Alternate Approaches

This category contains 23 posts

From Old Europe, a New Roadmap

Does modernity require inequality? Or can we build totally modern societies that respect solidarity and community? A review of Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age by Steven Hill.

Washington and Wall Street: A ‘Democracy’ in Denial

Some Americans get all bent out of shape when they hear someone label the United States a ‘plutocracy.’ But if we have an honest-to-goodness democracy, where the people really rule, then how can we explain Goldman Sachs?

A New Yardstick for Greed in the Suites?

The lackluster financial reform bill now nearing a floor vote in the U.S. Senate includes a surprising provision that could help reframe and revitalize the struggle against outrageously excessive CEO pay. Read more . . .

For a ‘Living Wage’ America, Cap the Top

The White House wants to require firms that do business with the government to pay decent wages. That could work — if we go after all pay that’s indecent.

A Democracy in Deep Disrepair

In contemporary American political life, only the rich can afford to be politically impatient. The big question: How long will the rest of us tolerate our starkly unrepresentative political status quo?

Top 20% wealth share

When Will the White House Wake Up?

Congress may be gridlocked, but the Obama administration has the power, even without congressional action, to take on the CEO set — and the windfalls that are so enraging average Americans.

Against Wall Street, Prosecutors Are Striking Out

Unfortunately, lawmakers aren’t doing too well either — and the big bank bonus grab has once again shifted into overdrive.

A Do-It-Yourself Giant Does It to Workers

Amid double-digit joblessness, two top U.S. corporations cut still another mega merger deal that enriches executives and tosses workers, by the thousands, out onto the street.

Banker Bonus Bingo: Every Card's a Winner

Can excess on Wall Street ever be ended? Maybe. Some lawmakers in France have a plan that could end it.

Mending America’s Torn Social Fabric

In a new network of ‘Common Security Clubs,’ activists are stitching together a challenge to Tea-Bagger rage — and the staggering inequality that breeds it.