Reconstructing America's Economic System Is Within Reach

Tuesday, 03 April 2012 00:00  
By Gar Alperovitz, Democracy Collaborative Press | Book Excerpt 

The primary theoretical and strategic argument of America Beyond Capitalism is that an "evolutionary reconstruction" of the system is not only necessary but well within the range of long run possibility. The argument rests on three challenging assessments:

The first and foundational judgment is that (quite apart from other considerations) with the radical decline of organized labor as an institution from 35 percent of the labor force to 6.9 percent in the private sector (11.9 percent overall, and falling), a new progressive politics must ultimately build new institutional foundations to undergird its fundamental approach, or it will continue to remain in an essentially defensive and ultimately declining posture.