the economy

 

philosophy:

 

            When it comes to “the economy” in America, I believe we need a major paradigm shift.  For too long, we’ve measured America’s “strength” as a nation on our Gross National Product (GNP) output.

            In tandem, our increasingly obsessive pursuit of the “American Dream” has most people on frenetic treadmills trying for: bigger houses, better cars, nicer clothes… at the expense of time with our kids, community volunteering, social justice outreach…

            This obsessive pursuit has also set up an ultra-competitive, often even ‘cut-throat,’ business climate driven by greed.  It has also opened the door (at the ever expanding far end of the continuum) for big box retailers -- Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Home Depot -- to push out the small, locally owned businesses.  And it is a climate that is driving corporate farming to push out the small family farmers as well.

            These small locally owned businesses and small family farms, for years, were an integral part of the fabric of local community, the fabric of society as a whole.

            What’s more, from a consumer end, the almost insatiable appetite for more, and ever cheaper, products in America (and other more developed countries), has also led to the outsourcing of American jobs to Third World countries, and places like China – where sweat shop conditions, child labor, far less than “living wage” pay… have created a monumental, worldwide human rights travesty.

            And the lack of attention to pollution control with many of the factories in these other countries (so the product prices can be kept as low as possible), is leading to a just as monumental, worldwide environmental travesty that includes: acid rain, severe respiratory problems, global warming…

            It is ‘globalization’ at it’s worst.

            And if all this isn’t bad enough, the whole thing was built on the back of an Industrial Revolution that has dehumanized many (mind-numbing assembly line jobs, as an example) and unplugged just as many from our original, and much more life-giving, agrarian base.

            At the same time, this Industrial Revolution as a whole (with it’s mechanized, fast-paced mass production) has led to an accelerated raping of resources all over the globe, an alarming rate of vanishing species and, again, a tremendous amount of environmental pollution in general

            But unlike, say, the Amish, who go through considered, prayerful discernment before deciding whether a new technology will adversely affect their family, their community, the environment… most of us in America have seemed to accept the Industrial Revolution, and all the technology that has come with it, without much of a second thought.

            …that time has come!  

We have labeled all this as: “progress.”

            But has it been, really?

            Our belief is that most of this hasn’t been a good kind of progress.  And we would do well to start a sustained trend away from: ultra-competitiveness in business, big box retailers and mega-corporate farming, and outsourcing of jobs for cheaper products.

            At the same time, we should move back toward a slower paced, less competitive business climate, more smaller stores and farms, and instead of outsourcing, much more “local production for local consumption.”

            Now we realize we can’t get from here to there overnight.  However, we can phase this in over time. 

And that time has come!

            What’s more, there are people around the country who are on the same philosophical page and have developed excellent models to point America toward this badly needed shift.

            And in our extensive cross-country travels, we have found them.

            …like in the “old days.”

As a counter to the spirit of ‘ultra-competitiveness’ in American business, we stopped in Fisher’s, Indiana, where we learned about a rather refreshing “Economy of Sharing” (EOS) company.  (EOS businesses are tied to the ecumenical Folkolore Movement and are starting up all around the world.)  John Mundell, whose environmental consulting firm is one of these businesses, said the EOS formula is: to give one-third of the business profit to humanitarian agencies in the Third World, to pay employees a “living wage,” while providing working conditions that support human dignity; and, if an EOS company knows a competitor is in trouble – they are to try and help!  Mundell explained that this can include providing money, lending personnel, offering consultation…

He explained the latter is based on the spiritual principle of: helping one’s neighbor – not ‘turning the screws’ on one’s neighbor.  (Which, sadly, is what we often do in American business.  Something that in no way jives with sound spiritual principle.)

In Alamosa, Colorado, we researched a “Community Sponsored Agriculture” (CSA) project where local residents have bought “shares” in a small family farm in return for weekly produce -- and a chance to work on the farm.  The initiative is helping keep a small farm buoyant, providing local food for local people, and reconnecting people to the land.  (These CSAs are starting up across the land.)

            In Fairborn, Ohio, we interviewed a man who goes around the old downtown district every year there with written pledges to various businesses.  He pledges to spend ‘X amount’ of money at their business during the year “…as long as they stay locally owned.”  And in Eureka, California, and Yellow Springs, Ohio, we learned about the successful dynamics of spirited public fights to keep big box stores out of the periphery of the town so the integrity of the downtown districts, with their small shops, was maintained.

            In Platteville, Wisconsin (pop. 9,983) we learned about perhaps one of the most creative downtown revitalization projects in the country.  Spearheaded by the Main Street Program, Inc., like in the “old days,” small business owners are moving in above their shops (“Main Street is becoming their “front yard,” town council member Bob Metzger told me.); downtown facades have been spruced up; town historic and cultural resources are being promoted; a weekly Farmer’s Market is underway…  “It’s getting closer to what it was years ago,” said Main Street Program coordinator Cheryl Zmina.  “It’s becoming a ‘community’ again.”

            And the list goes on and is reflected in a variety of other position papers in this section. But the point is this:

            stay small, and do the ‘right thing.’

            The Amish, for instance, stay small (don’t buy each other out to create bigger farms, bigger businesses) and regularly help each other out because, simply, it’s the right thing to do.  And across the board in America, it should be the same way, we believe.

            That is, we should move much more toward staying small and local (businesses, farms…) and make sure everyone has a chance to creatively work at the God-given vocation they’ve been given. There should be a return of the small family farm, en mass.  Ultra-competitiveness should be tempered with much more of a sense of social justice sharing.  The human dignity of the employee should trump bottom line profit margins.

            And, ultimately, the “American Dream,” should shift from it being about a myopic, fast-paced ascent to get as much as one possibly can, for him/herself.  But rather, the “American Dream” should be about making sure everyone has enough, and not just materially, but enough quality time to be with God, with family, with community.