alo novo

George A. Polisner CEO, alonovo.com

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An Open Letter to the Patty Stonesifer, CEO of the Gates Foundation

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Taxation Without Representation -

About the Author: Mr. Polisner founded alonovo.com in March of 2005. He has been working in most aspects of Information Technology since 1981 and was an early commercial adopter of the UNIX operating system. Prior to founding alonovo.com, George was a Director at Oracle Corporation for over 10 years. He is a frequent contributor to newspapers regarding political and economic policy and occasionally appears as a guest on radio programs. In fact, when it comes to alonovo.com, it's pretty difficult to get him to stop talking.

Professor John Kenneth Galbraith -

How many noticed the passing of John Kenneth Galbraith earlier this year? While I never had an opportunity to meet him, his writing, intellect and experiences have left an indelible mark upon my life. Dr. Galbraith understood that economics is the real political battlefield. Politics are simply a shadow cast by the economic landscape of a society.

His last book, "The Economics of Innocent Fraud" establishes the foundation for free market evolution that is driven by intelligent marketforce demand, a fundamental concept of our work at alonovo. While many that have earned insight and significant knowledge of economic theory, few have actually have had the courage to apply it as Dr. Galbraith did. It is one thing to discuss supply-side theory (or other myths) in the hallway, it is another thing entirely to apply a body of knowledge.

So while I never had the opportunity to meet this great man, if we are to all work together toward evolving a new, real free market economy that is predicated upon social justice, intelligent demand for products that are the result of a supply chain whose components are fair labor, resource conservation, reduction of environmental impact, ethics and balance then we will have gone a long way toward implementing Dr. Galbraith's vision for a fair society.

He made difficult concepts accessible, and did so with a wry sense of humor. Dr. Galbraith commented about political punditry with the following "Nearly all of our political comment originates in Washington. Washington politicians, after talking things over with each other, relay misinformation to Washington journalists who, after further intramural discussion, print it where it is thoughtfully read by the same politicians. It is the only completely closed system for the recycling of garbage that has yet been devised."

While Dr. Galbraith will be severely missed, his ideas, teaching and experiences will continue to provide truthful resistance to either those who believe that tax cuts for the wealthy, the eradication of estate taxes and the consolidation of wealth will stimulate the economy, or those that don't believe such nonsense however have accumulated such wealth, they are happy to silently go along for the malicious ride. His legacy to us is that an intelligent, fair free market economy can exist which will lead to a higher standard of living for everyone without regard to color, gender or class.

About the Author: Mr. Polisner founded alonovo.com in March of 2005. He has been working in most aspects of Information Technology since 1981 and was an early commercial adopter of the UNIX operating system. Prior to founding alonovo.com earlier this year, George was a Director at Oracle Corporation. He is a frequent contributor to newspapers regarding political and economic policy and often appears as a guest on radio programs. In fact, when it comes to alonovo.com, it's pretty difficult to get him to stop talking.

An Earth Day Tribute-

Last year at this time alonovo.com was merely a concept. Many amazing people have guided alonovo.com, some have dedicated significant blocks of time to it and others like many of you are actively using it.

We have a long ardorous journey to evolve alonovo so that it may reach its vast potential and become more useful to all of you, and all those that we hope will come to use alonovo in the future. We know we must acquire more trusted data, improve the online shopping experience and we are looking to integrate with an existing social network so all of you that would like, can readily share information and perspectives with the rest of our community. We also want to fund educational and fun short features that can help everyone learn about the new social values led economy we are building together. Finally, we are continuing to work on closing a private equity or funding deal (don't worry --this isn't an appeal for donations!) --I have been working on that since August of last year and I am working on a couple of options that will allow us to move forward with our data and engineering plans to make alonovo a great place to visit.

So, with a special thank you to each and every one of the alonovo community, I wanted to honor the following people and companies that have been an important part of the journey (as you can see, it takes more than a village!)

Joey Shepp, Nadeen Sakowski, Ethan McCutchen, Lewis Hoffman, Hooman Rabieh, Matt Cowley, Martina Polisner
Amy Weiher of Weiher Creative
Shari Aaron of Fresh Marketing
Carline Kaplan of Kaplan Communications
Kent Wagner
Dr. Kevin Danaher
Judy Rudrud, Nina Utne, Paul Demko and the UTNE Reader
Kathryn Schulz, Kendra Howe and Sarah van Schagen of Grist.org
Joel Makower, Green Business Journal
Elinor Mills, CNET
Joe Sibila of Meadowbrook Lane
The CSR Wire Team
Graham Hill of Treehugger
Bob Christy
Andrew Hoppin of Good Storm and CivicSpace Labs
Michael Knapp and Brandt Kurowski of Green River
Ellis Neder of Sway Design
Ernie Hancock, Dr. Mike Newcomb, Bob Christy, Reverend Jarrett Maupin, Jarrett Maupin Sr. and Mike Thomas
Marc Sussman, WLIB New York
The Trellon Team
Brent Emerson, Adam Bernstein and Ben Connelly Electric Embers
Joe Magid, Grassroots For America
Suzanne Stenson O'Brien
Bob Hornsby
Peter Bessen and Karen Black
Joe Sandler
Dr. John and Alice Tepper Marlin
Steve Lydenberg
Max and Margot Bollock
Ron Zucker
Alpesh Patel
Dr. Jon Gelbard, Conservation Value
Professor Dara O'Rourke
Professor Charles Derber
Professor Noam Chomsky
The KLD Research & Analytics Team
Randy Paynter
Dorinda Moreno
Bob Gelman, BGA Media
Dr. Ralph Williams
Denise Hamler of CoopAmerica
Kara Kapczynski and Erik Dorr
Susan Fassberg
Cecile Petrak
Randy Kasper
Mikko Hal
Charles Jenks
Deborah Schneider and Kirstin Falk, NPC
Jim Fournier
Adbusters
Jane Covey and the entire United for a Fair Economy/Responsible Wealth Team
Margo Baldwin, Chelsea Green Publishing
Kevin Jones, xigi.net
Dan Carol
Peter Leyden, NPI
Mari Margill, Business Ethics Network
Andrew Grossman and Thomas Gensemer
Janice Kollar
Greg Steltenpohl and Jon Ramer, The Interra Project
Sean Sheehan, New American Dream
Brian Rawson, Oxfam America
Tizzy Cornish, GoodStorm.com
Brenda Plant and Tom Liacas, ethiquette.ca

Each of you have touched this effort and shared in a profound way. As alonovo.com grows, our ability to influence corporations will grow. We will let business know that we want them to minimize pollution, treat people and all living beings well, behave in an ethical manner and disengage from the political process. Together we can and will demand better.

So once again, thank you all for helping to catalyze the new social values driven economy. Together we are creating a brighter future so that future generations can celebrate Earth Day too.

With Heartfelt Appreciation,

George
alonovo.com

 

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"The Synergy Between Purchasing and Investment "

Many have had the misfortune of hearing me talk adnauseam about economics and how our purchase decisions influence investment. I have often talked about how vital it is that society addresses not only the investment side of the equation, however the demand side too. Without integrating Corporate Behavior/Social Responsibility data into the shopping and purchasing experience people will simply consider product quality and price (generally). Thus a low cost, moderate quality product will typically generate a healthy return to all within its supply chain. This return will help shape equity value or investment performance of the stock. And this performance will shape how the stock attracts investors. Therefore, if investment remains isolated from market demand -companies that produce purely low cost goods without regard for sustainability, people or resources will benefit by attracting greater equity value and access to capital for expansion.

By guiding demand with trusted data we will help redirect spending toward businesses that are considering a balance between people, planet and profit. This causes the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility to be a competitive factor in sales, thus connecting it to the profit motive (which is the beating heart of all business.) As such the emerging social values shopping or commerce segment will yield two vital elements to the economy.

• More Socially Aware, Informed Consumers -which are then predisposed to Socially Responsible Investment and
• Greater equity value for companies that are evolving and acting more responsibly.

This relationship was most recently documented in Reuters which I saw in YAHOO! News, excerpted below -

Alternative energy attracting more investors

By Lisa Haarlander Mon Mar 20, 11:04 PM ET

A perfect storm of high energy prices, government subsidies and renewed interest from Wall Street is boosting investment in wind, solar and other alternative energy projects, said fund managers and other experts on Monday at a conference on renewable energy.

"This is the best time to think about energy technology whether you're a large equity fund, trying to get money for a company you're running or to make returns in the stock market," said Philip Deutch, managing partner of NGP Energy Technology Partners, a $150 million private equity investment fund.

Well known investors such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Carlyle Group and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. have all made recent investments in wind and solar power, Deutch told about 75 people attending the conference in Chicago sponsored by Platts, an energy industry publication.

End of Excerpt.

In this case business is acting in front of anticipated consumer demand. Here, prices for finite oil energy are beginning to shift the market. While prices and quality will always play a major role within the free market, in time, the type of corporate behavior that we perpetuate with our product purchases will begin to have at very least a secondary influence and social values led commerce will have a positive and synergistic impact to access to capital and socially responsible investment.

About the Author Mr. Polisner founded alonovo.com in March of 2005. He has been working in most aspects of Information Technology since 1981 and was an early commercial adopter of the UNIX operating system. Prior to founding alonovo.com earlier this year, George was a Director at Oracle Corporation, and formed the technology and infrastructure for the Global Innovation and Quality group within the On Demand business unit for Oracle. Prior to that role he ran the Southwest Performance Architecture team. He is a frequent contributor to newspapers regarding political and economic policy and often appears as a guest on radio programs. In fact, when it comes to alonovo.com, it's pretty difficult to get him to stop talking.

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"A more visual, dynamic alonovo.com is coming"

With the caveat that it has not moved through the magic that is applied by talented graphic artists (such as Ellis Neder of Sway Design, and Amy Weiher of Weiher Creative, our usual suspects) -you can take a look at the more component-based alonovo start page we will be implementing soon. The preview is Here at Polisnerlabs Thanks again to this wonderful, growing community that is ushering in the new social values driven economy.

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"Sociotechonomists Unite"

Over the course of my life I have developed a love of language and communication. This was not the case in my younger years. While growing up I tended toward the language of mathematics -equations were wonderful as opposed to the 'A-E-I-O-U ... and sometimes Y' that english offered. People that have had a remarkable influence upon my life with regard to language either directly (my father Albert, Dr. Ralph WIlliams, Terry Tigner) or indirectly (Professor John Kenneth Galbraith, Authors Bruce Courtenay, Barbara Kingsolver, Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace, Tom Robbins) have instilled a passion for communication which is severely constrained by my lack of structural capability and knowledge of fundamentals.

Nevertheless, I often think about names for emerging technology and fields of study. I had the honor of being invited to a Conference in San Francisco earlier this month called the 'Sheaves Conference'. It brought together a number of people that I admire and respect that are working to evolve our society toward a compassionate, sustainable and balanced world. People such as Greg Steltenpohl and Jon Ramer from the Interra Project, Brad deGraf of Books We Like, Bruce Boston from CNET, Stephen DeBerry of Omidyar.net, Kevin Jones and Tim Fruendlich of Good Capital, Rupert Ayton of CDSF, Andrew Hoppin from GoodStorm, Karl Burkhart from the Evolver Project, Greg Wendt working on an online community calendar standards project, Nicole Lazzaro of XEODesign, Dan Siegel and Jenny Yancey of YouthGive, Peter Kaminski of Socialtext, Susan Fassberg and other amazing people that have dedicated their life (and in many cases have sacrificed large private sector compensation) to do good leveraging community-building, economics, technology and game/role playing.

As I started to reflect -the term 'Sociotechonomist' emerged as a way to describe the work that integrates social networks, technology and economics.

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A Milestone Day for alonovo.com -- February 2,2006

Our first full quarter of operations completed for us on December 31. Our revenue payment is generated 30 days after the quarter end and we then allocate, print and distribute checks to over 70 prolific organizations.

While I would have personally been delighted to be writing much bigger checks for organizations like CoopAmerica, the NRDC, WalMartWatch, FAIR, Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, United for a Fair Economy and many others --I recognize that we are in our infancy, in many respects --together we have catayzed Capitalism 2.0 (I am ex-Oracle, so I guess version numbers have a nostalgic value to me).

We know we have many technology challenges ahead, and things we must quickly implement to scale alonovo.com -and with it the new economy.

By shifting to a social values shopping paradigm, when we spend our money for products and services -by ensuring that our money does not perpetuate poor labor conditions, pollution, corruption and political influence -instead we will buy (or, at a minimum maintain an affinity for) products and services from businesses that our evolving to embody a proper and sustainable balance.

While I certainly have my personal view, in many respects alonovo.com has grown from diverse principles and thoughts that have come from across the political spectrum.

There is a different perspective (which I subscribe to) that politics are a shadow manifestation of the underlying economy -a method to allocate wealth and power. I have seen many passionate, firmly entrenched debates between liberal and conservative friends and peers and I have concluded that as long as we remain polarized as an American community -the politics will be up for grabs. I have lunch with a good friend who maintains a very conservative position and voted (egad!) for this administration. Yet, when I think about it (he is well educated, and smart) -he does not want his aquifer polluted. He doesn't want the forests clearcut and our national parks mined and/or drilled. He doesn't want to leave his house (presumably after watching Fox 'News' in the morning) and see the brown air over his house, neighborhood, state. He wants children to have access to good education. The point is, I think we perpetuate the dangerous divide in this country and neocons are all too familiar with a 'divide and conquer' strategy and have used it against liberals, moderates and conservatives.

The way we take America back is to rebuild our sense of community, respect one another and take the time to learn we generally have the same objective, regardless of side. The real enemy are large businesses that are able to dictate Governmental policy, diminish or eradicate enforcement and societal protections -while forming a taxation policy that is guaranteed to shift more wealth and power their way on the backs of most Americans (and the entire world community). It is not about buying red or blue. It is purely about green. No need to scan headline archives to see what ExxonMobil, Chevron, Enron, Halliburton and other entities have done to world while we continue to be intentionally distracted by important, yet secondary issues. We are fighting for our quality of life, and of everyone elses'. While the odds are not against us -as wealth and power continues to shift, they are stacking up.

With hope for a better future for all,

George
Founder, alonovo.com

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The Emergence of Social Values Driven Commerce

The emergence of Social Values driven commerce through entities such as alonovo.com, coopamerica.org, and other aggregators and communities harbors the potential for profound impact upon quality of life factors for the entire world community. Corporations and the 1% of the individuals that control major multi-national interests have become too powerful through accumulation of wealth, government deregulation, a series of tax cuts and through using their vast influence to undermine a democratic process. While many corporations act in an egregious manner with consideration only to deriving higher profit, a handful of courageous, visionary CEO’s are looking beyond quarterly results to a balance between people, planet and profitability. The social values driven commerce model gives them the ammunition they need.

Cost and Quality Consumers have long considered the cost of goods in their purchase decisions. Over time, people learned that often the cheapest good was not necessarily the best. People began to consider product quality (and safety) and a noble effort was led by Ralph Nader to educate consumers about important safety issues. Now we have Consumer Reports, JD Power certifications, informal community-based product reviews and other compelling sources of information such that cost is not the only factor in a purchase transaction decision.

Foods, Beverages and Labeling –Social Values as a Natural Evolution Consumers became concerned as to the safety or health impact of food and beverage product. In 1962 President Kennedy proclaimed the “Consumer Bill of Rights”, which set forth a consumers’ right to be informed. In 1966, the Food and Drug Administration required all consumer products in interstate commerce to be honestly and informatively labeled, with FDA enforcing provisions on foods, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices. Society is now ready to be informed beyond product components or ingredients and wants assurances that products are manufactured and processed through the supply and distribution chain in such a manner that embodies fair labor, mitigates harmful environmental impact, uses alternative/renewable energy sources and are handled by ethical, politically neutral businesses.

Political Disenfranchisement and Apathy Many people today, regardless of political ideology feel distrust, frustration and in many cases have been disenfranchised from the political process. There is good cause. Corporations through accumulation of wealth have become far too powerful. Industries through their respective lobbyists are able to apply undue pressure to the political system and manipulate results that are counter to the needs and protections that would otherwise be afforded society. Every day we hear of a new betrayal of trust, whether it is Tom Delay, Randy Cunningham, allegations about Cheney, and the energy task force and Halliburton, allegations about Bush and Enron, there is corruption or the perception of corruption at the highest level of the American government. Regardless of the political ‘side’ one is on, what is the underlying example we are providing our next generation of leadership? When people are apathetic and disconnected from the civic process, the undermining of a representative government accelerates. I don’t recall if it was Al Franken or Michael Moore who theorized cynically –Why not just eliminate Congress and the Executive Branch and let the lobbyists run the government –since they already are? They went on to say it would save society millions of dollars. When mining and timber interests are authoring legislation passed along as “environmental protection” why are we not alarmed?

Societal Empowerment through Information Society can become powerful in a sustained manner through acting upon trusted information. Just as the evolutionary charges that were fought for many years ago leading to consumer protections in product quality and food labeling, the time is now to apply the thought of labeling to include how the product was manufactured. This will allow society to be well-informed and decide to reward companies that produce the most cost-effective, safe, high-quality products that embody the principals of sustainability and a balance between people, resources and growth. When you think of social responsibility (SR) data as the antithesis of credit agencies –instead of businesses determining if they want to transact with consumers based upon credit worthiness, now society can make direct purchase decisions while considering the interaction of the supply chain with society. This powerful expression will redirect indiscriminate consumer spend via an intelligent marketplace demand that will cause the supply chain to evolve and have strategic societal consideration beyond pure profit.

The Promise of Social Values Driven Commerce --Political benefit A wave of consumers redirecting their purchases to corporations that place a high regard on the fundamentals of democracy and a representative government will, over time, diminish the influence of business and business leadership that continue to undermine, manipulate and corrupt the democratic process. This is different than related efforts to encourage ‘Buy Red or Buy Blue’, in that it works to completely disengage business from the political process and restores government to the people.

Forming an Active Partnership Between Society and Business The emerging social values driven model is not a negative or boycott model. It provides trusted information and alternatives and fosters an inclusive relationship between supply and demand.

Social Values as a Competitive Factor and the Fiduciary Implication The Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) advocates have achieved a degree of success in reducing capital supply to corporations that do not properly consider a sustainable operating model. By driving social values into the product selection process social values emerges as a competitive factor. This provides the leverage a CEO or executive team requires when proactively allocating capital resources toward better labor practices, Socially Responsible supply chain and distribution compliance, reduction of environmental footprint and use of renewable energy. Such an allocation, without corresponding competitive factor, (and in the absence of government regulation and enforcement) carries the potential to subject the executive team to shareholder actions for breach of fiduciary responsibility to corporate profit.

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The MoneyPants.com interview is up

With special thanks to Julia Salazar and the MoneyPants.com team. They have an excellent effort underway to help educate people about personal finance and consumption.

The alonovo.com interview is at Money Pants.

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Buy Nothing Day: A Day of Reflection and Appreciation

As the alonovo.com concept continues to grow, I wanted to spend some of my 'Buy Nothing Day' time recognizing people that have made significant contributions to us and continue to do so. People that in varied ways have had a profound impact upon us and I am personally indebted. And before I recognize individuals my thanks must first go to all of you as a community, for if it were not for each of you, and your referrals to friends and family, we would not be here.

In no meaningful order my appreciation flows like a river to -

• The alonovo volunteers - Stan, Kent and others that helped us test the product before release and have provided countless hours helping make sure our data references are correct.
• Dr. Kevin Danaher, for those that do not know, a remarkable man that has dedicated his life to improving the quality and dignity of many in America and around the world through his efforts at Global Exchange, the Global Citizen Center, his books and dedication to the Green Festivals
• Judy Rudrud, Nina Utne and Paul Demko for the wonderful article about us in the November 2005 Utne Magazine.
• Kathryn Schulz, Kendra Howe and Sarah van Schagen for Grist.org's InterActivist series on us.
• Joel Makower and Elinor Mills for their articles about us.
• Joe Sibila of Meadowbrook Lane for his friendship and guidance
• CSR Wire's Jack Wysocki and Jill Harubin for their help with our important public news (and no, the irony of Jack and Jill is not lost upon me!)
• The people of KXXT 1010 (Air America) Phoenix for their guidance, airtime and belief in our mission, and specifically Bob Christy, Ernie Hancock, the Reverend Jarrett Maupin and Jarrett Maupin Senior.
• Andrew Hoppin, who is involved in several technology efforts dedicated to the public good, including CivicSpace Labs, Good Storm, Trellon and other key efforts that we are leveraging for the benefit of our community. And for many great Thai lunches.
• Joe Magid, who became introduced to the concept in our early stage and has been a tireless evangelist for the mission.
• Joe Sandler, of Sandler, Reiff and Young has contributed valuable legal guidance and work for us.
• Bob Hornsby -Bob has blended his Wharton MBA with a penchant for good and has helped us with organizational relationships, our financial projections and my panic-stricken how are we going to get this funded phone calls.
• Steve Lydenberg of Domini Social Investments for his advice and ideas. As soon as we roll out the alonovo.com Fair Trade Product club, we may just nickname it "The Steve!".
• KLD Research and Analytics Inc. -Peter Kinder, Tim Brennan, Randy O'Neill and Noel Friedman -without their early belief in us, we would not have the excellent, trusted SR Data that we have integrated into our growing database.
• Bruce Culver, for his guidance, referrals to funding sources and most importantly his friendship over many years.
• Randy Paynter for his great work with the Care2 community, his mentorship and the cooperative work that may be ahead of us.
• Alex Srinivasan, Oracle Consultant extraordinaire who contributed our technical architecture
• Brent Emerson and Adam Bernstein who guided the initial effort and continue to provide awesome service for us through Electric Embers.
• Dorinda Moreno, long time community activist and friend who helped catalyze my thoughts around the original alonovo concept.
• Mikko Hal, and his words that turned talk into action.
• Jim Foster who has shared time learning about and extending the alonovo concept, and is helping to acquire funding
• Michael Rocha, technology visionary and former Oracle EVP whose invigorating style and mentorship is instrumental to me.
• Nadeen, Joey, Ethan, Lewis, Hooman, Matt and Martina -the Core alonovo.com team of superheroes that continue to evolve the concept toward our mission -catalyzing the intelligent marketforce community.
• Denise Hamler from CoopAmerica -for her friendship and encouragement, her odd habit of calling me Charles and that of the entire Coop America organization.
• Jane Covey and United for a Fair Economy for their important work and belief in us.
• Mitchell McGovern, ex-Oracle VP who continues to call and make sure that being a CEO hasn't killed me yet!
• Suzanne Stenson O'Brien, Board member, friend and her dedication to numerous causes for the public good including running the Center for Civic Participation
• Deborah Nelson and the folks of the Social Venture Network who continue to bring many wonderful people together working toward the public good..
• Jim Fournier, founder of Planetwork who provided an early public forum for the discussion and evolution of alonovo.com
• The Adbusters community for their continuing mission to improve the quality of our lives by questioning marketing, advertising and consumption.
• Professor Noam Chomsky for his time, guidance, engaging-style and referrals to others that have been helpful in our effort to educate and acquire new streams of Social Responsibility data.
• Professor Charles Derber and Professor Dara O'Rourke for believing n the alonovo.com concept and wanting to share their thoughts and ideas with our community through their respective blogs.
• Amy Weiher, creative genius that has helped us with many of our design assets and branding.
• Shari Aaron of Fresh Marketing who donated significant amounts of time in helping us get critical media attention.

Each of you in a different way has touched this effort in an important way. As alonovo.com grows, and provides better search methods for shopping, integrates more Social Responsibility data from other trusted streams, adds multimedia educational content and works cooperatively with many social venture leaders, our concept will evolve and strengthen. As it does, our ability to influence corporations will grow. We can let business know that we want them to minimize pollution, treat people well, behave in an ethical manner and disengage from the political process. Together we can demand better. Yes We Can, George

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Buy Nothing Day and alonovo.com
An ecommerce site not processing shopping transactions and instead celebrating Buy Nothing Day?

Is this the punchline to a joke? Is this an attempt to devalue share prices as part of a company stock buyback? Has the CEO lost his mind? Well, indeed the latter is always a compelling topic. Nevertheless, we thought while retail frenzy swirls about our community, we take an extra day, first to reflect on the holiday season which is once again upon us. While the TV tells us we will find certain happiness in the new BMW, how people will love us forever if they only have one more diamond ring, how the new combination blender/vacuum/toaster/juice extractor will help put the meaning back into our lives -we are not going to buy it. Our lives are defined by each of us, not by things. It is therefore we join the promoters at Adbusters. We are not saying that buying things that we want or need, or that others may want or need is bad. We are just saying that we will not respond with the Pavlov-ian hordes that will respond to the day after Thanksgiving sales like a dog and a bell. Together we are the new intelligent marketforce demand. We desire a balance between people, planet and profit. We want a growing, fair economy. We want clean air and fresh water. We want to preserve open spaces and the wonder of nature. More detail about Buy Nothing Day can be found at Adbusters

The Unabridged Grist Interview
What work do you do? Founder, alonovo.com

What's your job title? President/CEO, Evangelist, Strategist, Mailroom, Customer Support, Team Psychologist and Generally Cranky Old Man.

What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute "mission accomplished"? We are working to empower people by fully informing their market decisions. Traditionally, before making a purchase we tend to think about product price and product quality. People are becoming concerned and aware –if we purchase this shirt –is it a product of sweatshop labor and inhumane working conditions? If we buy this stereo, were aquifers poisoned with toxins in the manufacturing process? If we purchase product A, is it made at a company where women and/or minorities are treated unfairly? When we purchase something, a transaction occurs, we get something we need or desire, and in the process we transfer power in the form of money to a merchant and manufacturer. What kind of behavior are we perpetuating with this transfer of power? We are infusing the online shopping experience with a simple rating system based upon trusted Socially-Responsible research data. This will catalyze an informed, intelligent marketforce that can accelerate a balance between people, planet and profit that is presently lacking from the business supply chain. So people can choose from a vast catalog of competitively priced mainstream products, and help us drive a new, fair, growing and sustainable economy.

What do you really do, on a day-to-day basis? What are you working on at the moment? On any particular day I may be evangelizing the alonovo.com concept with traditional media and blogging, speaking with membership based organizational leadership, trying to acquire resources we need (engineering superheroes and proper capitalization), appearing on radio, running to make the last shipment of express mail, evolving our strategy and roadmap, working on new content acquisition (to provide compelling stories and information about socio-economic, environmental and political issues –which will help inform, educate and create an even larger, more influential alonovo.com demographic.

What long and winding road led you to your current position? It has been an amazing journey to bring the alonovo.com concept to the public. And there have been incredible people that shaped alonovo.com and cast it in its present state for which I am eternally grateful. The effort was loosely born in June of 2003. On a rare break from my work at Oracle Corporation, I sponsored a symposium on Peace, Justice and Human Rights. Former Chief UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter was our keynote speaker, and we had many wonderful speakers such as Brian Rawson of Make Trade Fair, Marie Davis of the NAACP, Paul George from the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Darin Nathan and other speakers relating different yet integrated threads of discussion. It was my first experience with such an undertaking and I was exhausted. A dear friend and co-conspirator for the event Dorinda Moreno would not let me rest, the next day we were drinking fair trade coffee and talking about what to do next. I wrote a casual paper on Progressive Unity and floated it around to people I had great respect for such as Joan Blades and Don Hazen, hoping that someone more dedicated than I would find parts of it valuable for implementation. I continued to work within the community, but was largely focused on my role at Oracle, which changed in mid-2003 to leading the Global Innovation and Quality function for Oracle’s On Demand Business Unit. In November of 2004, flying back from volunteering for Election Protection, the thought of using technology to help catalyze badly needed progressive focus started rolling around in my dark, cavernous mind. Also, my son-in-law –a young man named Mikko Hal chided me –I was just another highly-paid theorist –at the end of the day I collected my big Oracle check and continued on with my sheltered life. Those words continued to echo. In vetting the early alonovo.com concept I was led to the founders of Electric Embers, a hosting company in Oakland, California. Over a great vegetarian meal, they understood and supported the concept and had some excellent recommendations that really put alonovo.com on the right track. Since that time, alonovo.com was shaped and evolved by an excellent advisory board –tireless unsung heroes all of them –people like Suzanne Stenson O’Brien, Peter Bessen, Bob Hornsby, Joey Shepp, Ralph Williams and others. I decided to take a block of vacation from Oracle to devote myself to the founding of alonovo.com –and on April 1st became dedicated to the venture. While alonovo.com started out with a fairly liberal focus, I have great respect for many people that have different education, context and experiences and I discussed alonovo.com across political ideologies and with many thought leaders –Liberal and Conservative. One of our greatest innovations came from libertarian thinking. I was reminded that you do not have to be liberal to enjoy a pristine setting in nature. You don’t have to be liberal to want clean refreshing sewage-free water to flow from your tap. And you don’t have to be conservative to want a growing economy. We were a nation that has spent too much time passionately divided, yet we want similar things for ourselves, our families, communities and country. So we set out to unify not perpetuate the Blue vs. Red divide in this country. A few others that deserve mention about the alonovo.com concept. My wife Linda, (who thinks of me as conservative!) remains my inspiration. The writings of John Kenneth Galbraith shaped much of my socio-economic views. The life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his passion for unity transcending color. People such as Scott Klinger, Joel Bakan, Dr. Fred Block, Steve Lydenberg and Amy Domini that continue to be thought-leaders in shaping a socially-responsible economy. Also people in the media that covered us at their own risk prior to our viability such as Elinor Mills at CNET, Joel Makower –founder of the Green Business Network and author of Two Steps Forward, Ernie Hancock, Bob Christy, Dr. Mike Newcombe and the Rev. Jarrett Maupin at Air America Phoenix, Judy Rudrud at UTNE and of course Kathryn Schulz at Grist.

Who's the biggest pain in the ass you have to deal with? There is a long list. How long can this paper be?

Who's nicer than you would expect? I have to say the biggest surprise has been the libertarian influence. The willingness of people like Eric Garris, Gary Fallon, Ernie Hancock and others that were very patient and provided valuable input into the evolution of alonovo.com. Who knew?

Where were you born? Where do you live now? I was born in LA and have been all over, finally settling in Phoenix to see my 15 year old daughter compete in Mock Trial competitions and to play catch with my 10 year old boy (when he is not gleefully beating me in any video game).

What has been the worst moment in your professional life to date? Not the worst, but the most challenging is getting access to funding and finding people that have the courage to take risks with you.

What's been the best? Helping form the team of incredibly talented people that in varying degrees dedicated themselves to the alonovo.com effort. Bringing together our core team of Joey Shepp, Ethan McCutchen, Lewis Hoffman, Hooman Rabieh and Nadeen Sakowski. Martina Polisner (ok, a bit of nepotism) and Matt Cowley -our newest superhero. Carline Kaplan put together our initial media plan, Joe Sandler guided our initial legal structure, Shari Aaron has been deftly handling media relations. And the people that had early belief in our concept –Dr. Kevin Danaher at Global Exchange, Joe Magid at Grassroots for America, David Brodwin at the Rockridge Institute, Andy Grossman and Thomas Gensemer at the Center for Community Ethics, Eric Garris at Antiwar.com, Sean Sheehan and Betsy Taylor at the New American Dream, Jane Covey at United for a Fair Economy, Peter Kinder, Tim Brennan, Randy O’Neill and Noel Friedman at KLD Research and Analytics, Inc. and the people that in the process of making our next release (alonovo.com 1.1, due in Mid-October) spectacular –Trelllon and the Civic Space Lab folks.

What environmental offense has infuriated you the most? It takes all of my Taoist ability to remain calm when I see a Hummer. And, being over-caffeinated, stressed out and thinking about positive cash flow, only diminishes my happy Zen state of calmness. Government environmental deregulation or legislation, particularly when the title is preceded with the words “Clear, Clean or Healthy” usually means more toxins in our air, more mercury in our water, and less forest to enjoy.

Who is your environmental hero? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Who is your environmental nightmare? The businesses that plunder our environment without fear of governmental penalties, fines or other societal remedies and protection.

For the pragmatic environmentalist, what should be the focus -- political action designed to change policy, or individual action designed to change lifestyle? We have already seen that without personal responsibility, public policies can change dramatically with the power structure de jour. Thus, for lasting, meaningful and sustainable change, we need an informed, aware and committed public and public policy. One without the other is vulnerable.

What's your environmental vice? My dear wife Linda will tell you if I don’t. One of the few times I relax is a nice long, hot high-pressure knock you into a wall, shower.

What are you reading these days? The Economics of Innocent Fraud –John Kenneth Galbraith, Infinite Jest -David Foster Wallace

What's your favorite meal? My staple is a Vegan Veggie Burger on a wheat bun with soy cheddar cheese. My favorite meals are back in Northern California – Tofu Pad Ped -Thai Satay and Chao Praya (San Mateo and Belmont, respectively) and Taqueria La Cumbre –vegetarian habenero burrito (San Mateo).

What's your favorite place or ecosystem? Kauai for two weeks to decompress once every five years. Cambria, California or Santa Fe, New Mexico the rest of the time.

What's one thing the environmental movement is doing particularly well? Educating and informing in an entertaining, compelling manner.

What's one thing the environmental movement is doing badly, and how could it be done better? The American public learns through entertainment. Many people may not sit through several hours of lecture, but make a movie like Silent Running or The Day After Tomorrow and people will watch and develop more understanding of important world environmental concerns.

If you could institute by fiat one environmental reform, what would it be? I would assess a surcharge and usage fee on any non-commercial SUV or vehicle that is not fuel-efficient and use the funds to provide large tax credits for the purchase of fuel-efficient super low emissions vehicles. Like my Prius for instance. Thank you Toyota!

What was your favorite band when you were 18? How about now? 18. That was several lifetimes ago. Elvis. –Elvis Costello. Now –a steady diet of Wyclef Jean, Coldplay, U2 and Laurie Anderson.

What's your favorite TV show? Movie? Linda dreads Law and Order marathons. Bill Maher, the Daily Show, House Movie –Henry Fool, the Big Lebowski, the Shawshank Redemption, The Natural

What are you happy about right now? I am happy about the progress my children are making toward being loving, compassion people that will shape and influence their generation.

If you could have every InterActivist reader do one thing, what would it be? When shopping online use alonovo.com and select Grist or other amazing organizations as your beneficiary organization. And tell everybody about us (well, almost everybody!)

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Who You Calling Oxymoron? -Corporate Social Responsibility and the Free Market
The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in a free market economy (or even a theoretical free market like ours) is once again moving into focus. As government deregulates and reduces enforcement capability, individuals, neighborhoods and communities begin to shift toward CSR as a possibility for relief. People are seeking relief from toxins spewing into our air, sewage in our water and huge retail super-boxes with vast parking lots driving a stake through the heart of the colorful character of a collection of “mom and pop” businesses. Until now there have been limited ways to address CSR.

If government will not protect the people (that it theoretically represents), people will attempt protection through local government zoning restrictions, or through impacting the business bottom line through a boycott strategy. While the boycott concept has enjoyed success throughout history, it is not easily sustained for various reasons. Nevertheless, a well-organized and publicized boycott continues to be a valuable tool to provide individual or labor protections against business that conducts itself in an egregious manner. The problem with the boycott model is it requires a specific behavior to be so injurious and directly connected to the consumer or labor community that it causes a large segment of the population to act (or not act, as it were). Thus, if a multinational corporation establishes a supply-chain strategy, and builds or engages production capacity in a location that is inconsistent with where products are eventually sold –the planet can be plundered and local populations can be sickened or worse. In the meantime the cost to produce product is lowered (as the business is not proactively applying a CSR mindset), profits are up and the shareholders and management team are richly rewarded. Of course Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) seeks to address this behavior however short-term investment gains are viewed as counter to a capital investment by a corporation in the embodiment of SR.

Our business model at alonovo.com directly connects the embodiment of SR into the profit motive. Just as business (through large consumer financial databases such as TRW, Equifax and others) are able to make a determination as to whether to enter into a credit transaction with an individual, now we, as individuals can assess the ‘character’ of a business and eventually its entire supply chain. When the consumer community has a simple mechanism to assess two or more equivalent products for a purchase transaction and can readily evaluate price, product reviews AND the business character (SR rating), SR becomes a competitive factor and the critical connection to the profit motive is made. By catalyzing an intelligent, informed marketforce demand, we apply the fundamental supply/demand concept of a free market to drive SR into business. This will cause a gradual shift as businesses will have to focus on a balance between people, planet and profit to survive. While more money may need to be expended to embody true SR, by inspiring competition through alonovo.com businesses will drive additional revenue to offset expenditures.

This means everyone wins from individuals, neighborhoods, businesses and strong, visionary corporate leadership that wants to move onto an SR path, but has been unable to embark upon an SR strategy due to concern over fiduciary responsibility. With SR embedded into the profit equation, a new era, in which fiduciary responsibility meets sustainability is born. About alonovo.com: The concept of alonovo.com is to provide an intelligent, informed online shopping experience for the powerful American consumer demographic. By directly integrating trusted Social Responsibility ratings coupled with a large, price-competitive array of all popular products (from major shopping aggregators) into a visually compelling and simple user experience, we have started to intelligently redirect consumer spending. Our mission is to catalyze a constructive relationship between an informed marketplace demand and the business supply chain. This will help accelerate a "race to the top" among businesses that are working to balance people, planet and profit. While this will provide a gradual means of economic change toward a fair, sustainable and growing economy, we are also seeking to address the fierce urgency of now. Therefore, our business model is predicated upon sharing 20% of our commerce revenue with beneficiary organizations such as United for a Fair Economy, Global Exchange, American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, FAIR, the Center for Civic Participation, Oxfam America and other organizations working to shape a meaningful, positive change for society.

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About the Author Mr. Polisner founded alonovo.com in March of 2005. He has been working in most aspects of Information Technology since 1981 and was an early commercial adopter of the UNIX operating system. Prior to founding alonovo.com earlier this year, George was a Director at Oracle Corporation, and formed the technology and infrastructure for the Global Innovation and Quality group within the On Demand business unit for Oracle. Prior to that role he ran the Southwest Performance Architecture team. He is a frequent contributor to newspapers regarding political and economic policy and often appears as a guest on radio programs. In fact, when it comes to alonovo.com, it's pretty difficult to get him to stop talking.