Podcast appearances and mentions of Gar Alperovitz

In this special episode of the Bioneers, guest host Laura Flanders explores “Community Wealth Building,” a model that democratizes the economy, creates more cooperative businesses, better care for communities, and builds wealth for the many, not just the few. This episode features American political economist, historian, and author Gar Alperovitz of the Democracy Collaborative, along with India Pierce Lee about her work with the Collaborative in Cleveland, Ohio; and John McMicken, Executive Director of Cleveland's Evergreen Cooperative Corporation. This episode is part 1 of a 4-part series exploring how communities are working to transform their local economies by harnessing their assets, anchoring capital and resources locally to directly invest in that place and its people – from land to money and finance. Explore the full series here. Guest Host Laura Flanders is the host and executive producer of Laura Flanders & Friends, which airs on PBS stations nationwide. She is an Izzy-Award winning independent journalist, a New York Times bestselling author and the recipient of the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Media Center. Credits This series is co-produced by Bioneers and Laura Flanders & Friends Laura Flanders & Friends Producers: Laura Flanders and Abigail Handel Production Assistance: Jeannie Hopper and David Neumann Bioneers Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer: Stephanie Welch Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Resources Democracy Collaborative Evergreen Cooperatives How to Make a Democratic Economy | Laura Flanders & Friends Action Guide for Advancing Community Wealth Building in the United States | Democracy Collaborative Gar Alperovitz – Replacing Corporate Capitalism: Why We Need a Next System | Bioneers 2018 Keynote Our Economic Future: Achieving a More Equitable Society by Radically Rethinking Our Guiding Economic Ideas | Bioneers Reader

Scott Horton, director of the Libertarian Institute and editorial director of Antiwar.com, joins Dr. Norman Horn to discuss war and the U.S Government's failed foreign interventionism. They discuss several key current events, including ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestine, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and whether China is truly poised to be the next world power.   Horton illuminates the history behind the recent violence in the Gaza Strip that killed 44 people, including 15 children, and injuring 311. The history of the Israel-Palestine conflict is muddled with intentionally confusing narratives since the State of Israel was established in 1947. Horton makes clear that this involved a violent cleansing of about 750,000 Palestinians to maintain a 80/20 Israeli political majority. Palestine has been under Israeli control since 1967. Horton also references 2005 where then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon disengaged the Gaza Strip, but did so to prevent any further discussions of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.   Dr. Horn draws out the connection with Horton about how US foreign aid has contributed to the destruction of nations, both in Palestine and across the world in numerous conflicts, including the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South Asia. Horton brings into focus the reality that Israel really keeps picking fights and then gets the US involved to do the dirty work. Israel's PR campaign in America involves continuing to persuade American evangelicals that God wants them to support poor Israel.   Let's not forget China! Many have wondered if the Communist Party in China is in a position to become the next world power. Scott Horton says no! He explains China's own military position and how it's ill-equipped to fulfill the monumental task of becoming a dominating global power militarily. Horton explains how America was only in position to become a global power after World War II due to our economic wealth. Other nations in the world had been pummeled (comparatively) by the war.   While America may have had some greater moral high ground at the end of WWII, they certainly exhausted it in the past several decades, turning it into a moral hazard. The US Government also had to paint perpetually new narratives to sell its foreign interventionism to the American people. They milked the post-WWII victory for all they could while simultaneously becoming the very monster they said they were fighting: global authoritarianism.   You can only "keep the peace" if you ignore all the violence. - Scott Horton   Listen to this episode especially if you haven't been in the loop on foreign affairs. It is an eye-opening episode that should leave you embracing an end to all entangling alliances, as founders like George Washington insisted.     Main Points of Discussion: 00:00 Introduction 03:04 About the Libertarian Institute 05:14 Israeli bombing of Gaza Strip 14:24 Why foreign aid destroys nations 21:50 The history of the US Govt continually switching sides in the Middle East 27:09 Russian invasion of Ukraine and who really provoked it 30:20 Why were their no negotiations for peace? 36:56 What should we do about the war hawks? 41:05 Stopping the flow of aid and diplomatic support to Israel 45:50 Is China the next world power? 1:00:50 How the state drives wedges between peaceful people 1:06:45 Closing comments     Resources Mentioned: Libertarian Institute Anti-war Radio Antiwar.com ScottHorton.org Scott's Books: Fool's Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism The Great Ron Paul: The Scott Horton Show Interviews 2004–2019 Hotter Than the Sun: Time to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Scott Horton interviews Daniel Ellsberg, Seymour Hersh, Gar Alperovitz, Hans Kristensen, Joe Cirincione, and more.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, US B-29 bombers, dropped their nuclear bombs on the two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands and consigning millions to disease and genetic defects. The accepted wisdom in the U.S. since has been that dropping the bombs on these Japanese cities was the only way to end World War II without an invasion of Japan that would have cost hundreds of thousands of American and perhaps millions of Japanese lives.Gar Alperovitz is a historian, political economist, activist and writer. A critic of the bombings, Gar joins Dan on the podcast to discuss how the decision to use the atomic bomb was wrapped up in atomic diplomacy: that the U.S. used nuclear weapons to intimidate the Soviet Union in the early stages of the Cold War. To mark the anniversary, we also dug back into the archives to bring you the human story at the heart of the tragedy - Hirata San, a survivor of the Hiroshima attacks, shares his experiences of the bombing.Produced by Hannah WardMixed and Mastered by Dougal PatmoreIf you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Joe Guinan, Vice President of the Democracy Collaborative joins us to talk about socialism, democracy, the Preston Model, and the Forrest Gump of the left, Gar Alperovitz.

John McKnight's approach to community development is to turn attention to the assets of a neighborhood rather than elaborate on its problems.  For instance, he would suggest that the primary wealth in a neighborhood is the power generated by the investment of the capacities of the residents and their associations.  Called Asset Based Community Development, John McKnight has influenced and trained three generations of community activists in Chicago and beyond including, famously, Barack Obama. A close associate of Ivan Illich, he has provided both the vision and practice for a solution-oriented approach to community organizing.  Historian, political economist, and activist, Gar Alperovitz is a noted expert on policy issues as they pertain to cooperative ownership, diversification of wealth, fair labor laws, anti-discrimination, community control, and ecological sustainability.  Working for decades in Washington, DC to influence a transition to a more just society, he is also well known for his opposition to nuclear power and the role he played in helping to secure the Pentagon Papers.  

Prof. Gar Alperovitz is one of the great minds of our time- He is Co-Founder of the Democracy Collaborative, longtime activist, author, and public intellectual. He says it's time for us to create the next generation political-economic system. What form might that take, and what can we ourselves do right now to make it happen?Also, Thom welcomes Kenny Ausubel, journalist/filmmaker/author to discuss the Bioneers- this year an online conference that hopes to keep us from driving off a cliff both environmentally and civilizationally. What are the problems and solutions in front of us? And Dr. Mark Plotkin, author and co-Founder & President-the Amazon Conservation Team is on the show- how are the massive fires in the Amazon connected with massive fires in the United States? Should we be listening to indigenous peoples?And Cole Stangler, Paris-based journalist covering labor & politics joins the show to bring us news of the citizen's movement taking the streets in France right now.

Air Date 5/3/2019 Today we take a look at several topics that, at first glance, may seem to be unrelated but that I think are all tied together with a thread that runs through all of them and points the way toward The Great Transition we are currently in the middle of. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content: Support our show on Patreon! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Henry Giroux: Trump is the endpoint on cruelty and isolation in American politics - @thisishellradio - Air Date 4-15-17 Cultural critic Henry Giroux examines the slow, steady rise of cruelty in American culture - as the logic of neoliberalism strips our politics of anything besides self-regard, and the right capitalizes on the anger caused by its own policies Ch. 2: Johann Hari To Treat Depression, Provide Meaningful Work, Housing & a Basic Income, Not Just Drugs - @DemocracyNow - Air Date 02-02-18 An extended conversation with Johann Hari, author of a controversial new book, “Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions.” Ch. 3: Roots of Extremism with Deeyah Khan - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 3-11-19 Deeyah Khan is a British documentary filmmaker and human rights activist. She’s the creator of two extraordinary films airing on Netflix right now, White Right: Meeting the Enemy and Jihad: A Story of the Others. Ch. 4: The Cure To Loneliness - Sustainable Human - Air Date 2-3-18 Loneliness is almost baked into the cake as far as a modern society with the kind of social setup and infrastructure and economic system that we have today. Ch. 5: Gar Alperovitz: Building a Pluralist economy that supports human needs - @theLFshow w @GRITlaura Flanders - Air Date 7-26-17 Laura talks with author/activist Gar Alperovitz. From the gloom of today, he sees the principles of a Pluralist Commonwealth emerging. Ch. 6: Gar Alperovitz on the economic movement already underway - @RalphNader Radio Hour - Air Date 6-24-17 It’s time to build new economic institutions that are democratic but also–critically–give us a new power base as well in the communities around the country. Ch. 7: Utopias in history and the need to rekindle utopian thinking - History Extra - Air Date 3-16-17 Rutger Bregman discusses some of his ideas that recently caused a global sensation and the role of a historian in the modern world VOICEMAILS Ch. 8: Progressives have always had to drag liberals along - V from Central New York FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 9: Final comments on the need to spread the word about our failing institutions to bolster support for fundamental reform MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions): Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr  Astrisx - Bodytonic Quaver - Codebreaker Moon Bicycle Theme - American Moon Bicycle One Little Triumph - Piano Mover Donder - Darby Take a Tiny Train - Ray Catcher Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Support the show via Patreon Listen on iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Alexa Devices | +more Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on iTunes and Stitcher!

Gar Alperovitz talks Jim about system dynamics of ownership, control, politics, economics, US unions, governance, evolution, and much more… Gar Alperovitz talks to Jim about what his definition of systems & their relationship to ownership & control, economic & political components in systems, GameB, the legitimacy crisis & systems collapse, the failure mode of the … Continue reading EP85 Gar Alperovitz on Reinventing Our Systems → The post EP85 Gar Alperovitz on Reinventing Our Systems appeared first on The Jim Rutt Show.

Avi Chomsky, Marie Cruz Soto, Joseph Gerson & Gar Alperovitz consider the legacy of the Hiroshima, its roots in Empire and colonial rivalries. They also examine resistance to empire from Vieques to Okinawa and across diasporas and homelands. Joe Ramsey hosts the conversation he co-produced with Linda Liu, Kira Moodliar, Suren Moodliar and Tim Sheard. The episode is sponsored by Hardball Press, the Community Church of Boston, Socialism and Democracy, and encuentro5.

For years, large majorities of Americans have believed that the U.S. had to use the A-Bomb against Japan on August 6th, 1945 to end the war quickly and avoid a land war and thus save one-million American lives. Scott and Bob discuss the use of the bomb, why it was used as a message to the Soviet Union and not a military necessity, the chronology behind the development and deployment of atomic weapons, the U.S. public response to it, and the creation of a new history, a propaganda piece, regarding the use of the bomb. The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was vital in the development of the Cold War, the arms race, the military-industrial complex, and the National Security State. Seventy-five years after the first atomic weapon was used by the U.S., it's still a highly-debated and important topic. This is also the debut of Green and Red on YouTube, so check us out at https://bit.ly/GreenAndRedOnYouTube Read more about the decision to drop the atomic bomb: Gar Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan National Security Archive, "The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II" Greg Mitchell, The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood―and America―Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Samuel Walker, Prompt and Utter Destruction Follow us at: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenRedPodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastGreenRed Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenredpodcast/ Keep Green and Red Podcast Independent: Patron: https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast Green and Red's website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/donate-to-green-and-red/ This is a Green and Red Podcast production. "Green and Red Blues" by Moody. Editing by Isaac. Produced by Scott (@sparki1969) and Bob (@bobbuzzanco).

In this episode, Leslie reviews “emergent strategy” by adrienne maree brown and discusses her newfound knowledge on transformative justice as well as the assessments provided in brown's book. The link to the Gar Alperovitz is https://garalperovitz.com/ifyoudontlike/ Also Leslie did mispronounce iterative (and she probably will mispronounce many more things) but no one is going to beat her ass about it so deal with it :-) You can head over to IG to continue the discussion over the fractal assessment!

Air Date: 5/3/2019 Today we take a look at several topics that, at first glance, may seem to be unrelated but that I think are all tied together with a thread that runs through all of them and points the way toward The Great Transition we are currently in the middle of. Be part of the show! Leave a message at 202-999-3991   Episode Sponsors: Tavour.com(Promo Code: LEFT) Amazon USA| Amazon CA| Amazon UK| Clean Choice Energy Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content: Support our show on Patreon! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Henry Giroux: Trump is the endpoint on cruelty and isolation in American politics - @thisishellradio - Air Date 4-15-17 Cultural critic Henry Giroux examines the slow, steady rise of cruelty in American culture - as the logic of neoliberalism strips our politics of anything besides self-regard, and the right capitalizes on the anger caused by its own policies Ch. 2: Johann Hari To Treat Depression, Provide Meaningful Work, Housing & a Basic Income, Not Just Drugs - @DemocracyNow - Air Date 02-02-18 An extended conversation with Johann Hari, author of a controversial new book, “Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions.” Ch. 3: Roots of Extremism with Deeyah Khan - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 3-11-19 Deeyah Khan is a British documentary filmmaker and human rights activist. She’s the creator of two extraordinary films airing on Netflix right now, White Right: Meeting the Enemy and Jihad: A Story of the Others. Ch. 4: The Cure To Loneliness - Sustainable Human - Air Date 2-3-18 Loneliness is almost baked into the cake as far as a modern society with the kind of social setup and infrastructure and economic system that we have today. Ch. 5: Gar Alperovitz: Building a Pluralist economy that supports human needs - @theLFshow w @GRITlaura Flanders - Air Date 7-26-17 Laura talks with author/activist Gar Alperovitz. From the gloom of today, he sees the principles of a Pluralist Commonwealth emerging. Ch. 6: Gar Alperovitz on the economic movement already underway - @RalphNader Radio Hour - Air Date 6-24-17 It’s time to build new economic institutions that are democratic but also–critically–give us a new power base as well in the communities around the country. Ch. 7: Utopias in history and the need to rekindle utopian thinking - History Extra - Air Date 3-16-17 Rutger Bregman discusses some of his ideas that recently caused a global sensation and the role of a historian in the modern world VOICEMAILS Ch. 8: Progressives have always had to drag liberals along - V from Central New York FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 9: Final comments on the need to spread the word about our failing institutions to bolster support for fundamental reform MUSIC(Blue Dot Sessions): Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr  Astrisx - Bodytonic Quaver - Codebreaker Moon Bicycle Theme - American Moon Bicycle One Little Triumph - Piano Mover Donder - Darby Take a Tiny Train - Ray Catcher Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Support the show via Patreon Listen on iTunes | Stitcher| Spotify| Alexa Devices| +more Check out the BotL iOS/AndroidApp in the App Stores! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on iTunesand Stitcher!

In the latest installment of our "Not One Step Back!" listener-requested reading series, we peruse a set of articles by Gar Alperovitz, titled "Principles of a Pluralist Commonwealth". Make us read whatever you want! patreon.com/swampsidechats

As alarming as the news may be, we must not only oppose and alter the bad news, but we must also envision a possible future for the US that people deserve - as well as a path to get there. That is the mission of historian, political economist, activist, and writer, GAR ALPEROVITZ, co-chair of the Next System Project at the Democracy Collaborative, and someone who’s thinking seriously about what replaces corporate capitalism. You can learn more at garalperovitz.com

How extreme is wealth disparity in the US? Imagine every person in the economy walks by, in order of income from low to high, with heights proportional to what people make. You’d see mostly a parade of dwarves, with some unbelievable giants at the very end. Political economist and historian Gar Alperovitz and social entrepreneur Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative depict breakthrough models for breaking this vicious cycle by democratizing wealth, ownership and access to capital.

How extreme is wealth disparity in the US? Imagine every person in the economy walks by, in order of income from low to high, with heights proportional to what people make. You’d see mostly a parade of dwarves, with some unbelievable giants at the very end. Political economist and historian Gar Alperovitz and social entrepreneur Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative depict breakthrough models for breaking this vicious cycle by democratizing wealth, ownership and access to capital.

Datavest CEO & Founder Rob Nicholas Stone discusses the monetization of private data through his blockchain based application DATAVEST, a cooperative that monetizes user data and pays back individuals in the form of datanotes.Transcript:INTROMethod to the Madness is next.You're listening to Method to the Madness, a bi-weekly public affairs show on K-A-L-X Berkeley celebrating innovators. Last time on Method to the Madness we talked with Block chain at Berkeley about block chain technology and what that means. Today we're going to be talking with Rob Nicholas Stone, the founder and CEO of DATAVEST, an application that sits on top of this block chain technology.LISA: Thanks for coming in Rob. ROB: Yeah, absolutely!LISA: What is DATAVEST?ROB: DATAVEST is a way for individuals to monetize the value of their personal data. LISA: How is that different from what's going on right now? Rob: Data right now is being monetized. It's being capitalized by some of the largest corporations. And they're able to do that because they have the ability to kind of aggregate all of this data from multiple sources from millions of users. What we're saying is that it's an unfair exchange and the value of your data, the data that you're providing to these companies is greater than the value that is returned to you and it's driving up the largest market capitalizations of the largest kind of Internet platforms.LISA: So it sounds like you're creating a meta transaction in which the intrinsic value of my data is more than just what I'm giving to Facebook or whatever.ROB: Individually we don't have much leverage negotiating a fair price for our data. There's a value premium when that data is aggregated. It's been difficult to find a mechanism for allowing individuals to share that data and benefit from the aggregate value that's generated by a platform like Facebook. One of the challenges we had initially was trying to figure out how do we value data is it a pro-rata share of current revenue that that's generated from that data. Is it the kind of commodity price wanted sold by maybe a data broker? or in the context of Facebook and Instagram and Google and Amazon, they're able to capitalize the value because this data, even if they don't know what the application is going to be in the future they're able to price that into the current value of the company. One way that you could look at it is looking at the market capitalization of say Facebook and dividing by the number of users of Facebook. And that's going to be a much larger number than the current revenue of Facebook divided by the number of users.LISA: I'm curious why you wanted to do this because reading about block chain technology the history of it, originally it was of culturally and socially revolutionary idea. Since that time about 10 years ago, I feel like it's lost a little bit of that sheen but what you're doing is sort of a throwback to that original idea which is that it belongs to the people. ROB: Right. I knew that everybody had this form of capital that was extremely extremely valuable. And I also knew that in order to appropriately monetize this data, individuals had to have ownership over the application of the data. And so the first two months was basically me trying to figure out how to provide individuals with how to give them a vested interest in the applications that are built atop the aggregate data that's provided. The first idea was we would basically issue individual stock in our company and that company would use this data and monetize it and capitalize it and they would have this vested interest not just in the current value of their data but also the future value. Obviously that for millions of people would be extremely difficult to do. It would be almost a logistical nightmare to pull off in. And so that's where cryptocurrency came into the equation through block chain, through smart contracts. There's a way to design a platform and issue this currency that is similar to equity in a sense, in that it provides individuals with a vested interest in the platform in the application. And so that that's kind of how I arrived at the block chain space.LISA: What is the problem DATAVEST is trying to solve?ROB:A lot of the inequality or injustice right now occurs around this asymmetry of information. Whenever a corporation or a company or organization has more information about you than you have about them, it creates an inbalance. The reason why we decided to issue a digital currency in exchange for data is that I see currency as a form of language and it's a means, a tool of communicating and exchanging value. And what's interesting about data information knowledge is when it's exchanged there's no less of it in the hands of the one transacting it. If I explain an idea to you, I still have the idea and now you have it too. There's a greater supply. There was a book called Unjust Deserts written by Gar Alperovitz and he lays out the idea of this technological residual and it's kind of the gains in productivity not attributed to say capital or labor but is a product of technological advance generally speaking, where it's difficult almost impossible to attribute individual credit for this social phenomenon, but what capitalism tells us to do is is ascribe individual credit for the product of a social phenomenon. Similar to language, a piece of data or a word has very little meaning without the alphabet, without the multiple arrangements of those words and concepts and so similar to this our data doesn't have much value alone when it's siloed. This has been the challenge is that that individuals don't have a way to benefit. It's almost as if language has been co-opted or or taken, monopolized by a lot of these companies and corporations. The reason why we created DATAVEST was to create a platform, a cooperative platform, that basically co-ops back this data and information that's been taken from us and allows us to benefit in this common language through this digital currency.LISA:That's revolutionary. It reminds me of Marx and Veblen. Where did you begin to start thinking about these kinds of ideas?ROB: Maybe Veblen, actually. It's funny that you bring that up. He wrote about this idea of absentee ownership when capital is invested by those not vested in the in the company that that capital goes towards. It creates a kind of perverse incentive. If individuals had ownership and they were also the consumers within a company, the incentives are not really to to maximize profit at the expense of higher prices for consumers. I guess another way to put it is if consumers were the owners what would that look like? Right now there's a there's kind of a movement applying the concepts and ideas of cooperatives to Internet platforms. It's called Platform co-operative-ism and it's a guy named Trevor Schultz. He's a professor at the New School in New York and he's written a lot about this. If you look at maybe Uber and what that would look like as a platform co-operative, you'd have the situation where the drivers and the riders are the owners of the ride share company or YouTube platform where the content creators and users benefit from the value created in a business sense by that platform or AirBNB owned by those running out their houses and those using it. It's just, it's an alignment of incentives that I think is more rational. If the economy is unequal for rational reasons that's one thing. But when it's completely irrational and I couldn't ignore it any longer, if if you look back at kind of the progression of capitalism from laissez faire in the 19th century John Maynard Keynes basically kind of saving capitalism in a sense by figuring out a monetary policy that could or fiscal spending that could increase employment. But in finance everyone always talks about inflation, as well, we need a healthy level of inflation. But when you think about it its inflation is really just a decrease in purchasing power and Keynes, his kind of insight was that it's difficult to lower nominal wages. But if you print more money you devalue the currency, you can lower real wages without kind of workers knowing about it. So it almost seemed like a trick. It's like you're tricking labor into thinking that they're getting paid the same amount, that excess profit from real wages going down, you know goes towards the owners of the company. And so the stock market benefits from that. Seeing the irrationality there, this plays into kind of how we've created our currency. It's not like the Federal Reserve where a couple banks have access to the discount window. It's every single individual has direct access to the analog of the Federal Reserve. You have a direct line into creating new money and it goes to you, not to some large institution.LISA: What are some of the challenges that you're facing right now?ROB: I think the principal challenge is explaining a new idea and trying to communicate something really that hasn't been done successfully before.LISA: Why did you choose the co-op structure?ROB: I don't know if you've ever used Apple Itunes. It's basically data as a service or software as a service where you subscribe to a service and pay a fee. We're kind of turning that on its head. The future revenue that could be generated by this data needs to stay in the hands of those who produced it. If you were structuring this as a C corporation where the data was owned by conventional corporate structure. What happens when Amazon or some platform wants to buy all of the data and then what happens to the value of the currency when all of a sudden you know whoever is acquiring the information the data decides to use that monetize that more for their existing shareholders? We've created a co-operative where the data is always owned by the individuals who are producing the data. We own this data.Companies can only subscribe to it and they never own.ID/BREAKIf you're just tuning in you're listening to method to the madness, a bi-weekly public affairs show on K-A-L-X Berkeley. I'm your host Lisa Kiefer. Today I'm speaking with the CEO and founder of DATAVEST, Rob Nicholas Stone. As we continue our de-mystification of block chain technology and the token economies.LISA: A member of your board recently told me that you were the most dangerous man in America. What do you think he said that?ROB: So I think the reason why he said that was when I first met with him I laid out a plan for disrupting not only Silicon Valley but also Wall Street and fiat currency and how to go about creating a new non-sovereign alternative to national fiat.LISA: What's your background your history how you came to this idea?ROB: It came about in kind of a strange way. I'd done a lot of work in microfinance in Argentina. I worked at Morgan Stanley working kind of closely with their Institute of Sustainable Investing, so socially responsible investing and it was always about how do we direct capital to where it's most productive. The insight or the 3:00 a.m. epiphany for me was that everybody already has a form of extremely valuable capital. They're just they just don't have the framework to monetize it and receive the full value of that data.LISA: How long is that when that light bulb went off?ROB: That's about eight months ago. LISA: Well people are talking about universal basic income now. And to me this is sort of a workaround to that. I could get money from my data every month instead of trying to figure out a universal basic income through the federal government.ROB: Right. And we framed it sometimes this way. It seems strident to kind of imagine this could actually provide consistent guaranteed level of income to individuals but it really is, it is a private sector mechanism for UBI that requires no subsidies no welfare just receiving kind of the value that you're already creating. Back in 1965 Lewis Kelso, he is kind of the founder the creator of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan, and he said that the challenge of our age is figuring out a way that workers or individuals can take ownership in the technology that's essentially replacing them. Thinking currently about that, what's driving the technological advances that we're seeing right now? A lot of it is this networked data and so you could achieve two things at once, you allow individuals to have access to a form of capital and at the same time that capital happens to be the core ingredients, the fuel that's driving the technological advances that we're seeing currently. So it's a way to gain ownership over this technology for anyone essentially with a with a smartphone and internet connection is able to accrue value.LISA: Where do I find out about this?ROB: It will be on a mobile app so you download the app and you're presented with, we're calling them data funds, that it could be a specific sector or a company innovative new technology and you're able to invest your data into that company and receive an asset that's derived from that data. We're calling them data notes. Users will receive this immediately upon the investment of their data.LISA: Give me an example of a company that I would say OK I'm going to open my data to you.ROB: An example that I think really drives this point home is, I don't know if you've ever used Twenty-Three and Me? There's nothing more personal than our genetic information or genetic data and in companies like this are able to aggregate millions of potential volunteers who are or are willing to provide this and sell that off to pharmaceutical companies to create some of the most profitable new drugs or treatments or therapies and the individual is not compensated.LISA: In fact, we have to pay to actually do it.ROB: Right. What we're trying to do is create a way for individuals providing data such as this to drive some of the most innovative kind of medical breakthroughs but also be vested in the value that's created from its application and the application is great. It's just the fact that those who are creating this information, this data, are forgotten about. One example is that hedge funds are basically purchasing your data there. They're going to companies such as Yodaly that are transaction aggregators and they're looking at kind of trends in our spending and they're trading on that information. Hedge funds are really some of the biggest buyers of this type of data. They call it alternative data. Hedge Fund wants access to some alternative data, some transaction data that they're already collecting from us. What we would require is that they subscribe to access this information that's totally anonymized. They don't really care who you are. They just want the data and they want to pick up trends in consumer preferences and what people are buying and they're able to trade on that. So data in that revenue that they pay will be rerouted through smart contracts and this gets back to the value of the block chain to repurchasing the currency on the secondary market and compensating individuals who actually provided that data. This is a form of ownership.LISA: So if I'm a member of this, will I have like a little token bank on my computer and every now and then I see some monetary value?ROB: That's right. You'll have a wallet. LISA: So I don't need a bank for this. ROB: You don't need a bank. The idea getting back to kind of the idea of universal basic income is that we wanted anyone in the world to be able to gain access to this. Anyone with a smartphone and internet connection is able to start accruing this capital that they already have. When you kind of sit back and think about it, they're making billions of dollars based on data that we've provided them with. What we're thinking about is how to use our own information, share it, cooperatively own it, and monetize it kind of directly. The future revenue that we create at DATAVEST through aggregating this information is directly driven back into the value of the currency. As revenue comes in, that revenue is redirected into supporting the value of the currency.LISA: So let's say I have two hundred of your one of your tokens called?ROB: Data notes. LISA: OK. Data notes. Where can I spend those?ROB: Initially you're able to convert those into U.S. dollars. They're completely liquid. So you're able to exchange them for other digital currencies or you're able to just cash them out and we're using Ethereum. And it's done through Etherium. LISA: You're letting Etherium do your mining?ROB: Right. LISA: So you don't have to worry about massive computers. ROB: Right. LISA: Why did you choose Etherium?ROB: We chose Etherium, a technology that allows us to design a platform that works for us, because of the ability to design smart contracts that achieve the purpose of our intention.LISA: What is a smart contract? What does that mean?ROB: The reason why DATAVEST is using smart contracts is a lot of crypto currencies right now, they haven't figured out a way to have the off chain organization or company benefit the currency directly. So what we've done is we've created a protocol or smart contract that as DATAVEST as a platform generates revenue, we have that revenue going directly into supporting the value of the currency and that's done through our currency repurchase protocol. Which, it's basically like a stock buyback by a company where the company wants to return value directly to shareholders by buying stock on the market and taking it back as treasury stock. You increase demand, you reduce supply, and that benefits our end users and they have a vested kind of interest in almost a form of ownership in the platform. You can put anything, you could almost put anything in into it, any kind of contract. It triggers an event based on something happening off chain. So as revenue comes in, that triggers the repurchase of currency without any intermediary. So it's rules-based governance of monetary policy essentially. What we've done by creating kind of a cooperative structure with smart contracts is that there's kind of two extremes right now. You have the kind of purist crypto currency folks that they don't want anything off chain. They don't want to leave any kind of room for active governance. And then you have on the other side permission block chain, which basically means you know it's a corporation is calling all the shots and determining everything. We tried to find a middle ground where there's a democratic processes in place through the co-operative and there is a level of governance that can kind of manage the supply of this currency in a rational way.LISA: Where does the U.S. government come in or any government come into play here? If I'm a user and I start getting money from my data, my private data, say I'm starting to accumulate some tokens. Is that money taxed?ROB: It should be. It should absolutely be taxed. And the question, the outstanding question still for us, since this is really new territory, is how is it going to be treated? If you're being compensated for your investment of data, is that being treated as income? Or is that data considered an asset that you're exchanging for an equivalent amount of value? My opinion is that it should be considered an asset, a form of capital, and that capital exchange for data notes represents an equivalent exchange that you would be…your cost basis would be the market value of data notes at that time.LISA: Right. And so if they go up them I'm taxed on the gain. ROB; That's right. LISA: When do you expect to go live with DATAVEST as an application?ROB: Right now we're planning within the next six to eight months a private beta or a closed beta to recruit the pioneer users of this application. We're planning our full launch to be shortly after that ,hopefully within nine to 12 months we'll have this, you'll be able to start making money from your data.LISA: An idea like this seems very disruptive to say Facebook. Why do you think of Facebook or Google or one of the other overlords wouldn't enter into this marketplace? What are their constraints doing something like this or do they have constraints?ROB: They do and I get this question a lot. It's well OK. You're doing this you're a small startup. You have these billion dollar platforms that you're potentially disrupting. What prevents them from doing the same thing. And their challenge is that they were started in a way that the incentives between their users and the shareholders of those companies aren't aligned. And so the more that a shareholder makes, the less money there is available to users to monetize. So if one of these platforms, all of a sudden Zuckerberg decided to kind of monetize data for his users rather than shareholders, what would happen is, well, he'd get sued I think.LISA: By the shareholders?ROB: Right. They've created a zero sum game where –a situation where one wins at the other's expense. And so we design DATAVEST to align the incentives between those who are funding our startup our platform that we're building and the users that are going to be creating the preponderance of value of the platform. When I bring up the idea of capitalized value of data, just meaning that this data is being priced based on its its future revenue that it potentially could generate, the mechanism that DATAVEST is using is, we're issuing a form of digital currency directly for the investment of data. Data is an asset. It's a strange asset but it's an investable asset. When you invest it, you want to be entitled to kind of the future revenue generating potential that it creates. So we're not tying it to how much capital you already have, how wealthy you are. Anyone can gain access to this and actually the only way to gain access to this is through providing this asset that doesn't cost you any money. It's just utilizing and benefiting you for the capital that you already have.LISA: So do you know who your target beta is going to be? Is it going to be a city? Is it going to be a certain demographic of people? Do you know that yet? ROB: Yes. So we're based out of Pasadena, California. And so we're actually working at my house in Altadena. We converted are barn into an office and we kind of have an urban ranch and horses and donkeys and chickens and it's kind of a fun corporate headquarters but we’ll probaby have to move soon. But you know it's been good while it lasted but so we're thinking Pasadena just maybe an interesting place. There was research done that Pasadena will be kind of representative of the demographics within the U.S. as a whole and I think it was like 15 to 20 years. So we think it's a would be a good kind of case study or a good place to do this. LISA: And you have a child, a two year old son?ROB: Yep yep turns two March 26.LISA: Well I have to ask you..you're pretty deep into this new technology, block chain and the token economies. Do you have any particular fears for your child as we move forward or are you optimistic?ROB: I guess if you kind of imagine all potential futures right now where we are, it's difficult. I don't wanna be negative but it's difficult to see one that is going to make sense or I'm going to be happy with for him and that's part of why I'm doing this is, you have four, really four companies that are as Jaron Lanier calls it the siren servers that are collecting all this information on all of us. And you know one worry and it's not it's not an irrational concern is that what happens when one of these companies develops a technology through using this data our data, big data is our data, and using that to develop A.I. They're using machine learning and when they get to a point where they're so far ahead of everyone else it's going to be very difficult to catch up. So I guess my concern is that they do kind of have a breakthrough in this area. It's going to be tough to kind of catch up with that technology for anyone else. And that's going to only be benefiting the same or tiny kind of small number of people.LISA: So it sounds like your approach at DATAVEST is very democratic and an opportunity to bridge the you know, we talk about the 1 percent. It sounds like that big divide could possibly be bridged if everyone gets compensated for their private data.ROB: That's exactly right. And and we get rid of this asymmetric information that’s of companies whether it's financial institutions or these Internet platforms that are kind of using our information against us that we think we have to take ownership over it and be entitled to kind of the value that it creates and have that be shared.LISA: What's coming up for DATAVEST in the future?ROB: If we imagine that enough of us sign up and decide to take ownership back of this information, this data, there's an opportunity that once you get to a critical mass, we're hoping we can sign up a million users within the first year, that at some point you don't want to be selling or brokering this data to third parties who are then benefiting making all the money essentially. So asset management firms, hedge funds, they’re they're big buyers of this type of data, that would be transaction data, geo-location data.They're kind of buying this up wherever they can get it. And it would make too much sense not to take that in-house. So we've come up with the idea, this is kind of our Second Stage part of this, that we could create a cooperatively owned hedge fund. And the interesting thing about a hedge fund is most people can never invest in one. But the ironic part I guess is that everyone can actually own a hedge fund company. And so there's an opportunity that we can cooperatively own this investment firm that is directly trading based on our information and we're directly benefiting from it. We would have all of that revenue driven back into the hands of the users. And it's almost the portfolio managers dream come true to have direct access and intel from individuals all across the world be able to look at the trends, of the change in demand, consumer purchases, even pose questions. And the interesting thing from an investment application is that the data value of some of the poorest people in the world is actually greater than the data value of individuals in the U.S. And so if we're only monetizing this data based on this advertising model, that would only benefit wealthier individuals. But what this does is anywhere there's anywhere there's asymmetric information a profit can be made and that profit, and there's less information and a lot of these frontier and emerging markets that we have the opportunity that any intel or any information they provide on prices that they're facing is essentially tradable information, that can that can return value to those individuals and put them on the map and give them a form of capital that they've never had.LISA: I know there's going to be a lot of interest in this. So is there a way that listeners can reach you or DATAVEST? Is there a website? ROB: Absolutely! Our website is DATAVEST.org and my email is Rob at DATAVEST dot org. There is a place where you can put your e-mail to kind of sign up to be one of the first users of this.LISA: Wow! thank you for being on Method to the Madness and once you launch, I'd love to have you back on. ROB: You'll be investing your data soon.LISA: I will be investing my data. Thank you.ROB: Thank you.OUTRO:You've been listening to Method to the

It seems like all of Trump's aides and advisors start to sound like Trump after joining his administration. We opened the lines to hear what you think about Trump's staff subsuming his personality? Have you have you ever taken on your boss' personality? Plus, Alex Beam, Andrea Cabral, Paul Reville, and Gar Alperovitz on his involvement with the Pentagon Papers.

In the second of a two-part interview, Next System Project Co-Chair Gar Alperovitz talks about ‘what comes next' after our current corporate capitalist system: the Pluralist Commonwealth. Be sure to listen to the first episode, in which Gar discusses his trajectory as a system changer and how he views the present political and economic environment. Subscribe to the Next System Podcast via iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or RSS.

In the first of a two-part interview, The Next System Project's Co-Chair Gar Alperovitz describes his journey toward system change and what is myriad experiences tell him about our present political and economic circumstances. In part-two, scheduled for next week, Gar will be talking about ‘What Comes Next' and describes his own model, the Pluralist Commonwealth Subscribe to the Next System Podcast via iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or RSS.

In the debut episode of the Next System Podcast, host Adam Simpson sits down with the co-chairs of the Next System Project, Gar Alperovitz and Gus Speth. The co-chairs discuss what NSP means to them in the context of the unique historical moment that the United States and indeed the world currently finds itself. The Next System Podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, and Stitcher Radio.

No is not enough', says Naomi Klein, so if no isn't sufficient, what might be? This week, ​Laura talks with author/activist Gar Alperovitz, co-chair of the Next System Project (a framework for imagining 'the next system' of governance, democracy, and security). From the gloom of today he sees the principles of a Pluralist Commonwealth emerging. Then a video from Local Futures, counts down the many changes that can come from investing locally. All that and a commentary from Laura on the Diggers and feeding while rebelling. Featured music comes by way of Bluey from Incognito, off his album "Life Between the Notes" on Shanachie Records.  Please write a review where ever you get your podcast.  It helps us spread the word.  Thanks!

Ralph talks to historian James Whitman about how the Nazis in the thirties modeled a lot of their racial policies on our very own Jim Crow laws and what that means for us today; and political economist Gar Alperovitz gives us an encouraging progress report on how the New Economy Movement is transforming the system.

https://onthegroundshow.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/OTG-JUNE16-2017SMALL.mp3 Gar Alperovitz discusses his new free handbook, Principals of a Pluralist Commonwealth," and outlines the possibilities of local, collective and co-op ownership that can be a model for a real democracy and not a future economy that is corporate capitalism, fascism or total state socialism. Shareholders and activists confront the Dollar Tree discount chain at a shareholder meeting in Chesapeake, Virginia to protest the chain continuing to sell toxic products to the public. Headlines on Medicaid, the continuing campaign to bail out mothers not convicted of any crime, House Republicans gut Dodd-Frank, 200 members of Congress file lawsuit against President Trump. And more... Links: Website to read Alperovitz Principals of a Pluralist Commonwealth.  

Guest Gar Alperovitz, co-founder, Democracy Collaborative, and co-chair, The Next System Project, speaks with Diane Horn about buying out the fossil fuel industry to address climate change.

Alperovitz is the president of the National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives, a founding principal of The Democracy Collaborative, and is co-chair of the Next System Project.Gar Alperovitz delivered "If You Don't Like Capitalism or State Socialism, What Do You Want?" on November 11, 2011.If you would like a physical copy of this lecture or others like it, visit centerforneweconomics.org/order-pamphlets to purchase pamphlets of published works and transcripts. The Schumacher Center's applied work seeks to implement the principles described by these speakers within the context of the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts. Our work, both educational and applied, is supported by listeners like you. You can strengthen our mission by making a donation at centerforneweconomics.org/donate, or call us at (413) 528-1737 to make an appointment to visit our research library and office at 140 Jug End Road, Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

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.

How extreme is wealth disparity in the US? Imagine every person in the economy walks by, in order of income from low to high, with heights proportional to what people make. You’d see mostly a parade of dwarves, with some unbelievable giants at the very end. Political economist and historian Gar Alperovitz and social entrepreneur Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative depict breakthrough models for breaking this vicious cycle by democratizing wealth, ownership and access to capital.

How extreme is wealth disparity in the US? Imagine every person in the economy walks by, in order of income from low to high, with heights proportional to what people make. You’d see mostly a parade of dwarves, with some unbelievable giants at the very end. Political economist and historian Gar Alperovitz and social entrepreneur Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative depict breakthrough models for breaking this vicious cycle by democratizing wealth, ownership and access to capital.

This week some web wisdom on unions and the power of coops: - On Wealth and Labor - Progressive Faith Sermons www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gkejN5WSnU - The social and ecological benefits of sharing the load - Economic Update www.bestoftheleft.com/the_social_and_ecological_benefits_of_sharing_the_load_economic_update_w_profwolff - The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizen-less Democracy - Belabored www.bestoftheleft.com/john_nichols_nicholsuprising_the_fight_against_a_jobless_economy_and_a_citizen_less_democracy_belabored_dissentmag - Uber's revolution was mostly about circumventing labor unions - Economic Update www.bestoftheleft.com/uber_s_revolution_was_mostly_about_circumventing_labor_unions_economic_update_w_profwolff - Unions and Wages - Thomas Hartman Show www.bestoftheleft.com/ - The Promise and Limitations of Worker Co-ops - Gar Alperovitz on Reality Asserts Itself www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JjicvAjGEY

Judy Bello (pictured) is on the Administrative Committee of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) and is a founding member of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars. In the previous decade she has traveled with Peace Delegations to Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria. She has just returned from a fact finding mission in Syria with a delegation from the U.S. Peace Council. Gar Alperovitz has had a distinguished career as a historian, political economist, activist, writer, and government official. He's been a Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, and is a former Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University and Harvard's Institute of Politics. He is the author of critically acclaimed books on the atomic bomb and atomic diplomacy. Alperovitz has served as a legislative director in both houses of Congress and as a special assistant in the State Department. He is also the president of the National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives and is a co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative and co-chair of the Next System Project. And he will be speaking at No War 2016, a conference we are organizing in September in Washington DC through World Beyond War. See worldbeyondwar.org.

In this episode, we present highlights of Ralph's conversations with activists Lois Gibbs, David Helvarg, and Anna Myers, journalists Jim Naureckas and Bill Curry, and scholars Gar Alperovitz and Paul Pillar.

The Next System Project: Life in the United States After Capitalism by MFlowers We speak with Joe Guinan and Dana Brown of the Next System Project about their ambitious work to draw from new economic institutions that are being used in the United States and around the world to build real alternatives that solve the crises of economic, racial and environmental injustice. They just completed a series of teach-ins across the country. They share with us what they’ve learned so far and what exciting new initiatives are developing out of the teach-ins. Relevant articles and websites: Wealth Belongs to All of Us, Not just the Rich by Dariel Garner The Next System Project Winter 2015 two-pager: NSP two pager Winter 2015 2016 The Next System Report #1: NSPReport1_Digital1 Democracy Collaborative The Next System The Next System Teach-ins     Guests: Joe Guinan is a Senior Fellow at The Democracy Collaborative and Executive Director of the Next System Project. Having first worked with Gar Alperovitz and The Democracy Collaborative ten years earlier, he returned in 2012 to help design, launch and implement the Collaborative’s work on alternative political-economic systems. A former journalist, he was previously a program director at the Aspen Institute and a fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and has served as a consultant to the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation. With a decade of experience in international economics, trade policy, global agriculture, and food security, he has been a frequently cited expert on globalization and economic development in major news media, including the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, BBC News, and Al-Jazeera. Born in England with dual Irish and British citizenship, he grew up in British labor movement circles and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He writes regularly for progressive outlets in the UK, including open Democracy and the journal Renewal, and is a member of the editorial collective of New Left Project.   Dana Brown joined the Democracy Collaborative in September 2015 for the launch of the Next System Teach-Ins program. She is an activist, popular educator and human rights advocate that has worked throughout the US, Latin America and the Middle East supporting communities organized in resistance to neoliberal economic reforms and military intervention. A board member of Peace Brigades International, she maintains a foot in international solidarity, assisting projects to protect human rights defenders from Colombia to Kenya, while thrilled to be based in the US working to change our political economy for the benefit of the 99%. Dana holds a B.A. in Sociology from Cornell University and a Masters in International Relations and Peace Studies from the Universidad del Salvador (Argentina). She is a founding member of Witness Against Torture, a movement to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and end the use of torture and indefinite detention at all US-run facilities. She is delighted to be the first Mississippian and third tango dancer to join the Democracy Collaborative staff.

Economist and historian Gar Alperovitz digs deep into how we can truly transform our economic system for the better. This speech was given at the 2012 Catalyzing a Resilient Communities Network Intensive, a supplement to the Bioneers National Conference. Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. To experience talks like this, please join us at the Bioneers National Conference each October, and regional Bioneers Resilient Community Network gatherings held nationwide throughout the year. For more information on Bioneers, please visit http://www.bioneers.org and stay in touch via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Bioneers.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/bioneers).

In a wide-ranging discussion, Ralph talks community and worker ownership of businesses and the decision to use the atomic bomb with distinguished scholar and author, Gar Alperovitz.   And Ralph answers our listener questions.

Edition #928 Today we take a look at the malfeasance of the big banks and the political corruption that lets them get away with it   Be part of the show! Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Show Notes Ch. 1: Opening Theme: A Fond Farewell - From a Basement On the Hill 00:00:30 Ch. 2: Act 1: This Bank is a Criminal Enterprise and the U.S. Government Doesn't Care - @majorityfm - Air Date: 02-09-15 Ch. 3: Song 1: Banks of Marble and Other Songs - Pete Seeger 00:06:45 Ch. 4: Act 2: HSBC Bank: criminal enterprise - Disorderly Conduct (@Dis_Con) - Air Date: 2-18-15 Ch. 5: Song 2: Hard to Say I'm Sorry / Get Away - Chicago 00:19:24 Ch. 6: Act 3: Billionaire Banker Says Life Is Too Hard - @theyoungturks - Air Date: 01-18-15 Ch. 7: Song 3: No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) [with Donna Summer] - Barbra Streisand 00:26:45 Ch. 8: Act 4: Wall Street Pays Bankers PAID to Infiltrate the US Government - @RedactedTonight w/ @LeeCamp - Air Date: 02-19-15 Ch. 9: Song 4: Revolving Door - Jon Brion 00:30:48 Ch. 10: Act 5: The case for a Robin Hood tax - Economic Update w/ @profwolff - Air Date: 1-18-15 Ch. 11: Song 5: Robin Hood (Remastered) - Single - Dick James 00:36:45 Ch. 12: Act 6: Iceland Does The Unimaginable To Its Criminal Bankers - @theyoungturks - Air Date: 03-13-15 Ch. 13: Song 6: Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley 00:42:06 Ch. 14: Act 7: Wall Street Skates Away Free From All Prosecutions For 2008 Collapse - @RedactedTonight w/ @LeeCamp - Air Date: 05-04-15 Ch. 15: Song 7: Shame - The Avett Brothers 00:44:58 Ch. 16: Act 8: Public Banking via @PublicBanksNow & @DemocracyCollab — Best of the Left Activism Ch. 17: Song 8: Right to Complain - Trombone Shorty & Marc Broussard 00:48:42 Ch. 18: Act 9: Banks plead guilty, face no consequences - @HumorlessQueers - Air Date: 6-2-15 Voicemails 00:58:28 Ch. 20: What is the progressive idea on education? - David From Cinncinatti 01:00:34 Ch. 21: A loss of unconcious privilege feels like oppression - Jim in Detroit Suburbs 01:00:59 Ch. 22: What's the progressive idea for education funding? - Chuck in Salt Lake City Voicemail Music: Loud Pipes - Classics 01:04:22 Ch. 23: Final comments on why we need to change how education is funded Closing Music: Here We Are - Everyone's in Everyone Activism: Public Banking via @PublicBanksNow & @DemocracyCollab Take Action: Get involved with The Public Banking Institute by: Supporting a Local Initiative, Volunteering, and/or Joining a Chapter! Sources/further reading: "Inequality’s Dead End — And the Possibility of a New, Long-Term Direction” by Gar Alperovitz of The Democracy Collaborative "Vermont Votes for Public Banking” by John Nichols at The Nation "Public banking debate starts in Santa Fe” at Albuquerque Journal "Public Banking Institute a Partner to a New Project on Economic Alternatives” via The Public Banking Institute WATCH: "National Launch Webinar: The Next System Project Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on iTunes and Stitcher!

The US is under pressure to respond to allegations of war crimes in connection with its air strikes on Syria. But how do you assess disproportionate harm when this entire assault is disproportionate and premised on undefined threats? Local residents in the village of Kafr Deryan recently video taped bits of a Tomahawk missile at the site of a strike that they say killed at least two men two women and five kids September 23. Only the US and UK have Tomahawks so Human Rights Watch is asking the US to investigate. The group is further demanding that international law be obeyed and strikes be avoided that might have a disproportionate impact on civilians versus the expected military advantage. Now I've always been skeptical of international laws of war. They tend to coddle the conscience and imply war can be made kind. But the problem here is even more specific. Even when Barack Obama launched his bombing campaign he made no claim of self defense. At that time, remember, American intelligence had concluded that ISIS posed "no immediate threat" to the U.S. so-called "homeland." In his speech, launching the attack, the president said exactly that. The no-threat story was front page news. Many officials and terrorism experts quoted at the time believed that the actual danger of ISIS had been distorted by hours of alarmist TV. An anti-terror analyst with the Rand Corporation was quoted by the New York Times, saying “It's pretty clear that upping our involvement in Iraq and Syria makes it more likely that we will be targeted by the people we are attacking.” And still the campaign was launched. All that history's worth remember because now officials and the press are full of talk of a brand new supposed threat, dire enough to merit the US assault. The Khorasan Group: supposedly a pack of Al Quaeda veterans whom the Administration say do intend to target the US. Frankly, when it comes to threats to the so-called "homeland" the White House seems way more vulnerable to the disturbed veterans of the US's own wars. No Al Qaeda vet has so far managed to open the front door and run through the place with a knife. Still the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper made it sound scary when he said “In terms of threat to the homeland, Khorasan may pose as much of a danger as the Islamic State.” Scary, Until you remember, that that's not saying much. The point is, proof of claim doesn't seem to be required for the US to bomb and kill; nor even any evidence of military advantage. In that Syrian village, it's the reverse. There, the Department of Defense says it has no credible proof of civilian deaths, despite video and eye witness reports. They do, on the other hand, claim that several strikes have “disrupted an imminent attack against the US and Western interests.” To all those who imagined the presidency of phantom threats was over with the departure of George W. Bush, that's over. The one threat that is very real is that the US public will be terrified by all this and the killing and dying will escalate. ..... The "F" Word is a weekly commentary from Laura Flanders. Watch The Laura Flanders Show in full, on TeleSUR English or at GRITtv.org. This week, Gar Alperovitz on "America After Capitalism" . Find out more at GRITtv.org.

Imagine: a wave of protests engulfs a city, demanding attention to a lack of democracy. Police fire tear gas, local lawyers object, and instead of dispersing, the protests don't dwindle, they grow. A week in, thousands of students are boycotting their classes and major junctions in the city are occupied and shut down. Peaceful protestors in black receive respectful attention from the public and the press and the story is front page news around the world. That story's from Hong Kong, but what if it wasn't? What if that was the story of the same week in New York? What if, after 400,000 marched through Manhattan those protestors hadn't hopped on buses; what if those protestors had refused to go home? In Hong Kong, the people in the streets have a few clear demands. They want open elections with candidates they can pick. What if we had rallied for the same? The Hong Kong protestors want candidates -- not cronies - not people picked in private by an unaccountable committees. They want universal suffrage and a real say in local decision-making. What if the Climate justice marchers had demanded the same stuff? In our case, how about publicly funded elections? Not candidate picking by private funders and political campaign committees? How about an end to pay-to-play decision making and the recurring threats to some people's right to vote. Direct democracy. If it's a good demand for Hong Kong, it's a good demand in the US too. The Hong Kong democrats want island policy set by island people, or at least people who put local interests first. Not rule by far off bureaucrats or the permanent power of permanent power. If the majority in US opinion polls say they want more spending on shared goods like schools and transit and renewable energy, why is corporate pressure so often able to stop worthy projects in their tracks and push through dirty oil and gas pipelines instead? Decentralized power, electoral transparency, local decision making about local concerns: are those Hong Kong's demands or ours? You tell me. One sure way to distinguish their protests from ours, is that seven days on, there's were still in the street, while ours had gone home and business was back to usual. You can watch my interview with Naomi Klein on the climate crisis that "Changes Everything", and, coming up, my interview with Gar Alperovitz on "America After Capitalism" on the Laura Flanders Show on GRITtv.org. You can also find our more about our syndication on TeleSUR English. To tell me what you think, write to me: Laura@GRITtv.org.

TeleSUR English’s “The Laura Flanders Show” hosted a conversation with economic theorists Gar Alperovitz and David Harvey on what is to be done about wealth inequality and capitalism, and efforts currently underway to move beyond them. Listen now: Download this segment [Subscribe on iTunes * Podcast link]

Now more than ever, how shall we grow a cultural economy that runs on peace and reverent ingenuity rather than war. Caroline hosts Georgia Kelly, www.praxispeace.org and Gar Alperovitz, www.democracycollaborative.org.   The post The Visionary Activst Show – Caroline hosts Georgia Kelly and Gar Alperovitz appeared first on KPFA.

It's not just a cliché: statistics demonstrate clearly that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Is there a better way to spread the wealth? Author and political economist Gar Alperovitz shares his plan for wealth equality in his landmark book What then must we do? : straight talk about the next American revolution. City Council member and practicing attorney Marshall Stair summarizes and responds to the main points. (Recorded November 20, 2013)

Alexis Goldstein and Jesse Myerson host “Disorderly Conduct,” a podcast dedicated to making economic and financial news accessible. Gar Alperovitz spoke with Myerson for the program’s April 29 edition about the features of an alternative to capitalism: the Pluralist Commonwealth. Listen now: Download this segment [Subscribe on iTunes * Podcast link]

How extreme is wealth disparity in the US? Imagine every person in the economy walks by, in order of income from low to high, with heights proportional to what people make. You’d see mostly a parade of dwarves, with some unbelievable giants at the very end. Political economist and historian Gar Alperovitz and social entrepreneur Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative depict breakthrough models for breaking this vicious cycle by democratizing wealth, ownership and access to capital.

Gar Alperovitz, author of “America Beyond Capitalism” and “What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution” speaks about the growing economic democracy movement in the US and how that is bringing evolutionary reconstruction to transition to the new economy.

In this wide-ranging May 6th interview with Gar Alperovitz, Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine and host of Progressive Radio, spent a half hour exploring themes of the new book, What Then Must We Do? Listen now: Download this segment [Subscribe on iTunes * Podcast link]

On April 17, Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative hosted a talk for What Then Must We Do? in Madison, Wisconsin. Earlier that day, Doug Cunningham, host of The People’s Mic program, invited Gar Alperovitz to speak about some of the themes of the book on the air for Madison’s own Workers Independent News, FM 92.1. Listen now: Download this segment […]

Guest Gar Alperovitz, Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy, University of Maryland, speaks with Diane Horn about his most recent book "What Then Must We Do?: Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution".

Gar Alperovitz is author of "America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy", about democratizing wealth and empowering communities through worker-ownership, co-ops, community land trusts, decentralizing control, and many other strategies.

Guest Gar Alperovitz, the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, and author of "America beyond Capitalism" and "If You Don't Like Capitalism, and You Don't Like Socialism, What Do You Want?", speaks with Diane Horn about the possibility of a community sustaining economy.

At the top of the show host Cyrus Webb welcomes author Liz Newman to Conversations LIVE. Then at 30 min. past the hour,  Webb welcomes author Gar Alperovitz to Conversations LIVE to discuss his new book.

Guest Lew Daly, Senior Fellow, Demos, speaks with Diane Horn about his book, coauthored with Gar Alperovitz, titled "Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back."