Featuring General Joseph Votel and Freedom House President Michael Abramowitz
On Saturday, November 12, at 7:00 PM ET,
Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center will host The Business of Freedom: How
Markets Can Support Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism, a live discussion
between General Joseph Votel, USA (Ret.) and Michael Abramowitz, president of
Freedom House, on the economic consequences of global democratic decline and
how the business community can push back against authoritarianism, support
human rights, and help build a more secure and prosperous world.
Freedom and democracy have been declining worldwide for 16 consecutive years,
with a corresponding global rise in authoritarianism. Throughout the 20th
century, the business community was instrumental to the victory of democratic
governments over antidemocratic forces such as Nazi fascism and Soviet
communism. Since the end of the Cold War and the seeming triumph of democracy
over totalitarianism, the US economy has become increasingly entangled with
those of rising and aspiring superpowers like India, China, Saudi Arabia, and
Brazil—all of which have taken a sharp authoritarian turn in the past
decade-and-a-half.
Michael Abramowitz is president of Freedom House, the longest-operating
prodemocracy and human rights organization in the United States. Previously,
he served as director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Levine
Institute for Holocaust Education, and he is the former national editor and
White House correspondent for The Washington Post.
General Joseph Votel (Ret.) is president and CEO of Business Executives for
National Security and a member of the Freedom House Board of Trustees.
General Votel is a retired U.S. Army Four-Star officer and most recently the
Commander of the U.S. Central Command – responsible for U.S. and coalition
military operations in the Middle East, Levant and Central and South Asia.
Preceding his assignment at CENTCOM he served as the Commander of U.S.
Special Operations Command and the Joint Special Operations Command.
Special thanks to sponsors Front Porch Forum and Topnotch Resort for their
generous support.
Both in-person and livestream tickets will be offered for the discussion, and
will be $25 for in-person, and $10 for livestream. Youth (12 years of age and
under) tickets are available at no charge (pre-registration required). Please
reach out to Julianne Nickerson, [email protected], for student
or educator discounts.
About Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center
The Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts
organization whose mission is to inspire, educate, and entertain. The
420-seat multi-use theatre, which opened in December 2010, offers
world-renowned entertainment as well as emerging artists and performers from
around the region, state, nation and world.
Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center
122 Hourglass Drive
Stowe, Vermont
For tickets or more information: 802-760-4634 or visit www.SprucePeakArts.org
United States