We First: How Consumers and Brands Can Partner to Build a Better World

"We First capitalism posits that we can no longer accept the myopic, short-term, profit-for-profit's sake practice of capitalism we invite corporations and consumers to engage in today. Allowing every individual, every investor, every corporation, and every nation to think solely about its own self-interests and its own profits is not the solution to creating a more peaceful, prosperous, and equitable world. The transformation from Me First to We First is no longer an option, because we now live in an interconnected, complex, globalized world of 7 billion people, all of whom need a portion of the resources and the prosperity that the Earth provides. Capitalism can no longer be an elite economic system whose results fund a limited group of people, leaving billions of others living without opportunity or hope. Our connections to each other are growing ever tighter, such that the actions of a single individual, bank, corporation, or nation can have an immediate and deleterious impact on millions of other people. In the We First paradigm, we need to recognize that prosperity is the well-being of many, not the wealth of a privileged few. The We First mindset helps us cut through the quagmires of so many philosophic debates and economic analyses so that we can focus on pragmatic, realistic and actionable solutions driven by meaningful goals to collaboratively advance our world."