Feeling Robbed? Wall Street Since the Bailout Shows No Signs of Changing and Washington is Not Forcing a Change

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By Kevin Zeese (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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Democratize the economy. All Americans deserve a stake in the economy because, as John McCain says, workers are the foundation of the economy. A democratized economy is a real ownership society. This includes more employees having shared ownership in the businesses they work for, shareholders having a real say in the priorities and direction of the corporations they invest in and corporate welfare being transformed into taxpayers having an equity share in the companies that receive tax benefits. It also includes allowing workers to organize so their collective voice can balance the power of capital. For an economy to be more democratized it requires greater transparency than currently exists.
Equity in the economy. This includes a tax system that taxes wealth more and labor less e.g. a Tobin tax on the purchase of stocks, bonds and derivatives, tax on super wealth, tax on war profits and methods of sharing the wealth. One example, with green energy there will be a great deal of distributed energy production down to communities, homes and cars. Individuals and communities should profit from the production of energy. Perhaps there are ways that the Alaska model of returning a percentage of oil profits can be applied to the new economy, e.g. in Denmark communities with wind farms share the profit of those farms.
A sustainable economy. The world is in the midst of the end of the fossil fuel economy and the development of a clean, sustainable energy economy. The infrastructure of this new economy will require major investment e.g., in power grids that transport wind, large-scale solar and ocean energy; in community-based solar energy plants; in parking lots where cars can provide energy to the grid while parked; in mass transit within cities and regional rapid transit. A sustainable economy also requires a more locally-oriented economy that does not rely on shipping across the world to feed its inhabitants and where money re-circulates in the economy through local businesses rather than national chains which take the profit back to the home office.

The contours of the new economy are going to begin with the next round of economic recovery legislation, so the time to act is now.

If we want a more transparent, democratic, equitable and sustainable economy it is only going to happen if we advocate for it. Talk about it with your neighbors, in your community, with family and friends. Urge people to get into a dialogue with their political representatives. This is a time where dramatic change is going to happen. The question is whether that change will benefit the top of the pyramid or the rest of the pyramid? This is an opportunity to change the economy in the direction you want. Take the opportunity – get involved and become even more active.

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Kevin Zeese is Executive Director of the Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics (www.FreshAirCleanPolitics.net) whose projects include Voters for Peace (www.VotersForPeace.US., Prosperity Agenda (www.ProsperityAgenda.US), True Vote (more...)

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