"Brilliant. So simple. So direct. And so beautifully written. I think we have found our Thomas Paine for
the new millennium."
--David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World
"A marvelous piece of work-clear, concise, and beautifully written. It raises all the right questions with
insight and provocative observations."
--Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus, Visa International
Publisher Web Site, December, 2002
Summary
Wealth inequality, corporate welfare, and industrial pollution are like the fevers and chills of the economy.
The underlying illness is shareholder primacy: the corporate drive to make profits for shareholders, no matter
who pays the cost. It's a form of discrimination based on wealth-economic aristocracy. In The Divine Right of Capital,
Marjorie Kelly shows that corporations are built on six aristocratic principles (only those who own property can
vote, for example). That work in the interests of wealth-holders and against those of employees and the community.
Most importantly, Kelly shows how to use democratic principles to build a new corporate order.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Why All the Fuss About Stockholders?
Part I: The Principles of Economic Aristocracy:
Chapter 1: The Sacred Texts
Chapter 2: Privilege Ancient and Modern
Chapter 3: The Corporation as Feudal Estate
Chapter 4: Only the Propertied Class Votes
Chapter 5: Liberty for Me, Not for Thee
Chapter 6: Wealth Reigns
Part II: The Principles of Economic Democracy:
Chapter 7: Waking Up
Chapter 8: Emerging Property Rights of Employees
Chapter 9: A Program for Corporate Democracy
