A ‘Next Big’ Idea: Civic Entrepreneurism

As I have argued in prior posts, crisis offers liberation and it is indeed time to reboot “We the People.”   But, how do we do that?  Does the combative divisiveness and invective of the Tea Party or Moveon.org provide any answers?  Will Obama’s State of the Union address illuminate new pathways to what David Brooks calls “dynamic optimism?”[1]  Is Sarah Palin poised to launch a campaign of patriotic renewal?  I doubt it.  Rebooting America will be accomplished one entrepreneur at a time.  One of the ‘next big’ ideas is civic entrepreneurism.

Civic entrepreneurism embraces the retreat of government services in the face of economic decline.  Its biggest markets are municipal, county, state (and eventually) federal programs.  California – historically an entrepreneur’s dream – remains a golden state of opportunity. Civic entrepreneurs form for-profit, non-governmental organizations to provide essential services formerly provided by government.  Their rewards are both social and economic.  They are part mercenary, part altruistic; and they provide enormous opportunity for those displaced during the Great Recession and those looking for a long and productive career.

While some will no doubt argue against civic entrepreneurs as invasive privatization of the public sector, their arguments fall short given the reality of government’s necessary abandonment of such services.  Civic entrepreneurs should take a close look at state and municipal government budgets to identify those ‘essentials’ that are now available to be filled by private enterprise.   Existing infrastructure – built by government agencies – may even be available for purchase for cents on the dollar, and staff may be in place, or re-hired to launch the new service provider.

Tomorrow night, Obama will be announcing the ‘freeze’ of government expenditures on certain programs for three years.  California’s woes are well documented.  There are few, if any, states, counties, or municipalities that are able to meet their existing public obligations.  It is time for entrepreneurs – the backbone of America – to step in and fill the void. ‘Public goods’ are the next private enterprise.

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[1] David Brooks, ‘Populist Addiction,’ New York Times, January 26, 2010

Rebooting “We the People”

“We the People” of the United States of America are in trouble.  Our democratic experiment is in peril, dominated by demagoguery and corruption.  The concerns of our Founding Fathers have come to fruition as ‘errant man’ has prevailed in the institutionalization of mercenary-grade rapacity.  Congress continues to get nothing done (albeit at great expense), and our Supreme Court has now put the final nail in the coffin of our liberal democracy by ruling that our Constitution really meant to read “We the Corporations”.  While liberty was once our common bond, anger has taken its place. Unless we find a way to reboot our democratic values we will soon enter the Pantheon of former superpowers.

While this may sound like a jeremiad, we have got to find a way out of this.  Our government still has power and money, but no longer has its people; who have and always will be its principal source of strength. If anyone could have succeeded in rebooting our democracy, President Obama arguably had the best shot, but a wide mandate evaporated in the quagmire of Washington DC.  Someday we may come to realize Obama was the canary in the coal mine; a sign that bright young leadership could no longer produce reform and renewal.  The system is ungovernable. It now exists as little more than a host for parasites.

Smart people with big money – Goldman Sachs – have made their risk assessment and are deeply discounting the capacity of the United States government.  While many rail against what they believe is a greedy behemoth, the reality is the folks at Goldman are simply doing a better job of pursuing their self-interest.  And, they have made their bet: they don’t believe the government can do anything to govern them.  They know what the rest of us are now realizing; our government – once a model for the free world – has a terminal case of constipation, which has immobilized its power. The partners at Goldman Sachs know they will always be able to out-smart and out-maneuver regulators in Washington.

            There is a way out, however, thanks in part to new technologies that offer us new ways to form new modes of collective action.  While our government may be entering a slow but certain period of entropy, we have the capacity to form new relationships and associations to solve seemingly intractable problems.  The solution starts by taking a page out of Goldman Sachs’ game plan and learn to ignore our government.  Turn our back and, to the extent possible, quit feeding/funding the monster it has become.  Each of us must pick an objective – education, healthcare, alternative fuels, security, communication, technology, whatever.  Set out to organize those with common interests – whether or not they too are Americans.  When a solution is found, pursue its execution with all the energy and resources available – with or without government support or approval.

            “We the People” can form more perfect Unions.  The time to get started is now.

America’s Weapon of Mass Attraction: Education

During the Cold War, there was a popular theory called the China Syndrome (later made into a movie of the same name – 1979).  The China Syndrome hypothesized if a nuclear meltdown occurred, molten nuclear material would penetrate the earth’s crust and burn a hole all the way to China.  It was conceived on the back of fantasy and fear – of the unknown capacity of nuclear reactions and the menacing prospects of communist China.  Today, such a silly notion would not even make it as a Hollywood sci-fi attraction; yet many of our leaders and pundits continue their embrace of our Cold War heritage: that American power is secured by our capacity for coercion.

            The neo-cons had it half right: liberty is the elixir of man.  Once humans enjoy freedom and independence they will never settle for oppression again.  And, free societies do generally make more peaceful ones.  However, the establishment of liberty cannot be achieved through coercion – the delivery system of choice for the neo-cons.  At best, coercion produces short-term effects.  Destroying an adversarial government via military power – destabilizing a society – produces a vacuum that is more easily filled by new tyrants and forms of oppression (security, economic, ideological, and/or theological) than by the principle of liberty.  Nor has the deployment of economic coercion proved effective – dollars tethered by political contingencies can be equally destabilizing and supportive of oppressive regimes, no matter how well intentioned (see Haiti – before or after the earthquake).

What we should know now is that liberty requires a fertile base of education and prosperity.  What Americans must realize is that a peaceful and prosperous future lies in our capacity to empower societies upon whom we depend in an inextricably interdependent world. We must shift our disposition from coercion to attraction, secured by our greatest capacity of all – to develop and deploy IT. “IT” is creative and critical thinking realized through education.  Fortunately, America dominates the world in producing IT as much as it dominates the world in military power.  But, we need to wake up and realize it/IT.

While there is plenty to be concerned about our secondary education system, particularly in math and science aptitudes, our universities are the best in the world.  According to the Jiao Tong University (Shanghai) ranking of universities based on scientific research, 17 of the top 20 are in the United States and the remaining three are at Cambridge (#4), Oxford (#10), and Tokyo (#20).  And, as James Fallows points out in his recent article, the US remains a magnet for foreign minds: one-quarter of the members of the National Sciences Academy were born abroad.[1]  But we should refrain from lamentation (like that often offered by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman) that American educated foreign students return to their native countries – that is nearly as shortsighted as the bigger-bombs bunch.  Each student who returns has the capacity to educate his or her countrymen, which inevitably leads to greater prosperity and the quest for freedom and independence.

America’s future is best assured by its projection of IT rather than regimes of coercion.  Above all others, this is the niche we must continue to dominate.  That is not to say we won’t need to deploy coercion to meet short-term objectives, but the world has learned how to subvert our military domination asymmetrically.  While they may read a different religious text, they all understand the leverage of David’s sling as he faced the giant Philistine, Goliath.[2]  The new China Syndrome suggests education and prosperity may be our best weapon to check the nationalistic impulse of China, and/or others.  Mobilizing 1.3 billion people to seek their own liberty is a better long-term bet.  Being the font of liberty is better served by empowering others with IT.

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[1] James Fallows, “How America Can Rise Again” The Atlantic, January/February 2010, www.theatlantic.com.

[2] 1 Samuel 17:1-51.

Crisis & Liberation: Toward a New Prosperity

British economist John Maynard Keynes warned in his thesis of the “Paradox of Thrift” that if everyone started to save more during an economic recession, a commensurate drop in aggregate demand would actually result in a drop in aggregate savings making everyone worse off. But his thesis doesn’t consider the social and political effects of crisis – of the psychosocial dynamics that also offer the prospect of liberation. His thesis, like those of today’s economic gurus who proclaim econometric prescience may fall victim to an aggregate yawn. Regardless of whether we save more or less, or if the economy rebounds quickly or slowly – or at all – we may all be better off if we embrace the opportunity crises provide: liberation.

If crises accomplish nothing else, they bring to question all the givens – the assumptions that prevailed pre-crisis. They offer an opportunity to cleanse us of beliefs and behavioral norms that rose to prominence not on the backs of principle, but on the exhilaration of deception. The promise of a benevolent technocracy that would assure everyone a piece of the American dream, and the continued benign and covetous admiration of the world are over. The no-money-down McMansions are an artifact that will make cultural anthropologists giggle for many years to come. Our challenge is to find and exploit the silver lining of crisis and affect our liberation. To stop praying at the altar of spending. To step off the treadmill of consumerism and pursue dreams that mean something. To thumb our nose at Mr. Keynes and move on.

This anti-consumerism notion, blasphemous though it may be, could be just what America needs. We may actually win our future back. On the domestic side, we might learn to enjoy the experiences of life, rather than worship the banality of false prosperity. While GDP and taxes would fall, it may finally reign-in our useless elected leaders who continue to spend money we don’t have while lining their pockets with lobbyist’s ‘appreciations.’ Families may have to take care of their own, rather than point their finger at the government. We may have to participate in the education of our children, while schools return their focus to core subjects and away from stylized babysitting programs. We may have to banish our sense of entitlement and replace it with the principles of equity. In short, we may have to become stronger individuals, closer families, and more effective communities.

On the global front, can you imagine the hue and cry from countries like China if the American consumer found greater happiness in less stuff? Can you imagine a world where Americans consume less fossil fuel? We’d stop funding our enemies, while improving both our environment and health. Do we really believe that the rest of the world would stop adopting (and/or pirating) our inventions? What if we brought our troops home and decided to reduce our global military footprint? Would we be worth hating anymore?

It’s time to pursue liberation – to question the givens and turn those away who leverage our future with a kaleidoscope of deceptions. To honor our capitalist heritage and allow creative destruction its way. Isn’t it about time we freed ourselves to apply our unique skills and make something new …something truly great? Crisis and liberation allow us to craft a new perspective and a new, more resilient identity that just might make us stronger, happier, and yes, even more powerful. Let’s not let this opportunity pass.