Session 5: Dig Deeper

“The greatest country, the richest country, is not that which has the most capitalists, monopolists, immense grabbings, vast fortunes, with its sad, sad soil of extreme, degrading, damning poverty, but the land in which there are the most homesteads, freeholds — where wealth does not show such contrasts high and low, where all men have enough — a modest living— and no man is made possessor beyond the sane and beautiful necessities.”

Walt Whitman

Optional in-depth participant story.

How did ownership of land and other assets first develop in ancient tribes or kingdoms? What kinds of conflicts and inequality emerged and what were the social and economic consequences? As civilization advanced, how was debt used to create and perpetuate inequality, and what have been the religious, social, and political responses? Consider usury, debt forgiveness, bankruptcy, and debt-free relationships and obligations.

Describe the large variety of ownership situations in modern societies, of both real and financial property. Besides individual ownership of property, consider share ownership of corporations, membership or worker ownership of cooperatives, government enterprises and property, and concepts such as public access with or without fees.

Is an “ownership society” feasible and what might it look like? How would the poor or disenfranchised also receive some portion of the commonwealth? How could society prevent the loss of basic ownership rights via debts, especially in predatory situations? 

What does modern day political corruption look like compared to old fashioned bribery? Consider not just campaign financing and advertising, but lobbying, the revolving door, regulatory capture, speaking fees, and “access”. How have the Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions further corrupted democracy?  How do gerrymandering, voter suppression, the disenfranchisement of felons, and mishandling of ballots fit in? What about the decline of professional journalism and the concentration of media ownership?

How can all these problems be fixed, either by political pressure, legislation, or constitutional amendment? What are the roles of the fictitious legal concepts of corporate personhood and money as speech? How could voter turnout be increased, not decreased? How could we achieve public financing of campaigns? Would different methods of voting such as for multiparty elections help?  How about ideas like “wisdom councils”, or payment for voting or participation in community deliberations, or other innovative methods of participatory democracy?

Another optional in-depth participant story.

How have cooperatives shaped the American economy? Are they inherently limited in what they can do, or are they being artificially limited by a corporate dominated legal and financial system?  Does employee ownership provide sufficient public accountability?

Do non-profits automatically have sufficient public accountability? Or is this also subject to abuse, such as by the National Football League or certain political groups in disguise? Are there remedies?

Are “public-private partnerships” a solution or a problem?

Describe the variety of government enterprises from local to national. How have they been structured to prevent “political influence” such as patronage? Many countries have partial or full public ownership of key industries or entities, such as banks, railroads, airlines. Should the U.S. consider this? Or should employee or public representatives be mandated on the boards of all large corporations, as in Germany? Should there be international accountability of transnational corporations, or other forms of public accountability?