In my last post, “Soulcraft and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance The Demise of Shop Classes,” I discussed Matthew B. Crawford’s recent book, Shop Class as Soulcraft, in which he examines the consequences of the disappearance of high school shop.

Crawford acknowledges that community colleges to some extent are able to “salvage” the lack of high school shop. This is certainly true as you may read in my post, “Green Technology at Your Community College.” CCs are providing an essential service to the workforce. Government studies show that the highest paying jobs, especially green jobs, will come from the CCs. ( Jessica Milano and Conor McKay at the Democratic Leadership Council. San Jose Mercury News.)

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 In his book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, Mathew B. Crawford, tells how he discovered that he could not get a meaningful job with his advanced degree—a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Chicago.

He worked for a while in a cubical as an indexer abstracter making $23,000 a year and at another time as a SAT tutor making $15 an hour. Crawford finally found satisfaction as a “gearhead” fixing motorcycles.

Crawford laments the loss of high school shop classes, and the misinformed notion that schools must produce “knowledge worker,” by preparing students for four-year programs. According to Crawford, three-forth of high school shop classes in California have disappeared since the 1980s. He sees the present system turning out an army of clerks that he likens to the Dilbert cartoon. 

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Mass production has been used since the industrial revolution as a means of creating large quantities of standardized products. It has many advantages over one-at-a-time production. It reduces coast and provide interchangeable parts.  Its disadvantages are that it can over produce and it dehumanizes labor.

Mass production will often continue to build inventory in spite of an economic slump. Large inventories can lead to massive layoffs. Unemployment reduces consumption and a viscous circle ensues.

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The Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT) cites the case of a widowed public school teacher that retired with a $900 monthly pension. She would have been eligible to receive $600 survivor benefits based on her husband’s Social Security contribution, but the windfall elimination provision (WEP) eliminated all of her survivor benefits. What is WEP?

The Reagan administration believed that reducing taxes would boost the economy. According to this “supply side” economic theory, less tax meant more profits, which would be plowed back into in to the private sector creating jobs and goods. The theory didn’t work and the deficit soared.

The administration looked for “revenue enhancements” that wouldn’t look like taxes (at least not taxes on business) to buy time for its theory to work. Social Security became a target of this quest. Especially, Social Security benefits received by public employees.

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The front pages in the UK this week are a-spread with the news of record profits at Barclays Bank, with accompanying bonuses for top bankers. This echoes last week’s story at Goldman Sachs. Given the recent bailouts and government support, the Economist is right to note that ‘such largesse looks cheeky at best’!

Although the two crises have little in common, this obstinate reminder of how little has changed in the financial sector prompts me to deeper pessimism in the environmental crisis.

Why? We’re perhaps only a year into, and most certainly nowhere near out of, the greatest economic crisis in living memory. Many people are still in the thick of it, as witnessed, for example, by record unemployment levels on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet it seems that we are incapable of learning, or changing in the face of significant crisis.

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Nothing is ever black and white, or all bad without traces of good.  The world is full of grey areas, and electronics also create positive change. 

When driving to an new destination the other day, I noticed that I used much less gas because of my GPS than I normally would.  In the old days before Google maps and GPS technology, I used to get lost at least once, call on my cell phone or stop at the gas station to get directions, and generally take more time and fuel than necessary. 

Some will say this is just spatial ineptness - but I am willing to bet that others have had this problem too!

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What he does “for fun” is use these same storytelling techniques to record history and facilitate conversation on the very real and complex issues of our day – struggles that have become storytelling lore but have real implications for inspiring change. He calls this experimental effort The Dilemmas Project, a multi-media platform for engaging citizen participation around the ongoing dilemmas ordinary people are facing every day.

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Last week, San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom passed into law an

Yes, joining other similar programs in Seattle, Boston, San Diego and Pittsburgh, residents will be required under threat of fine to contribute their yard waste and food scraps. The fines aren’t meant to aggravate, rather Mayor Newsom is interested in incentivizing compliance.

On the face of it, the composting effort seems a bit complex in its implementation and infrastructure. Or is it? In actuality it’s fairly straightforward, it simply requires a mindset shift with an extra few pieces of equipment at the homestead and office. Of course we all groan when we think we might have to throw our banana peels into a separate bin. But once we’re used to it, and our city is at 90% waste efficiency with community gardens, urban parks and micro-farms benefiting, what’s to deter us from making a little extra effort and re-train ourselves now?

Herein lies the challenge. The opportunity for San Francisco will be to imaginatively engage us in a herculean effort to educate AND motivate compliance.

The “Reduce Reuse Recycle” campaign has gained some strong ground, thanks not the least in part to its proficient use in elementary school these days (what parents have not heard their kid come home chanting this?). It’s a catchy phrase with an easy icon that we all recognize. And the three descriptive words help us understand at a base level both our actions and the big picture. No small feat.

And there have been other more entertaining efforts. The “Got Milk” campaign introduced by the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 has been credited with increasing milk sales nationwide. The San Francisco based ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners created that one. And remember the California Raisins? Introduced in 1986 by the California Raisin Advisory Board, another top agency Foote, Cone and Belding created that one.

This is not to say that all campaigns need professional-grade characters with narratives to entertain us. The digital world has actually provided us with a rich array of channels that may be employed. And companies like Virgance have shown us that there is no limit to creative methods of employing social activism.

San Francisco, like many cities, is not exactly rife with cash to employ a hot ad shop to devise its strategy, but hopefully this trend-setting city will get resourceful and seek creative solutions and partners for engaging and motivating positive behavior change.

These is something in this bill for almost everyone. There is also something for almost everyone to hate. Alan During gives 14 things he love and 6 he hates about Waxman-Markey.

It’s no surprise that the United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufactures oppose this bill, but so does Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Dow Chemical and Ford Motors support it.

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Oil peaked several years ago. Now coal has peaked. The Costs of their production will soar when the global economy recovers and demand returns. Some say that this is a bad time to launch an ambitious energy policy as that envisioned by the American Clean Energy and Security Act. They claim that this Act will raise taxes, and cost jobs. At the time of this post, a draft of this proposed Act is a bill before Congress.

According to Brenda Pierce, head of the of a US Geological Survey team that recently conducted a study of US coal reserves, “We really can’t say we’re the Saudi Arabia of coal anymore.” (wsj 6-8-09) It’s not that her survey found less coal, but analysis shows that the cost of recovering it is escalating.

The DOE (Department of Energy) published a similar analysis on US oil reserves several years ago. Several studies of world oil and coal reserves have shown that these energy sources have peaked. That is, once the world economy returns to its pre-recession level, the price of fossil fuels will surge.

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It may seem idealistic or even naïve for students to be taking this unsanctioned oath yet, 8 years after Enron kicked off a two-year run on accounting and financial fraud (WorldCom, Adelphia, Tyco, Global Crossing), we seem surprised that financial fraud has brought the global economy to it’s knees.  Our infrastructure is begging for systemic changes and the principles of capitalism are being challenged, yet perhaps it’s simply our moral compass that needs re-setting?

When President Obama took office, he asked us to be virtuous.  He asked business to make decisions on not just whether it was profitable, but to ask the question “is it right?”

Fareed Zakaria suggested in Newsweek’s The Capitalist Manifesto: Greed is Good (to a point) this week, that no system can work without a “sense of ethics and and values at its core.”  No matter what reforms get put in place, no matter what systemic shifts we make, unless common sense, judgment and an ethical standard are in place, future innovations in business will result in the same excess and collapse.

And at TED Talks in February, Barry Schwartz,  a psychologist from Swarthmore who studies economics and psychology, spoke about the loss of practical wisdom in business.   Incentives have driven out moral will.  Rules have created an over-reliance on whether or not they exist. Instead of nurturing decision-making capabilities and moral character, a “solution” based on pay-offs has been implemented.

So maybe the students from Harvard, Oxford and Stanford aren’t so idealistic after all.  Across the spectrum, leaders and pundits are calling on a return to old-fashioned notions of virtue, nobility and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.  As the next generation of business leaders emerges into the worst job market in decades, perhaps this re-focus will not only serve to raise our expectations (and hopes) for future business leaders, but will be a call to action for the current management profession as a whole.

image credit: JordanH at Creative Commons

During the last presidential election, both candidates promised some form of “national service.” While neither was specific, they seemed to favor some form of domestic Peace Corps perhaps by expanding AmeriCorps. Neither candidate was specific about the goals of national service. If one of the goals is to bring people into the workplace then perhaps OJT coupled to work-studies (co-op) may be the answer.

William James coined the term “national service” in his essay, “The Moral Equivalent of War.” According to James, mandatory service could teach peace and democratic values. John Dewey argued that democratic values could not be taught by authoritarianism

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The US hasn’t had a draft since 1973. The last time a draft bill was introduced before Congress was in 2003 during the Iraqi War. It was unanimously defeated. Even its author voted against it. So why are men denied government jobs or college loans because they neglected or refused to register with the Selective Service System?

The function of the Selective Service is just to collect names. It serves no other purpose. It doesn’t provide names to military recruiters or provide recruitment information to registrants. It does provide severe penalties for none compliance.

Failing to register through negligence or intention can ban men from government jobs, college loans and even college. What is really amazing is that this life sentence is irrevocable.

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Californian just voted down a set of “revenue enhancements.” Now Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to layoff fire, police, and teachers. This will certainly increase the already soaring unemployment and foreclosure rates. Schwarzenegger is now considering releasing nonviolent prisoners, shortening the school year, legalizing and taxing marijuana.

Most of the “measures” or propositions on this special election (May 19) were desperate attempts to bailout California from an extreme budget deficit. Only one of the measures passed. It would prohibit pay raises for legislators unless the budget is balanced.

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 Hopefully, the future will record that we had a crisis, but sized the opportunities afforded by the mounting promises of renewable energy and rode them to success. Hopefully, the future will not record that we were bogged down by the narrow interest of lobbyist and missed this golden opportunity.

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Drawing on the success of Google, he has called on the newspaper industry at the recent Newspaper Association of America (NAA) conference, to to create products that would entice readers to go beyond headlines listed on search-engine pages.

“We think we can build a business with you,” he said. “That is the only solution we can see.”

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/04/08/google-ceo-raises-further-questions-related-to-online-content/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/04/07/van-jones-revisionary/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/04/07/van-jones-revisionary/#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 07:16:20 +0000 Kelli Peterson http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/04/07/van-jones-revisionary/ This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Van Jones is a rising star in the green economy.  As the founding President of Green for All, he is a doer.  As the author of  “The Green Collar Economy” he is a spokesperson and advocate.  But he is actually much more than that. He’s actually Innovation 3.0.

Nancy Pelosi calls him a “magnificent disrupter”.   If she means that he eloquently navigates new paths (job creation) and connects new ideas (environmental consideration) to age-old issues (populations in poverty), then she is right.

In a recent interview with David Gottfriend, CEO of Regenerative Ventures, Van spoke of the need to revision the way we do things.  He spoke of soul level redemption.  And he spoke of the need for human recovery.    Listening to him you can’t help but be caught up in his articulate passion and belief that there is a better way out of this mess we’re in.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/04/07/van-jones-revisionary/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/03/28/is-the-hog-odor-earmark-in-the-stimulus-package-more-pork-or-a-green-step-forward/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/03/28/is-the-hog-odor-earmark-in-the-stimulus-package-more-pork-or-a-green-step-forward/#comments Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:28:36 +0000 Brenda Keener http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/03/28/is-the-hog-odor-earmark-in-the-stimulus-package-more-pork-or-a-green-step-forward/ Lawmakers continue to raise a stink about the $1.7M earmark for hog odor research in Obama’s stimulus package, calling it “pork” in its finest form.  Rural residents who live near hog farms, or worse, facilities where hogs are butchered, are calling it about time!

In the State of Iowa, pigs outnumber people by 8:1 - there are 20M pigs living in this Midwestern state.  Hog odors are nauseating, sulferous, and hard to get out of clothing, vehicles, and carpeting.  Iowa Senator Tom Harkin is proud of getting this earmark passed through, and his Iowa constituents view as his bringing home the bacon to his home state.  Per Sen. Harkin (as quoted by mgwashington.com):

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/03/28/is-the-hog-odor-earmark-in-the-stimulus-package-more-pork-or-a-green-step-forward/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/03/24/can-blue-dogs-help-obamas-green-message/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/03/24/can-blue-dogs-help-obamas-green-message/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:55:10 +0000 Fred Etcheverry http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/03/24/can-blue-dogs-help-obamas-green-message/

Despite public outrage over AIG bonuses, Obama had a good week. He traveled across America expressing his own outrage over the bonuses. He was warmly greeted in Orange County, California—once a bastion of conservative Republicanism. Republican Governor Swarzenegger warmly embraced him and assured him that California supported the stimulus plan. Obama appeared on the Tonight Show displaying his quick wit with the show’s host Jay Leno.

Leno raised the issue of congress threatening to tax the bonuses at 90%. “As a American,” he said that he was distressed that Congress could use the tax laws to punish a particular group. Obama responded that he understood the anger. Significantly, he did not endorse Congress’s response.

Nor did Obama mention that Congress voted for these bonuses when it passed the bailout or whether he or congress was aware of this clause in the Bill. Senator Cris Dodd (D-Conn) had appeared outraged at the bonus and told CNN that he was unaware of such an amendment. Later he told CNN that he didn’t write the clause, and later he admitted adding the clause at the insistance of Treasury Secretary Geithner.

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