For years, politicians have told us we cannot afford important investments in solving climate change, poverty, pandemics and many other problems - even on issues that are critical to the survival of human civilization. But it’s not true. Wealthy people have Trillions of dollars (not billions, Trillions) that could be redirected toward solving our existential threats. They even have Trillions of dollars that have not been counted because they’re hidden in offshore accounts and complex, opaque financial instruments in order to avoid taxation. To save humanity, our society needs to use these resources in more helpful ways.
Our guest today teaches us how this system of hidden wealth works, how wealth is used to influence politics and society, and how wealth can be redirected toward humanity’s important needs.
Chuck Collins is Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he co-edits Inequality.org. He is an expert on U.S. inequality, authoring over ten books and dozens of reports covering climate disruption, philanthropy, the racial wealth divide, affordable housing, and billionaire wealth dynasties. He is a founding member of the Patriotic Millionaires, and in 1995, he co-founded United for a Fair Economy (UFE) to organize, educate, and shift narratives to fight inequality. Collins’ newest book is a novel, Altar to an Erupting Sun (Green Writers Press), a near-future story of one community facing climate disruption in the critical decade ahead. His other titles include The Wealth Hoarders, Born on Third Base, Wealth and Our Commonwealth (co-authored with the late Bill Gates Sr.), and The Moral Measure of the Economy (co-authored with Mary Wright).
-----
The Human Survival Podcast, hosted by Shelby Mertes.
This show is offered by The Human Survival Project, a global grassroots organization pushing for a redesigned and much stronger United Nations, so humanity has the global tools to manage its global existential threats. We’re working to protect the future of humanity and create a world we can be proud of.
** Connect and learn more at: www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
Sign up for our email newsletter, or send Shelby a message with any questions or suggestions: www.thehumansurvivalproject.o...
This show is also an audio-only podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast services.
Please subscribe and tell your friends about the show.
Find us on social media:
/ thehumansurvivalproject
/ thehumansurvivalproject
/ the-human-survival-pro...
-----
RESOURCES:
Chuck Collins' website
www.chuckcollinswrites.com/
This site includes info on his recent book Altar to an Erupting Sun, which Shelby has read and highly recommends.
Institute for Policy Studies
Program on Inequality and the Common Good
ips-dc.org/ips-project/inequa...
inequality.org/
Patriotic Millionaires
patrioticmillionaires.org/
-----
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Introduction to Podcast
1:10 - introduction to topic
5:30 - Description of Chuck Collins
8:25 - Chuck's motivations and work
10:05 - How wealth removed is from the system
14:25 - How much really is trillions of dollars?
17: 30 - Why are governments not tapping into this money?
21:00 - The true pull of campaign finance and lobbyists
24:11 - Influence of the public on taxation
25: 28 - Anti-tax lobbying
30:00 - “Wealth is okay because its the engine of the economy” - is this true?
32:15 - Virtuous wealth
33:10 - Affordable housing and predatory capital
36:24 - Is wealth created by individuals or by group collaboration?
40:53 - Ice cream shop parallels
41:50 - Should we have a cap on individual wealth?
44:50 - Dynasty wealth contributing to the collapse of our economy
46:44 - Are the wealthy awake to the world situation?
48:10 - The younger generation in the wealth industry
52:10 - Solutions for billionaires to help with climate change
53:00 - What wealth looks like globally and how much exists outside of the US
57:48 - Global corporate minimum income tax
1:00:00 - Investigating wealth tax globally
1:04:00 - Keeping the global economy safe
1:08:45 - Private jets and fossil fuel infrastructure
1:11:40 - Can we make a shift in attitudes about wealth hoarding in the public eye?
1:14:20 - Comfortable wealth vs extreme wealth
1:16:28 - What a positive future could look like