Some readers are going to say I've finally gone off the deep end. But honestly, it's time for all of us to shed our traditional habits behind and consider new choices.
In 2005, I wrote an article called "Investing for Change (Seattle Weekly)" exploring how I could use the millions I made at Microsoft to create positive social change and provide guides for others to do the same. Since then, I've realized that the cultural, societal and financial system we've created in this country artificially limits the effectiveness of simple investment choices, we need to act more smartly and decisively.
Assessing The Problem
Instead of averting the recession (ignoring its roots for the moment) by issuing a moratorium on foreclosures and requiring mandatory restructuring of predatory mortgage loans, Congress chose to provide nearly a trillion dollars of taxpayer money to bail out financial institutions. It was more palatable for them to bail out wealthy bank CEOs and investors than to protect victims of predatory lending.
Why on earth would Congress spend the last several months creating a health care reform bill to provide $50 billion to private health insurers when their administrative costs are nearly 31% instead of simply expanding access to Medicare, with its 6% overhead. In other words, Congress proposes to spend $50 billion on a predatory industry that will carve out a higher profit than Vegas casinos (22%) vs. Medicare which has no profit motive. If you're wondering if Congress is insane, it's probably misappropriating your money.
Salon's Glenn Greenwald recently called Senators Bayh and Lieberman threats to filibuster even a weak public option the "legalized corruption that runs the U.S. Senate" given that each of their wives earn millions of dollars by sitting on the boards of health insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
As individuals, we rely on government to set up systems that work efficiently, transparently and accountably to provide for our basic institutional needs in a positive way. When the government fails to perform this basic function well, it's up to individuals to step out of our comfortable independent lifestyles and engage the system more actively.
The dysfunction in government is so widespread at this time that we have to face the fact that what we've been trying isn't working and that new, more creative and powerful approaches are needed.
Health care and the country's financial system are extremely serious issues, but we're literally leaving the fate of the planet, the food chain and our viability as a species to a failing Congress as it contemplates its work on the upcoming climate bill.
The system of government we've put in place isn't working. The actions we've taken thus far aren't proving effective. We have to think differently about our work, our life, our choices and take actions that put pressure on the system in ways that create permanent change.
Making New Choices
As I explore this in my everyday life, I plan to blog about it here. Some of the ideas will seem simple and some more complex. Regardless, I hope that I can share ideas and offer examples that others leverage.
I also hope to use my technical skills and experience with social media to leverage the knowledge of readers around the Web to provide ways for others to make comments, suggest ideas and offer local approaches to some of the topics discussed here. This will probably mean expanding this site from simply a blog to something more.
One of the first things I'll be doing is reviewing how I spend my budget and invest my assets for change. But by no means do I claim to be a perfect example - I don't pretend to be holier-than-anyone. In fact, I hope I can offer more through sharing my imperfection. For example, although I've made a number of socially responsible investments, I've continued investing with Citigroup/Smith Barney for nearly fifteen years - the same company that recently considered paying a derivatives trader $100 million. For reasons I will explore later, transitioning to other options over time is going to be a big undertaking for me.
I also want to highlight the need to approach activism through a rights-based framework. Only by legislating rights for nature and individuals that protect all of us can we create permanent change. I want to offer a shout out to Richard Grossman and Thomas Linzey for awakening me to this several years back in a way that has continued to provide a frame for me with which to view the world and inform my actions.
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