This week is US tax week, a good time as any to ask: what will it take before we have a mass movement in the US offering economic alternatives?
We invited on two guests who are in the trenches to explore: Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its Community-Scaled Economy Initiative. She is the author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses.
Esteban Kelly is the Co-Executive Director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and a member of AORTA: The Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance, a worker-owned cooperative devoted to strengthening movements for social justice and a solidarity economy. Esteban was also a vital part of our documentary Own the Change: Building Economic Democracy One Worker Co-op At A Time.
Also in this episode: it’s five years since BP caused the largest environmental disaster in US history, and we show scenes from the devastation on the US Gulf Coast, and from private gatherings of oil company executives.
And Laura talks about corporate crime, taxes, and the cost of doing business, big business’s way.
