Consortium for Neo-Capitalistic Democracy
Fostering A More Perfect Union Through Citizen Education
“America is great because
she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great”
“Liberty cannot be established without morality”
*Alexis de Tocqueville – “Democracy in America” (1835)
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Consortium for Neo-Capitalistic Democracy
The Consortium for Neo-Capitalistic Democracy was born from a desire to explore the insights of thought leaders in economics, politics and behavioral science to recover the prosperity of neo-capitalism in balance with democracy. Pioneered by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), neo-capitalism has proven to be the economic system most compatible with democracy and its protection of human rights. We believe a recovery of its principles through citizen education might best protect the fundamental rights enshrined in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution for present and future generations. This would include a responsible revisiting of our national priorities based on universal moral principles to reverse a trend of societal decline and strengthen our society’s wellbeing.
Democracy
Democracy has been the most successful form of government to date in supporting economic prosperity in balance with human rights. However, its early philosophers (e.g., Socrates) warned that unless citizens have sufficient civic education and remain active in maintaining their democracy, it can become vulnerable to manipulation (e.g., demagoguery) and degradation into forms of oligarchy, including aristocracy (rule by the elite), plutocracy (rule by the wealthy), or autocracy (rule by a dictator).
Capitalism
Capitalism has fostered the most prosperity of any economic system in history. However, the “classic” forms of this system (those prior to FDR’s administration) also produced unacceptable levels of wealth disparity, human rights abuse and economic failure, in the absence of appropriate regulation (e.g. antitrust laws, child labor laws, bank regulation). During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the world’s most severe financial crisis to date, FDR introduced a “new form” of capitalism that included economic safeguards (e.g., minimum wage, social security). These reforms worked to protect our democracy from capitalism’s vulnerabilities, while allowing our society to benefit from its innovation and prosperity. The resulting “neo-capitalism” fostered a strong middle-class post WWII that supported a significant boom to the US economy and strengthened our system of democratic government.
A Turning Point
During the 1960’s, a more aggressive form of classic capitalism began to emerge, gradually changing our democracy to a plutocracy. Now, less than 0.1% of our population dominates congressional decision-making through its influence over election campaign funding, based on "Citizens United" (2010). As a result, the policies of our government currently prioritize the economic interest of a tiny minority of U.S. citizens to the disadvantage of the greater majority.
This has produced a disparity of societal wealth unprecedented in our nation’s history, resulting in economic insecurity for the majority of citizens. These circumstances coincide with dramatic increases in societal ills (e.g. societal conflict, single parent families, substance abuse, suicide), likely due to a correlating shortage of personal time needed to support the health of our family and community relationships, as well as that of our democracy. To counter this trend, we are exploring economic reforms that could allow 1 “income equivalent” to adequately support a family of up to 2 adults and 2 children based on 40 hours per week (a standard consistent with the prosperity of neo-capitalistic democracy from FDR’s New Deal to the 1960’s). However, such reforms are dependent on more fundamental reforms for funding election campaigns and the free press. Based on the precedent of our nation’s history, we believe such reforms are vital to recover and preserve a healthy democratic society.
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Our Program
In support of this effort, we offer seminars to educate the public in the principles of democracy and their mutually beneficial relationship with neo-capitalism.
Our program also supports the recovery of a neo-capitalistic democracy through seminars and consulting services for public sector leaders and their staff.
Lastly, we support policy and legislative changes that ensure the integrity of our democracy, equitable economic opportunity for its citizens, and moral governance.
Please contact us to learn more about our program and its support of a more prosperous and equitable democratic society.
Contact Us
Consortium for Neo-Capitalistic Democracy
Citizen Education, Public Policy