La Peña Book Salon

Doors open 6pm / Event starts 6:30pm

Join us on November 14^th for a lively evening of food and active discussion on the controversial new book….

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World 

By Anand Giridharadas

In a recent New York Times review Joseph Stiglitz wrote,” prepare for a new genre: books gently and politely skewering the corporate titans who claim to be solving such (social) problems. It’s an elite that, rather than pushing for systemic change, only reinforces our lopsided economic reality — all while hobnobbing on the conference circuit and trafficking in platitudes”. www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/books/review/winners-take-all-anand-giridharadas.html

This book challenges many of our assumptions about what we do and why we do it. We think this book should and will become a flash point of reflection and deep introspection in our community. More than a “gentle “skewering,” Winners Take All is an inflammatory broadside researched and written by a well-informed and credible author as shown by the quote below.

“Like the dieter who would rather do anything to lose weight than actually eat less, this business elite would save the world through social impact investing, entrepreneurship, sustainable capitalism, philanthro-capitalism, artificial intelligence, market-driven solutions. They would fund a million of these buzzwordy programs rather than fundamentally question the rules of the game — or even alter their own behavior to reduce the harm of the existing distorted, inefficient and unfair rules. Doing the right thing — and moving away from their win-win mentality — would involve real sacrifice; instead, it’s easier to focus on their pet projects and initiatives.”

Let’s break bread and share our thoughts on this debate at 6:30pm Wednesday Nov. 14th at Los Cilantros restaurant at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley. Gourmet Mexican food and drinks will be available starting at 6 pm and for the entire evening at our discussion tables of 4-6 people.

R.S.V.P to Eric Leenson eleenson@soleconomics.com.