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Ted Howard and Gar Alperovitz founded the Democracy Collaborative, a progressive think tank with proven models of investment in working families, in their own communities.Howard is co-author, with Marjorie Kelly, of The Making of a Democratic Economy: Building Prosperity for the Many, Not Just the Few. While attending the annual Bioneers, conference, he stopped by the secret studio to share his vision for employee-owned businesses that are spawned by “enduring” entities like universities and hospitals.
He explains the success of the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry in Cleveland, a model for worker-owned enterprises that pays dividends to its worker-owners. We discuss the project at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, where Native Americans are using tribal culture to build businesses, including natural food products based on the revival of the buffalo herd.
Along the way, we talk about socialism as an antidote to extreme capitalism, Universal Basic Income plans like the one proposed by presidential candidate Andrew Yang, public ownership of utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric, and many other related topics.
Get more information on Democracy Collaborative here, and learn about community wealth building here.