1. Trade
For self-interest and common cause, for literacy and numeracy, for critical and creative thinking, race relations, women's progress, public health, the answer may be "trade." “Every day you must get up in the morning and supply yourself entirely from your own resources. How would you spend your day? The top four priorities would be food, fuel, clothing and shelter. Dig the garden, feed the pig, fetch water from the brook, gather wood from the forest, wash some potatoes, light a fire (no matches), cook lunch, repair the roof, fetch fresh bracken for clean bedding, whittle a needle, spin some thread, sew leather for shoes, wash in the stream, fashion a pot out of clay, catch and cook a chicken for dinner. No candle or book for reading. No time for smelting metal, drilling oil, or travel. By definition, you are at subsistence level and frankly, though at first you mutter, Thoreau-like, ‘how marvelous to get away from all the appalling hustle and bustle,' after a few days the routine is pretty grim. If you wish to have even the most minimal improvement in your life, say metal tools, toothpaste or lighting – you are going to have to get some of your chores done by somebody else, because there just is not time to do them yourself. ” —Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist.
2. Assimilation
Migration is an old human story: Homo Sapiens left Africa more than 70,000 years ago, and we’ve never stopped moving around. We’ve engaged in colonization and slave trade, empire building and running away from people who wanted to kill us. Along the way, we’ve attempted to retain our native cultures. Over time, in a mixed society, the predominant trend moves in the opposite direction—assimilation becomes the norm. We change our names and the way we dress. We shave our beards, and lose our accents. We learn the new language, eat new foods, separate from our parents’ ways. The butcher’s son, Israel Baline, from Siberia, becomes Irving Berlin, and writes a song called “God Bless America.” Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz becomes a comedian, then a TV star, but not under his Jewish name: he is now Jon Stewart. In America, success is easier with assimilation. It’s far more challenging if you look different (pigmentation, etc.) or behave differently—ask America’s Black population or, our remaining Native Americans. What happens elsewhere? Does separate but equal work out, or are we all drawn to a single flow, where one must sacrifice heritage in order to get along (and stay alive)?
3. Voting and Democracy
Like taxes, it seems as though voting has always been part of life. Like taxes, it's a relatively new habit. Certainly, there was voting in early democracies and republics, but the practice was not widespread (that is, most people were not allowed to vote). The concept took shape as societies, and governments, began to recognize the value of the individual, a shift that began, philosophically, in the 1600s, became part of the early American experiment in democracy, and took about 300 years to become a system that did not restrict voting based upon property ownership, race, religion, gender, or poverty. According to The Economist - Intelligence Unit, nearly all of North and South America are filled with democracies, but some nations are better at it than others: in our hemisphere, Canada is best-in-class, followed by the U.S. and Uruguay sharing second place. In Europe, Scandinavia and Switzerland are tops, followed by the large nations of Spain, the U.K., France, Germany. On the other side of the world, Australia's got it down, with Japan and South Korea not far behind. India, the world’s largest democracy, lags behind the U.S. and Japan, and Indonesia, the third largest, is ranked with southeastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, etc.) What makes the best democracy? The Economist’s short answer: “whether national elections are free and fair; the security of the voters; the influence of foreign powers on government, and the capability of civil servants to implement policies.” It's interesting to look more closely, state-by-state, both in the U.S. and elsewhere.
4. Respecting Authority
For most of our time on earth, humans have been ruled by kings, feudal lords, mighty religious leaders, and tribal elders. A few hundred years ago, that began to shirt, and individuals began to take responsibility for their actions. We're still sorting things out. In order to maintain order and personal safety for all concerned, parents demand respect from their children, and teachers demand respect from their students. In theory, the "respect authority” system ought to work pretty well through adulthood, but as we encourage children, teenagers, college students, and adults to think critically, there's some dissonance. More, if race or other factors are introduced. Long ago, respect was earned through wisdom and knowledge; now, everyone has answers on their smart phone. Few people vote. Few people attend school board meetings. We’re beginning to monitor authority figures with chest cameras—suggesting a weakened relationship between respect and trust. In time, do we all accept authority for decisions on our own, or do we support a system led and managed by authority figures? If we prefer a system based upon respect for authority, how do we upgrade respect, and improve the ability of authority figures to do their jobs effectively in the 21st century?
5. Civil Disobedience
In order to maintain peace, security, public health, and reasonable equitable treatment for all, we make rules, and we make laws. Some laws are quite good, and last a long time. Others were rotten from the start, poorly conceived, unfair to some, enriching others. Most are somewhere in-between, perhaps it was good idea at the time, but times have changed. Although we'd like to believe that lawmaking and rule-making are the responsibility and work of others, we’re usually the people who chose the people who made the rules, and we're the only ones who are going to bring about change. Unfortunately, the system is complicated, and powerful people tend to protect themselves so they remain in powerful positions. So we may not be heard, changes may not be clearly articulated, and there may be no easy way to bring about change. Sometimes, we take the streets, pitch tents in public parks, and carry signs. We shut down interstates and make certain that we're heard. That’s part of the game, but effective civil disobedience requires a more sophisticated approach: a small number of clear and achievable goals that support a greater mission; well-organized leadership that speaks with a single voice; and some form of coordinated marketing (words, music, signage, statements, media manipulation). Civil disobedience requires tremendous focus, a sustained effort, and a cause that really matters to a large number of people. It can be one of democracy’s most effective tools—and it can topple the ideals of other types of government. It is also a means to respect authority while pressing for substantive change.
6. Wealth
“I want to be rich! A millionaire! A billionaire!” If you live in the U.S., you’ve come to the right place: according to CNN Money, we’ve got nearly ten million millionaire households!! Up from just five million just three years ago!!! In fact, we’ve got over 100,000 households with over five million dollars in net worth (not including their houses and some other investments)—and that number is increasing, too. Japan is in second place: they’ve got over 2 million millionaire households, with new ones minted every week. In all the world, there are nearly 3 million households whose net worth exceeds a million dollars. CNBC points out that Qatar, Switzerland and Hong Kong are the places with the most millionaires, better than 1 in 200 people. What’s the secret? How do you become rich? And remain wealthy? The short answer is remarkably straightforward: investment in company shares and in real estate. Or, start your own business, grow it and sell it at just the right moment. How many people are rich? According to the Economic Policy Institute’s 2011 Briefing Paper, the top 1 percent (the very rich) hold 35 percent of the U.S.’s net household worth, and the next 4 percent hold just under 39 percent. The remaining 95 percent of U.S. households share the remaining 27 percent—which limits their investment options, and disallows their participation in the rising tide that continues to make the rich richer. The same briefing paper, using 2009 numbers, also shows the marked difference between Black and White household averages: becoming wealthy is much easier if you’re White (or, presumably, Asian), and you’re more likely to be in serious debt if you’re non-White. The situation in the U.S. is striking, but not uncommon. Income inequality has become a defining characteristic of developed economies.
7. Volunteer and the Nonprofit Economy
For much of human history, people have contributed their time to others for the common good: volunteering to protect their village and their nation; managing religious organizations and their community outreach activities; providing formal education and a wide range of arts and cultural activities; helping animals; care for the poor and infirm. In the U.S., one in ten dollars are spent in support of these activities, more than two in three people contribute time or money. We rely upon nonprofit organizations to operate local schools, colleges, health institutions, theaters, human services providers, and much more. We participate in so many ways: coaching Little League, helping out on Boy Scout campouts, the list goes on. Much of the work is carried on by very small organizations with skeletal staffs with modest budgets. Still, the volunteer and nonprofit economy survives—in the U.S. and in so many other places, often not as a government activity, but as something that local and/or like-minded people choose to do for one another. Like the internet, this reality is not something one could predict or design—it just happens, and it happens in so many places, and has happened for such a long time, it’s worth a closer look, both within and outside of religious communities.
8. Community Gardens
With growing demand for fresh, local food, some communities now support farmer’s markets, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture groups), and community gardens. These cooperative enterprises make local farming viable, and demonstrate the power of using a community’s shared resources for the good of all who participate. (Shared cultivation and enjoyment of food contains a primal element.) In city neighborhoods, community gardens are often the first demonstrations of authentic community, bring people together for a common cause, and energize additional improvements in overall cleanliness, care for the neighborhood, care for one another. In suburbs, many farmer’s markets take on the feeling of a weekly summer festival, with music, free book sharing, and other small events that build community. This is not a minor blip: there may be 10,000 CSAs in the U.S.A., plus another 10,000 farmer’s markets, and about 15,000 community gardens. Add the long tradition of weekly farmer’s markets in so many European, African, Latin American and Asian cities and towns, and the modern concept of a supermarket shifts into a specific, limited context.
Before we reach into the more sophisticated public vs. private good, we focus on the behavior of individuals and their interest in working together to do things they cannot do on their own. Certainly, individuals act to improve their own lives and the lives of those they love, avoiding negative consequences. Self-interest may be boundless, particularly in pursuit of pleasure; seven deadly sins (wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, gluttony) offer a starter list. When self-interest is shared by a group, the pursuit becomes a common cause. One example: a liberal advocacy organization known as Common Cause presses for greater transparency and accountability in government, “empowering ordinary people to make their voices heard in the political process.”
1. Self Interest & Common Cause