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Wealth inequality is as bad as it’s ever been. This means rich people are as rich as they’ve ever been. We have one choice: step toward a social democracy or fall back into a new Gilded Age. To that end, what are mechanisms that can redistribute money to get it where it needs to go, make it work harder for good? What does it look like to treat money in a healthy way, measure its value by its ability to create more economic equality, better health, a cleaner and regenerative environment, and a vital and healthy democracy?

´óÏó´«Ã½ Magazine is developing its winter issue on “Good Money.” We will explore how to use capital to support the neediest in fair and equitable ways, reinvigorate communities, and repair the environment. On one level, this means solutions for changing how philanthropy and charity systems work, which often benefit the rich more than the poor. Can we take a tool of consumption, oppression, and exploitation and turn it into one that supports communities and frees people from the self-reinforcing mechanisms of capitalism?

We are looking for reported stories and analyses of people and communities taking action, as well as policy solutions. Topics might include:

• Reparations as a tool of reducing the racial wealth gap.
• Wealth-building through inheritance, and the redistribution opportunities of an estimated $30 trillion transfer from the baby boomers to younger generations.
• Charitable foundations aligning their endowment investments with their giving.
• Social impact investing, where return is measured in tangible community benefits.
• Community loan funds, public banks, postal banking, and other ways to get needed capital deep into communities.
• Technological innovations, including blockchain adaptations, to allow capital to accumulate locally rather than in Wall Street accounts.

Send us your ideas for a reported feature, deeply researched analysis, or an insightful first-person essay by Aug. 1 to [email protected].