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).

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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.

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RESOURCES:

Chuck Collins’ website

https://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

https://ips-dc.org/ips-project/inequality-and-the-common-good/

https://inequality.org/

Patriotic Millionaires

https://patrioticmillionaires.org/