Delivered-To: lakinroe@silcom.com
democratic, by making owners of all those who contribute to its success. Democracy at= Risk is a tough diagnosis, with a fresh and future-oriented prescription attached. =20 -- Harlan Cleveland, President, World Academy of Arts and Sciences; author, The Global Commons and Birth of a New World =20 At a time when the need is great, Jeff Gates offers us a Populist vision for the 2lst century. =20 -- Lawrence Goodwyn, author, Democratic Promise: The Populist Moment in America=20 With passion and precision, Jeff Gates reminds us that capitalism does not have to be an exclusive system. We make the rules! Here, from the man who helped bring us employee stock ownership is compelling commonsense for how we can make capitalism work for all of us by "ownerizing" it. Mind expanding. Hope inducing. And we need both! =20 -- Frances Moore Lapp=E9, author, Diet for a Small Planet, co-author, The Quickening of America=20 Democracy at Risk is a highly original, gutsy, carefully thought through= work that offers practical alternatives for a new economics and politics - and in the process reclaims populism from demagogues who have used it to divert people from the core issues Jeff Gates so thoroughly documents. This is an= important and timely book. =20 -- Riane Eisler, author, The Chalice & The Blade, Tomorrow=92s Children, and Sacred Pleasure Democracy at Risk invites -- no, compels -- us to open our eyes to what seems to be an ominous contrast between the capitalism of today and the fundamental ideals of an inclusive democracy. It is, at the very least, a wake-up= call--if you can speak of an exploding stick of dynamite as a wake-up call. Yet, the solutions offered leave us gratefully optimistic that a truly democratic capitalism is in fact attainable -- but that there is not a moment to waste.= =20 -- Jacob Needleman, author, Money and the Meaning of Life Written with uncommon clarity and candor, Democracy At Risk is a book which should be read by everyone who is concerned with liberty and equitable distribution of power and wealth. The more prosperous and powerful you might be, the more important it is to pay attention to what Jeff Gates has to say.= =20 -- Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus, VISA; author, Birth of the Chaordic Age=20 Gives us hope that capitalism and humanism are not necessarily mutually exclusive. =20 -- Paul Krassner, editor, The Realist Meticulously documents the need for broadening capital ownership in the USA= -- not ony for overall efficiency and social development -- but to fully= release the talents and motivations of all our citizens in growing a more= prosperous, just and ecologically sustainable society. =20 -- Hazel Henderson, author, Beyond Globalization and Building a Win-Win World =20 Jeff Gates is a phenomenon. He is turning the economics searchlight on ownership and demanding to know why the morally unbearable maldistribution= of wealth and income is taboo in classical and contemporary economics. Jeff has achieved this focus, in two books two years apart, to the profound benefit= of economics and democracy. He comes straight from top-of-the-mark work on Capitol Hill for Russell Long and the Senate Finance Committee to the crisis for democracy in which we Americans are all now mired, whether we want to be or not. American democracy is in great danger, if it's not already over the cliff, and Jeff Gates is making his special heroic effort to help save it and free enterprise. Can it be done? I don't know. =20 -- Ronnie Dugger, founder and co-chair, Alliance for Democracy=20 The Ownership Solution (1998) Backed by a wide array of influential supporters from the worlds of= business, finance, government, non-profits, and academia, The Ownership Solution is nothing less than a new capitalist manifesto -- a blueprint for making the system of free enterprise really work. To Jeff Gates, a pioneer in the field of employee ownership, the central problem of capitalism is that it doesn't create enough capitalists. In the United States, for example, despite rising living standards, full= employment, low inflation, and a bull market that can't stop setting records, the gulf between the haves and have-nots is widening. Feelings of alienation and cynicism are being voiced in bitter labor disputes, exposes of government overspending, and calls for campaign finance reform, caps on executive compensation, and repeal of tax laws that favor the wealthy. Concentration= of wealth at the top results in what Gates calls "disconnected capitalism," and it will cause the system to implode, unless politicians, corporate executives, investors, social activists, and common citizens come up with creative strategies to make the system more inclusive. (See Why Is A Shared Capitalism Needed? for highlights of wealth and income statistics.) That is what The Ownership Solution is all about-giving capitalism a human face and and encouraging all participants in the economy to share the responsibilities and reap the rewards of its success. Gates operates from= the fundamental assumption that people are likely to become better stewards of= all the systems of which they are part-social, political, fiscal, cultural, and natural-as they gain a personal stake in the economic system. The process is already underway, as Gates demonstrates through his insider's recounting of the creation of employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) legislation in the Unites States, as well as descriptions of numerous private- and public-sector "ownership engineering" intiatives around the world. From United Airlines to= a chicken-processing plant in Jamaica, corporations and nations are experimenting with a variety of employee ownership programs designed to make every worker not just a jobholder, but a stockholder. Drawing from the experiences of over a dozen nations, Gates offers a set of strategy and policy recommendations to reinforce this trend toward capitalism by and for the people. Already making its way onto both liberal and conservative agendas, as well= as the platforms of think tanks, philanthropic foundations, environmental= groups, and international banks, among many other organizations, The Ownership Solution charts a course for free enterprise well into the twenty-first century, delivering a sincere expectation that the future will be better -- and different -- for all. Return to the top "This book may save capitalism."=20 -- Stephan Schmidheiny, Founder World Business Council for Sustainable Development=20 You may order a copy of The Ownership Solution at any on-line bookstore. At amazon.com search for the title "Ownership Solution." Book jacket design by Suzanne Heiser=20 introduction | associates | activities | book info. | The Numbers=20 --=====================_26991182==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable hi Everyone
        Margie Bushman just called and let me know she had just heard Jeff Gates speak on New Demension Radio show and wanted to spread info on his work and his book. Check out his full webpage
         =           &= nbsp;         &n= bsp;         &nb= sp;        we= s
http://www.sharedcapitalism.org/book.html
The newest book by Shared Capitalism Institute President Jeff Gates, Democracy at Risk: Rescuing Main Street from Wall Street -- A Populist Vision for the 21^{st Century}, will be released by Perseus Books in April, 2000. More information about that book will soon be available on this webpage.

Some of the early endorsements for Democracy at Risk=20 include:

We all know that in the transition to the 21st century there are many paradigm shifts. Jeff Gates' book helps to understand the new direction. -- Professor Klaus Schwab, President, World Economic Forum/Davos Jeff Gates=92 new book -- Democracy at Risk -- argues for widespread ownership of capital resources in an era of massive disparities of wealth that subordinate democracy to plutocracy. Gates is a practical man, which means he offers politically practical and financially feasible ways toward a broad-based prosperity around the world. His facts will enrage you into higher expectation levels for what a modern economy should look like and be for. -- Ralph Nader Jeff Gates is a new kind of populist. He makes some folks uncomfortable by wanting to correct a capitalism in which the wealth of the wealthiest 1% exceeds what 95% of Americans have to live on. But he also wants to make capitalism worth conserving -- by making it more civilized and more democratic, by making owners of all those who contribute to its success. Democracy at Risk is a tough diagnosis, with a fresh and future-oriented prescription attached. -- Harlan Cleveland, President, World Academy of Arts and Sciences; author, The Global Commons and Birth of a New World At a time when the need is great, Jeff Gates offers us a Populist vision for the 2lst century. -- Lawrence Goodwyn, author, Democratic Promise: The Populist Moment in America

With passion and precision, Jeff Gates reminds us that capitalism does not have to be an exclusive system. We make the rules! Here, from the man who helped bring us employee stock ownership is compelling commonsense for how we can make capitalism work for all of us by "ownerizing" it. Mind expanding. Hope inducing. And we need both! -- Frances Moore Lapp=E9, author, Diet for a Small Planet, co-author, The Quickening of America

Democracy at Risk is a highly original, gutsy, carefully thought through work that offers practical alternatives for a new economics and politics - and in the process reclaims populism from demagogues who have used it to divert people from the core issues Jeff Gates so thoroughly documents. This is an important and timely book. -- Riane Eisler, author, The Chalice & The Blade, Tomorrow=92s Children, and Sacred Pleasure

Democracy at Risk invites -- no, compels -- us to open our eyes to what seems to be an ominous contrast between the capitalism of today and the fundamental ideals of an inclusive democracy. It is, at the very least, a wake-up call--if you can speak of an exploding stick of dynamite as a wake-up call. Yet, the solutions offered leave us gratefully optimistic that a truly democratic capitalism is in fact attainable -- but that there is not a moment to waste. -- Jacob Needleman, author, Money and the Meaning of Life

Written with uncommon clarity and candor, Democracy At Risk is a book which shoul= d be read by everyone who is concerned with liberty and equitable distribution of power and wealth. The more prosperous and powerful you might be, the more important it is to pay attention to what Jeff Gates has to say. -- Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus, VISA; author, Birth of the Chaordic Age

Gives us hope that capitalism and humanism are not necessarily mutually exclusive. -- Paul Krassner, editor, The Realist

Meticulously documents the need for broadening capital ownership in the USA -- not ony for overall efficiency and social development -- but to fully release the talents and motivations of all our citizens in growing a more prosperous, just and ecologically sustainable society. -- Hazel Henderson, author, Beyond Globalization and Building a Win-Win World Jeff Gates is a phenomenon. He is turning the economics searchlight on ownership and demanding to know why the morally unbearable maldistribution of wealth and income is taboo in classical and contemporary economics. Jeff has achieved this focus, in two books two years apart, to the profound benefit of economics and democracy. He comes straight from top-of-the-mark work on Capitol Hill for Russell Long and the Senate Finance Committee to the crisis for democracy in which we Americans are all now mired, whether we want to be or not. American democracy is in great danger, if it's not already over the cliff, and Jeff Gates is making his special heroic effort to help save it and free enterprise. Can it be done? I don't know.=20 -- Ronnie Dugger, founder and co-chair, Alliance for Democracy



The Ownership Solution (1998)

Backed by a wide array of influential supporters from the worlds of business, finance, government, non-profits, and academia, The Ownership Solution is nothing less than a new capitalist manifesto -- a blueprint for making the system of free enterprise really work.

To Jeff Gates, a pioneer in the field of employee ownership, the central problem of capitalism is that it doesn't create enough capitalists. In the United States, for example, despite rising living standards, full employment, low inflation, and a bull market that can't stop setting records, the gulf between the haves and have-nots is widening. Feelings of alienation and cynicism are being voiced in bitter labor disputes, exposes of government overspending, and calls for campaign finance reform, caps on executive compensation, and repeal of tax laws that favor the wealthy. Concentration of wealth at the top results in what Gates calls "disconnected capitalism," and it will cause the system to implode, unless politicians, corporate executives, investors, social activists, and common citizens come up with creative strategies to make the system more inclusive. (See Why Is A Shared Capitalism Needed? for highlights of wealth and income statistics.)

That is what The Ownership Solution is all about-giving capitalism a human face and and encouraging all participants in the economy to share the responsibilities and reap the rewards of its success. Gates operates from the fundamental assumption that people are likely to become better stewards of all the systems of which they are part-social, political, fiscal, cultural, and natural-as they gain a personal stake in the economic system. The process is already underway, as Gates demonstrates through his insider's recounting of the creation of employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) legislation in the Unites States, as well as descriptions of numerous private- and public-sector "ownership engineering" intiatives around the world. From United Airlines to a chicken-processing plant in Jamaica, corporations and nations are experimenting with a variety of employee ownership programs designed to make every worker not just a jobholder, but a stockholder. Drawing from the experiences of over a dozen nations, Gates offers a set of strategy and policy recommendations to reinforce this trend toward capitalism by and for the people.

Already making its way onto both liberal and conservative agendas, as well as the platforms of think tanks, philanthropic foundations, environmental groups, and international banks, among many other organizations, The Ownership Solution charts a course for free enterprise well into the twenty-first century, delivering a sincere expectation that the future will be better -- and different -- for all.

Return to the top

"This book may save capitalism."

-- Stephan Schmidheiny, Founder
World Business Council for Sustainable Development



You may order a copy of The Ownershi= p Solution at any on-line bookstore. At amazon.com search for the title "Ownership Solution."


Book jacket design by Suzanne Heiser=

introduction | associates | activities | book info. | The Numbers



--=====================_26991182==_.ALT--