Make It Better issues a challenge with an incentive to change.
Happy New Year and welcome to the election.
Just think of the inherent possibilities of change for the better in those greetings. A New Year. Resolutions To Do Better. A New Administration.
I should be excited. I must confess, though, a fear of the same old, same old. Same bad habits. More politics as usual. A continued absence of wisdom, creativity and long-term vision, garnished with the same old “it’s-all-about-what’s-best-for-me-and-mine-in-the–short-run” competitive one-upmanship. More 20th-century thinking in our digitally exploding, globally warming, work-24/7-but-fall-further-behind, 21st-century world.
I yearn for my kids to inherit a better world. But newspaper headlines and common sense tell me that they won’t if we — our society and our politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike — don’t evolve.
Five trillion dollars in debt and deeply dependent on oil controlled by people who have declared jihad on us or are rapidly buying us up (Abu Dhabi is now the largest shareholder of Citigroup; Dubai and Qatar are competing for ownership in the Nasdaq Stock Exchange). That ugly word, “recession,” now appears daily in the news. Our schools are failing, and the world is flat — money and jobs flow to India and China. Despite the best of intentions, No Child Left Behind has become More Kids Falling Behind. We’re fast losing our economic superpower sheen.
Even worse, we’re supposedly perched on the abyss of irrevocable environmental disaster, much of it caused by the carbon footprint of all that petroleum.
Families struggle to spend any time together, let alone quality time. For the first time in U.S. history, more kids are being raised in single-parent households than in two-parent ones.
But (I can hear you thinking) this is the North Shore. We’re educated, affluent and safe. Our schools are fantastic, our families strong. We create successful businesses; we nurture charities that make the world a better place; and we contribute millions of campaign dollars to Republicans and Democrats alike. Why focus on the dire?
Why? Call it my Mother of Many or Many Mothers (because many mothers feel similarly) Perspective. Every parent knows that he or she is only as happy as his or her least-happy child. Their family is only as strong as their most-vulnerable member. The same philosophy holds true for countries. Ultimately, the United States will only remain strong if there is strength and happiness in our struggling communities, as well as here on the North Shore.
So how do we Make It Better for our children’s 21st-century future? If I knew the exact answer, I would probably already be buying parts of the Middle East, eligible for a Nobel Prize or running for our highest office. I’m smart enough to know that I’m not that smart.
I also am smart enough to know that the bottom-line motivator for all of us is “what’s in it for me?” Americans correctly believe in free-market economics and enlightened self-interest. Give us personal freedom — as in “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” — economic goals and a free market and we astound the world with our accomplishments. My kids do the same thing when offered incentives/bribes that they really want — like a new video-game system.
Objective, quantifiable data intrigues and motivates us, too. Think Gross National Product (GNP), same-store sales (comparing sales at the same store during different time periods), Dow Jones averages, market research, producing the most widgets for the lowest cost, buying the most merchandise for the least amount of money. Given objective numbers and the freedom to respond as we choose, we relish the opportunity to respond appropriately.
Imagine, then, how we would react to a quantifiable economic formula that measures market freedom and the societal needs that common sense tells us will create a better future. In other words, inject a few long-term-vision factors into the economic tools we use to guide our individual actions and government policies. We would start competing to be better at all the items included in the formula.
And what would those common-sense needs be? Parents, social scientists, voters, business leaders and politicians could quickly be surveyed to develop a consensus. But I’ll start the discussion with a few suggestions:
- Emotional Connection to Others
- Good Education
- Good Health
- Clean and Safe Environment
- Sense of Purpose
The above contribute to the “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” that America holds dear. More importantly though, they lead to productivity increases too. People who feel loved, healthy, safe and engaged in meaningful work are more productive. Furthermore, those categories remind us that America isn’t just about material consumption.
If we value the long-run, common-sense elements of a strong society enough to objectively measure and report on them, just as we do interest rates and same-store sales, then our children likely will inherit a better world. They might make sounder life choices, too. Do I sound like an idealistic dreamer to you? I’ll bet the concept of free, instantaneous around-the-world video, audio and print communication seemed like a fantasy the first time that you heard about the Internet. Look at the changing world and wealth being created around this now.
Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman and an avid free-market economist, posits in his book Age Of Turbulence (Penguin Group, 2007) that it is imperative for the United States to “fix” its public school system and develop environmentally wise energy policies. The Wharton School Of Business just published Firms of Endearment — How World-Class Companies PROFIT from Passion and Purpose (2007), in which David B. Wolfe, Raj Sisodia and Jag Sheth claim that we’re entering a New Age where people increasingly search for higher meaning in their lives, not just more possessions, and that the most successful businesses now realize they must also leave the world a better place in order to build brand loyalty. We need an economic formula to quantify these movements.
I admit that this idea of a quantifiable economic formula that measures more than the most goods for the least amount of money is fuzzy thinking. But it resonates in my Mother Of Many/Many Mothers heart and my B.A. in Economics brain. And I again admit that I lack the mental tools to develop this.
Fortunately, though, brilliant economists welcome the opportunity to develop new theories that win prizes. Many of them work just down the street at the University Of Chicago. And we do have the ability to endow a “Make It Better Prize in Economics” to motivate them.
Does this idea also resonate with you? If so, please let us hear from you. Pass the suggestion on to others too. Maybe we will start conversations and a new prize in economics that will ultimately lead to happier new years and more visionary administrations. We hope to hear from you soon. Thank you!
