Up from Neoliberalism: A Solution to Suffering Craig C. Shelton A chef’s odyssey through a broken system unveils a radical blueprint to end economic suffering and restore a civilization unraveling at its seams. In the predawn hours, mopping floors beside a dishwasher who just lost his home, Craig C. Shelton—a celebrated chef turned systems thinker—saw the truth: our economy isn’t broken by accident. It’s designed to extract, to hollow out lives, to turn labor into liability. Up from Neoliberalism is his searing diagnosis of this civilizational crisis—and a visionary plan to rebuild from the roots. Drawing on fourteen years of rigorous economic modeling and a lifetime in the crucible of the restaurant industry, Shelton exposes two hidden engines driving inequality, despair, and systemic collapse: • Private banks’ unchecked power to create money, inflating speculative bubbles while starving the real economy. • Income-based taxation that punishes workers and lets wealth compound untaxed, rigging the game for the few. But this isn’t just a critique—it’s a revolution of thought and action. Shelton proposes a bold, proven path forward: redirecting credit to fuel production, not speculation, inspired by postwar Germany’s economic miracle, and taxing net worth, not wages, to restore fairness. Backed by three cutting-edge models—Historical Counterfactual Regression, System Dynamics, and Stock-Flow Consistent simulations—his reforms could slash U.S. household debt by 48%, boost real wages by 22%, and save 30% of lost farmland. More than a policy manifesto, Up from Neoliberalism is a cry for coherence in a fragmented world. Weaving insights from T.S. Eliot, Iain McGilchrist, and heterodox economists like David Graeber and Steve Keen, Shelton crafts a narrative that’s as philosophical as it is practical, as human as it is analytical. From the kitchen to the boardroom, he reveals how our systems betray the dignity of labor—and how we can reclaim it. Accompanied by a companion white paper for policymakers, this book is a beacon for economists, leaders, and citizens who feel the system is rigged. If you’re ready to confront the “visible design of a self-terminating capitalism” and build a future where meaning and justice align, Up from Neoliberalism will challenge you, inspire you, and arm you with the tools to act.