Since 1980, America has been run by a corporate regime that has co-opted both political parties and shifted sovereignty from "we the people" to trans-national corporations. The result has been job insecurity for millions of workers, debts as far as the eye can see, and a dangerous quest for global domination. Democracy itself has been undermined and the Constitution weakened. This regime must be overturned! And, as Charles Derber demonstrates in his provocative new book, it can be. After all, Derber points out, there have been other corporate regimes in American history, although this latest version is by far the most extreme. Still, the corporate regimes of the Gilded Age and Roaring Twenties were overturned. To create regime change again, it will require bold, creative strategies, uniting progressives and conservatives in a new politics, which Derber outlines in detail. Regime Change Begins at Home exposes the many lies the corporate regime has used to maintain itself throughout its history, from the Cold War to the Iraq war, with a particular emphasis on how the Bush administration has cynically sought to, as Condelezza Rice once put it, "capitalize on the opportunities" presented by 9/11. Derber reveals how the Bush administration has used the so-called "war on terror" to frighten and distract the public. But regime change is possible. In Part III, Derber lays out the vision of a new regime, describing the social movements now fighting to achieve it, and the major new political realignment-one spanning the traditional conservative-liberal divide-that can make it happen. Derber does not minimize the difficulty of the task ahead, but he offers hope and specific, sophisticated, often surprising advice for defeating the regime and returning America to its citizens.

• By the author of the internationally acclaimed books Corporation Nation, The Wilding of America, People Before Profit, and The Pursuit of Attention
• Shows that Americans are ruled not just by a particular administration but by a corporate regime, spanning several decades and incorporating both mainstream political parties, which puts the interests of big business ahead of those of ordinary Americans
• Offers hope-and detailed strategies and tactics-for defeating the corporate regime and returning America to its people

Why DOES garbage exist in human society? Why has it become a problem only in the last century? And most importantly, how can we eliminate it-outsmart the very idea of garbage?

• Changes everything you ever thought you knew about garbage-and is guaranteed to change how you buy, consume, and dispose of things
• Explains the origins of the modern garbage crisis and what each of us can do to solve it
• Written by a dynamic young entrepreneur whose innovative, award-winning company has enlisted 35 million people to help outsmart waste in 22 countries

Garbage has become a huge problem. Ever-expanding hazardous landfills, toxic waste dumps, ocean dead zones, endangered wildlife-it's an environmental nightmare.

But garbage is a recent problem-for most of human history it was a minor annoyance-so we should be able to solve it. And garbage doesn't even exist in nature, where the output of one organism is the input of another. So why does garbage exist in human society? Why has it become a problem only in the last century? And most importantly, how can we eliminate it-outsmart the very idea of garbage?

Eco-entrepreneur Tom Szaky says that to outsmart waste, first we have to understand it, then change how we create it, and finally rethink what we do with it. He traces the roots of our current garbage crisis to 20th-century social shifts and technological advances that resulted in historic changes in consuming habits-both the amount of garbage created and its longevity increased dramatically. We are now producing five billion tons of waste a year, and our only ways of dealing with it are crude and even dangerous: burying it or burning it. We can do better!

Every time we make a purchase, we are essentially voting for the kind of world we want to live in. Szaky shows that by becoming acutely aware of the deeper implications of why we buy, what we buy, when we buy, and what we do with what we've bought, we can cast our vote for a waste-free world. And through innovative recycling and creative "upcycling" (creating new products from discarded objects), we can transform the waste we can't avoid creating from useless waste into a useful resource-as it is in nature.

We do not have to turn the Earth into a cosmic trash can. We as individuals have the power to turn this situation around. And, as Szaky demonstrates, there is a use for every kind of garbage-cigarette butts, toothbrushes, pens, packaging, you name it. After reading this mind-expanding book, you will never think of garbage the same way again.

The handbook of an extraodinary project:

Outlines the basics of a universally acceptable agreement

Shows what everyone can do to make this agreement a reality

In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a deeply inspiring document that has been translated into over 300 languages and dialects. But because its provisions are not enforceable, its promise has not been fulfilled. Human rights violations continue in every corner of the globe, the cause of countless individual tragedies as well as large-scale disasters like war, poverty and environmental ruin.

It’s time to take the next step. 2048 sets out a visionary, audacious, but, Kirk Boyd insists, achievable goal: drafting an enforceable international agreement that will allow the people of the world to create a social order based upon human rights and the rule of law. Boyd and the 2048 Project aim to have this agreement, the International Convention on Human Rights, in place by the 100^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration.

Written documents have always played a key role in advancing human rights: the Code of Hammurabi, the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence. The express purpose of the International Convention is to safeguard what Boyd calls the Five Freedoms, adding freedom for the environment to Franklin Roosevelt’s famous Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Boyd skillfully anticipates objections to the notion of a universal and enforceable written agreement—that it would be culturally insensitive, too expensive, unacceptably limit national sovereignty—and convincingly answers them. In fact some promising first steps have already been taken. He describes existing transnational agreements with effective compliance mechanisms that can serve as models.

But Boyd wants to inspire more than argue. In 2048 he urges everyone to participate in the drafting of the agreement via the 2048 website and describes specific actions people can take to help make it a reality. “What you do with what you read” Boyd writes, “is as important as what this book says.” Little by little, working together creatively with the tools now available, we can take the next step forward in the evolution of human rights.

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Applying the concept of historical waves originally propounded by Alvin Toffler in The Third Wave, Herman Maynard and Susan Mehrtens look toward the next century and foresee a "fourth wave," an era of integration and responsibility far beyond Toffler's revolutionary description of third-wave postindustrial society. Whether we attain this stage of global well-being, however, will depend on how well our business institutions adapt and change.
The Fourth Wave examines the ways business has changed in the second and third waves and must continue to change in the fourth. The changes concern the basics-how an institution is organized, how it defines wealth, how it relates to surrounding communities, how it responds to environmental needs, and how it takes part in the political process.
Maynard and Mehrtens foresee a radically different future in which business principles, concern for the environment, personal integrity, and spiritual values are integrated. The authors also demonstrate the need for a new kind of leadership-managers and CEOs who embrace an attitude of global stewardship; who define their assets as ideas, information, creativity, and vision; and who strive for seamless boundaries between work and private lives for all employees.

Applying the concept of historical waves originally propounded by Alvin Toffler in The Third Wave, Herman Maynard and Susan Mehrtens look toward the next century and foresee a "fourth wave," an era of integration and responsibility far beyond Toffler's revolutionary description of third-wave postindustrial society. Whether we attain this stage of global well-being, however, will depend on how well our business institutions adapt and change.

The Fourth Wave examines the ways business has changed in the second and third waves and must continue to change in the fourth. The changes concern the basics-how an institution is organized, how it defines wealth, how it relates to surrounding communities, how it responds to environmental needs, and how it takes part in the political process.

Maynard and Mehrtens foresee a radically different future in which business principles, concern for the environment, personal integrity, and spiritual values are integrated. The authors also demonstrate the need for a new kind of leadership-managers and CEOs who embrace an attitude of global stewardship; who define their assets as ideas, information, creativity, and vision; and who strive for seamless boundaries between work and private lives for all employees.

Drive through just about any low-income neighborhood and you're sure to see streets lined with pawnshops, check cashers, rent-to-own stores, payday and tax refund lenders, auto title pawns, and buy-here-pay-here used car lots. We're awash in "alternative financial services" directed at the poor and those with credit problems. Howard Karger describes this world as an economic Wild West, where just about any financial scheme that's not patently illegal is tolerated. Taking a hard look at this fringe economy, Karger shows that what seem to be small, independent storefront operations are actually part of a fully-formed parallel economy dominated by a handful of well-financed corporations, subject to little or no oversight, with increasingly strong ties to mainstream financial institutions. "It is a hidden world," Karger writes, "where a customer's economic fate is sealed with a handshake, a smile, and a stack of fine print documents that would befuddle many attorneys." Filled with heartbreaking stories of real people trapped in perpetual debt, Shortchanged exposes the deceptive practices that allow these businesses to prey on people when they are most vulnerable. Karger reveals the many ways this industry has run amok, ruining countless people's lives, and shows that it's not just the poor but, more and more, maxed-out middle class consumers who fall prey to these devious schemes. Balancing compassion with a realistic awareness of the risks any business faces in working with an economically distressed clientele, Karger details hard headed, practical recommendations for reforming this predatory industry.Drive through just about any low-income neighborhood and you're sure to see streets lined with pawnshops, check cashers, rent-to-own stores, payday and tax refund lenders, auto title pawns, and buy-here-pay-here used car lots. We're awash in "alternative financial services" directed at the poor and those with credit problems. Howard Karger describes this world as an economic Wild West, where just about any financial scheme that's not patently illegal is tolerated. Taking a hard look at this fringe economy, Karger shows that what seem to be small, independent storefront operations are actually part of a fully-formed parallel economy dominated by a handful of well-financed corporations, subject to little or no oversight, with increasingly strong ties to mainstream financial institutions. "It is a hidden world," Karger writes, "where a customer's economic fate is sealed with a handshake, a smile, and a stack of fine print documents that would befuddle many attorneys." Filled with heartbreaking stories of real people trapped in perpetual debt, Shortchanged exposes the deceptive practices that allow these businesses to prey on people when they are most vulnerable. Karger reveals the many ways this industry has run amok, ruining countless people's lives, and shows that it's not just the poor but, more and more, maxed-out middle class consumers who fall prey to these devious schemes. Balancing compassion with a realistic awareness of the risks any business faces in working with an economically distressed clientele, Karger details hard headed, practical recommendations for reforming this predatory industry.

• Chronicles how fringe economy businesses ruthlessly and systematically exploit the poor and the middle classes

• Feature dozens of personal stories from individuals whose lives have been ruined by participating in this fringe economy

• Includes hard-headed, practical recommendations for reforming fringe economy business practices

Imagine ending poverty at home and around the globe in our own lifetimes. With creativity and imagination this book invites us to look at our very ordinary days, from waking up in the morning to going to bed in the evening, and to begin to think about combating poverty in new, inventive ways.Our Day to End Poverty invites us to look at the twenty-four hours in our very ordinary days and to begin to think about poverty in new and creative ways. The authors offer scores of simple actions anyone can take to help eradicate poverty. Each chapter takes a task we undertake during a typical day and relates it to what we can do to ease the world's suffering. We begin by eating breakfast, so the first chapter focuses on alleviating world hunger. We take the kids to school--what can we do to help make education affordable to all? In the afternoon we check our email--how can we ensure the access to technology that is such an important route out of poverty? The chapters are short and pithy, full of specific facts, resources for learning more, and menus of simple, often fun, and always practical action steps. Anne Frank wrote, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Let's get started. It is our day to end poverty.

• Offers practical, easy steps anyone can take to help end extreme poverty
• Cleverly organized around the tasks we undertake in a typical day
• Helps you connect your daily experiences to those of people around the world