Additional Material for

Quickening of America

 

I.                    The Invisible Hand

a.       Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776)—If each pursues his own self interest, it will “almost as if by an invisible hand” result in what is best for all.

b.      But, Garrett Hardin in “The Tragedy of the Commons” (Science, 1968) describes how each serf, pursuing self-interest by grazing sheep on the commons, brought about the destruction of the common pastureland and the loss of their livelihood by all the serfs in the village.

II.                 Corporate Social Responsibility (cf. David Freudberg, The Corporate Conscience, AMACOM, 1986)

a.       Corporations serve (and depend upon) multiple stakeholders.

b.      Corporate philanthropy (“corporate social responsibility”) is action in service to the community stakeholder.

c.       May take three forms:

                                                               i.      Charity (response to community need independent of corporate interest)

                                                             ii.      Enlightened self-interest (balancing community need against corporate interest)

                                                            iii.      Social marketing (expressing corporate responsibility by using market to meet social needs, often incurring risk and foregoing profit)

III.               Self-Help Venture Funds

a.       Variety of forms

                                                               i.      Credit Union

                                                             ii.      Grameen Bank

                                                            iii.      Community land trust

b.      References:

                                                               i.      Benello, Swann, & Turnbull, Building Sustainable Communities, (Bootstrap Press, 1989)

                                                             ii.      Korten & Klauss, People Centered Development (Kumarian Press, 1984)

                                                            iii.      Green & Haines, Asset Building and Community Development, (Sage, 2002)

                                                           iv.      Whyte & Whyte, Making Mondragon (ILR Press, 1988)

IV.              Styles of Intelligence/Modes of Learning

a.       Benjamin Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Longman, 1956)

                                                               i.      Cognitive domain

                                                             ii.      Affective domain

b.      Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind (Basic Books, 1983)

                                                               i.      Linguistic

                                                             ii.      Logical/mathematical

                                                            iii.      Spatial

                                                           iv.      Musical

                                                             v.      Bodily/kinesthetic

                                                           vi.      Naturalistic

                                                          vii.      Intrapersonal (emotional)

                                                        viii.      Interprersonal

                                                           ix.      Existential

V.                 Negotiation Skills—William Ury, Getting Past No (Bantam, 1993)

a.       Don’t react—Go to the Balcony

b.      Don’t argue—Step to Their Side

c.       Don’t reject--Reframe

d.      Don’t push—Build Them a Golden Bridge

e.       Don’t escalate—Use Power to Educate

VI.              Deliberative Democracy—Amy Gutman & Dennis Thompson, Democracy and Disagreement (Harvard University Press, 1996)

a.       How can a democratic system deal with conflicts about fundamental values?  (Is moral deliberation possible?)

b.      Common responses:

                                                               i.      Procedural:  If political equals disagree on moral matters, then the greater rather than the lesser number should rule.

                                                             ii.      Constitutional:  Some rights have priority over others, including majority rule.

c.       Deliberative response:

                                                               i.      Reciprocity—appeal to reasons that are shared or could come to be shared among participants

                                                             ii.      Publicity—consider empirical claims consistent with reliable methods of inquiry

                                                            iii.      Accountabilitiy—determine to whom moral reasons should be offered (problems of specialization and constituency)

VII.            Summary:  Democratic Shift in Values

a.       From bureaucracy (authority, hierarchy)

b.      Through self-determination (and freedom)

c.       To mutual responsibility (and accountability)