The American Rebirth Movement -- Part 2

Anyone who has worked in business for any period of time understands the complex nature of competition and cooperation. In real estate, if the broker is working with a home buyer as a buyer agent, the broker must cooperate with everyone involved in the transaction, although there are competing interests. The agent representing the seller is trying to get the highest price and best conditions for the seller, while the buyer agent is trying to get the lowest price and best conditions for the buyer. Both agents involved cooperate to reach a meeting of the minds, and hopefully both sides win. The agent must also cooperate with the lender, attorney, inspectors and anyone else involved in the transaction. The buyer and seller also agree to cooperate, although they have competing interests -- they agree to complete all parts of the transaction in a timely manner -- they agree to be honest and give good information -- they agree to abide by all conditions of the contract, which are required to make the transaction happen. If the buyer is trying to screw the seller, the buyer agent has the responsibility to work with the buyer to show them that if the buyer wants the home they are going to have to be more realistic and enact a certain amount of cooperation or go on to another deal -- the seller is resistant to being screwed, but, if reasonable, is willing to cooperate. There has to be give and take throughout the whole process with everyone competing and cooperating to make the transaction happen. The buyer, if they are getting a loan, is competing with the lender for the best loan. The loan orginator is trying to get the bank the best deal, and the buyer and her agent are trying to get the buyer the best deal, so they all cooperate to come up with a loan with which everyone is satsified. There are other areas of competition and cooperation which must be negotiated, but this gives a picture of the interplay of cooperation and competion and this is how business is done in the free market every day.

 

To hear some politicians and pundits speak, who've never spent much time in the free market world, there are predators and victims -- it's a vicious world where powerful capitalist interests dominate and the consumer is always victimized and oppressed. In more complex industries such as manufacturing, the interplay of cooperation and competion is even more complex, but again, to hear the political class talk, it's all about a grand struggle of workers overcoming the oppression of greedy capitalist owners. The new/old idea in America must be a return to that interplay of competition and cooperation.

 

Underneath it all is also the idea of individualism and community -- the same interplay of competing interests and common interests are present and constantly taking place all across the nation -- so complex that no committee of social engineers will ever be able to control it to whatever ends they propose and aim toward. Unleashing this interplay of competing interests and common interests with common goals that also help each individual, either directly or indirectly, is the vital need we have. America must be allowed to handle its problems.

 

 

Imagine for a minute a nation challenged to handle the problem of access to healthcare. With all that has been learned in business management and technology, and with all the resources which could be channelled toward assistance for those who are disadvantaged, or temporarily in hard times, there's no limit to the creative solutions which could provide healthcare access to everyone who has a need. Just imagine if we droped our divisions long enough to restore America and put it on the right track for the 21st century -- this would be a national goal worth the cooperation -- it would be a national investment. Just imagine if the government backed off coercion and social engineering and presented America with the option of a public/private effort to resolve our most pressing problems.

 

First, the idea of charity must be transformed to remove the shame and the patronizing elements that have made charity so distasteful, and have pushed wrong-headed efforts to make assistance a right equal to our basic rights. It is neither a shameful act nor a right, it's the solution to the problem of those among us who can't help themselves, or those who need assistance to begin helping themselves.

 

Once a national movement is in place with the purpose of designing a private safety net, people will come out of the woodworks to make it happen. The first problem will be to convince people that involvement in the rebirth movement is widespread and supported by some of the most wealthy and powerful people in the country. This type of positive energy can be contagious -- and the transparency of the internet can be a vital tool to show everyone what's ahppening and how it's happening. Once it begins, everyone will be inspired to meet the challenge and make it happen. Societal pressure will prevent the deceitful from taking advantage of the effort or corrupting it. Private organizattions will likely arise to instill integrity and oversight into the effort, so people are informed of efforts to corrupt the effort -- and pity the ones caught corrupting it.

 

The effort would touch the deeper part of the American soul beneath the callouses of cynicism formed from years of dishonest players gaming the system and violating the trust of those willing to help. Above all, this would be a spiritual movement -- not a religious movement, although churches have already been doing this for years -- that calls our humanity to task -- not some misguided altruism based on a moral imperative, but a free choice to join a collabortaive effort to achieve something spectacular and excellent which will also help each individual participating. 

 

Rock bands giving concerts to raise money, billionaires making large contributions, professional atheletes and Hollywood stars putting their money where their mouths are, and all the millionaires across the nation, could jointly do a lot of good work -- plus all the ordinary people like myself willing to do our part. The rebirth movement, though, doesn't need to be a formal movement all under one form of leadership -- it can be like that corny elder Bush phrase -- "A Thousand Points of Light" -- because, although corny, when taken seriously, it's a very powerful and inspiring concept which can be made a reality.

 

I'll drill down a little further later.