Optimism Over Despair: On Capitalism, Empire and Social Change

What we call growth today is in fact a tumorous growth, a cancerous proliferation which is disrupting the social organism. These tumours endlessly metastasize and grow with an inexplicable, deadly vitality. At a certain point this growth is no longer productive, but rather destructive. Capitalism passed this point long ago. Its destructive forces cause not only ecological and social catastrophes but also mental collapse. The destructive compulsion to perform combines self-affirmation and self-destruction in one. We optimize ourselves to death. Brutal competition ends in destruction. It produces an emotional coldness and indifference towards others as well as towards one’s own self. The devastating consequences of capitalism suggest that a death drive is at work. Freud initially introduced the death drive hesitantly, but later admitted that he ‘couldn’t think beyond it’ as the idea of the death drive became increasingly central to his thought. Today, it is impossible to think about capitalism without considering the death drive.

Investing with the explicit goal of creating financial returns alongside measurable social and environmental benefits is catching fire. Wall Street's biggest players are rushing to provide clients with access to new impact investing options, amid growing consumer demand and evidence that the approach can be successfully executed. Recent research on outstanding impact investing funds has revealed a mature practice, vibrant with commercial investors, providing stable, predictable returns to their investors as well as supporting the creation of millions of jobs and other tangible outcomes in markets overlooked by traditional asset managers. And yet, the individuals and organizations committed to impact investing are just the tip of the iceberg in a larger movement. This includes the growing field of social enterprise, where market-based solutions can go beyond what government and philanthropy can do to directly address society's problems. And it includes institutional investors who have utilized impact screens and shareholder activism as a risk reduction strategy over the past 30 years. Collaborative Capitalism and the Rise of Impact Investing sees these movements as signs of a much more fundamental shift, as finance as a whole responds to an increased consumer demand for market transparency—the need to know exactly what we are buying, where and how it was made, and who it affects. By putting a lens on the underlying practices that bridge impact investing and risk mitigation finance, the book outlines the transformation in finance itself, driven by more cross-sector, transparent relationships in the service of creating long-term value for multiple stakeholders, not just shareholders.

Staking her claim!Horse trainer Trent Kimball is starting to believe his family's ranch is actually cursed. Still, it's a place to recover from both his recent divorce and a humiliating professional setback. That is, until Shelby Foster shows up, looking far too fine for cowboy country, and informs Trent that she is the owner of the Eager Beaver Ranch!Shelby left everything behind to move to Montana. And she's not about to just walk away! Even if it means sharing a roof with a rude cowboy…temporarily. As they wait for their papers, animosity turns into suggestive teasing. Then it becomes a sexy-sweet temptation neither can resist! Whoever produces the deed keeps the ranch. But will they lose something more important?

The second novel in Isaac Asimov's classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series THE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION Led by its founding father, the psychohistorian Hari Seldon, and utilizing science and technology, the Foundation survived the greed and barbarism of its neighboring warrior-planets. Now cleverness and courage may not be enough. For the Empire--the mightiest force in the Galaxy--is even more dangerous in its death throes. Even worse, a mysterious entity called the Mule has appeared with powers beyond anything humanly conceivable. Who--or what--is the Mule? And how is humanity to defend itself against this invulnerable avatar of annihilation? Filled with nail-biting suspense, nonstop action, and cutting-edge speculation, Foundation and Empire is the story of humanity's perpetual struggle against the darkness that forever threatens to overwhelm the light--and of how the courage of even a determined few can make all the difference in the universe.

The second novel in Isaac Asimov's classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series THE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION Led by its founding father, the psychohistorian Hari Seldon, and utilizing science and technology, the Foundation survived the greed and barbarism of its neighboring warrior-planets. Now cleverness and courage may not be enough. For the Empire--the mightiest force in the Galaxy--is even more dangerous in its death throes. Even worse, a mysterious entity called the Mule has appeared with powers beyond anything humanly conceivable. Who--or what--is the Mule? And how is humanity to defend itself against this invulnerable avatar of annihilation? Filled with nail-biting suspense, nonstop action, and cutting-edge speculation, Foundation and Empire is the story of humanity's perpetual struggle against the darkness that forever threatens to overwhelm the light--and of how the courage of even a determined few can make all the difference in the universe.

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIESThe Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one whose unprecedented scale shaped science fiction as we know it today.The First Foundation survived two centuries of barbarism as the once-mighty Galactic Empire descended into chaos. Now it mist prepare for war against the remnants of the Empire as the Imperial fleet advances on their planet, Terminus.Hari Seldon predicted this war; he even prepared his Foundation for it. But he couldn’t foresee the birth of the mutant Mule. In possession of a power which reduces fearsome opposition to devoted slaves, the Mule poses a terrible threat to Seldon’s Foundation.

Harry Bingham used to be an economist and a banker and thought he understood money. Then, in autumn 2008, the world stood on the edge of calamity and Harry realised that all the things he knew had been proven utterly wrong.So, he decided to go back to first principles, to meet the people who make the money – the entrepreneurs and inventors, the salesmen and financiers. He wanted to find out how the world really worked and what drives the people who make it spin. For the first time he saw that while the economy might be about many things, it is never only about money.We all have strong feelings about money. The magic of its alchemy has catapulted the human race from extreme poverty to our world of ever-expanding riches, but it also brings economic chaos. How many of us can say what is it made really made of and how it works?From billionaire entrepreneurs and Indian shift-workers to small-time manufacturers and conglomerate CEOs, The Root of All Good, is the story of the people who have created our world of extraordinary prosperity and the new capitalism that will recover our future.

Time for a Change–or Three!Stefanie Stahl has a husband with renovation ADD. He can't seem to finish anything he starts and her house is littered with his -projects.– If he doesn't smarten up, she swears she's going to murder him and bury him under the pile of scrounged lumber in the backyard.Her friend Griffin James is suddenly single and thinking maybe she needs to sell her fixer-upper and follow her career bliss up the ladder of success, even if that scary ladder is clear across the country. Getting her place ready to sell proves harder than she originally thought. She needs help.She's not the only one. Cass Wilkes, their neighbor, has an empty nest–with a leaking roof. When her ceiling crashes in, she knows it's time to do something. When Grant Masters offers his handyman services at a fund-raiser auction, the three women go in together to outbid the competition and win their man. (Cass's friends think she should win Grant in a different way, too!) Now it's time to make some improvements…in their houses and their lives.

Time for a Change–or Three!Stefanie Stahl has a husband with renovation ADD. He can't seem to finish anything he starts and her house is littered with his -projects.– If he doesn't smarten up, she swears she's going to murder him and bury him under the pile of scrounged lumber in the backyard.Her friend Griffin James is suddenly single and thinking maybe she needs to sell her fixer-upper and follow her career bliss up the ladder of success, even if that scary ladder is clear across the country. Getting her place ready to sell proves harder than she originally thought. She needs help.She's not the only one. Cass Wilkes, their neighbor, has an empty nest–with a leaking roof. When her ceiling crashes in, she knows it's time to do something. When Grant Masters offers his handyman services at a fund-raiser auction, the three women go in together to outbid the competition and win their man. (Cass's friends think she should win Grant in a different way, too!) Now it's time to make some improvements…in their houses and their lives.