Do We Love Freedom as Much as our Founders?

90 Million People Will Die as the Result of an Economic Collapse

The world is on the edge of a economic collapse because of the lack of integrity of a few in our businesses. "A new report from the Overseas Development Institute said the collapse of the global economy would cost 90 million lives, lead to an increase to nearly a billion in the number of people going hungry, and cost developing countries $750 billion in lost growth."

In a world where corporations are given the power to determine the fate of billions of lives, is it not only logical that this power be in the hands of the majority that work in these businesses and not in the hands of a few executives.

(Quote taken from DemocracyNow.org)

Bailout Firms Owe $220M in Unpaid Federal Taxes

"A congressional probe has found the top thirteen firms to receive bailout money owe more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes. Congress member John Lewis of Georgia, the chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, says two of the companies owe more than $100 million apiece. The review only looked at the top twenty-three bailout recipients, leaving open the possibility of further owed taxes from nearly 450 remaining companies. The inspector general overseeing the federal bailout says he will investigate whether recipient companies misled Congress on their tax obligations."

Democratic businesses are proactively transparent with their financial information.

(Quote taken from DemocracyNow.org)

Politics & Democratic Business

If you ran the government like a democratic business, who would be correct? Conservatives or Liberals?

(1) Conservatives are correct that regulation is bad. It stifles progress, blocks creativity, hinders adaptation, and humiliates the majority that do the right thing.
(2) Liberals are correct that all centralized power should be regulated and limited by the people whos lives it impacts; ee.gg., banks and depositors, corporations and workers.
(3) Conservatives are correct that "government which governs least governs best" -- Ronald Reagan.
(2) Liberals are correct that workers make better decisions about business than their managers.
(3) Conservatives are correct that the disintegration of morals destroys every great nation. A study published last week shows that a record percentage of American high schoolers cheat. So much for putting political corruption behind us.
(4) Liberals are correct that direct democracy does not cause the poor to steal from the rich. When each person has equal political power, the poor do not care to steal from the rich and the rich are not able to steal from the poor. Which brings me to my next point...
(5) Conservatives are correct that redistributing wealth does not benefit the whole. The Soviet Union and Cuba have taught us this lesson.
(6) Liberals are correct that socialization--if it is at the local level--encourages progress; ee.gg., education, fire department, and health care. When people support their communities, the community supports the people.

14 of Fortune's 100 Best Companies Are Employee Owned

14 of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For are employee owned companies. This is especially impressive when we note that employee owned companies comprise only one percent of the total businesses in the United States.

The greatest obstacle to productivity is disunity. Many managerial layers, unions, and command-control decision making lead to disunity. Employee ownership, however, encourages employee participation, unity, and ultimately productivity.

Athenians Would Laugh at America's Claim to Democracy

To Athenians, an essential feature of democracy was the direct and full sovereignty of the majority of citizens. Appointment to important offices, a two-party system, unelected bureaucracies, a private federal bank, lobbying, judicial life tenure, terms for elective office of more than one year—all these would have seemed clear and deadly enemies of a sustainable democracy.

The prospect that someone could make a life-long career of politics was and is contrary to the principles of democracy. The Athenian belief that political freedom and power was the right of every male citizen created an unparalleled level of stability in the Greek world. The Athenian democracy survived two occupations, constant wars, maintained peace between the poor and rich, and only one Athenian politician was ever assassinated.