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This week on Uprising:

* Gar Alperovitz: America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy
* Mike Davis: Budget Cuts, Tuition Hikes, Spark Statewide Walkouts of UC Campuses

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America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy

As world leaders gather in Pittsburgh as this program is being recorded, talk of an economic recovery is high on the agenda. The so-called Group of 20 countries, or G20, are nearing agreement on economic cooperation that would require periodic reviews of their economic policies by one another. The agreement involves specifics such as reducing reliance on US consumers, increasing Chinese consumption, and increasing European investment. Despite the fact that a much-touted economic recovery has not been accompanied by job creation, and despite the many warning signs that the system of global capitalism, is inherently flawed and susceptible to dramatic instability, the G20 summit has not changed the framework of their dialogue. Neo-liberal economic theory continues to underpin the dominant approach to economic exchange. The thousands of ordinary citizens gathered outside the halls of the summit to protest this system have a different opinion. Today we spend the majority of the hour with Gar Alperovitz, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, College Park in the Department of Government and Politics. Alperovitz is the author of many books including America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy, and Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance. He spoke recently in Southern California and today we present his speech. Special thanks to Global Voices for Justice for this recording. Gar Alperovitz is introduced by activist and journalist Maria Armoudian.

Budget Cuts, Tuition Hikes, Spark Statewide Walkouts of UC Campuses

Thousands of faculty and students from the University of California system walked out of classes on the first day of the Fall semester on Thursday to protest the huge budget cuts to higher education, in the State of California, and to denounce the UC system’s handling of the crisis. The cuts have resulted in a 32% tuition hike for students, layoffs for lower paid employees, a steep increase in health insurance premiums, and furlough days for faculty. Meanwhile, the UC system’s board approved $9 million in executive compensation this year alone, and hired several new executive administrators at much higher salaries than their predecessors. Fee hikes for students have risen 277% over the past 8 years. The numbers of faculty and students who walked out is estimated to have been the largest ever in the history of the University of California.

GUEST: Mike Davis, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, author of many acclaimed books including City of Quartz, Late Victorian Holocausts, and Planet of Slums

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.” — George Bernard Shaw