Silvio Gesell: Beyond Capitalism vs. Socialism? - Session 1

This course will examine how Gesell’s life experiences led him to a unique understanding of the creation and distribution of wealth. He concluded that the central idea of the free-market system is theoretically sound. However, it has never been properly implemented due to two fundamental flaws - an irrational form of money and the private ownership of land. Gesell’s simple yet radical analysis explains how these two factors are the primary causes of poverty, wealth inequality, economic instability, and a “growth imperative” that is at odds with the laws of nature.
The instructor, Josh Sidman studied economics and Japanese language at Union College in Schenectady, NY. Following graduation he went to work on Wall Street, first as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York, and then as a Japanese equity derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley in London and Tokyo. Josh is the founder and director of the Silvio Gesell Foundation, a Tennessee-based organization dedicated to promoting the theories and proposals of Silvio Gesell.

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You will never succeed by using the term Socialism. Social Democracy is a better term and is practiced by the Nordic Countries. One's political label is not determined by one's goals but by the political system used to accomplish them.
Socialism describes a government’s political /economic structure used to correct perceived problems or achieve desired goals. Socialism is the public ownership and central control of the means-of-production and investment whether administered by self-appointed elites or administered democratically. Socialism is not a large amount of services provided by the government nor the enforcement of law regulating a free-market, nor the management of infrastructure.
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Note: Regulation is not ownership. Means-of-production is defined as investment in and the mass-production of factory goods since the industrial revolution and not crafts, mercantilism, or trade.