9.07.2004
Review: The Soul of Capitalism
A wide-ranging look at small and large-scale attempts to "open a path to a moral economy." William Greider spends great time explaining the potential power of pension funds, employee-ownership, alternatives to GDP-obsession and the failure of government to realize they exist for people, not corporations.
Time and again, his story returns to Samuel Gompers reply to the question: What does labor want? "More."
Today, it's not more "stuff" or just more money. More life.
This was a long read for me, about a month. Many chapters hammer home the notion that most Americans are weak and powerless to affect the change necessary to live a fulfilling life without being shaped by careless corporations. Also, during an election year, it is discomforting to read of abuses of power from politicians firmly in corporate control.
Yet, a liberating read on how, slowly but surely, the rugged American individual is reshaping capitalism to include morality.
Finally, it was encouraging to read about Ohio-based initiatives, such as the Ohio Employee Ownership Center run by John Logue and the Capital Ownership Group. Go, Kent State, go!
Time and again, his story returns to Samuel Gompers reply to the question: What does labor want? "More."
Today, it's not more "stuff" or just more money. More life.
This was a long read for me, about a month. Many chapters hammer home the notion that most Americans are weak and powerless to affect the change necessary to live a fulfilling life without being shaped by careless corporations. Also, during an election year, it is discomforting to read of abuses of power from politicians firmly in corporate control.
Yet, a liberating read on how, slowly but surely, the rugged American individual is reshaping capitalism to include morality.
Finally, it was encouraging to read about Ohio-based initiatives, such as the Ohio Employee Ownership Center run by John Logue and the Capital Ownership Group. Go, Kent State, go!
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