Podcast appearances and mentions of esteban kelly

S7 E8: The People's Pushback Over several decades, a growing number of people in the United States and elsewhere – especially younger people – have turned against capitalism. The reasons are not mysterious. Reported by Lewis Raven Wallace and produced by John Biewen, with co-host Ellen McGirt. Interviews with Esteban Kelly, Josh Bivens, Malaika Jibali, and Evan Caldwell. Story editor: Loretta Williams. Music by Michelle Osis, Lilli Haydn, Chris Westlake, Alex Symcox, and Goodnight, Lucas. Music consulting by Joe Augustine of Narrative Music. Art by Harper Biewen."Capitalism” is a production of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, in partnership with Imperative 21. 

Esteban Kelly, Executive Director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, joins Dru Oja Jay to discuss the state of the worker cooperative movement, the ecological approach to organizing, the evolution of equity discourse and its neglected revolutionary origins, and more. The USFCW: https://www.usworker.coop/en/ Unlikely Advocates: Worker Co-ops, Grassroots Organizing, and Public Policy: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/unlike...

Last episode, we focused on the accountability part of community accountability. We explored how changing our behavior to live accountably is lifelong work, is violence prevention, takes building skills until they become muscle memory. Fortunately for us, Mia gave us many opportunities to practice. In this episode, we learn from this practice – and – we focus on the community part of community accountability. Mia emphasized that transformative justice is not about intervening in or saving someone else's community – TJ is responding to harm, violence, and abuse in our OWN communities. So as we built up fundamental TJ skills, she guided us to envision the changes we'd like to see in Bay Area theater.Episode transcript: Coming soon!Sogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/Story F.4. “Surviving and Doing Sexual Harm: A Story of Accountability and Healing” from Section 4.F: Taking Accountability in the Creative Interventions Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Stop Interpersonal Violence: https://www.creative-interventions.org/toolkit/“What Is Accountability” panel recorded at Building Accountable Communities: A National Gathering on Transforming Harm on April 27, 2019 at Barnard College, NYC featuring Shannon Perez-Darby, Esteban Kelly, RJ Maccani, Mia Mingus, Sonya Shah, and Leah Todd, and moderated by Piper Anderson: https://bcrw.barnard.edu/videos/building-accountable-communities-what-is-accountability/Theater-Specific Case Study #1 - Abusive Rehearsal Room: https://f2606a71-bda8-4907-8ea6-d848e7fd6671.usrfiles.com/ugd/f2606a_5869addf765749b99d63019969bf0ceb.pdfTheater-Specific Case Study #2 - Award-Winning Director + Sexual Violence: https://f2606a71-bda8-4907-8ea6-d848e7fd6671.usrfiles.com/ugd/f2606a_310f018b45de437bb24639f478166068.pdfBATJC Case Studies: https://batjc.wordpress.com/resources/case-studies/Mia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.comBay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda of DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://soundcloud.com/diasporadicalConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]com, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.

August 8, 2022: Esteban Kelly, Executive Director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives discusses the upcoming National Worker Co-op Conference, Worker Cooperative State of the Sector Report, and recently passed legislation. Esteban Kelly is the Executive Director at the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. He is also an important leader and creative force in solidarity economy and co-op movements. He has served on numerous boards including the USFWC, the US Solidarity Economy Network, the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA-CLUSA), and the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF). He is a co-founder of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA), and recently worked at the New Economy Coalition as Development Director and then Staff Director. Esteban is a mayoral appointee to the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council, following eight years as a worker-owner at Mariposa Food Co-op institutionalizing its staff collective and expanding food access in West Philly. The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) is the national grassroots membership organization for worker cooperatives. USFWC's mission is to build a thriving cooperative movement of stable, empowering jobs through worker-ownership. USFWC advances worker-owned, -managed, and -governed workplaces through cooperative education, advocacy and development.

Through the Portal is a podcast from the Social Justice Portal Project, a national collaborative think tank hosted by the Social Justice Initiative at the University of Illinois Chicago. Each month, grassroots activists and radical scholars will give voice to community struggles, national strategies and sustainable alternatives for the future. The guest speakers, who are also Portal Project participants, explore what it means to walk through the portal of the current moment by centering racial and social justice issues. On Episode 2, Dame and cohost Teresa Cordova of UIC talk Economic Democracy with Esteban Kelly. Esteban is Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and is a worker-owner and co-founder of AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance), a worker co-op that builds capacity for social justice projects through intersectional training and consulting. He breaks down how building a worker coop might be easier than you think, the ways that we have to reclaim concepts of structure and organization from the capitalist class, and what he imagines the great labor awakening of today turning into. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Esteban's work - http://Aorta.coop Clark Arrington - https://www.heroes.coop/post/clark-arrington Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance - https://philadelphia.coop/ The Working World - https://www.theworkingworld.org/us/ The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives - https://www.usworker.coop/home/ Democracy at Work Institute - https://institute.coop/ The CIA reads French theory: on the intellectual labor of dismantling the cultural left - https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/the-cia-reads-french-theory-on-the-intellectual-labor-of-dismantling-the-cultural-left/ Cyborg Manifesto - https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/donna-haraway-a-cyborg-manifesto ROC USA - https://rocusa.org/ EB PREC - https://ebprec.org/ Kensington Corridor Trust - https://kensingtoncorridortrust.org/ Collective Courage by Jessica Gordon Nembhard - https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-06216-7.html The Revolution will not be Funded - https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-revolution-will-not-be-funded When to Talk & When to Fight: The Strategic Choice between Dialogue & Resistance - https://bookshop.org/books/when-to-talk-and-when-to-fight-the-strategic-choice-between-dialogue-and-resistance/9781629638362 Dragonfly Partners - https://www.dragonfly-partners.com/ Learn more about the Portal Project: https://sjiportalproject.com/

How can organizations promote worker democracy? Learn how worker-ownership can help solve social problems and ways to share leadership with your team and community. Farra Trompeter, co-director, and Esteban Kelly, executive director at the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) and worker-owner and co-founder of Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance (AORTA), chat about these topics and more in this episode of the Smart Communications Podcast.

Bonus Episode: The "Why Worker Co-ops" podcast recently launched as part of the EO Podcast Network, hosted by Rodney North and produced by Bret Keisling. In this episode, Rodney is joined by Esteban Kelly, executive director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) [www.usworker.coop]. A transcript of the introduction to his bonus episode, which includes links to all of the topics mentioned, is available on our website at https://www.theesoppodcast.com/post/bonus-episode-introducing-the-why-worker-co-ops-podcast All the podcasts in the EO Podcast Network can be found at https://www.eopodcastnetwork.com/

The economic collapse unfolding before our eyes is much bigger than it appears and the solution isn't simply to “build back better.” COVID-19 didn't create the challenges we face. It laid bare flaws that have long existed at the foundation of our system. That is particularly true for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. What kind of reconstruction effort would truly reflect the scale of the problem? What should we rebuild and what should we abandon? To answer these questions, Laura interviews Professor Robert Reich, economist Stephanie Kelton, community organizer Esteban Kelly and Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry about their visions for a recovery that will enable us to build a new economy that is equitable, reparative and sustainable.  Music in the Middle:  “Stepping Back In Time” by Basel and the Supernaturals from their album “Smoke & Mirrors” Full episode notes along with related episodes, related articles and more are free and posted at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Please consider becoming a member for as little as $3 or $5 a month like a newspaper or magazine subscription to keep this content accessible to radio and TV viewers and podcast subscribers.  Thanks!

The economic collapse unfolding before our eyes is much bigger than it appears and the solution isn't simply to “build back better.” COVID-19 didn't create the challenges we face. It laid bare flaws that have long existed at the foundation of our system. That is particularly true for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. What kind of reconstruction effort would truly reflect the scale of the problem? What should we rebuild and what should we abandon? To answer these questions, Laura interviews Professor Robert Reich, economist Stephanie Kelton, community organizer Esteban Kelly and Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry about their visions for a recovery that will enable us to build a new economy that is equitable, reparative and sustainable.  Music in the Middle:  “Stepping Back In Time” by Basel and the Supernaturals from their album “Smoke & Mirrors” courtesy of the artist.Are you enjoying and utilizing our episode research and reading lists, FOUND HERE?  Please consider becoming a monthly supporter for $3, $5, $12 as a Patreon Partner.  Already a monthly supporter?  Please consider upping your monthly contribution.  Help us reach our Holiday Fund Drive Goal of $35,000.   Every donation will be matched making your support worth double!   We do not take corporate or government funding.  We rely on you. Thank you!  

All Things Co-op welcomes Esteban Kelly, the Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives for a fascinating glimpse into the work of USFWC, and his thoughts on both national and international strategies for growth in the cooperative movement. Esteban talks USFWCs education and training and their advocacy and organizing work, how they measure their success, and much more.  Learn more about the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives Esteban Kelly is the Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and is an important leader and creative force in solidarity economy and co-op movements. He has served on numerous boards including the USFWC, the US Solidarity Economy Network, the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA-CLUSA), and the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF). He is a co-founder of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA), and recently worked at the New Economy Coalition as Development Director and then Staff Director.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guests Ashara Ekundayo, Esteban Kelly & Syrus Marcus Ware. [Live show recorded: June 8, 2020.] ASHARA EKUNDAYO is a Detroit-born independent curator, creative industries entrepreneur, cultural strategist, and founder working across arts, community, government, and social innovation spaces. Through her consulting company AECreative Consulting Partners, LLC she designs and manages multidimensional international projects and fosters collaborative relationships through the use of mindfulness and permaculture principles to bring vision to life and create opportunities “in the deep end,” often with unlikely allies. Her creative arts practice epistemology requires an embodied commitment to recognizing joy in the midst of struggle. // In 2012 Ashara co-founded Impact Hub Oakland and Omi Arts and served as the Co-Director, Curator, and the Chief Creative Officer who designed and bottom-lined the brand messaging and creative practice programming of the entire company. In December 2017, she launched Ashara Ekundayo Gallery as a pilot-project social practice platform centering and exclusively exhibiting the artwork of Black womxn and women of the African Diaspora to investigate and inspire social and spiritual inquiry at the nexus of fact, the Black feminist imaginary, and Afrofuturism through visual and performance installation. // She currently holds Advisory Board positions with VSCO.co, Black Girls Code and the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, and has served as a Fellow with the U.S. Dept. of State Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, Green For All, Emerging Arts Professionals, Schools Without Borders, and Institute For The Future. Ashara is also a Certified Permaculture Designer, Certified Foresight Practitioner, and a Graduate of Thousand Currents Leadership Academy and Rockwood Leadership – LeadNOW: California. Additionally, she holds an “Embodied Justice” Residency at Auburn Seminary in NYC, and an M.A. in Gender & Social Change from the Korbel School of International Affairs at the University of Denver. // Ashara’s commitment to social transformation is informed by an intersectional framework that aims to expand the influence and impact of arts and culture on racial equity, gender + justice, and environmental literacy. She is a womanist, a meditator, a mentor, and the mother of two sons and three granddaughters. T/IG @blublakwomyn ESTEBAN KELLY is a visionary leader and compassionate strategist who inspires organizers by drawing on science fiction, social theory, and collective liberation. Uniting close friends and long-time co-organizers, Esteban was inspired to co-create AORTA culling together his creative energy and organizational skills for expanding food sovereignty, solidarity economy & cooperative business, gender justice & queer liberation, and movements for racial justice. // Esteban’s work is vast. In addition to working for AORTA, he is the Co-Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Co-ops (USFWC), and a co-founder and current board President of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). // Internationally, Esteban has advocated for workplace democracy through the ICA (International Cooperative Alliance) and CICOPA (the international worker co-op federation), and for land reform and other social movements from Canada to Brazil. // After many years as a PhD student of Marxist Geographers at the CUNY Graduate Center, Esteban has left academia with a Masters in Anthropology. Most recently, Esteban worked as Development Director and then Staff Director for the New Economy Coalition. From 2009-2011, Esteban served as Vice President of the USFWC, and a board member of the Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI) and the US Solidarity Economy Network. He is also a previous Director of Education & Training and Board President of NASCO (North American Students for Cooperation) where he was...

David Hincapie, Economic Development Specialist at U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); John Holdsclaw IV, Senior VP of Corporate Affairs at National Cooperative Bank (NCB); and Esteban Kelly, Executive Director, and Mo Manklang, Communications Director with the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives talk about COVID-19 response on Everything Co-op. Vernon and his guests will discuss loan programs available in response to COVID-19, and the role worker cooperatives can play as we work though and establish recovery plans. During the first segment David Hincapie discuss SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan, and Paycheck Protection Program updates. In the second segment John Holdsclaw IV and Esteban Kelly, share how their organizations are responding to the pandemic, and in the third segment Mo Manklang joins the discussion to talk about the communications strategies that have been implemented by the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives to keep its members property informed.

Presented by Robert McGarvey. Listen in here That sound you hear just may be a tidal wave of worker owned cooperatives. At least that's what Esteban Kelly, executive director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, is hoping for and working for and dreaming about. He believes that just now be the time for worker owned cooperatives. Why? Because for so many of us our economic lives are grim. Income inequality is the economic buzz work du jour but it's just that old saying, the rich are getting richer and the poor, well, you know what's happening with them. Kelly says that in a decade maybe 0% of Americans will have zero assets. That's busted, baby. Worker ownership of businesses just may be the cure. And a lot of it is happening today. Retiring Baby Boomer entrepreneurs are selling their companies to their employees, often as a worker co-op. Home health workers are joining together and forming co-ops. So are cleaning crews. There's soaring recognition that it just is better to own a slice of the pie. Listen to this provocative half hour podcast. And know we have three or four more worker cooperative podcasts in the pipeline.  Now's the time to learn more about this movement. And The Cooperators Podcast is where to learn. Like what you are hearing? The Cooperators Podcast seeks sponsors and supporters to help us spread the word about cooperatives and how they often are the better way. Contact Robert McGarvey to find out what you can do to sustain this podcast.

For the show notes (guest bio, summary, resources, etc), go to: www.lifteconomy.com/podcast

Playing for Team Human today is platform cooperative activist, journalist, and author of Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy, Nathan Schneider.With contemporary examples and historical context, Nathan makes the case that the co-op movement is not mere utopian idealism, but a very real and vital economic shift that is being harnessed for social good. It’s a conversation that embraces the co-op transformation as a path to a more just and equitable society and a more participatory approach to life overall.Douglas opens the show with a reflection on the limits of both our communication technologies and language itself. On Team Human, what matters is not just the content, but the context. Team Human is the “sound of engagement,” the “sound of solidarity.”If you enjoy this show, you might also like these episodes from our archive:Episode 68 on the P2P Foundation “The Commons is the Glue” w/ Stacco Troncoso. https://teamhuman.fm/episodes/ep-68-stacco-troncoso-the-commons-is-the-glue/Episode 03 with Esteban Kelly of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives: https://teamhuman.fm/episodes/episode-03-esteban-kelly-solidarity/Episode 23 with Silvia Zuur of Enspiral: https://teamhuman.fm/episodes/ep-23-silvia-zuur/Episode 07 with Marina Gorbis from the Institute for the Future https://teamhuman.fm/episodes/episode-07-marina-gorbis/Episode 41 Richard D Bartlett from Loomio” https://teamhuman.fm/episodes/ep-41-richard-d-bartlett-there-is-no-enemy-team/For more on Nathan Schneider visit nathanschneider.info.Also mentioned on today’s show: Visit the New Economy Coalition https://neweconomy.net/and the P2P foundation https://p2pfoundation.net/Photo of Nathan by Emily HansenOn this episode you heard Fugazi’s “Foreman’s Dog” in the intro, Herkhimer Diamonds “Xmas Underwater” and our closing music is thanks to Mike Watt. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Esteban Kelly of the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives joins us to talk about his experience with cooperatives and his perspective on how they fit into a movement for systemic change. Subscribe to the Next System Podcast via iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or RSS.

Vernon interviews Esteban Kelly, educator, community organizer, and radical geographer. He's the current Board President of the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). He works for the New Economy Coalition, and is also a founder and worker-owner of AORTA, (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance, a worker co-op of educators whose facilitation and consulting strengthens cooperatives and social justice groups.

Vernon interviews Esteban Kelly, educator, community organizer, and radical geographer. He's the current Board President of the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). He works for the New Economy Coalition, and is also a founder and worker-owner of AORTA, (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance, a worker co-op of educators whose facilitation and consulting strengthens cooperatives and social justice groups.

This week, a special holiday episode featuring conversations with Astra Taylor and Thomas Gokey of the Debt Collective plus worker cooperative organizer Esteban Kelly. We launched Team Human a little less than a year ago with little fanfare or promotion. Steadily we’ve assembled a formidable team of listeners via word of mouth, retweets, and person-to-person conversation. We’d like to take this week to introduce our more recent listeners to two conversations that set the tone for Team Human. Today’s show begins by going all the way back to very first Team Human interview with Astra Taylor and Thomas Gokey, co-founders of Strike Debt, Rolling Jubilee and most recently the Debt Collective. The Debt Collective is a direct action campaign that leverages the collective power of debtors, united together, against exploitative for-profit education and lending institutions in the US. Astra and Thomas give Team Human listeners a template for hacking real world systems and tapping into the power of solidarity. Join the collective at debtcollective.org. In the second half of today’s show, we revisit a conversation with executive director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, Esteban Kelly. Kelly offers Team Human a unique vision of solidarity that begins in the place where we spend 40 (or more) hours a week… the workplace. We’ll learn how democratic workplaces and cooperative ownership foster the conditions for openness, inclusion, and ultimately, economic justice. Learn more about our first episode with Astra and Thomas here and episode #4 with Esteban here. Music in this episode: Fugazi : Foreman's Dog Mike Watt: beak-holding-letter-man , R.U. Sirius: President Mussolini Makes The Planes Run On Time, plus a Team Human original in the outro. Team Human is entirely supported by listeners. Click Support to donate. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, a question of how we can use direct action to create and sustain long-range, inclusive and effective movements with guests L.A. Kauffman and Jesse Myerson and later in the show Looking for leadership towards a just transition? Community building tactics for survival resilience and peace?  Don't look up, Look Down for expertise, say two organizers and they're upbeat! Esteban Kelly of the US Federation of Worker Owned Coops and Elizabeth Yampierre from UPROSE. Check out the Laura Flanders TV Show for the full interview with L.A. Kauffman and Jesse Myerson and a featured video on the 2017 Climate March.  Stay tuned throughout the month of May for more from Esteban Kelly and Elizabeth Yampierre during our membership drive kicking off May Day 2017.

Is System Change Possible? Long-Term Strategies - with Esteban Kelly, Julie Matthaei and Gar Alperovitz. CommonBound is a project of the New Economy Coalition (NEC), a USA based network of 150-plus organizations including PeoplesAction, 350.org, and the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Check out the NEC at http://neweconomy.net/ - they also have a great youtube site - https://www.youtube.com/user/Efssociety/playlists NEC partnered on the conference with the Buffalo-based Crossroads Collective. Filmed at CommonBound 2016 in Buffalo, NY by the Extraenvironmentalists - http://www.extraenvironmentalist.com - If you like Behind the Lines, be sure to check them out on youtube, soundcloud, etc. Behind the Lines thanks NEC for permission to broadcast these recordings.

Playing for Team Human is Esteban Kelly. Kelly is an exemplary leader in the movement for promoting solidarity and workplace democracy. While working with the Mariposa Food Co-op, Kelly founded the Food Justice and Anti Racism working group. He was also appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council. Currently, Esteban Kelly serves as Co-Executive director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives as well as a director of AORTA, the Anti- Oppression Resource and Training Alliance. Kelly is also a co-founder and current board member of the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). A complete bio highlighting Kelly’s commitment to embodying democratic principles of workplace democracy, social justice, and activism can be found at Kelly’s Bio Page at AORTA .Visit our Resources page for ways to start your own worker cooperative. There you’ll find case studies, how-to’s, and further inspiring information on solidarity movements and the effort to build a more democratic and just economy. Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Playing for Team Human is Esteban Kelly. Kelly is an exemplary leader in the movement for promoting solidarity and workplace democracy. While working with the Mariposa Food Co-op, Kelly founded the Food Justice and Anti Racism working group. He was also appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council. Currently, Esteban Kelly serves as Co-Executive director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives as well as a director of AORTA, the Anti- Oppression Resource and Training Alliance. Kelly is also a co-founder and current board member of the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). A complete bio highlighting Kelly’s commitment to embodying democratic principles of workplace democracy, social justice, and activism can be found at Kelly’s Bio Page at AORTA .Visit our Resources page for ways to start your own worker cooperative. There you’ll find case studies, how-to’s, and further inspiring information on solidarity movements and the effort to build a more democratic and just economy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week is US tax week, a good time to ask what will it take before we have a mass movement in the US offering economic alternatives. We explore this question with two guests who are in the trenches of the new economy movement. Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its Community-Scaled Economy Initiative. She is the author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses. Esteban Kelly is the Co-Executive Director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and a member of AORTA: The Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance, a worker-owned cooperative devoted to strengthening movements for social justice and a solidarity economy. Also in this episode: it's five years since BP caused the largest environmental disaster in US history, and we show scenes from the devastation on the US Gulf Coast, and from private gatherings of oil company executives. Also in this episode, Laura talks about corporate crime, taxes, and the cost of doing business, big business's way.

“The cost of doing business.” That's what corporations call it when they claim a deduction from their taxes for the damage they've done to people and the planet. It's a cost of doing business all right; a cost to us, of doing business with them the way we currently do it, and it's just one of the reasons so many people are calling for a whole new system. To recap: on April 20, 2010, BP's leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing eleven workers and spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. That rig kept spewing for 87 miserable days while reporters were kept away and the company told the public lies. Five years on, BP's has been found guilty of gross negligence and misconduct. They've been slapped with $42 billion in fines and damages. But the British behemoth's not only threatening to pull out of the Gulf entirely if its fines aren't reduced,they're claiming a lot of that money back, thanks to a tax loophole that will enable BP to claim as much as 80 percent of the damages they've paid out as an ordinary business expense. It's not just BP either. Car makers, chemical companies, mine owners and banksters routinely deduct part of their court ordered payouts from their taxes...That means we the people who sustained the damage, are also subsidizing the damages. US PIRG - the Public Interest Group are petitioning the Justice Department to deny BP more write-offs. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has sponsored a bill to change close the loophole. But even to talk about a loophole suggests there's an opening in a fabric that's otherwise intact. When it comes to the public's contract with big business, that fabric never been stitched straight. Big business has too much power and local coffers are far too strapped. That's dangerous for people and the planet as we saw in the gulf – and small reforms are not enough to fix it. That's why more and more people are looking at alternatives: not just renewable energy, but collectively owned utilities, and local not corporate control. “There's a revolution going on right now when it comes to local power,” Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance told us. Mitchell and a slew of Laura Flanders Show guests just signed onto “A Next System Project” launched by our colleagues at the New Democracy Collaborative. There's no doubt more to come. But it just may be this is a great time for BP to move out. The bill for the cost of doing business big business's way just may be coming due. You can watch my interview with Stacy Mitchell and Esteban Kelly of the Aorta Collective on the growing movement for a new economy this week on The Laura Flanders Show on KCET/LINKtv and TeleSUR and find all my interviews and reports at GRITtv.org. To tell me what you think, write to: Laura@GRITtv.org.