Posts Tagged ‘Chris Hughes’

Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Blvd.,
Santa Monica, CA

PURCHASE TICKETS
$40 Reserved Section Seat + Book
$20 General Admission Seat
$30 Reserved Section Seat

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes makes the case that one percenters like him should pay their fortune forward in a radically simple way: a guaranteed income for working people.

Chris Hughes is the co-founder of the Economic Security Project, a network of policymakers, academics, and technologists working to end poverty and rebuild the middle class through a guaranteed income. He co-founded Facebook as a student at Harvard and later led Barack Obama’s digital organizing campaign for President. Hughes was the owner and publisher of The New Republic magazine from 2012 to 2016.

“I admire Chris’s commitment to apply his talent, experience, and wealth to tackle some of our toughest problems.” ―Bill Gates

“America was never a meritocracy, but the belief that it was fueled the American Dream and maintained social peace. Now the gig is up. Massive wealth is in the hands of a small number of people lucky enough to have been at the right places and times to grab it, while most Americans are going nowhere and can’t even rely on a steady income. What’s the answer? In this thoughtful book, Chris Hughes―one of the lucky ones―explains why we need a guaranteed income, and how his life experiences have brought him to this conclusion. He makes a powerful and compelling argument that should be at the center of the national economic debate.” ―Robert Reich, former US Secretary of Labor and author of the national bestseller Saving Capitalism

The first half of Chris Hughes’ life played like a movie reel right out of the “American Dream.” He grew up in a small town in North Carolina. His parents were people of modest means, but he was accepted into an elite boarding school and then Harvard, both on scholarship. There, he met Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz and became one of the co-founders of Facebook.

In telling his story, Hughes demonstrates the powerful role fortune and luck play in today’s economy. Through the rocket ship rise of Facebook, Hughes came to understand how a select few can become ultra-wealthy nearly overnight. He believes the same forces that made Facebook possible have made it harder for everyone else in America to make ends meet.

To help people who are struggling, Hughes proposes a simple, bold solution: a guaranteed income for working people, including unpaid caregivers and students, paid for by the one percent. The way Hughes sees it, a guaranteed income is the most powerful tool we have to combat poverty and stabilize America’s middle class. Money―cold hard cash with no strings attached―gives people freedom, dignity, and the ability to climb the economic ladder.

A guaranteed income for working people is the big idea that’s missing in the national conversation. This book, grounded in Hughes’ personal experience, will start a frank conversation about how we earn in modern America, how we can combat income inequality, and ultimately, how we can give everyone a fair shot.