DISTRIBUTISM OR CHINA, RUSSIA, INDIA AND AMERICA MIGHT DIE!

Distributism is built on the belief there should be a decentralized, wide spread ownership of the means of production in order to allow the majority of people to make their living without relying on using the property of others. It is the antithesis of Capitalism, Socialism or Communism.

Capitalism is at its roots a sort of an economic Darwinism, either producing well paid workers or exploiting them while destroying their dignity and freedom.  Often it leads to a plutocracy.  G.K. Chesterton said it well, "The problem with capitalism is that there are not enough capitalists."

Socialism and Communism are even worse as economic systems and ideologies springing as they do from Marxism which taken to its logical conclusion invariably leads to totalitarianism. 

In the words of Winston Churchill, “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”  Throwing in the wit and wisdom of Alexis de Tocqueville for good measure, “Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality.  But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”

Regarding Communism does it have any defenders left (no pun intended)? Really its failures are legion and so painfully self evident.

Distributism was designed by G.K. Chesterton and Hilarie Belloc in response to Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, Rerum Novarum, but please don’t obsess over its Catholic roots.  Faith builds on reason. By all means subject this economic theory to logic and investigate the facts.

I challenge anyone to dispute the wisdom of these words from Rerum Novarum (over a hundred years old but as fresh as this morning’s sunrise) and their application to reality.
“To labor is to exert oneself for the sake of procuring what is necessary for the various purposes of life, and chief of all for self preservation… If working people can be encouraged to look forward to obtaining a share in the land, the consequence will be that the gulf between vast wealth and sheer poverty will be bridged over, and the respective classes will be brought nearer to one another. A further consequence will result in the great abundance of the fruits of the earth. Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which belongs to them; nay, they learn to love the very soil that yields in response to the labor of their hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of good things for themselves and those that are dear to them. That such a spirit of willing labor would add to the produce of the earth and to the wealth of the community is self evident. And a third advantage would spring from this: men would cling to the country in which they were born, for no one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own afforded him the means of living a decent and happy life.”
Truth and common sense are the foundation Distributism is built on.  This is true sustainability long before it became a buzz word complete with the triple bottom line including genuine social equity!

Examples of Distributism would be not only farmers owning their own land and equipment or those skilled in the trades who own their own tools, but also Spain’s Mondragon Corporation a global industrial co-operative. 

It’s summed up concisely in their introduction on the company’s website:
“MONDRAGON Corporation is the embodiment of the co-operative movement that began in 1956, the year that witnessed the creation of the first industrial cooperative in Mondragón in the province of Gipuzkoa; its business philosophy is contained in its Corporate Values: Co-operation, Participation, Social Responsibility and Innovation.  The Corporation’s Mission combines the core goals of a business organization competing on international markets with the use of democratic methods in its business organization, the creation of jobs, the human and professional development of its workers and a pledge to development with its social environment. In terms of organization, it is divided into four areas: Finance, Industry, Distribution and Knowledge, and is today the foremost Basque business group and the seventh largest in Spain.”
In 2009, the United Steelworkers entered a framework agreement with MONDRAGON in order to create manufacturing cooperatives that married MONDRAGON’s worker ownership arrangement of “one worker, one vote” with collective bargaining principles, their goal being good paying jobs created by investing in workers and their communities. 

Employee Stock Ownership, Equity Compensation plans and co-ops where you belong, maybe even are employed yet without involvement with management, have similar elements but lack the key principles of Distributism which are ownership and management through the democratic participation and control of the workers plus a commitment to the common good.

Distributism has proved itself workable on both the micro and macro levels, where the jobs deliver good wages along with the dignity of ownership, employees are active and genuine stakeholders not only with a place at the table but together literally owning it.

Mondragon’s model is practical and visionary.  I will not be able to do it justice in such a short article but I’ll try to lay out how it operates under a form of Distributism.  It is an industrial co-operative.

Here is the basic structure of Mondragon according to its website:  

“As a business association, MONDRAGON’s activity is structured into four areas - Finance, Industry, Distribution and Knowledge – which function separately within a group strategy, coordinated by the Corporate Centre.

“The Finance area includes the activities of banking, social welfare and insurance. The Industry area consists of twelve Divisions specializing in the production of goods and services. The Distribution area includes commercial distribution and agro-food businesses, and the Knowledge area comprises Research Centres, a University with 4000 students and several Vocational Training and Education centres.”

“Each individual Cooperative is one of the building blocks in the organizational structure of  MONDRAGON, with the Congress being the supreme body for joint expression and sovereignty, with its Steering Committee as the highest management and representative body, whose duties include the election of the CEO. Those Cooperatives that operate within the same business sector comprise a Sectorial Group, with this in turn being part of the corresponding Division.”

Each Division is headed by a corporate Vice-president. The President of the General Council and the 14 Vice-Presidents, together with the Departmental Managers at the Corporate Centre make up MONDRAGON’s management bodies. The General Council is the body charged with drawing up, coordinating and applying corporate goals and strategies.

“In turn, the Standing Committee of the Cooperative Congress is the governing body whose mandate is to oversee and drive the implementation of the policies and agreements adopted by the Congress itself, permanently monitoring MONDRAGON’s business development and the management performance of the General Council’s Presidency. The Committee has 19 members chosen in representation of the Corporation’s various Divisions.”

“The Cooperative Congress is the supreme expression of the sovereignty and representation of MONDRAGON, being the equivalent of a General Meeting. It consists of 650 delegates who represent all the member cooperatives and its decisions are binding for each and every one of them.”

Using Mondragon as a starting point we can build a theoretical Distributist industrial co-operative.

To become a co-operative the company must be owned and operated by the workers with open membership and the democratic principle of one person one vote.  Workers are members of the General Assembly holding the full sovereignty of the co-operative ratifying and approving all major procedures policies and finances.

When a worker joins a co-operative they must purchase a capital holding in the company. The company could lend the worker money for their share at reasonable interest rates; deduct it from their earnings, or both. Their shares increase or possibly decrease over the years and when they leave or retire the company buys them back and they are given that money along with any pension or 401K earnings. It is important that only active workers own shares in the company otherwise they lose control to remote and possibly disinterested investors.  

Annually the company’s surplus earnings could be divided in the following manner (though figures may change except the percentage to the community): 10% goes to the community for charitable or other purposes to help the common good; 36% is reinvested into the company or savings while 52% is distributed to the workers according to their salaries and positions. 

Under one worker one vote a General Assembly elects a Governing Council which is a non-paid board that appoints a General Manager and works with that person to run the company.  The Governing Council has one person from each department, creates some sub-groups and a Social Council meeting the concerns of the workers and community.  The General Assembly ratifies everything including joining fees for new members and method of payment, general polices and strategies, approving the rate of interest on capital contributions, etc.   The CEO who is not usually a member of the co-op is often limited to a salary no more than 3 to 4 times greater than the average worker but in good years could receive bonuses while others have their capital shares increased.

I probably have missed something but you get the point.  There are many hybrids to use or try.   State, federal, and local laws will have to be designed to encourage worker owned co-ops and remove tax impediments.  Right now small businesses could be adapted to Distributism and many partnerships might already be operating as such.

Principles of Distributism are also applicable to public policy merged with subsidiarity and solidarity.

Subsidiarity is another concept originating in the Catholic Church.  Simply put subsidiarity wisely mandates in social doctrine that organizations exist to serve the individual so they should not interfere with what an individual can do on their own and larger societies should not usurp authority capably held by smaller ones. In governance, subsidiarity requires decisions and actions must devolve to the lowest practical level into the hands of the least complicated and smallest competent authority. Solidarity unites those with common interests, purpose or responsibilities and serves as the touchstone to determine the appropriate size of  the organization or government needed to effectively address the concern or accomplish the common objective.

Distributism, subsidiarity, and solidarity could address immigration and foreign aid to name just a few of the major challenges facing our nation and others across the globe.

Citing again Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum, “no one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own afforded him the means of living a decent and happy life.” 

Obviously a strong Mexican economy with a stable government would curtail the need to look for jobs and a better life in the United States.  Regarding the 11 million or so people residing in our country illegally we should establish a path to citizenship coupled with an effective guest worker program with reciprocal benefits for each nation and our immigration problem would be solved.

In Caritas in Veritate, Benedict XVI reminds us,   “Corruption and illegality are unfortunately evident in the conduct of the economic and political class in rich countries, both old and new, as well as in poor ones. Among those who sometimes fail to respect the human rights of workers are large multinational companies as well as local producers. International aid has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions both within the chain of donors and within that of the beneficiaries.”

Companies operating under Distributism would have the ability and guiding principles to deliver international aid efficiently and compassionately utilizing subsidiarity and solidarity.  Once emergency concerns were met the country in question could be empowered through education and a fair assessment of their economic strengths and natural resources.  Training them in Distributism would help build a sustainable local economy along with an international market when ready, under their own control stopping the exploitation by richer countries and breaking the cycle of ignorance and poverty.  Yes it would be a long process but anything worth doing is and restoring the dignity of a people ought to be the objective of every country in true solidarity of the human race.

Imagine a Haiti rebuilding itself into a sustainable, economically vibrant, and stable country.   Billions have been poured into it to little avail, but if a portion of those funds went into education, and training programs operating under principles based in natural law and applied through Distributism, progress would be made and dignity with economic justice restored!    And if it could happen in Haiti it could happen anywhere!

When I was young buying local, subsidiarity, and solidarity were a fact of life in our city neighborhood just like in other areas, urban, suburban and rural throughout the United States and other parts of the world.

We walked to local schools watched over by neighbors we knew and played in city parks supervised by caretakers whose names were as well known as the park.  Corner grocery markets abounded in our neighborhoods along with butcher shops, dairies, barbershops, beauty parlors, five and dimes (who remembers them), pharmacies with comic books and soda fountains (soda jerks were nice then, now too often there are real jerks in many big box stores), cleaners, tailors, gas stations (with real mechanics and pop machines), hardware stores, bait shops, and sometimes the doctor’s and dentist offices.  We could walk to the movie theaters and farmer’s market and every other day in summer, the ice cream cart and the singing farmer would come by with his truck packed with the fruit of the month.   He would sing “Strawberries, Strawberries, Chhheerrries!”  Local factories supported bars, restaurants, all of the other establishments and their employees raised good sized families. Obviously in those days we were sustainable.  Our city ran like clockwork operating its parks, pools, police, and fire departments fully staffed and repaired the roads all before the 1967 income tax was created.  Subsidiarity was the rule whether people recognized the term or not and efficiency the order of the day.  It had to be or things wouldn’t have worked.

Nascent Distributism lived in the partnership of small businesses operating on handshakes and honor.  Solidarity had families taking in the children of burned downed houses into their homes until the new house was ready or rebuilt. People fed neighbors as acts of friendships when they knew they needed it but preserved the recipients’ dignity by thanking them for taking the surplus food off their hands so it wasn’t wasted.   Anti-Labor Republican small businessmen created “work” for Democratic union members on strike. 

 Charity in Truth was always lived by many.

We look to the past and learn as the challenges of the future face us.

Distributism is a Third Way offering hope to America and to our Global brothers and sisters.  I have not done it justice in this article, but I believe it is the justice we need to do if we want prosperity, freedom and even peace.

Imagine the success of China, Russia and India if they embraced Distributism, built internal markets, created labor intensive industries producing quality goods, cleaned up their pollution, focused on sustainable agriculture, fishing and food production.  Distributism would also require ministering to their vulnerable, building real community by respecting human rights and defending life from the womb to the tomb. It would enhance the beauty of their ancient cultures and make them economic giants on the global stage.  Tourists flocking to their countries spending lavishly could fund a renaissance of arts returning them to the historical preeminence China, Russia, and India once enjoyed.

Instead if they keep imitating the worst of our materialism and continue to wallow in greed, incompetence, and corruption while poisoning their land and air, they will fall into an abyss of poverty, violence and disorder.  Without changing its current path and policies I give China less than 10 years to self destruct pulling neighboring countries down too including India.  Russia will not last much longer. War is often the fruit of such a fall.

Distributism must receive serious consideration from all concerned about our future. Economic vitality, justice and peace are all on the line if we ignore it.

I end with the words of Pope Benedict VI from Caritas in Veritate.

“All our knowledge, even the most simple, is always a minor miracle, since it can never be fully explained by the material instruments that we apply to it. In every truth there is something more than we would have expected, in the love that we receive there is always an element that surprises us. We should never cease to marvel at these things. In all knowledge and in every act of love the human soul experiences something “over and above”, which seems very much like a gift that we receive, or a height to which we are raised. The development of individuals and peoples is likewise located on a height, if we consider the spiritual dimension that must be present if such development is to be authentic. It requires new eyes and a new heart, capable of rising above a materialistic vision of human events, capable of glimpsing in development the “beyond” that technology cannot give. By following this path, it is possible to pursue the integral human development that takes its direction from the driving force of charity in truth.”


Therein lays the hope of Distributism.  

ALWAYS THANK THOSE WHO PROTECT AND SERVE

Protecting and serving.

I was raised with the children of police officers and fire fighters. My parents always taught us to respect those professions. Mom often said when the spouse of a police officer or fire fighter kisses them good bye leaving for a shift, it may be the last time they see them alive.

It sticks in your mind and it’s true. Yet some people forget. They forget.

Protecting and serving.

Mom lived in England during the bombings of World War II.    Uncle Tom fought in Burma, Uncle Albert with Field Marshall Montgomery, and Uncle Joe was with the RAF. She adored her hero brothers and loved but sort of looked down on her cousin Arthur who never went OFF to war.  He didn’t need to-Arthur was a fire fighter.  Every day he fought fires after the bombing raids, yet never said anything just did his job. One day Arthur risked his life and saved the victims of a firebombed building. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last, but it was the first time Mom heard about it. Arthur didn’t talk about. It was his job, what he did every day.  Mom learned there were heroes constantly protecting us, the Hometown Guardians of the police and fire departments. It stuck in Mom’s mind forever and it was true. Yet some people forget. They forget.

Protecting and serving.

There are seminal events in the lives’ of every generation burned into your memory so vividly even the erosion of time never erases them. When they happen, where you are and who you are with stays with you forever.  For my folks and Grandparents where they were when World War II started, for Mom it was 1939, for Dad it was Pearl Harbor, the death of President Roosevelt and the nomination and election of John F. Fitzgerald Kennedy our first Catholic President.  I remember when JFK got the nomination Dad went out and we all stayed up splurging on Cheeseburgers from the new place called McDonalds.  It is only partially true that I’m responsible for a billion of what they sold after that but in those days it was still only 6 million on their sign.

We baby boomers remember JFK’s election and then his death, along with the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby.  The whole world also watched in July of 69 as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon.

For everyone currently 15 years or older September 11, 2001 when the Twin Towers came down, our Pentagon was attacked, and the passengers of Flight 93 sacrificed their lives stopping terrorists in a Pennsylvania Field was one of those unforgettable days.

Firefighters and police officers on duty and those off duty who came to help ran into those burning buildings and some never came out.  It was their job. It’s what they do. It sticks in your mind and it’s true. Yet some people forget. They forget.

Law enforcement and fire fighters from throughout America came to assist their New York brethren. The work was hazardous with the search and recovery conditions dangerous and toxic.  It was their job. It’s what they do. It sticks in your mind and it’s true. Yet some people forget. They forget.

Protecting and serving.

In the early morning of July 8, 2007 Grand Rapids Police Officer Robert Kozminski heroically responded to a family’s call for help and was killed in the line of duty by a coward with a shotgun.  The entire community embraced Officer Kozminski’s surviving family and little daughter.  Law enforcement officers from across our state and country came to pay him tribute as the color guard from his own GRPD kept watch over his casket and to attend the funeral.  Police Chief Harry Dolan led his department in the burial of one of their, one of our own.  I had the honor of riding in the funeral procession as we drove through the streets of Grand Rapids Northwest neighborhoods as hundreds lined the streets honoring our slain hero with flags, salutes, and tears. I’ll never forget being at the funeral Mass and graveside service. The Grand Rapids Fire Fighters erected a huge American Flag at the cemetery entrance with trucks and personnel joining other city employees present parading in solidarity with our Police Department.  Every member of our GRPD and their families knew it could have been one of them instead of Koz. Yet, it was their job. It’s what they do. It sticks in your mind and it’s true. Yet some people forget. They forget.

Protecting and serving.

Late May 2008, an Aero Med Helicopter crashes on the top of Spectrum Butterworth Hospital in Downtown Grand Rapids. Fuel leaking, flames blazing-fire fighters raised up the stairs joined by some off duty members and Fire Investigator Pablo Martinez days away from retirement, not even knowing his son was on the scene too.  Into the unknown they went, but the fire was extinguished and lives saved. Police and other emergency personnel were there too doing their duty as always.  None of them thinking about their own safety, it’s their job. It’s what they do. It sticks in your mind and it’s true. Yet some people forget. They forget.

Protecting and serving.

Yesterday a disturbed maniac slaughtered 7 people on the north end of Grand Rapids, went on a shooting rampage throughout the city, led police officers on a treacherous high speed chase, abandoned his vehicle, broke into another home and held three people hostage while police negotiators worked to save them.  They did.  Except for the killer taking his own life, no one else died because of the courage, competence, and professionalism of the City of Grand Rapids Police officers, fire fighters, dispatchers, and other public safety personnel along with law enforcement enforcement officers from our federal, state, county, and surrounding communities. We are one Kent- when and where it counts- in cooperation when help is needed.  Love and support are not limited by political jurisdictions. It’s a day people will not forget.

What happened with the murders yesterday wasn’t Grand Rapids.  The actions of our heroic public servants and the prayers, support and healing that will come from our caring community is!   

Exactly one week ago our family welcomed the birth of our grandchild Emily Grace and all we thought about was life.

I cannot imagine the sorrow of losing loved ones in such a fashion through murder and suicide.  Our prayers go out to all of the families involved and they will know the love of this great community.  They will heal and meet their loved ones again.

The neighborhood where these murders happened is where we raised our children. It is still a great place to raise children! Bad things happen to good people everywhere and can happen to anyone.

We don’t focus on how people died but how they lived.  Jennifer Heeren, 29, her daughter   Kamrie Dantzler, 12, and her parents, Thomas, 51, Rebecca Heeren, 52 along with Amanda Emkens, 27; Amanda’s Daughter Marissa Emkens, 10; and Amanda’s sister Kimberlee Emkens, 23 killed in yesterday’s tragedy will be remembered for their lives and love not the manner of  their death. We mourn for the living, the dead are beyond any harm and safe in Our Savior’s arms.  Even their killer has a chance of mercy much to the dismay of the evil one. The Blood of the Lamb was shed for all. 

As for our heroes, a bit of them died yesterday with the victims and their killer, just like every tragedy they witness or prevent takes its toll.  The killer’s name is broadcast around the world yet the majority of people will never know the names of those who protected with them with their  very lives yesterday as they do every day. That ok with them. It’s their job. It is what they do.

Protecting and serving. It should stick in your mind because it’s true.  It’s their job. It is what they do.

We should remember that always and never forget. Don’t let any people forget!

EMILY GRACE, THE LAST DINOSAUR AND THE FOURTH OF JULY

Carl Sandberg said, “A baby is God’s opinion that the life should go on.”  It’s also the only way a nation can continue. Without children there is no future and a country failing to realize that truth is doomed.

Five days before the anniversary of America’s birth God made His opinion known through the life of my new Granddaughter Emily Grace Wheeler.  She bears one of the more pronounceable surnames of her many ancestors but as they said about the Poet Sandberg, she is "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."

Emily’s DNA reflects the story of America.  Three races, nearly a dozen ethnicities, immigrants and Native American’s with all of their collective histories on this continent and others flow through her bloodlines.  All were united by one thing becoming Americans one way or another.

Some came with Cadillac to found Detroit. Some were already living here and some came in deathly ships as kidnapped slaves. Others came through Ellis Island looking for the American Dream or as the spouse of an American soldier.  Some were fleeing starvation in Ireland. Some were refugees from Hitler’s concentration camps and Stalin’s aggression.

Emily’s roots in this country are deep and old yet her heritage is global.  Nothing is more American.

Simply be being born in her parent’s hometown Emily is by the power of the highest law of the land a citizen of the greatest nation on the face of the earth with all the rights and responsibilities such a privilege entails. Babies born the same day at the same time just as healthy, innocent and loved in various countries throughout the world face starvation, war, disease, and other horrors, will never see their first birthday and we all will be the worse because of it. Emily will be raised with an attitude of gratitude and learn with every right there is a corresponding responsibility.

Next month she will baptized by her priest Uncle into the Faith many members of her family have held for centuries and learn Grace is not simply her middle name. It will build on the nature of Emily as she learns the Cross is the key to salvation along with Matthew 25, faith and reason work together to find Truth, the vulnerable, poor and innocent must always be defended, justice is required and Mercy is demanded.  Yet with a diversity of family beliefs she will know our Father’s house has many mansions and though words are important actions speak louder.  Emily Grace will also know the Mother of God. Lastly she will be told no person can ever be too kind, too forgiving or love too much and that God is Love.  Emily has the liberty to be fully Catholic and fully American!

If you could sum up the essence of America in only one word, it would be Liberty. No other nation cherishes or protects freedom like America.  Freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, freedom to petition the Government for a redress of grievances and the most precious of all---- freedom of speech. 

Without free speech nothing else would matter.  Free speech gives us the power to exercise all the other freedoms.   Without it we wouldn’t have the words or thoughts to operate a free press, call for a peaceful assembly, petition our Government or even form our own prayers.

Her parents and others will teach Emily this and that this freedom we celebrate was purchased by the blood of heroes, many from her own family, and she must never forget such a debt and remember it forever. She will also learn freedom must be exercised under the prudence of a well-formed conscience or it’s not real freedom at all. 

Most important of all Emily will know laughter and understand its healing power.  She will learn laughing at herself and WITH others is the only way to feel its pure joy and power.  Without a sense of humor life doesn’t make sense.

And I pray for many years, though that is not up to me or her, this Grandpa will hear Emily laugh at many 4th of July family parties and firework displays and indulge my stories of family Independence Days past and that someday she reads the Fourth of July Reflections of the Last Dinosaur.

Happy Fourth Em!  They hate it when I call her that but it doesn’t stop me, a Grandfather has privileges.

Independence Day or the 4th of July is one of the few major American holidays where the date is central to the celebration. New Year’s Day and Veteran’s Day on November 11th are the two others. Thanks to Congress and commerce Memorial Day has become a movable feast. Even the commemoration of arguably our most famous holiday Christmas on December 25th is not a result of the direct birthday of Christ but the Roman Catholic Church’s designation of its observance and the Eastern rite Churches celebrate the sacred event on the Epiphany, January 6th.

After all birthdays cannot be changed, and the 4th of July is the birthday of the United States of America now 235 years old, certainly worth a major celebration. From coast to coast in cities large and small parades, picnics, and community events will honor the anniversary of our country’s Declaration of Independence. Dogs and suds, hamburgers and sodas will be consumed with gyros, pizza, kielbasa, tamales, egg rolls, Italian sausage, pita bread with hummus and other delights now part of our nation’s rich culture and as American as the Red, White, and Blue!

At dusk citizens will gather for spectacular displays of fireworks exploding across our nation’s skies. A great time will be had by all and people will go to bed believing the observance was done right.

But was it? The ritual was there. What about the reverence? Do most really know what they were celebrating and commemorating?

Things have changed even over my lifetime. How many people, especially young ones, can recite the Declaration of Independence or even parts of it?

Would they know who wrote and signed it? Where and when? Of course everyone, yes even Sara Palin and Al Franken, would say July 4th and get 1776 right, but I doubt Philadelphia would be remembered as where.

To many, Ethan Allen is a furniture company and John Hancock sells insurance. History is forgotten and we are suffering for it.

A birthday after all is not just an anniversary of when a person was born, but the celebration of their life. The same is true of a country, or should be. Is it though? I wager most Americans, again even the former Governor of Alaska and the junior Senator from Minnesota, if asked what Independence Day means will answer freedom.

That speaks to our nation’s character about our fundamental beliefs and what we stand for as a people. Even after all these years Americans realize Independence represents freedom and that is a good thing. If you ask them what kind of freedom, many will say freedom from an all-powerful and tyrannical government and then rattle off the bill rights confusing the Declaration with the Constitution, an honest mistake made by many elective officials that should know better. A large number would say the freedom to be left alone another deep seated American belief and not too different from the original founders.

Still people nowadays confuse liberty with license, forgetting with rights come responsibilities something those men in Philadelphia who signed the Declaration understood extremely well.

When I was young (yeah I know I sound like a fogey but as a Baby Boomer we think everything happens in context to us so when we were young everyone was) the Greatest Generation was in their prime. They had conquered in World War II, got a draw in Korea, and were building the best economy the world had ever known and one of their own was in the White House. Patriotism and American exceptionalism were at their zenith and even the Moon and stars seemed within reach. On the 4th of July in the early ’60s celebrations and parades were attended and participated in by Americans that understood the true meaning of freedom and the Declaration of Independence. The Spirit of 76 lived.

Heroes of Normandy, Anzio, Midway and other legendary battles marched with uniforms that still mostly fit and in their footsteps walked cub and boy scouts in awe following the footsteps of giants we loved and wanted to be like. Over the years we have lost our way at times, but it seems whenever we can find those old footprints they still take us in the right direction.

When flags passed we saluted if we were in uniform and placed our hand over our heart when wearing ordinary clothes. In school we were taught about the American spy Nathan Hale and how he regretted “only having but one life to give for my country,” Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, the ride of Paul Revere, Washington crossing the Delaware, Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence, John Nixon first reading of it publicly. We had to memorize it ourselves.

Does that happen today? If not maybe it should.

Now especially when politicians, parties, and movements try to highjack our founding fathers and documents for their own purposes, history needs to be studied and remembered. Not just for our own sake but for the sake of future generations.

In the heart of the Declaration of Independence below we find our compass. May we forever follow its guidance as it charts for us the course of true freedom.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

America and its foundation belongs to us all. The principles put forth in the Declaration and Constitution are worth dying for, but they are also worth living for and living up to. Happy Fourth of July!

DON’T BLAME OUR WORKERS!

Blaming justly compensated workers and their fringe benefits for Michigan and America’s fiscal woes is the popular battle cry trumpeted by corporate kingpins, desperate office holders, and out of touch editorial boards throughout our state and nation.

Viewing our current economic straits from that perspective combines the historical accuracy of Oliver Stone with the compassion of Simon Cowell. Throw in the honesty of Bernie Madoff for good measure. It’s better fantasy than Harry Potter. 

Following this line of mythology lower paid workers with no benefits, or unions to look out for them, are our paths to progress in the 21st Century. That’s a line our citizens are too smart to buy, but that doesn’t keep talk show demagogues or corporate shills from trying to sell it.

Why is it that too many corporations, city commissions and councils, college trustees, public school boards, and other entities public and private hire their CEOs at top dollar, with lucrative multi-year contracts, complete with golden parachutes and generous expense allowances after costly national searches conducted by high paid headhunters usually outsourced from a different state or city? 

Freshly hired head honchos then quickly recruit their own staff of lavishly paid and perked administrators, usually aided by the same consultants who chose them.  Of course these “experts” are once again paid handsomely for their superfluous services.  All this is done in the name of getting the very best people with the reasoning being—YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR AND TO GET THE VERY BEST WORKERS YOU MUST PAY THEM THE BEST SALARY WITH THE BEST BENEFIT PACKAGE!  Really, why then doesn’t that logic apply to the essential people actually doing the work? 

Ironically, these overpaid layers of novices are often charged with cutting costs and increasing productivity.  How about leadership by example starting with the ones being paid the most and who are the least essential?  I know it makes too much sense and besides it would distract us from the easy scapegoating of workers as the problem. 

In Michigan our State Senate and Lieutenant Governor took this absurdity to an even higher level by defeating an amendment limiting the salary of an Emergency Manager appointed to take control of (and oddly enough be paid by) a nearly insolvent city or school district to no more than the statutorily required amount paid to Michigan’s Governor which would be a nice sum of about $177,000.  Their reasoning of course was we might not get anyone to do the job at such a low price.  Our personally wealthy Governor Rick Snyder accepts only a dollar annually from taxpayers and I would submit he is worth every penny!

Reality check time folks, stressed out, underpaid workers aren’t as productive and the taxes they pay cannot sustain our local, state or federal governments. 

How do these urban economic legends grow? Far too easily, I’m afraid.

Start with a grain of a truth; throw in a large amount of stereotyping and scapegoating; sprinkle on a heavy dose of exaggeration; fertilize with the manure of demagoguery; and nurture it all with greed and selfishness and over time you will reap a bountiful crop of deceit.

Let’s deconstruct this myth.

Over and over again the lie is repeated. Well paid workers with pensions, health insurance, safety regulations and other fringe benefits are the reason our economy collapsed. It falls apart quickly in the face of historical facts and evidence.

Michigan’s once legendary economy resulted from the energy, creativity, and diligence of our workers. The Arsenal of Democracy and the manufacturing giant envied by the world wasn’t created by over paid and underworked sloths interested only in union organizing.

Henry Ford was a selfish, miserly, bigot but he was smart enough to build a product his workers could produce and afford to buy. Granted the unions helped him along after a bitter struggle, but Ford recognized the buying power of workers and the multiplying effect on our economy. If labor and management join together in mutual respect nothing is impossible to achieve in business or government.

Rather than hurting the economy, organized labor worked with business to build the middle class. Buying power of fairly compensated employees drove the economic engine of success. That’s the reason Detroit once led the nation in single family home ownership. Employee heath care coverage ensured productivity and high morale. Life insurance prevented financial calamities and kept survivors whole and society secure. Earned pensions improved the quality of life and provided security in the golden years. Our strong tax base gave us effective state and local government services: superb public safety; wonderful recreational opportunities; a strong infrastructure system of free highways, good roads, and secure bridges; thriving and stable communities with excellent public school systems.  Michigan was a state people flocked to as a great place to live, work and raise a family.  No one builds a solid foundation of commerce with a low paid and demoralized work force.

What happened to Michigan’s economy?

The Federal government blundered into free trade agreements skewered to the benefits of other countries and multinational corporations placing American manufacturers at an unfair disadvantage. Our well trained and highly skilled workforce can compete against any country in the world on an even playing field, but that doesn’t exist. Instead they face products made by prison, child, and even slave labor. Lax, unenforced, or entirely absent safety rules and environmental standards aided and abetted at times by corrupt governments permit foreign manufacturers a decidedly lower cost advantage over their American competitors.  Though some of our foreign competitors facing rising energy, transportation, and even labor costs and are in danger of losing some of their price advantage. Heaven knows they can’t match our quality.  So they are exploiting the resources and workers of even poorer countries to hold unto the low prices needed for profit.  Do we really want to join them in this race to the bottom at the cost of human rights and environmental destruction?

Even the American consumer doesn’t benefit from these trade laws. Low quality imports such as toxic toys from China are recalled weekly and health problems often result from contaminated agricultural products from other countries.

Corporate America’s unbridled greed, incompetence, and reckless spending also helped crash the economy. Gamblers on Wall Street and their bank buddies risked everything, lost, and received a huge taxpayer bailout.

Yet the mantra continues it is the worker’s wages and benefits bringing America down.

Are labor unions perfect? Of course not. They’re run by fallible human beings subject to the same weaknesses, corruption, and stupidity as their corporate counterparts.

Too often used as easy scapegoats to cover management mistakes, there are still times when concessions of hard won wages and benefits are warranted to ensure an employer’s and their own economic vitality. The evidence of their cooperation during this recession are many, but when management moves overseas, not because they are losing money but because their greed demands more, the lost purchasing power of the workers triggers a downward spiral in the economy and destroys the tax base for every level of government negatively impacting the quality of life in our communities.

Nowadays the social justice accomplishments of organized labor and the sacrifices made by union pioneers are often forgotten or taken for granted.

Every working person in America has been positively affected by the work rules, safety standards and wage and hour regulations achieved by organized labor, not to mention progress in civil rights and other areas.

Does anyone really believe American’s standard of living was beneficently granted by the captains of corporate America?  Though I readily acknowledge there are some generous union and non-union company owners who value their workers. Sadly they have never been the majority and deteriorate often when ownership changes -generational or otherwise.

Labor unions provided the balance assuring workers rights and wages became part of achieving the American dream for everyone.

One final word on union work forces, scan the news in Michigan and you will find more stories of collaboration and cooperation than examples of confrontation.

Where there is labor unrest it more often takes the form of lock-outs where willing workers are denied the

opportunity to do their jobs by management rather than work stoppage by the employees.

Since a large number of public employees are members of organized labor, responsibility for the bleeding governmental budgets at all levels are blamed of course on workers wages and benefits.

Newly elected cadres of Governors are using pliable legislators and willing local elected officials to cut wages and benefits of public employees and limit or in some states eliminate their collective bargaining rights completely. 

An unfortunate outright state of wages and benefits war exists between elected leaders and public employees in too many parts of our country dividing the nation to no one’s benefit.  Both sides have been guilty of stupid excesses.   

Citizens fired up by elected demogues hurl insults at dedicated public servants who protect them, teach their children or make their state and communities decent places to live and work in countless ways. People need to be educated in facts and courtesy.  Some union members have gotten in the faces of legislators and blocked or tried to prevent them from carrying out their elected duties.  Intimidation wins nothing, plays into stereotypes, and makes the victim look like a hero on the news. Profanity and vulgarity let off steam but takes the wind out of your argument.  Debate civilly with facts, using reason in a verbal version of Aikido and you can leave your opponent disarmed, defeated and if you do it with the right touch of razor sharp, but gentle wit, even laughing.

Taking to the streets means non-violent demonstrations with intelligent speakers eloquently laying out the facts infused with truth and justice.  Moral authority and servant leadership enabled Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and union leaders to win victories in civil rights and labor.  It’s also one of the reasons why the labor movement in America was never seduced and corrupted by communism. Rights are won because they are natural rights.  Fear of lost income and falling standards of living have infected many resulting in some aberrant behavior.   Genuine civic leaders need to cool passions with sincere dialogue and logic not inflame them with political platitudes to fuel future ambitions.

Instead of looking for strategic ways to address structural problems, elected officials want the focus off their incompetence and join the familiar chorus of worker blame. Editorial boards spurred on by business leaders and opportunistic politicians are now even calling for an end to the binding arbitration process operated by professionally qualified impartial arbitrators glibly pronouncing since they believe the arbitrators must take turns being fair to everyone or they lose their jobs they can’t be called impartial any longer. Where is the evidence of their convoluted logic?

If there is a system of justice operating effectively for years and you have valid concerns then amend it, don’t end it!

Police and firefighters, the protectors of our communities putting their lives on the line daily to protect and serve, have no other recourse for justice except for Public Act 312 in Michigan and similar protections in other states that established an unbiased arbitration system.  It is not used often and they certainly don’t win every time, so why deprive them of their only mechanism of due process when it comes to labor contracts?

America can’t survive as a superpower or remain an economic giant without manufacturing products.  Historically, even wars are won by the side with the strongest industrial base. Governments run effectively with a competent well trained and experienced workforce.

Government trade policies promoting free and fair trade coupled with strategic investments in research and

development, along with high tech workforce training and a commitment to affordable quality education is the recipe to rebuild our economy.

When the high paying jobs return so will Michigan’s and our Nation’s economy and tax base. High paid workers with their buying power and tax paying ability are the solution, not the problem.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ELECTED LEADERS OF NO MERCY, MICHIGAN FORMERLY KNOWN AS KENTWOOD,MICHIGAN

Dear Mayor Root, Commissioner Cummings and the remainder of the Unforgiving Five:

It has been a week since our last communication regarding your bizarre proposal to amend the governing document of your city after realizing there dwells an ex-felon amongst you.

The only reply I received was a thoughtful and courteous one from Commissioner Brinks clarifying a comment but failing to give a justifiable reason for placing this unnecessary proposal on the ballot.

It does not surprise me that no other member of the Commission responded especially the self- proclaimed leaders of this unneeded and vindictive proposal, Richard Root and Frank Cummings.  You have both beat your chests against ex- felons publicly throughout the media and not one of you have a salient reason for this measure. Mayor Root your public bragging about the City of Kentwood not evening hiring felons is taking even your bigotry on this issue to a new level.

Why Mayor Root and Commissioner Cummings have you launched this preemptive war?  Based on your belief in WMD(Waves of Moral Delinquents) that don’t exist. Where is the threat except from a self- righteous, misguided or possibly malicious City Commission sending a message of no mercy and no second chances to ex-cons seeking to turn their lives around or attempting to become involved in public service?  Unfortunately the casualties of this unjust war are confused citizens, the credibility of its elected leaders, and Kentwood itself.

Commissioner Cummings you claimed in a Grand Rapids Press story, (Felons could be barred from elected office in Kentwood June 7, 2011) “residents expect certain standards from their elected from their elected officials and for them to perform their duties with honesty.”   Indeed they do sir! Do you and Mayor Root meet those standards on this bogus issue? You continue to blithely bloviate on, “By allowing convicted felons as elected members, it creates what he called an embarrassment to the city and damages Kentwood’s credibility.” Again sir you are the problem you claim to solve.

Not to be outdone and to assert his Mayoral Leadership over this trumped-up crisis in the aforementioned article Mayor McCheesy, er Root proclaims  from his throne high upon Mount Moralympus, “ it is a question of people expecting higher standards from elected officials.”  You mean like intellectual honesty and not voting for unnecessary laws for purely personal political purposes.  An act that could be interpreted as a blatant abuse of your official office and power.

Let’s examine something absent from the Kentwood City Commission’s deliberations on vote on this subject-the actually facts.

FACT ONE:  There does not appear to be a growing number of convicted felons seeking office in the City of Kentwood and if they did it is unlikely they would win many elections “Aha!” scream Root and Cummings, “ but they did! They did! They elected..uh never mind. But we need a law.” (Note to the Mayor and Commissioner I-KNOW-YOU-DID –NOT –SAY-THIS-IT-IS-A-JOKE)

However it’s obvious the Commissioner in question is Ray VerWys.  You are aiming it at him and a closer examination of the facts will make it painfully obvious, but my opposition to it is not about him. Though this is clearly a political move against someone the voters elected knowing his record, but I digress and will address this later.

Back to FACT ONE: Does the Kentwood City Commission really believe the voters  are not capable of deciding the best person to represent them?

Present company excluded of course.

FACT TWO:  Last year the citizens of the State of Michigan voted to Amend our Constitution and it is now state law:

Make a person ineligible for election or appointment to any state or local elective office or to hold a position in public employment in this state that is policy-making or has discretionary authority over public assets, if:

* within the preceding 20 years, the person was convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust; and

* the conviction was related to the person's official capacity while holding any elective office or position of employment in local, state or federal government.

Is that not sufficient protection or is the ROOT-CUMMINGS NO MERCY CHARTER  AMENDMENT still necessary to save the poor citizens of Kentwood from their own decision making processes?

FACT THREE: This is the most revealing of them and the saddest but completely  true.  In 2002 a sitting Kentwood City Commissioner was convicted of soliciting for prostitution. I will not drag his name into this for he has paid for his crime and unlike Root and Cummings I believe in forgiveness and redemption.  At the time Mayor Root you rightfully called for his resignation. However when he refused you huffed and puffed about  placing a morals clause in the city charter but nothing happened and the city survived and THAT WAS A REAL EMBARASSMENT AND THREAT TO THE KENTWOOD CITY COMMISSION’S HIGH STANDARDS AND CREDIBILITY. Commissioner Cummings, you sir the leader of this charge against  someone who admitted his crime and paid his dues yet voters still chose him over an incumbent, you were pretty silent then. WHY??

If you REALLY CARED about the City and all of your phony arguments you could have urged a recall or asked the Governor to remove him from office.  Under the State of Michigan’s Constitution the Governor had then and still has the power:

§ 10 Removal or suspension of officers; grounds, report.

Sec. 10. The governor shall have power and it shall be his duty to inquire into the condition

and administration of any public office and the acts of any public officer, elective or appointive.

He may remove or suspend from office for gross neglect of duty or for corrupt conduct in office,

or for any other misfeasance or malfeasance therein, any elective or appointive state officer,

except legislative or judicial, and shall report the reasons for such removal or suspension to the

legislature.

History: Const. 1963, Art. V, §10, Eff. Jan. 1, 1964.

Former Constitution: See Const. 1908, Art. IX, §7.

§ 11 Provisional appointments to fill vacancies due to suspension.

Sec. 11. The governor may make a provisional appointment to fill a vacancy occasioned by

the suspension of an appointed or elected officer, other than a legislative or judicial officer,

until he is reinstated or until the vacancy is filled in the manner prescribed by law or this

constitution.

History: Const. 1963, Art. V, §11, Eff. Jan. 1, 1964.

FACT THREE  kind of exposes all of this as hypocrisy and political games by Mayor Root and Commissioner Cummings. 

I respectfully urge the remainder of  the Aye votes to move for reconsideration of this needless amendment.

As President John Adam’s states,  “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and evidence.”

The facts are not on the side of Mayor Root and Commissioner Cummings but fear and ignorance are, which is why even as a non-resident I’m speaking out.  Such poison spreads fast when allowed to go unchallenged.

Perhaps I am too passionate on issues but when I see a measure being fed by fear, ignorance, and petty politics I cannot be silent. Not that my advocacy will change things, but I always fight for what I believe in and hopefully others in the greater Grand Rapids community will raise their voices in the name of mercy and justice.

Ultimately this is not about Ray VerWys alone or even all the ex-felons Mayor Root brags about not employing. It is about mercy, forgiveness and redemption.

Here is the Preamble to your City Charter:

“We, the people of the City of Kentwood, by the grace of God, and pursuant to authority granted by the constitution and laws of the State of Michigan, in order to secure the benefits of local self-government, and otherwise promote our common interests and welfare, ordain and establish this Charter.”

Dei Gratia, by the Grace of God recognizing a higher power.  Hey it is your city charter not mine.  It seems to me His standards are even higher than those in the gospels of Root and Cummings.  “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Father forgive them, they know not what they are doing.”  You all know and that is scary!

Aristotle and Aquinas  both regarded forgiveness as a virtue.  In a Root/Cummings world is virtue no longer welcome? According to Reason or Religion you are wrong on this matter.

You need to quit playing politics with mercy and forgiveness. Surely you have more important things to do than trample redemption and second chances?  If not you need to get out of the way and let compassion and competent leaders take over.

On your homepage Mayor Root you declare, ““We have, and will continue to work together to maintain a high quality of life, building a sense of community where businesses and families proudly say “My address is Kentwood, Michigan.”

This amendment destroys community by exclusion and bigotry tearing down Kentwood and not building it up.

 In the West Michigan STRATEGIC ALLIANCE document which Kentwood claims to support © 2009 Published April, 2009. It clearly states: “The Second Chance Job Project, led by Legal Aid of Western Michigan,

received a 2008 funding award from WIRED. It is designed to improve prisoner reentry into the workforce by educating the region’s employers on the value of hiring ex-offenders, while also challenging common misconceptions. Second Chance will hold employer recruitment seminars and job placement trainings and will coordinate with the Reentry Employment Resource Center (RERC) on the placement of the ex-offenders into the workforce to build our talent pool and preserve critical state resources. Michigan currently spends more than $36,000 per year to house and supervise each prisoner.”  Perhaps Kentwood opposes this, but you should let the rest of West Michigan know that NO MERCY, Michigan doesn’t believe in Second Chances!

Commissioner Brown you did your thinking now it is time to act with wisdom.

 Commissioners we all make mistakes, admit this one.  Use moral courage, intellectual honesty and common sense. Move to reconsider and kill this nonsense in its tracks and it will be forgotten.  Let this senseless fear mongering  be pursued and your city will be a punch line while this drags on and on and all who support it will have a blotch on their record that will be indefensible.

Any of you are welcome on my radio program and here is last week’s show where Kentwood was roundly roasted for this misguided measure.  http://www.publicrealityradio.org/programs/tuesdays-with-tormala/episodes/no-second-chances-in-kentwood

simulcast on 1680 AM and 95.3 FM and streaming live on http://www.publicrealityradio.org/ . You would be treated with civility but tough questions. If you can justify this nonsense  call in 656-1680 between 10AM to noon and they will put you through.

I hope you see the light especially since this is such a mean spirited action and embarrasses your city.

Please reconsider you ‘ll be forgiven, everyone deserves a second chance.

Rick