America Beyond Capitalism - Gar Alperovitz - Part 6

America Beyond Capitalism -
Gar Alperovitz

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 124

  May 4, 2017 

Book 35 - America Beyond Capitalism -
Reclaiming our Wealth, our Liberty and our Democracy

Gar Alperovitz (2005)
 Part 6 - pages 197-240
Reading Time - 1 hour

I am beginning to see the pattern in the author's ideas. A tax on the super-rich. He basically says there are 2 classes in the United States - the top 2% ultra rich and then everybody else. President Bush (not sure if #1 or #2) showered special benefits on the super rich. And while that's happening, regular Americans are working more and more ours but getting farther and farther behind. There has been talk of giving everyone a basic income... and the way to fund that would be taxing the super-rich.

The other problem is one I've come across in some of the other books. The economy cannot grow at an exponential rate forever. The earth and the ecosystem is finite. Americans, and the First World in general, use an inordinate amount of the earth's resources. But we are trying to keep up with the super-rich Joneses. I saw an advertisement today for teeth-whitening. Only $399. Who can afford that? The Home Support people who care for my Dad are driving really posh new cars. Do they really earn that much? Or are they in debt up to their eyeballs? All in the name of keeping up appearances. One option is to tax luxury items. Another is to change the tax laws so that advertising is no longer tax deductible. But ultimately, we, the plebes, need to stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. We are digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt... and whether we admit it or not... debt IS slavery.

The book concludes with a burning question - Can the System be Changed? The author's main points are:

1. Need new institutions to hold wealth for the public good
2. Need to rebuild democracy in everyday life
3. Need decentralization
4. Need individual economic security and free time
5. Need to change ownership of wealth

On a sobering note... the author notes that things are likely to get worse before they get better. On the other hand, changes may come more quickly than we can imagine.