Chuck Collins is a researcher, campaigner, storyteller, and writer based at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org. He has written extensively on wealth inequality in previous books like 99 to 1, Wealth and Our Commonwealth (with Bill Gates Sr.), and Economic Apartheid in America as well as in The Nation, The American Prospect, and numerous other magazines and news outlets. Collins grew up in the 1 percent as the great grandson of meatpacker Oscar Mayer, but at age 26 he gave away his inheritance. He has been working to reduce inequality and strengthen communities since 1982 and in the process has cofounded numerous initiatives, including Wealth for the Common Good (now merged with the Patriotic Millionaires), United for a Fair Economy, and Divest-Invest. He is also a leader in the transition movement, and a co-founder of the Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition and the Jamaica Plain Forum, both in the Boston-area community in which he lives.
Choice Reviews- "Drawing on both engaging personal stories and
economic research, Collins (Institute for Policy Studies) portrays
an 'economic apartheid' of growing inequality of wealth and
opportunity in the US, and urges citizens, especially the
wealthiest, to recommit to the broader community to address it.
Collins describes 'an empathetic barrier to change' that leads rich
Americans to deride the industriousness of the less affluent.
Raised in a “one percent” family, Collins understands how the
wealthy are cut off from the wider society as their experiences
lead them to adopt false myths of self-reliance and meritocracy.
These views overlook the roles community and equity play in
securing prosperity and well-being for rich and poor Americans. The
overvaluing of self-reliance obscures the advantages of family
wealth as well as the role of government programs in providing
gains for the white middle class (in particular, home ownership)
over other groups. Collins calls for empathy and solidarity among
the rich, the affluent, and the poor to address inequality and
environmental degradation. The book lists ways for the wealthy to
connect to the larger society and support policies to bring about
an equitable and sustainable future. Summing Up: Recommended. All
readership levels."
Booklist- "As the great-grandson of Oscar Meyer, Collins grew up in
a wealthy and advantaged family. He considers himself part of the
privileged 1 percent, “born on third base,” with only a short hop
to make it to home plate. But Collins believes it’s time for our
society to come to a different home, one where inequality is
addressed in a new way, where the economy can be made more
inclusive, and where the 1 percent can engage with the other 99 to
become partners in transforming the future. Collins (99 to 1: How
Inequality Is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do about It, 2012)
once again presents a convincing and deeply thought-provoking
argument in favor of not just the need for societal change but the
importance of individual action in making change happen. Written in
a well-crafted, conversational style, Collins’ latest is a gentle
yet clear reminder to readers that real change starts by looking
outside ourselves and making even the smallest connection with
others.”
“I have never read a story remotely like the one Chuck Collins has
to tell. Born to the one percent, in circumstances few of us can
imagine, he grew an outsized conscience and gave up his inherited
wealth for a life of fighting the vicious inequality that is
destroying our country. Somewhere along the way, he came to
understand that the rich can be part of the solution instead of the
problem and started organizing them to join in the struggle for a
fair economy. The result is an electrifying challenge to the
affluent as well as the one percent. ‘Come out of your gated
communities and gated hearts,’ he writes, because outside lies the
warmth of human solidarity.”--Barbara Ehrenreich,
author of Nickel and Dimed
“Chuck Collins has already organized the rich against their
own immediate economic interest. He and his colleagues at the
Institute for Policy Studies were instrumental in blocking the
Republican repeal of the federal estate tax for the wealthy. So
when he writes in Born on Third Base about all the good
that can come from the enlightened rich pressing for justice, not
just charity, he speaks from experience as both an organizer and a
former affluent heir. Partly autobiographical, this empowering
light into a brighter future is a narrative you won’t want to miss.
Chuck Collins walks the talk and can motivate, if anyone is able
to, the super rich to fund systemic drives for change.”--Ralph
Nader, consumer advocate, author, and lawyer
“A call to action for America's wealthy and a warning shot across
the bows of their yachts if they fail to act, Born on Third
Base offers a clear and compelling case for why the privileged
and powerful must act to reverse widening inequality of income,
wealth, and political power in America.”--Robert B. Reich, former
US Secretary of Labor; author of Saving Capitalism
Publishers Weekly- "Collins (99 to 1), born to great privilege,
takes a thoughtful, well-written, and carefully researched approach
to solving the extreme imbalance in wealth distribution, directed
toward one- and 99-percenters alike. Refreshingly, Collins not only
talks the talk but walks the walk: at age 26 he gave up his
$500,000 trust fund and dedicated his life to ending inequality.
The book's first half outlines the problems of uneven wealth
distribution, which have been made even more evident by the 2008
economic downturn. This part includes a section addressing racial
issues in the U.S. and making the case for federal reparations for
slavery. What Collins does even better than describing the
challenge is, in the book's second half, outlining significant and
specific solutions. He includes 10 elements of a program for the
wealthiest 1% to follow, imploring readers to connect with both
'people around us' and 'people who are completely different.' He
makes an appeal for 'humanity and empathy' at the book's very
beginning, shows how he and others have worked to embody it, and
reinforces the importance of this approach at the conclusion.
Wherever readers fall on the economic scale, this is a worthwhile
book to read, digest, and share."
“The American dream assures us that, if you work hard and play by
the rules, you’ll succeed. But the facts tell a different story:
Everyone knows the system is rigged. In these trickle-down
times, income inequality threatens to pit the 99 percent against
the 1 percent in violent revolution—and, really, who can blame
them? My fellow plutocrat Chuck Collins gets it. Born on
Third Base explodes the myth of the self-made man, but it also
celebrates true achievement in the classic American
sense. This isn’t some self-hating rich guy; Collins has
thought seriously about what it means to be a citizen,
and to be a patriot. He makes the case that we all do better when
we all do better, and he does it with compassion and
humor. This book would give Ayn Rand
nightmares.”--Nick Hanauer, entrepreneur; venture
capitalist; coauthor of The True
Patriot and The Gardens of Democracy
“Chuck Collins may have been born on third base, but he hits a
grand slam with this powerful call to even the richest Americans to
join their fellow citizens in challenging the
obscene wealth gap that characterizes America
today. He hammers all the curve balls thrown to justify
inequality, writes eloquently but humbly of his
experiences, and lays out a winning lineup of ways to bring
Americans across class lines together for economic justice.”--John
de Graaf, coauthor of Affluenza and What’s the
Economy for, Anyway?
“Chuck Collins does the soul-searching, fundamental work of
reminding us all that wealth inequality and injustice make
everyone’s life worse, including those of us who are supposedly
better off. No matter what your class background, Collins’s work is
an insight into and inspiring call to action for why we all need to
be two feet into the fight for a more just world –one that is based
on shared prosperity and community, not individualized notions of
success. People and the planet literally depend on it.”--Jessie
Spector, executive director, Resource Generation
“Sobering and inspiring, Chuck Collins has written a
Declaration of Interdependence. A must read for anyone on
third base who has forgotten that they’re part of a team.”--Peter
Buffett, copresident, NoVo Foundation; composer; author
of Life is What You Make It
“There are few tasks as urgent as a radical reorientation of the
1 percent, a radical re-engagement of ‘us’ with ‘them’—and a
radical redeployment of the wealth created over the past century in
order to address the problems of the next. Chuck Collins is our
personal guide.”--Woody Tasch, founder, Slow Money Institute;
author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money
“This is the engaging story of a courageous rich white guy who gave
it all away, journeyed to the dark heart of inequality and
deprivation in America, and became a leading thinker and activist
for something much better for all of us, including the rich.
Collins doesn’t disappoint. He is the real deal.”--James
Gustave Speth, author of America the
Possible and Angels by the River
“No one explains inequality better than Chuck Collins, and no one
walks his talk with more integrity. All Americans—rich, poor, and
in the shrinking middle—will benefit from his insights and be
inspired by his example.”--Peter Barnes, cofounder, CREDO Mobile;
author of With Liberty and Dividends For All
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