Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance

by Schwartz, Ellen; Stoddard, Suzanne

• ISBN13: 9781576750780
• ISBN10: 1576750787
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-13
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Summary

The bottom-line mentality that drives corporations is creating a world unresponsive to human needs, corrosive to the democratic process, and destructive to the planet itself. Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance shows the links between our everyday struggles and the global corporate economy. It tells us how we can change things by transforming our lives. The authors use hard-hitting examples and illuminating personal vignettes about confronting fear, anger, death, family problems, and the stultifying effects of staying in the "comfort zone." They detail over 75 steps for personal and societal actions-some quick and immediate, others in-depth and long term-for retaking control of our lives. Deeply moving, outrageous, and inspiring, this book blends unrelenting candour with real-life stories of hope-and ultimately shows us that choice is the most important tool we have for reviving our lives and our world.

Author Biography

Ellen Schwartz is Executive Director of Invest in Kids.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
How Corporate Structures, Products, and Processes Impact Our Work and Personal Lives	p. 1
Introduction	p. 3
A Time of Turbulence: when too much information keeps us from knowing the truth	p. 9
The Gift That Keeps On Taking: how the bottom-line mentality is bottoming out our lives and the planet	p. 15
The Hidden Costs of Competition: the heavy price we pay to win	p. 37
This Is Entertainment? TV as purveyor of a culture of disrespect and promoter of a passive populace	p. 49
Media, Girls, and Body Image: how impossible images of physical perfection are making our girls sick	p. 67
The Best Government Big Money Can Buy: can a corporate-sponsored democracy serve the people?	p. 73
What Do World Trade Agreements Have to Do with Me?: globalization means equalizing down to the lowest common denominator	p. 87
Time: A Nonrenewable Resource: why we aren't finding time to live	p. 99
Fresh Choices: Saying Yes! to a More Expansive Life	p. 107
Change and the Comfort Zone: embracing risks that have been foisted upon us by life	p. 109
What's an Inner Life and Who Needs It? trading fear for trust and planting seeds of loving-kindness	p. 115
Flashpoints: how our stresses play out in the family crucible, damaging those we love most	p. 121
Nurturing What Is Precious: finding new ways to communicate and connect with our loved ones	p. 127
Meaningful Work: livelihoods both personally satisfying and earth-friendly	p. 135
Giving Time, Getting Joy: life as a banquet for the servers	p. 153
Together We Are Whole: new ways to create a support network while beating the high cost of living	p. 165
Paring Down Our Lives: how less can be much more	p. 177
What Is and What Can Be: starting from wherever you are with a passionate consciousness	p. 181
Afterword: Way More Fun than TV: surefire ways to release your playful spirit	p. 185
Bibliography	p. 191
Endnotes	p. 195
Resources	p. 199
Index	p. 209
About the Authors	p. 223
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.