Editor’s note: This commentary is by Peter Smith, who is founding president of the Community College of Vermont and a former Republican member of Congress (1989-91).
Less than 90 years ago, America was knocked flat by the Great Depression. As we crawled out of its abyss, however, prevailing social and economic norms were reset, first, by President Roosevelt’s New Deal policies and programs and then by World War II and the investment of blood, sweat, tears, and dollars needed to defeat the forces of absolutism and hatred. Women working, while their husbands, brothers, and sons fought, changed domestic expectations about women and work. And the GI Bill foretold of a new era of opportunity through education. Indeed, by 1950, we had come a long way from the circumstances that led to the Great Depression.
At the same time, there were other movements at the state and local level aimed at leveling the playing field for all Americans. In my home state of Vermont, among other things that struggled were rural electric cooperatives and mutual savings banks, entities owned by their customers and organized as nonprofits. No exorbitant profits, no refused services, only customer-oriented services at prices that everyone could afford.
George D. Aiken, who became governor and then senator from Vermont, pioneered and led this charge, initially from his farm in southeastern Vermont. In later years his widow, Lola, called it “taking electricity to the end of the dirt road.” The rural electric co-ops rebalanced the greater good against excessive corporate profits and practices which had run amok.
Today, as we struggle to look past the end of this medical, social and economic pandemic, will we choose to reset the norms which have asserted themselves over the last 40 years? The pandemic has exposed the manifest inequalities in our social and economic structure for all to see. Will we ask, “How much is enough?”
How much is enough to guarantee every person and every family the financial, medical, and educational support they need?
How much is enough for a company or an individual to make before we ask that they give back to society through a progressive corporate and personal income tax structure?
- Can we create an environment where nonprofit financial institutions, such as our credit unions, can flourish and compete with for-profit banks?
- Can we create governmental and nonprofit insurance options the way Blue Cross/Blue Shield used to be?
- Can we create health care cooperatives that serve local and regional needs at a price we can afford?
- Can we create Social Security and unemployment compensation systems covering all workers and assuring that no one shall go without the basic necessities of life — health, housing, education, and food?
- Can we create infrastructure investments that employ people to maintain our infrastructure while responding to the needs created by climate change?
- Can we create economic development investments that are self-sustaining, green, and focused on small business and nonprofit solutions?
Instead of World War III, let’s invest in an America which lives up to our historic promise of social and economic opportunity.
I am not anti-capitalism. But how about we promote the essence of capitalism, small businesses and cooperatives that serve the community, as we look forward? As the political fog that has obscured our recognition of inequality is lifted by the pandemic, isn’t it time to ask, “How much is enough?” Let’s reset the table of opportunity so that everyone has a seat!
