Entrepreneurship
Too often capitalists like to convince us that capitalism and entrepreneurship are one and the same, but they are not. Too often capitalists like to justify capitalism by pointing out the virtues of entrepreneurship, but entrepreneurship can exist and thrive without capitalism, and they are not irretrievably linked. Even neoliberal free market economists will agree that they are distinct functions. To make the distinction clear, a capitalist is someone who makes money off money, whereas an entrepreneur is someone who brings together, (1) the creative vision of a new business, (2) the resources, i.e., physical assets such as land, machinery, etc. (3) the labor and specific skills relevant to the business. (4) and the necessary capital funding.
In our system of economic democracy, individual genius and creativity are nurtured, valued, and rewarded. Entrepreneurs have a multiplicity of opportunities to create a startup in our system of economic democracy where the American people and American labor are the venture capitalists who have turned capitalism on its head and capitalized themselves in order to serve everyone’s interests in an interest free economy. An entrepreneur can present business proposals to the local, state, or federal economic planning boards and directly to the legislators who then can present them to the citizens as a referendum to be voted on. Or, an entrepreneur or group of entrepreneurs can put together a proposition for an initiative at every level of government, and if they acquire the required signatures, the proposition is presented to the voters as an initiative which is essentially a business plan that will demonstrate and explain its economic viability and how the entrepreneurs, the workers, and the community, city, county, state, and/or nation will profit from this business, and how it will serve the common good. If the voters approve the initiative, they have agreed to go into partnership with the entrepreneurs and workers in the business. Also, workers in the private sector can collectively organize and make proposals, often for existing businesses that are being abandoned by capitalist or owners because they are not making enough profit, or the owner is retiring, dies, or is just moving on. All the workers must demonstrate is that the business can cover the cost of the investment, pay the workers a reasonable wage, and provide a service or product that benefits the community, and everyone profits. The banks, planning boards, and research, education, and training centers can also offer their expertise and resources to aid in the revitalization of the business and improve the quality of the product or service. In our system of economic democracy everyone is an entrepreneur, everyone is a worker, everyone is a capitalist and citizen investor, and everyone profits from their investment in each other.
In order to protect the entrepreneur in our system of economic democracy and make certain that they are rewarded like any artist for their creativity and organizational talents and vision, by law it will be determined that if the legally designated entrepreneur or group of entrepreneurs are pushed out of the business, or, at any time, they decide to leave the business that they created, the citizen investors and the workers must either buy out their royalty rights or pay them a royalty for their entrepreneurial effort based on a designated percentage of the gross profit. This is also true of corporations that reach the codetermination threshold of 2000 employees, and the company is converted to a phase one economic democracy. However, as noted above, even though we make certain that the entrepreneur is rewarded for their creative, innovative, and organizational skills, in our system of economic democracy everyone profits from our investment in each other.
The Market
In our economy, the market is not the master. The market is the servant. Properly regulated and monitored, it is a good barometer to determine the supply and demand for consumer and capital goods and services with significant exceptions, (1) When the American people determine specific products, goods, and services are necessary to the well-being and vitality of the body politic and reflect and nurture the best in all of us, i.e., free high- quality education at all levels and free high quality health care for all. (2) When the American people decide to subsidize and support new research, technology, and new industries, products, and services that are critical to our economy and the commonwealth, i.e., renewable and sustainable energy sources, products, services; and the development of a transportation and a utilities system that takes full advantages of these critical investment in the future. (3) Protection against pricing that externalizes the true cost of a product or service, i.e., the true cost to American labor and citizen investors when they need to compete against imports produced by child labor, slave labor, and workers who are not even paid a living wage. (4) Protection against domestic and foreign imported products and services that externalize the cost to the environment and freely pollute. (5) Protection against American corporations and companies that think they can export our industries and jobs and come back into this country with their products and services and not pay a tariff that reflects the true cost to the American people and the host nation. Simply stated, our borders are closed to domestic and foreign vampires looking for blood.
Author's Note - The above is an excerpt from Learn or Die: The New American Revolution and a series of excerpts from the book explaining (1) the fundamentals of an economy by the people, (2) entrepreneurship and the market in an economy by the people, (3) leisure and education in an economy by the people, (4) US 2.0 - a how-to-manual on how to creating an alternative government and an economy by the people and live the dream as we are creating it, (5) A vision of who we are, where we are going, and the meaning of it all.
Author's Note - I have made Learn or Die: The New American Revolution available to you through Smashwords in a Freedom for Free Edition where you can pay what you want for the book or nothing at all. It is free. I'm doing this because after 50 years of research and study I believe I have found the way for all of us.
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