The report, entitled No Warming, No War: How Militarism Fuels the Climate Crisis—and Vice … Continue reading ‘No Warming, No War': Report Details How US Militarism and Climate Crisis Are Deeply Interwoven
BY JESSICA CORBETT In a new video from The Intercept, author and activist Naomi Klein explains how the Trump administration and other governments across the globe are “exploiting” the coronavirus outbreak “to push for no-strings-attached corporate bailouts and regulatory rollbacks,” and urges working people worldwide to resist such efforts and demand real support from political … Continue reading ‘We Know This Script': Naomi Klein Warns of ‘Coronavirus Capitalism’ in New Video Detailing Battle Before Us
Musician David Hinds is the founder and front-man for Steel Pulse, the world’s leading reggae band. For over forty years, Hinds and the band has brought conscious music and a message of equality to fans all around the world. Now, with the timely release of Mass Manipulation, their first album in over fifteen years, Hinds is back with a message of … Continue reading “Justice through Music” – An Interview with David Hinds from Steel Pulse
BY HEATHER ALBERRO, Nottingham Trent University From transport and housing to food production and fashion, our civilisation is driving climate and ecological breakdown. It’s no coincidence that almost every single sector of industry is contributing to the planet’s downfall, either. A deeper issue underlies each one’s part in the malaise enveloping the planet’s ecosystems – and … Continue reading Humanity and nature are not separate – we must see them as one to fix the climate crisis
BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR and PHILIP KOTLER Maybe they’ve been spooked by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Or maybe they decided that it’s time to reclaim the political conversation before America turns full-fascist. Whatever the reason, the CEOs of this great nation published their own manifesto under the august umbrella of the Business Roundtable. In it, they finally … Continue reading “Now that CEOs found purpose, what are they going to do with it?”
BY TRIS DYSON, Nesta and PIOTR GIERSZEWSKI, Nesta Challenge prizes – which offer a cash incentive to those working to solve a particular problem – are becoming a force for change by allowing entrepreneurs and innovators, often overlooked by existing grant and procurement systems, to develop solutions to the world’s greatest problems. They have a … Continue reading How to change the world and solve global problems – with cash prizes
BY PHILIP KOTLER – A recent news item mentioned that a group of 18 ultra-wealthy Americans including George Soros and Abigail Disney and members of the Pritzker and Gund families published an open letter asking presidential candidates to support a moderate wealth tax of 1 percent. The wealth tax revenue would be used to fund environmental initiatives, fuel economic growth, and … Continue reading Can Billionaires Save America?
by PHILIP KOTLER and CHRISTIAN SARKAR – For some time now we’ve been saying that the wheels have fallen off our democracy. Things aren’t looking good around the world. The Guardian reports the world’s 26 richest billionaires own as many assets as half the planet. 26 plutocrats own as much wealth as 3.8 billion people. Welcome to serfdom. And … Continue reading The Flywheel of Corruption: Why Our Democracy Isn’t Working
Let’s drop the dead-end debate of capitalism versus socialism and focus on choosing terms that capture what we really mean—an open, fair, and accountable market essential to real democracy. by FRANCESS MOORE LAPPE My headline poses a question I struggle with. “Capitalism” refers to an economy driven by owners of private capital, typically with the aim … Continue reading “I’m a Capitalist,” Says Warren…But Why?
BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR – Renowned U.S. Artist Ron English has started a protest wall project down at the border with Mexico. In response to Trump’s push for a border barrier, he’s decided to build his own wall – a “Welcome Wall.” The Mexican American “Welcome Wall” will be a 2000 ft long physical wall along the US/Mexico … Continue reading Will You Help Artist Ron English Build a “Welcome Wall”?
BY PHILIP KOTLER – No democracy is perfect. Some democracies work better than others. Swiss democracy works well. Canada’s democracy works pretty well. American democracy has fallen on hard times. In 2016, I published Democracy in Decline in which I cite many problems and solutions. We have voter suppression and low voter turnout. We let politicians choose their … Continue reading “Let Us Fix American Democracy”
BY JAKE JOHNSON – In a bid to loosen the stranglehold corporate money has on the political process and “restore democratic power to the American people,” a bipartisan group of House lawmakers on Thursday introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s deeply unpopular 2010 Citizens United decision. “Let’s not mince words here—for too long, … Continue reading In Bid to ‘Get Big Money Out of Politics,’ House Lawmakers Introduce Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United
BY JAKE JOHNSON – As corporations in the United States and around the world continue to reap record profits thanks to enormous tax cuts, widespread tax avoidance schemes, and business-friendly trade and investment policies, an analysis by Global Justice Now (GJN) published Wednesday found that the world’s most profitable companies are raking in revenue “far in excess … Continue reading At the Heart of Global Woes, 157 of World’s 200 Richest Entities Are Now Corporations, Not Governments
BY JESSICA CORBETT “It comes as no surprise that ExxonMobil and other oil companies are calling for anything and everything short of moving off fossil fuels entirely—most notably, the unwieldy and unproven concept of carbon taxes.” Amid warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that there’s a closing window to act to prevent a … Continue reading ‘This Is a Scam”: ExxonMobil-Backed Carbon Tax Will Not Save the Planet
BY PHILIP KOTLER – Donald Trump was elected U.S. President one year ago. He gave his first State of the Union address on January 31, 2018, lauding all the positives of his record. But what has he actually accomplished? What damage has he done? What role has been played by his personality quirks? Trump attracts both lovers … Continue reading Trump’s One-Year Scorecard
BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR Alba’s Dream (2017) The public has not forgotten Puerto Rico, and neither has Patrick McGrath Muñiz. After experiencing Harvey in Houston, and witnessing Hurricane Maria passing over Puerto Rico and Irma in Florida, where most of his family and friends live, the issue of climate change has become even more personal for the … Continue reading Lamentations: Disaster-Capitalism, Puerto Rico, and the Art of Patrick McGrath Muñiz
BY PHILIP KOTLER – The answer to the question depends on who you ask. CHRISTIAN SARKAR Capitalism Works For Me! True/False, 2011 (aluminum and electrical) by Steve Lambert How well is American Capitalism working? The answer to the question depends on who you ask. If you ask America’s corporate executives, their answer is that American … Continue reading How Well is American Capitalism Working?
BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR – Even as Houston slowly recovers from Hurricane Harvey, there’s a buzz at the Art Car Museum on Heights Boulevard. Trump THIS! is a thought-provoking exhibition to say the least. It’s the 12th Annual Open Call exhibition… READ all about it in the Huffington Post >>
BY PHILIP KOTLER and CHRISTIAN SARKAR “If you are silent at a moment like this, if you do not condemn the racism you see through whatever channels and avenues you have, you can leave church now because you’re doing church wrong,” – Robert Wright Lee, IV, minister and descendant of General Robert E. Lee The tragic … Continue reading How did we get to Charlottesville?
PHILIP KOTLER – Here is a brief manifesto for our priorities, if we mean to save Democracy in the USA. Free-market capitalism has subverted our democracy. The growth of income inequality has undermined the American Dream. Increasing polarization has destroyed our unity as a nation. The plutocracy must end. We need to produce wealth for … Continue reading A Manifesto for Just Capitalism
BY PHILIP KOTLER and CHRISTIAN SARKAR – For many years, Americans held a clear idea of the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties. The Republicans were a party on the right, the Democrats a party on the left. But now the distinctions aren’t so clear. What went wrong? Neither party today is answering or … Continue reading Brand Confusion: What Do Our Political Parties Stand For?
[Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Global Imperial Plutocratic/Kleptocratic Brave New Fantasyworld of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump] BY SCOTT DEWEY – As long as humans worship the trappings and display of power and wealth—as with celebrity, political power, military power, economic power—and they obviously do—there can be no democracy; democracy cannot … Continue reading Why We Worship False Idols, Always Have, And Always Will
BY PHILIP KOTLER The US has been downgraded in The Economist’s Democracy Index. It is now in the “flawed democracy” category. Donald Trump got elected as U.S. President on a platform that included a lot of changes that appealed to many people. Trump promised to “Make America Great Again” by bringing back the high paying jobs that had moved overseas … Continue reading The ‘Terrorist’ in the White House
FLYNT L. LEVERETT, Pennsylvania State University and ROBERT SPRINKLE, University of Maryland Chinese President Xi Jinping’s appearance at last week’s World Economic Forum shows global leadership is shifting, not drifting, toward Beijing. The most vigorous defense of globalization and multilateral cooperation was mounted not by an American statesman, but by the president of the People’s … Continue reading China steps up as US steps back from global leadership
BY PHILIP KOTLER & CHRISTIAN SARKAR – As President-Elect Trump and his “Corporate Cabinet” take over Washington – the American public will witness radical changes taking place in our institutions, policies, and regulations. These changes might undermine America’s position as the world’s leader over the past century. The billionaires and generals who make up Trump’s cabinet bring … Continue reading Are We Kissing Democracy Goodbye?
BY PHILIP KOTLER – America’s greatness was recently challenged by Donald Trump who asserted that the U.S. had lost its greatness. His campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again.” He claimed that only he and his party could restore the country’s greatness. This raises the question: How can we define where a country ranks in its “greatness?” I have long … Continue reading What would Make America Great Again? The Battle Between Two Definitions of Greatness
BY RALPH NADER – Even for a failed gambling czar, Donald Trump has been surprisingly quick to show his hand as he sets the course of his forthcoming presidency. With a reactionary fervor, he is bursting backwards into the future. He has accomplished this feat through the first wave of nominations to his Cabinet and … Continue reading Trump Trumpets His Real Plans
By ROBERT WEISSMAN “Trump has converted the GOP into a populist working-class party,” Trump advisor and far-right economist Stephen Moore told Republican members of Congress at a caucus meeting. Well, advisor Moore, meet the Trump transition team. The leader of the would-be populist working-class party has invited rogues’ gallery of insiders—corporate lawyers, investment fund managers, … Continue reading What Populism? Trump’s America Is Party Time for the Corporate Elite
Philip Kotler’s upcoming book – Democracy in Decline: Rebuilding its Future describes 14 symptoms of a sick democracy: #1. Voter Literacy & Turnout #2. Quality of Political Leadership #3. Exceptionalism #4. Public Trust #5. Gridlock #6. Money in Politics #7. Gerrymandering #8. Extremist Primaries #9. The President vs. Congress #10. Federal vs. State Governments #11. Supreme Court vs. … Continue reading Democracy in Decline: An Interview with Phil Kotler
BY MARK BLESSINGTON I long for a reemergence of an FDR-like era. FDR was a no compromise Democrat. He was even willing to take on the Supreme Court. It happened before, and it can happen again, if we push hard enough. I’m not ready to give up on the USA yet. For me, Hillary Clinton represents giving up … Continue reading No-Compromise: Why We (The People) Can’t Take It Anymore
An interview with Stuart L. Hart – “the pioneer of sustainable business.” Hart is one of the world’s top authorities on the implications of sustainable development and environment for business strategy. He is currently the Grossman Chair of Sustainable Business at the University of Vermont. Previously, Hart founded sustainable MBA programs at Cornell, UNC, and … Continue reading Capitalism at the Crossroads: An Interview with Stuart Hart
By Mark Blessington I call this the Era of Compromise Democrats. From an economic perspective, the last Democrat to really fight for the people was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was even brave enough to stand up to the Supreme Court. While President Obama immediately spoke out against Citizens United in 2010, he did nothing to directly oppose it. … Continue reading The Sad Legacy of Compromise Democrats
Michael Hopkin, The Conversation As French foreign minister Laurent Fabius brought his gavel down on the most ambitious climate deal ever struck, at 7:27pm on Saturday December 12, 2015, applause broke out throughout the sprawling conference centre in Le Bourget. It spread even into the cavernous media centre that played host to an estimated 3,700 … Continue reading Beyond Paris: what was really achieved at the COP21 climate summit, and what next?
The Econ4 network of teachers, professors, practitioners, students and others are working to shift how economics is understood, taught and practiced. We’re now launching a video contest to crowdsource as many short, 3 minute videos about “Greed” as possible. We will distribute many of these across our network and beyond. The contest is patterned after the … Continue reading CALL FOR ENTRIES: Greed! A Video Contest from Econ4
Richard Gunther, Ohio State University On November 3, Ohio voters approved by a margin of 71% to 29% a constitutional amendment that will greatly reduce, or even eliminate, the gerrymandering of state legislative districts beginning in 2021. Ratification of Issue 1 by the voters followed its approval by bipartisan votes of 28-1 in the Ohio … Continue reading Ohio strikes blow against gerrymandering
Corpocracy is the absurd reality of our society in which corporations and their interests are allowed to have dominance over the economic and political systems. Through the subversive imagination, the artist works toward a transformation of social consciousness. WATCH: The show features 13 artists including, Beehive Design Collective, Michael D’Antuono, Ron English, Clark Fox, Kenneth … Continue reading VIDEO: Corpocracy – at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art
Ethan Zuckerman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology A few days ago – October 30 – MIT’s Media Lab celebrated its 30th anniversary. The Media Lab is a place that takes very seriously the idea that we can invent a better future and have it spread around the globe. It’s a place that’s helped invent things that … Continue reading Can innovators build a future that’s both disruptive and just?
Janet Napolitano, University of California, Office of the President In this presidential election season, one thing is certain: candidates will rarely – if ever – be asked what they would do to keep this nation at the forefront of science and innovation. That’s a shame. The public dialogue about science is perhaps the most vital … Continue reading Janet Napolitano: Why more scientists are needed in the public square
Andrew J Hoffman, University of Michigan The tide is finally turning. In last night’s third Republican debates, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York Governor George Pataki both acknowledged the scientific consensus that climate change is real and linked to human activities. These candidates participated in the “undercard” debate of four before the … Continue reading Breaking the link between a conservative worldview and climate skepticism
David Cobb’s latest on We the People, Not We the Corporations, is up on our Huffington Post FIXCapitalism channel. Read the article, and watch this interview below:
House Joint Resolution 29 introduced February 14, 2013 Section 1. [Artificial Entities Such as Corporations Do Not Have Constitutional Rights] The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only. Artificial entities established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution … Continue reading Move to Amend’s Proposed 28th Amendment to the US Constitution
This course is an economic history of what happened to ordinary American people and families from about 1930 to 2010. From the late 1940s to about 1980 ordinary people and families in the United States enjoyed a tremendous increase in their prosperity and quality of life, especially when compared with the conditions that existed during … Continue reading Free Online Class: “The Creation and Destruction of the Great American Middle Class (1930-2010)” with Professor Stanley Stasch
We’ve just begun a partnership with Huffington Post – and we invite you to join us. It’s worth repeating why we’re doing this: Capitalism must evolve to serve the needs of all citizens, not just the very affluent. Our goal is to discuss the 14 Shortcomings of Capitalism and systematically analyze the problems and potential solutions. … Continue reading Our Partnership with Huffington Post – Join Us!
