Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up

Horowitz (The Freelancer’s Bible), a lawyer and founder of the Freelancers Union, focuses on the collective good in this expansive treatise on “economic engines with a social (rather than a profit) purpose that exist for a mutual good.” Mutualism, Horowitz writes, is neither capitalism nor socialism, but is focused on “building a society based on reciprocal economic obligations between individuals and between institutions.” Horowitz explores the various ways humans have historically come together for a mutual purpose, including the waterschappen of 13th-century Holland (a group focused on maintaining dams, dikes, and watermills) and Benjamin Franklin’s Bucket Brigade, “one of the first all-volunteer fire departments in America.” Where government and business have failed to create a safety net for American workers, Horowitz writes, mutualism can build the health clinics, childcare centers, lending circles, mutual insurance, and affordable cooperative housing that workers urgently need. She calls for tax breaks for corporations, financial institutions, and individuals that “donate to or invest in mutualism,” and encourages “patient capital” that won’t “make anyone obscenely rich over a short period of time.” The result is an eye-opening survey and a stirring call for change. (Feb.)