America Beyond Capitalism; Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2005. First Printing [Stated]. Trade paperback. xv, [1], 320, [2] pages. Footnotes. Notes. Index. Cover has some wear and soiling. Some edge discoloration. Inscribed by the author on the fep. Inscription reads For Jack Leibowitz with all good wishes Gar Alperovitz. Gar Alperovitz (born May 5, 1936) is an American historian and political economist. Alperovitz served as a fellow of King's College, Cambridge; a founding fellow of the Harvard Institute of Politics; a founding Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies; a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution; and the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland Department of Government and Politics from 1999 to 2015. He also served as a legislative director in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate and as a special assistant in the US Department of State. Alperovitz is a distinguished lecturer with the American Historical Society, co-founded the Democracy Collaborative and co-chairs its Next System Project with James Gustav Speth. In American Beyond Capitalism and other books and essays, Alperovitz offers an integrated systemic model for a pluralist commonwealth based on democratizing ownership of economic institutions at all levels, a regional decentralization of economic and political power, and the building of forms of community wealth-holding and a culture of participatory democracy. Derived from a Publishers Weekly article: This seminal work was published on the 75th anniversary of the Black Thursday stock market crash. This closely argued treatise from University of Maryland political economist Alperovitz claims we are in the midst of another deep economic, social and political crisis. Capitalism, democracy, equality and liberty have disappeared from the United States, he says. Corporations and rich people control the wealth and government; their power destroys liberty and the entrepreneurial freedom necessary for capitalism. Traditional reforms are inadequate. Progressive taxation and social programs only redistribute income; we need to redistribute wealth. Easier voter registration and campaign finances miss the point; federal power must be reallocated to regional governments and local citizens' associations whose scale makes participatory democracy possible. We need shorter work weeks, stronger labor unions, worker-owned or directed firms, less debt and more respect for the environment. The first six chapters could have been written in the 1970s. The statistics and quotes are current. The remainder of the book combines these ideas into what the author calls "21st century populism" working toward a "Pluralist Commonwealth." The book's strength lies in its integration of diverse populist issues into a coherent agenda rooted in deep American values from the Declaration of Independence. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Capitalism, Pluralism, Equality, Liberty, Democracy, Commonwealth, Wealth, Nonprofits, Innovation, Decentralization, Social Security, Retirement, Health Care, Work Week, Consumption, Populism
ISBN: 0471790028
[Book #84437]
Price: $85.00