Q&A: SIMON MAINWARING – Author, WE FIRST

Written on November 30th, 2011

 

 

Aired 11/27/11

At a time when social media is being utilized to coordinate protests against the domination of our economy, our government, and our society by corporations and the very wealthy individuals who profit most from them, SIMON MAINWARING sees a hopeful path to save society from capitalism’s worst excesses. http://wefirstseminar.com/

A social media expert with global experience with brands such as Nike, Toyota and Motorola- he offers a new brand model in which they leverage social media to earn consumer goodwill, loyalty and profit, while promoting sustainable social change through contributions from customer purchases.

The goal of We First is a sustainable practice of capitalism. It is based on the belief that selfish Me First thinking hurts our businesses and the lives of millions of people around the world. It asserts that a brighter future depends on an integration of profit and purpose within the private sector. To achieve this, companies and customers must become partners in social change to build a better world.

Could such innovative partnerships (with shared goals) practice capitalism in a way that satisfies the need for both profit and a healthy, sustainable planet? How realistic is his vision at a time when greed keeps consolidating gains? How much difference could it make even if successful? What has MAINWARING seen in working with these brands that makes him talk about his vision as a likely alternative?

http://wefirstbranding.com/

http://simonmainwaring.com/

Q&A: VANDANA SHIVA, Physicist, Ecologist, Activist, Editor, & Author

Written on December 27th, 2010

 

Aired 12/26/10

Dr. Vandana Shiva is a physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of many books. In India she has established Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity conservation and farmers` rights. She directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy. Her books include Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply, and her newest, Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis. Shiva has been awarded several awards for her efforts including the Right Livelihood Award and the United Nations Environment Program [UNEP] Global 500 Award in 1993, and most recently the 2010 City of Sydney Peace Prize.

http://www.vandanashiva.org/

Q&A: STEVEN HILL, Author – Europe’s Promise

Written on June 2nd, 2010
 

 

Aired 05/30/10

We're hearing a lot about the trouble Europe is in. The debt crisis in Greece, and perhaps Spain, Portugal, and Italy, is threatening the Euro and the European Union. What's really going on? How did it happen? How bad is it? How will they deal with it? And what does it mean for the rest of the world and for the US in particular?

We'll deal with those issues this Sunday, but that's not all. While the bad news of this Euro crisis makes headlines in the US, a quiet and successful revolution taking place in Europe does not. Europe seems to be finding a way to make capitalism and democracy work for people, not just for corporations. I think this is a critical unreported story in terms of its potential impact. Here's just a few things you may not have heard about.

The European Union, 27 member nations with a half billion people, has become the largest, wealthiest trading bloc in the world, producing nearly a third of the world's economy - nearly as large as the U.S. and China combined. Europe has more Fortune 500 companies than either the US, China or Japan.

European nations are rated by the World Health Organization as having the best health care systems in the world. Yet they spend far less than the United States for universal coverage, even as U.S. health care is ranked 37th.

Europe leads in confronting global climate change with renewable energy technologies like solar and wind power, conservation and "green design," creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the process. Consequently, Europe's ecological "footprint" (the amount of the earth's capacity that a population consumes) is about half that of the United States for the same standard of living.

http://www.europespromise.org/

Q&A: BOB EDGAR, Pres./CEO of Common Cause – SCOTT NELSON, Attorney

Written on January 29th, 2010

 

Aired 01/24/10

Has government of, by and for the people perished from the United States?

January 21st, a divided Supreme Court reversed precedent and law, voting 5-4 in Citizens United v. FEC to remove limits on corporate contributions to political campaigns. We'll discuss the decision in the context of money in politics, looking at potential outcomes and possible remedies.

BOB EDGAR is President and CEO of Common Cause, a grassroots advocacy organization working for democracy reform, with nearly 400,000 members and supporters and state chapters in 36 states. Edgar previously served as general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, the leading U.S. organization in the movement for Christian unity, and before that as president of the Claremont School of Theology. He was elected to the U.S. House in 1974, the first Democrat in 82 years to represent the heavily Republican 7th Congressional District near Philadelphia.

SCOTT NELSON is an attorney at the Public Citizen Litigation Group in Washington, D.C., where he has practiced since August 2001. After graduating with honors from Harvard College, Nelson attended Harvard Law School, and was elected President of the Harvard Law Review in 1983. He then served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Byron White. Nelson represented key Congressional sponsors of McCain-Feingold before the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

http://www.commoncause.org/
http://www.publicintegrity.org/
http://www.citizen.org/
http://www.publicampaign.org/
http://www.thealliancefordemocracy.org/
http://www.movetoamend.org/
http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/

Q&A: DAVID KORTEN author then RANDY HAYES founder of Rainforest Action Network

Written on May 19th, 2009

 

Aired 05/19/09

DAVID KORTEN author, AGENDA FOR A NEW ECONOMY: 
From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth

DAVID KORTEN is the author of WHEN CORPORATIONS RULE THE WORLD and THE GREAT TURNING: From Empire to Earth Community. He is co-founder and board chair of YES! Magazine, and a board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)

http://www.yesmagazine.org

http://www.livingeconomies.org

RANDY HAYES has been highly successful waging corporate accountability campaigns with Rainforest Action Network and International Forum on Globalization. He's working to launch a media campaign to "Ecologize the Economy."

http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org

http://ran.org 

KORTEN's got some big ideas, HAYES does too -- and a knack for activism. I'll talk with both about taking advantage of the current crises to transform our economy and, in turn, our future reality.