Guess which country I’m describing?
This country has:
• the highest poverty rate, both generally and for children;
• the greatest inequality of incomes;
• the lowest social mobility;
• the lowest score on the UN’s index of “material well-being of children”;
• the worst score on the UN’s Gender Inequality Index;
• the highest carbon dioxide emissions and the highest water consumption per capita;
• the lowest spending on international development and humanitarian assistance as a percentage of national income (except for Japan and Italy);
• the highest military spending both in total and as a percentage of GDP; and
• the largest international arms sales.
If you didn’t guess yet, it’s here – it’s America.
As Gus Speth says in his wonderful, reflective article “America the Possible”: “We’re Number One, but in exactly the way we don’t want to be—at the bottom.”
Speth examines how we got to this deplorable state – and how we can get out. (Read his full article in Orion here).
Why do we find ourselves here? Speth writes: “…the results of conscious political decisions made over several decades by both Democrats and Republicans who have had priorities other than strengthening the well-being of American society and our environment. Many countries, obviously, took a different path—one that was open to us as well.”
Speth continues:
“These many challenges require farsighted, strong, and effective government leadership and action. Inevitably, then, the path to responding to these challenges leads to the political arena, where a vital, muscular democracy steered by an informed and engaged citizenry is needed. That’s the democracy we need, but, unfortunately, it is not the democracy we have. Right now, Washington isn’t even trying to seriously address most of these challenges…
The American political system is in deep trouble for another reason—it is moving from democracy to plutocracy and corporatocracy, supported by the ascendancy of market fundamentalism and a strident antiregulation, antigovernment, antitax ideology. The hard truth is that our political system today is simply incapable of meeting the great challenges described here. What we have is third-rate governance at a time when the challenges we face require first-rate governance.”
Corporations have run wild. What we’re left with in the wake of rampage is social inequity, a broken economy and an environment is serious disrepair.
No surprise: what’s required is radical change.
I like the solutions Speth recommends. They include:
• Economic growth: from growth fetish to post-growth society, from mere GDP growth to growth in human welfare and democratically determined priorities.
• The market: from near laissez-faire to powerful market governance in the public interest.
• The corporation: from shareholder primacy to stakeholder primacy, from one ownership and motivation model to new business models and the democratization of capital.
• Money and finance: from Wall Street to Main Street, from money created through bank debt to money created by government.
• Social conditions: from economic insecurity to security, from vast inequities to fundamental fairness.
• Indicators: from GDP (“grossly distorted picture”) to accurate measures of social and environmental health and quality of life.
• Consumerism: from consumerism and affluenza to sufficiency and mindful consumption, from more to enough.
• Communities: from runaway enterprise and throwaway communities to vital local economies, from social rootlessness to rootedness and solidarity.
• Dominant cultural values: from having to being, from getting to giving, from richer to better, from separate to connected, from apart from nature to part of nature, from transcendent to interdependent, from today to tomorrow.
• Politics: from weak democracy to strong, from creeping corporatocracy and plutocracy to true popular sovereignty.
• Foreign policy and the military: from American exceptionalism to America as a normal nation, from hard power to soft, from military prowess to real security.
Read more to see why and how Speth thinks America went off course here and how we can recreate the track to a better future.
What do you think? I welcome your point-of-view.
Jeff,
Although I’m French based in Germany working as of now for an Italian company, but looking at what happens in the US as American history and orientation had and has (unfortunately) major (negative) impacts worldwide.
As a matter of fact, America’s not on the right slope, but which country is? Writing on sustainable capitalism and our role or the role of all entrepreneurs, CEO, managers, employees and workers to change our actual business model, I noticed a great amount of initiatives worldwide. Those to escape the actual miserable situation globally and find the path to shape what I call a new business model: moving from capital oriented thinking to Societal governance.
A very good analysis of the Australian professor shann Turnbull in “The Case for Introducing Stakeholder Corporations” (http://ssm.com/abstract=436400) shows the modern corporation as an explicit instrument of political and economic colonisation. Political power has been replaced by economical power which has been replaced by financial power. But I do believe, as all trends point in that direction too, that we can change our “destiny” acting from the heart of companies. Governance and Management are two key levers to regain real political change or recovery.
All the topics mentioned by Speth are key points that should be brought into companies and governments through consultancy and education. We have to believe in our abilities to change and in our power to change from the heart of all companies. In that respect, BCorp is a first step, but not enough. It is not all about reducing the negative impacts, it is about creating positive impact.
I wish to share more views from the old Europe; Thanks, Jeff, for your tweets and actions. To be continued.
Regards,
Hugues Chatelain