Born On Third Base

At age 26, a powerful experience defined multi-millionaire Chuck Collin's path. Realizing that "there was no rationale that could justify this disparity" whereby his inherited wealth was increasing through no sweat of his own, but wages were going down for so many, he decided to give away his wealth. "I wrote my parents a letter thanking them for the tremendous opportunities this wealth made possible. And I explained that while having the money was a boost in helping pay for my education, it was now a barrier to my making my own way in the world. I intended to pass the wealth on.'" Chuck signed the paperwork to transfer all the funds in his name to four grant-making foundations, maintaining no financial cushion or 'rainy day' fund for himself. Today Chuck is a storyteller, writer, researcher, and campaigner working to reverse the extreme inequalities of wealth and power -- and heal the social and ecological harms resulting from societal inequities. Since 2006, he has been Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org. What follows is an excerpt from his book, "Born on Third Base."

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