Is Our Democracy dysfunctional.

 That was the question in a Washington Post editorial over a week ago.  Below is the letter I submitted to it...but they didn't bite.  Now I'm glad.  Today they printed my letter submitted early last week - regarding our interdependent world.  I'll post it soon. 

Dear Editor,

Our broken democracy isn’t new.  US national security experts recognized it as “dysfunctional” in a survey before Trump’s election.  The procurement of new weapons systems alone couldn’t keep up with the rapid advances in modern technologies, new threats, and the glacial pace of government action or change.  Our government was engineered this way centuries ago.  Given today’s political polarization and two-party system they had warned about then, today our Constitution appears unamendable.  But it's needed!  Thomas Jefferson wrote “every constitution” should be ‘rewritten every 19 years’. Because “the earth belongs to the living and not to the dead.”

If by miracle a Constitutional convention was created its new architecture would need to be based on the “self-evident’ “truths” expressed in our Declaration of Independence.  Truths that are founded on “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” - not the personal religious, political, or economic truths we make up in our minds.   Abraham Lincoln called the Declaration our “Apple of Gold” and the Constitution is ‘Frame of Silver.   Why swear an oath to protect an old and flawed frame?

We must accept our reality expressed by Jen Easterly, director of CISA, [Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency] our nation’s newest federal agency created in 2018 by the Trump administration.  “Everything is connected, everything is interdependent, so everything is vulnerable.... And that’s why this has to be a more than whole of government, a more than whole of nation [effort]. It really has to be a global effort....”

Multiple unsustainable trends exist in our nation. Many are linked to global pressures and thus immune to the reactionary nature of both “we the people’ and those we elect to make laws.  The concept of prevention by addressing root causes appears to be unamerican.  Minor investments to remedy root causes would disarm our debt bomb. 

What is so complicated about taking care of nature and following the Golden Rule.   Rocket science for national security and leaving this troubled planet is useful, but what is needed to make heaven on earth is not complicated or expensive.  It just won’t win elections. 

In a 1798 address to our military John Adams said “Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." 

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again."  - Thomas Paine   

 

 

Dear Congressman Raskin,

You and I met briefly shortly after you were first elected to represent our Maryland District. You have proven yourself above expectations on multiple fronts (Jan 6 trials, wrestling with cancer, and persevering after the unimaginable loss of your son).

I have no doubt you will morally support any event recognizing this December 10 recognizing the value of 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  Our Rockville Rotary group is organizing an event at Montgomery College on or around that day.  We invite you to be the keynote speaker - and make the case that the protection of human rights globally is key to our own nation's freedoms, security, and continued prosperity.

I’ve advocated for the protection of human rights over the past 40 years and it is clear that relying on governments won’t work.  But now most rights can be achieved...if purchased.  If humanity works together with business to achieve the UNs 17 Sustainable Development Goals. 

In late June Bank of America’s Chair & CEO Brian Moynihan was discussing the state of the economy and the U.S. financial system during a conversation hosted by the City Club of Cleveland.

City Club Cleveland Bank America CEO  C-Span Program ID:  529044-1  https://www.c-span.org/video/?529044-1/bank-america-ceo-remarks-city-club-cleveland

He stressed that sustainable capitalism requires a greater purpose than just profit.  Profit for profits sake is no longer unsustainable.  And profitable business sustainability will require meeting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  He an annual cost of approximately “$6 trillion”.  And governments are too debt burdened to fund them.  And charity is insufficient.  He said businesses need to step up and prioritize the balancing of short-term gains with long term interests globally – if they are serious about making future profits.

As you may know, Rotary International is the largest volunteer organization in the world.  With 1.4 million volunteers, in over 46,000 clubs, in over 200 nations.  Our commitment to the global eradication of Polio was near...then set back by several trends.  It is clear a comprehensive approach is needed...for multiple reasons.

But global trends in multiple areas (peace, environment, economics, health, justice...) appear worsening. And outside of the 17 SDGs we see no serious means of addressing any of them soon.  Hidden from the news is the daily death toll of approximately 15,000 children under the age of five!  And for every death about 10 more will live on with permanent mental and/or physical disabilities.   These easily preventable deaths and disabilities are a prime driver of global instability, given that just the fear of losing a child is the most terrifying of all human experiences.

In 1980 President Carter’s US bipartisan Presidential Commission unanimously warned that unless humanity ended the worst aspects of widespread hunger and poverty by the year 2000...we would be experiencing various human threats – many we are experiencing today!  After WW II the UDHR was intended to prevent war, genocide, the future use of WMD...by addressing root causes related to violations of human rights.  

We hope the December 10 time frame is far enough out that you could commit to a date to speak to the links between the protection of human rights globally and our own freedom, security and prosperity here. 

In just ten years last century our nation put a man on the moon while participating in the global eradication of smallpox (which killed more people in 70 years of the last century than all the wars, revolutions, genocides, and murders in 100 years of that century).  The world today has more capacity than ever to ensure at least two of the most freedom for most people.  Freedom from want and freedom from fear. 

I look forward to working with one of your staff to schedule a date that works for you on or around Dec 10th, so we can schedule a proper venue at Montgomery College.

If you or our staff have any questions or concerns, please contact me by phone or email.

Thank you for considering this request!

Chuck

Over 90 unsustainable trends!!! Failure of one affects others. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals must be humanities highest priority.

Below are over 90 “unsustainable” trends in the US and the World.  (Draft 8-16-23)

What follows is a rock solid context for urgently funding the UNs 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  Most in alignment with Rotary International’s seven overarching areas of service. 

By definition, anything unsustainable cannot continue.  Without change failure is predictable. Given the vulnerability of our established human systems and structures (our body, family, community, economy, environment, nation, and all other nations) trends below should not be ignored.  

The ‘one’ issue that keeps our US national security leaders ‘up at night’ is what they/we don’t see coming.  Especially given that it would likely cause a cascading effect across multiple sectors.  Think of the attacks on 9-11, Covid19, Russia invasion of Ukraine, Fires in Maui fueled by non-native invasive grasses and high winds.  

The list below is incomplete.  But it is intended to motivate an increasingly urgent need for the world to invest achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals comprehensively. 

As Bank America CEO Brian Moynihan claims governments are  too burdened by debt’ and ‘charity is insufficient’. …capitalism with a greater purpose than pure profit can do it.  Profit must have a a bigger purpose.  It needs to step up and prioritize a balancing of short-term gains with long term interests globally…to have profits sustainable. 

Now remember this quote:  “Everything is connected, everything is interdependent, so everything is vulnerable.... And that’s why this has to be a more than whole of government, a more than whole of nation [effort]. It really has to be a global effort....” Jen Easterly. CISA director.  Oct. 29, 2021. [the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency is our nation’s newest federal agency.

Debt, Finance, and Jobs

US Govt Debt:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americas-debt-spree-isnt-stopping-it-might-soon-be-too-late/2020/01/26/49241ce8-3ee0-11ea-b90d-5652806c3b3a_story.html 

US Govt expanding exposure to risky mortgages:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/federal-government-has-dramatically-expanded-exposure-to-risky-mortgages/2019/10/02/d862ab40-ce79-11e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html 

US personal Debt:   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-finance-202/2019/11/22/the-finance-202-personal-loans-are-surging-that-s-an-economic-red-flag/5dd7063c88e0fa652bbbd90e/ 

US student debt: https://www.nitrocollege.com/research/average-student-loan-debt 

Growing interest on US debt:  https://www.thebalance.com/interest-on-the-national-debt-4119024 

Rising US income inequality at “steady pace” (according to government CBO 2019 analysis): https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-12/55941-CBO-Household-Income.pdf 

Rising global income inequality:  http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/rising-inequality-affecting-two-thirds-globe-not-inevitable-new-un-report/ 

Increasing US military spending:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/04/18/us-military-spending-set-increase-fifth-consecutive-year-nearing-levels-during-height-iraq-war/ 

Growing global elderly population:  https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/worlds-older-population-grows-dramatically 

Growing US elderly population:  https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/10/snapshot-fast-growing-us-older-population.html 

Growing lack of affordable Housing;

Growing price of home insurance pricing;

Rise in Cryptocurrency globalizing unaccountability of wealth and actions

Increasing medical costs related to treating consequences of sustained poor eating habits and alack of physical inactivity in US population.

Rise in China and India both projected to overtake the U.S. in terms of economic output by 2050.

Decline in US Union memberships.

Failure to invest in vital aging domestic infrastructure.

US government dysfunction in dealing with national or global problems of any kind.  “When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.”  – Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Charles Hammond [1821]

Legally sustained flow of taxable wealth into tax evading offshore accounts.  

Unchecked corporate influencing on government and public policy: 

Decline in international cooperation:

Increasing number of refugees: 

Increasing number of failing states:

Increasing populism:  

Decline in human freedoms:  

Decline in number of democracies:  

Decline in local newspapers:

Decline in US birth rates combined with increasing resistance to increasing foreign immigration numbers:

Increasing interference of foreign entities in US elections:  

Decline in public trust of the media.

Growth in misinformation technology:  fake news and deep fake technology.

Decline in public trust in government.

Decline in public trust in science.

Decline of US and UN institutional legitimacy:

Increasingly unfriendly political dialog/civil discourse.

Increasing possibility of domestic violence/terrorism as civil discourse and hyper political domestic polarization increase: 

Declining political cooperation between political parties.

Accelerating  infectious disease threats from natural evolution:  Both new (like Covid) or  re-emerging (like Polio and STDs).

Acceleration of Biological threats from lab accidents:  

Acceleration of Biological threats from intentional weaponization of pathogens by nations, groups, or individuals:

Increase in antibiotic resistance pathogens globally. 

Psychological:

Rising youth suicide rates: 

Between 1999 and 2014:  a 45 % increase in women’s suicide rate (16% rise among men)

Rising death rate among white middle-aged women

Rise in mental illness: 

Increasing loneliness: greatest public health problem according to US Surgeon General

Persistent government resistance to increasing investments in preventive measures.

Decline in US life expectancy over last 3 years (last decline was recorded in 1917 from Spanish flu)

Education

Declining numbers of US students with math, science and engineering majors.

Decline in new international enrollments 3.3 percent in 2016/17 

Total number of international students slightly decreased between 2017 and 2018.

Since 2000, the U.S. has been progressively losing market share of students to other countries (Australia, Germany, Canada and China)

Environmental: Unsustainable global trends that effect US citizens.

Increasing global temperatures

Increasing extreme weather patterns

Increasing extinction of species.

Rising sea levels.

Declining fisheries.

Increasing plastics in the ocean, air and soil.

Accelerating loss of arable land.

Increasing shortage of clean fresh water.

Dwindling fresh water aquifer supplies. 

Increasing loss of forests.

Increasing loss of natural habitats

Increasing wasteful consumption patterns beyond earth’s natural systems to sustain

Increasing loss of small farms and farmers.

Increasing loss of topsoil and use of pesticides, herbicides.

Increasing economic loss from natural disasters.

Violence & Unrest (National, International which are often linked)

A 2,500% increase in deadly attacks at houses of worship in US since 1999.*

Increasing US Militia groups: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_organizations_in_the_United_States 

Increasing tensions and violence in the Middle East.

China’s growing investments in global infrastructure and military spending.

Evolution of war and terrorism.

Increased partnerships between terrorist groups and criminal groups (drug cartels).

Increased support of secessionist groups.

Increased encouragement of religious extremists and political fringe groups.

Increasing capacity and specific actions with the intent to exacerbate social tensions and domestic violence.

Increase in violent hate groups and their advocacy for a race war.

Increasing lengths of conflicts.

Dual use technology (bio, cyber, nuclear, chemical, robotics, conventional …)

Reduction in weapon’s sizes: 

Reduction in the difficulty of using weapons.

Accelerating cost of advanced weaponry.

Exponential growth of technological power, affordability, availability, and its often autonomous and anonymous nature.  

Enhancement of each of these above due to competition between nations developing and then using AI to protect their national sovereignty…instead of being applied to protect  human rights and the environment. 

Sustained hostilely toward the United Nations and its goals.

Common use of words in policy making that can have multiple meanings to different political parties, religions, or economic schools of thought. 

Civilization’s increasing dependence on cyber technology (when everything is connected, interdependent, and vulnerable.   Given our freedom to use it… security is increasingly an illusion. 

Evolution of weapons for space.: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=evolution+of+weapons+for+use+in+space&qpvt=evolution+of+weapons+for+use+in+space&view=detail&mid=1DCE8E8372D3CBFFC3331DCE8E8372D3CBFFC333&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Devolution%2Bof%2Bweapons%2Bfor%2Buse%2Bin%2Bspace%26qpvt%3Devolution%2Bof%2Bweapons%2Bfor%2Buse%2Bin%2Bspace%26FORM%3DVDRE 

Increasing space junk:  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/reference/space-junk/ 

Evolution of Drone weapons technologies leading inevitably of drone use and escalation of war:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drones-idUSKBN16S2NM 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Drones+targeting+individuals+with+explosive+charge&view=detail&mid=577B87BB4623107CC38E577B87BB4623107CC38E&FORM=VIRE   

Increasing use and evolution of IEDs: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-evolution-of-improvised-explosive-devices-ieds/ 

Increasing WMD proliferation:  https://www.csis.org/topics/defense-and-security/weapons-mass-destruction-proliferation  "Science has produced such powerful weapons that in a war between great powers there would be neither victor nor vanquished. Both would be overwhelmed in destruction."John Boyd Orr

Failing of arms control measures:   Ukraine use of bomb-lets.  Iran and N. Korea nuclear power

Increasing potential for the use of autonomous weapons systems.

Decreasing reliability in weapons being a deterrence to conflict.

Increasing tactical advantage of using weapon systems offensively.

Increasing use of asymmetrical weapons:  https://www.nti.org/gsn/article/lethal-asymmetrical-technology-will-be-more-widespread-2030-report/ 

Decreasing costs of mass murder technologies.

Increasing availability of mass murder technologies.

Increased capacity for engineering genetically targeted bioweapons.

Rise in Cyber threats:  Identity theft. Crippling Cyber-attacks. Denial of service…fake news…

CONCLUSION:  Given that everything is connected, interdependent and vulnerable…and a global effort is needed. The consequences of any one unsustainable trend could be catastrophic -- and lead to cascading consequences impacting thousands, millions or billions of people. 

We need to get started.  Failure is not an option.   Had the Universal Declaration of Human Rights been enforced after the last World War humanity may have prevented most of the chaos we see today. A 1980 US bi-partisan Presidential Commission concluded the same.   Had the world joined together and ended the worst aspects of hunger and poverty by the year 2000.   It concluded “that promoting economic development in general, and overcoming hunger in particular, are tasks far more critical to the U.S. national security than most policymakers acknowledge or even believe. Since the advent of nuclear weapons, most Americans have been conditioned to equate national security with the strength of strategic military forces. The Commission considers this prevailing belief to be a simplistic illusion…Military force is ultimately useless in the absence of the global security that only coordinated international progress toward social justice can bring.”

The 17 SDGs may be humanities last chance to apply the wisdom of the ages.  Take care of nature, and each other.  The Self-evident Truths stated in our nation’s Declaration of Independence were founded on “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God”.    It’s true and just.  And in good will,  will beneficial all.  

Capitalism must have a 'greater purpose' than profit. The Sustainable Development Goals! So says Bank of American CEO!

 

Interview Summary:  Sustainable capitalism requires a greater purpose than profit.  Profit for profits sake is simply unsustainable.  Profit for the purpose of sustainability of any business will require meeting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  Achieving these will require approximately $6 trillion annually.  Governments are simply too burdened by existing debt to achieve them.  Charity alone is insufficient.  Business leaders need to step up and prioritize a balancing of short-term gains with long term interests globally.  Politics must be good for business and society.  Partisanship isn’t. 

C-span program interview: Bank of America Chair & CEO Brian Moynihan discusses the state of the economy and the U.S. financial system during a conversation hosted by the City Club of Cleveland.

City Club Cleveland Bank America CEO   Program ID:  529044-1  https://www.c-span.org/video/?529044-1/bank-america-ceo-remarks-city-club-cleveland    July 2023

**********

Abridged text of the interview:   [all caps is CSPAN generated text] 

BRIAN MOYNIHAN,   C.E.O. OF BANK OF AMERICA since 2010.  THE SECOND LARGEST BANK IN THE U.S. and leads a team of 215,000 employees....DEDICATED TO MAKING FINANCIAL LIVES BETTER FOR PEOPLE, FOR COMPANIES OF ALL SIZES, FOR INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS ACROSS THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD.

AS THE COUNTRY AND WORLD GRAPPLE WITH THE AFTERMATH OF THE PANDEMIC, INFLATION, THE BANKING INDUSTRY FELT ITS SHARE OF VOLATILITY. iN MARCH 2023, when THREE SMALL TO MIDSIZED U.S. BANKS FAILED, LEADING TO A CHAIN OF EVENTS -- NOW REFER TO AS THE 2023 BANKING CRISIS.

ADD TO THIS WIDESPREAD CALLS FOR:   INCREASED EQUITY, ACCESS TO ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY,AND THE INCREASING RELIANCE ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, THE WORLD OF Banking AND Finances IS CHANGING QUITE A BIT.

WE'RE GRATEFUL TO HAVE HIM HERE TO GET HIS PERSPECTIVE ON THE ECONOMY, THE INDUSTRY AND GLOBAL TRENDS SHAPING BOTH.

There are a lot of factors determining the growth and changes in the economy.... as well as indicators our bank uses to evaluate its mission.

The US has AN EXTREMELY RESILIENT ECONOMY.   ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CAPITALISM, PROFIT MAKING. AND ALL THAT THEN CREATES A LOT OF ACTIVITY.  SIZABLE.   UNEMPLOYMENT IS now at an ALL-TIME LOW and VERY RARELY HAS BEEN BELOW THIS LEVEL.  It is NOT ONLY RESILIENT, it ATTRACTS CAPITAL AND ACTIVITY LIKE NO OTHER.

10:15  WE JUST GOT THE STRESS TEST RESULTS FOR OUR INDUSTRY :

19:29  OUR SOLE PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO HELP EVERYBODY PARTICIPATE IN CAPITALISM, INDIVIDUALS, COMPANIES, HOURLY WORKERS, THE RICHEST people IN THE WORLD, The small companies, the big companies....CAPITAL MARKET...

00:20:10  THE DEBATE IS ABOUT HOW YOU DO CAPITALISM. ...  THE REALITY IS CAPITALISM IS THE ONLY SYSTEM THAT IS GOING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS the world wants TO SOLVE.  

20:30   And that’s the thing THAT Everybody is trying to WILL WORK ON.  So if you are going to HAVE AN ENERGY TRANSITION   -- IT is going to BE THE PRIVATE SECTOR THAT DRIVES IT.

GOVERNMENTS DON'T HAVE THE MONEY. YOU CAN’t REGULATE IT because it’s very hard because it is across every place in the world.   So WHERE you ARE GOING TO GET THE MONEY TO DO IT?  YOU’re going to get the oil companies to do it. You’re going to have new energy companies to it.  

You are going to show it BY HAVING THE capital EQUITY COME IN, the talent come in, THE LENDING COME IN.   

PEOPLE SAY “YOU ARE talking about renewable energy so you are  NOT A CAPITALIST!   YOU ARE DOING THAT TO BE GREEN.”   NO!  I’m doing it because WE HAD $150 BILLION OF IT LAST YEAR. THAT IS A BIG BUSINESS.   IF WE DISCLOSE THAT THE TAX BENEFITS FROM THE RENEWABLE DEAL ARE THREE QUARTERS OF A BILLION DOLLARS -- THAT'S PRETTY INTERESTING.

21:23:  MAYBE I'M GETTING OLD -- BUT WE AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN AROUND A WHILE HAVE TO SHOW THOSE COMING BEHIND US THAT MAJOR COMPANIES WHO are strong companies CAN DO GREAT THINGS.   CAN DO IT IN A WAY that SOCIETY benefits AND SHAREHOLDERS BENEFIT.  It is Progress with a purpose! 

JIM COLLINS, a great business writer over the past-- the great books he did IN 1996 TALKED ABOUT THE GENIUS OF THE ANT.   Progress with a purpose!  IF YOU go back and TALK ABOUT STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM, ... PEOPLE SAY ‘WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?’ DO YOU THINK IT’s a pretty GOOD thing IF YOU DO GREAT THINGS FOR OUR CLIENTS?   OH YEAH.!  If you DO GOOD a good things for our team mates?   Oh Yeah!   IF YOU DO GREAT THINGS FOR our shareholders?  Oh Yeah!  If we do great things FOR OUR COMMUNITIES?  Oh Yeah!   THAT IS STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM. HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT IS BAD?

Milton Friedman said it was bad!  But if you read more of what he said, he actually says more than that. Which is ‘You got to deliver profit and purpose. Not profit for purpose.   

22:47:  THE MANIFESTO CREATED AT DAVOS, HE AND MILTON HAD AN INTELLECTUAL DEBATE ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO SAY.

But COME FORWARD A BUNCH OF YEARS, MAJOR COMPANIES around the world are TRYING TO RUN THEIR BUSINESS the way they’re doing what IS RIGHT.   WHICH IS SHOWING HOW CAPITALISM WILL SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS BY DRIVING THAT.   IT WON'T HAPPEN OTHERWISE.

THINK ABOUT 190 COUNTRIES SIGNED ON TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS. THERE AREN'T MANY COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD PAST 190 SOMETHING. THEY ALL SIGNED.  THEY TOLD US WHAT THEY WANT FROM THE SYSTEM.   The point is, IF YOU look at that, it takes $6 TRILLION A YEAR.   WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING TO COME FROM?  

Charity is wonderful!  WE DO $500 MILLION OF CHARITY as a company A YEAR.   There is great philanthropist in this city that has been around for years!

ALL THE CHARITABLE GIVING IN A YEAR IS $1.2 TRILLION. THE ART MUSEUMS and stuff DON'T COUNT.   He said, ‘What are the Governments going to do?’  OUR GOVERNMENTS RUN A TRILLION DOLLAR A YEAR STRUCTURAL DEFICIT. They are the only ones with any money.  THEY DON'T HAVE ANY EXTRA MONEY. So, WHERE IS IT GOING TO COME FROM?

ALL THESE BUSINESSPEOPLE BY EMPLOYING good people AND HIRING GOOD PEOPLE, invest it, drive it. BUT DO IT IN A WAY THAT DELIVERS THE PROFITS THEY NEED TO DRIVE THE COMPANY, PLUS -- PAYS ATTENTION TO WHAT ELSE THEY DO.  That’s the end of purpose.   DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR CLIENTS AND COMMUNITIES and things. So that IS HARD TO ARGUE about. 

That’s what we are trying.  THAT IS HOW WE RUN OUR COMPANY. That’s what we call responsible growth and we’ve been doing it for a lot of years.   So WE ARE ONE OF FOUR COMPANIES IN THE U.S. that has earned MORE THAN $15 BILLION in eight straight years.  We’re beyond 8 billion this year.  MY GUESS IS WE WILL GET NINE.

THERE ARE ONLY FOUR OUT OF ALL THE COMPANIES LISTED IN THE U.S. TO GET TO THAT.

YOU CAN DO IT. There are other companies that have to do the same thing.  IT CAN BE BIG. You can do it. But it’s THE IDEA OF DOING BOTH!   THE ‘AND’!  NOT ‘OR’. And WHEN YOU DO THAT, THAT $6 TRILLION CAN BE FOUND.

YOU CAN HAVE THE ENERGY TRANSITION BY HAVING THE OIL COMPANIES USE THEIR EXPERTISE figure out how to do it.  AND STEEL COMPANIES figure out the WAY THEY CAN GET THE HYDROGEN IN PLACE in Africa, in place OF COAL, BY THINKING THROUGH THE TRANSFORMATION.
That’s what’s important.  But YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH THESE COMPANIES.

THE DEBATE IS NOT TO DO BUSINESS WITH EXXON, We don’t do that.  HOW CAN WE HELP COMPANIES MAKE THE TRANSITION with that particular element.

OR HOW DO WE help DO GREAT THINGS FOR the EMPLOYEES?  WE START at $46,000 A YEAR for our COMPANY. Full Benefits.  Career Mindset.   WE DO THAT BECAUSE IT IS IN THE economic best INTEREST OF OUR SHAREHOLDERS TO HAVE A TEAMMATE WHO WORKS FOR 50 YEARS IN OUR COMPANY. WE HAVE 200,000 PEOPLE!   Each 1% TURNOVER I have to hire 2000+ people each year.  A person is not really effective  SIX MONTHS, THREE MONTHS, PICK A NUMBER.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 15% AND 7%, WHICH IS WHAT WE WENT BACK TO AFTER THE GREAT RESIGNATION, 7% IS 15,000 PEOPLE WE WON'T HIRE THIS YEAR. THAT IS BECAUSE OF THE CAREER MINDSET.

......

44.19:  Purpose before profits is not a new concept!!   [He was an American History major]   

GO TO AN AVERAGE COLLEGE CAMPUS AND ASK IN THE ECONOMICS CLASS WHAT ARE THEIR VIEWS OF CAPITALISM, IT WILL BE INTERESTING. WE HAVE TO GIVE PEOPLE WHY A BUNCH OF ANY COMPANIES CAN DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY, THAT SHOW YOU THE VALUE OF CAPITALISM. BECAUSE YOU WOULD NOT HAVE THE GREAT THINGS YOU HAVE IN ANY PLACE IN AMERICA WITHOUT THAT CAPITALIST SYSTEM. IT OVER POLLUTES, IT DOES THIS, EMPLOYEE SAFETY, IT GETS REGULATED BACK. BUT YOU WANT TO FIX IT BEFORE THAT.  WHEN IT COMES TO REGULATION IT GOES PAST THE POINT OF PAIN.

...IS KIND OF INTERESTING. THE IDEA OF A COMPANY LIKE OURS IS TO DO THE RIGHT THING, BE CONSISTENT AND MINDFUL THAT THE ELECTED OFFICE COMES AND GOES, B UT THE PEOPLE AT THE COMPANY WILL BE HERE THROUGH THE ELECTION CYCLES. YOU HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT. DO YOU WANT PEOPLE THAT SEE THE VALUEOF FREE ENTERPRISE CAPITALISM? YES. THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS RESTRICTED TO ONE IDEA. I THINK THE IDEA AS THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY IS MAKE OUR ADVOCACY KNOWN. WE HAVE TO BE PART OF THE PROCESS TO MAKE SURE THINGS DON'T GO IN A WAY THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE FOR PROSPERITY. BE MINDFUL THAT WE ALSO HAVE TO SUPPORT, WE HAVE TO HELP EDUCATE, HELP DELIVER. THIS IS A WONDERFUL COMPANY. WHEREVER YOU GO IN THE WORLD, THE GENERAL ASK OF THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY BY THE POLITICAL SIDE IS TO HELP THEM BE SUCCESSFUL. THAT IS NOT A HARD ASK TO FULFILL. BUT YOU CANNOT DO IT BASED ON POLITICAL, IT HAS TO BE ON WHAT IS GOOD FOR SOCIETY. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PRIME MINISTERS OF THE U.K. IN MY 14 YEARS. IT'S NOT LIKE THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE. OUR U.K. BUSINESS HAS 6000 PEOPLE AND I CAN'T CHANGE IT BASED ON WHO IS ELECTED. THE TEAM HAS TO RUN IT ON A CONSISTENT BASIS. [INDISCERNIBLE] I CAN BASICALLY SAY LET'S GO RUN THE COMPANY THE RIGHT WAY.

PERHAPS ONE FINAL QUESTION AROUND CAPITALISM. DO YOU HAVE ANY GUIDING PRINCIPLES AS YOU ARE CONSIDERING DIFFERENT STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT THE BALANCE, THE SHORT-TERM PREDICTABLE GAINS THAT ANALYSTS ARE LOOKING FOR VERSUS CREATING LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE SHAREHOLDER VALUE?

 

53:00   ODDLY ENOUGH, THE METRICS I SPOKE ABOUT THAT THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COUNCIL PUT UP that match up to the THE SUSTAINABLE GOALS.  That we had the four big ACCOUNTING FIRMS go out wo we knew companies COULD DO THIS BECAUSE we had the account firms go find twenty odd METRICS THAT WOULD PROVE that WE ARE DOING WHAT THEY WANT on the SDGs.  So, IN THOSE METRICS, people, planet, property, and responsible government... and so THAT IS WHAT WE LOOK AT.

 

WE ORIGINALLY BUILT THOSE AS a sort of DEBATE between SHORT TERMism.   Because that was kind of raging for a while.    And, so the BUSINESS COMMUNITY we’re, THE IDEAs like,  ‘that’s good.’  Let’s force long term, quit doing quarterly reports...that stuff is just not going to happen.   

 

IF YOU SHOW PEOPLE THAT OVER TIME, YOU ARE ACCOMPLISHING BOTH A SHORT AND LONG-TERM. THAT IS PROFITS IN PROFITS, NOT PROFITS IN PURPOSE.   Because YOU got to be both profitable, but then you HAVE TO SHOW PEOPLE YOU ARE MAKING PROGRESS.   THAT WAS DISCLOSURE the disclosure theory.

Look!  HERE IS OUR DIVERSITY, HOW WE PAY OUR TAXES, here is OUR SCOPE ONE TWO EMISSIONS. Here’s the third year in a row.  YOU CAN SEE THE PROGRESS -- OR LACK OF PROGRESS.  So we built that.

I THINK YOU CAN GET OUT OF THE SHORT-TERMism.

 

WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE DECISION OF THE COMPANY, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE ALWAYS THINKING MULTIPLE YEARS OUT, when you are worried about tomorrow afternoon -- OUR BUSINESS DOES NOT MOVE FAST ENOUGH TO DO SHORT-TERM STUFF.

 

YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE DONE AROUND TEAMMATES OVER THE YEARS, I STARTED WITH A MANAGEMENT TEAM. IN 2010 WE HAD 285,000 PEOPLE. WE HAD 213,000 PEOPLE AT THE END OF THIS QUARTER. THAT SOUNDS LIKE WE LET ATTRITION WORK. IN THAT TIME, THE STARTING WAGE HAS GONE FROM $10 AN HOUR TO $22. THE AVERAGE WAGE HAS GONE UP BY 25%. THE OWNERSHIP BY EMPLOYEES IS UP BY A LOT. We are in the sixth straight year of.

 

WE DID $4 BILLION OR $5 BILLION OF STOCK GIVEAWAYS. WITH THE CHANGE WE MADE IN THE BENEFIT PLANS IN 2011 -- [INDISCERNIBLE] WE HAVE NEVER RAISED IT. IT'S DIRECTLY RESULTED IN THE TURNOVER RATE AND ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS DROPPING. THAT SAVES ME A LOT OF MONEY. THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS STUFF WE DO WON'T PAY ANY MONEY AMONGST THE MANAGEMENT TEAM BECAUSE IT WILL SAVE THINGS 20 YEARS OUT IN TERMS OF HEALTH CARE COSTS. IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO FOR EMPLOYEES AND FAMILIES. YOU ARE ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT THE LONG-TERM, SHORT-TERM. IT IS NOT AS BINARY. THERE ARE THINGS YOU DO INCREMENTALLY. A THING WE DID EIGHT YEARS AGO BEFORE ANYBODY KNEW WHAT IT WAS, NOW IT'S 20 MILLION CUSTOMERS. IT IS A VERY SIMPLE FORM OF IT. THAT. WAS BECAUSE WE MADE IT YEARS AGO IT WAS BASED.ON A CUSTOMER DECISION WE DEPLOYED IT AFTER A COUPLE YEARS. IN OUR INDUSTRY YOU ARE ALWAYS MAKING LONG-TERM DECISIONS BUT YOU WANT TO BE CONSISTENT. YOU HAVE TO DO BOTH. THIS COMPANY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR 240 YEARS. I WILL BE HERE IN A NANOSECOND IN THE LIFE OF IT. SAME WITH MY MANAGEMENT TEAM, 30 YEARS IN THE COMPANY. 30 OUT OF 204 YEARS -- 240 YEARS IS NOT A LOT. YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THE WOOD PILE BIGGER, THAT ANALOGY.

 

Alexis de Tocqueville quote on government no longer self-evident truth.

 When a private individual meditates an undertaking, however directly connected it may be with the welfare of society, he never thinks of soliciting the cooperation of the government, but he publishes his plan, offers to execute it himself, courts the assistance of other individuals, and struggles manfully against all obstacles. Undoubtedly he is often less successful than the State might have been in his position; but in the end the sum of these private undertakings far exceeds all that the government could have done.   Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America [1845]

Alexis de Tocqueville was right then. Unfortunately, advances in technology since then has changed everything. The individual’s capacity for mass murder has been growing exponential since the invention of metal, chemistry, biology, and computers now enables individuals to become super powers instead of nations.  And the most powerful governments in the world can now be beat at their games of war, genocide, and mistreating minorities.  cw

How to celebrate the 4th of July

Dear Editor, (submitted June 20, not published) 

Theodore R. Johnson’s “The Right way to celebrate” our nation’s July 4^th “semiquincentennial” focused too much on that big word and Trump’s “six-part plan” for a yearlong “Salute to America 250”.   We needed more words for making progress on the seven intentions in our Constitution’s preamble.  He did suggest we “spotlight all the things broken and flawed and hypocritical about our country”.  ChatGPT offered ten regarding his exact words:  “Inequality, systemic racism, social justice, voting rights, criminal justice reform, climate change, immigration reform, gun violence, healthcare access. and education reform.”  But it simply overlooked the blockade of extreme political polarization halting any progress toward a more perfect union.  Here’s one suggestion.  Start believing in ‘self-evident’ truths and codifying the two sets of law offered in just seven words “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” in the introduction to our nation’s July 4^th founding document, the Declaration of Independence.  What is so complicated about conserving nature (God’s creation) and taking care of one another (God’s will).  Abraham Lincoln called the Declaration our “Apple of Gold” and our Constitution its “Frame of Silver”. 

This week in testifying on capitol hill regarding laws related to the Bureau of Land Management an office holder said “Conservation isn’t a pious ideal.  It’s essential to our security.”   So anyone aspiring to a new nation should consider the sage words of Thomas Paine: “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” No true patriot would disagree.

Chuck Woolery

  

Public service vs Party servitude

 

Dear Editor,

Senator Rick Scott states the obvious stating “Washington is broken” (June 8, 2023 Washington Times).  But proposed a “Public Service Reform Act” misses the root cause of our government’s failings.  The fact that both parties have prioritized their own voters’ values rather than passing laws that could actually achieve the seven intentions stated in our Constitution’s Preamble.   They have turned ‘public service’ into ‘party service’ and created the most dysfunctional government since our Civil War.   Getting elected and re-elected is the highest priority for officials in both parties.  And this happens with money and marketing wit but not wisdom.

Wisdom would be voting for principled laws that honor ‘the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God’ that are mentioned in the most profound political document in human history that sparked the creation of our Nation.  This profound set of laws in the first paragraph of our Declaration of Independence preceded the “Truths to be Self-Evident.    Achieving our Constitution’s intentions would require our policy makers from both parties actually uniting together to amend our Constitution focused on self-evident truths instead of the flawed principles they often have in mind. 

They should consider the wise words that the author of Common Sense, Thomas Paine said "We have it in our power to begin the world over again."  And the opportunity to take this path is rapidly closing.