I am what I am because of who we all are
by Anke Wessels
Recently, a local Rotary club invited me to speak on the topic of "Peace through Service," this year's theme for Rotary International. Drawing on comments made by Rotary International president Sakuji Tanaka, I began my presentation with the South African concept of Ubuntu. A rich concept, Ubuntu is often translated: I am what I am because of who we all are. Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes it this way:
A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated, or diminished when others are tortured or oppressed. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that we can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. When we do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.
From this perspective, service is not charity, which often involves an imbalance of power between giver and receiver. Instead, it is a way of being, one in which we privilege the dignity and well-being of others. By upholding the well-being of others we support our own, and in turn, that of the whole. From this practice, peace arises.
Yet, in America today, the well-being of a few threatens to overshadow that of the many. Since the 1990s, income in the US has become concentrated among the very highest earners, while that of middle and low-income households has stagnated. According to a recent Congressional Budget Office report, from 1979 to 2007 the average income for the top 1 percent more than tripled, while the bottom 80 percent saw only feeble income growth on the order of just 20 percent. Moreover, the top 1 percent of households have doubled their share of pretax income in the last 30 years, while the bottom 80 percent have seen their share fall.
What am I when this describes who we all are?
Economists who study income inequality have argued for several decades that, while perhaps morally objectionable, income inequality is economically efficient. Motivating us to be productive and to use our resources productively, it effectively and efficiently stimulates economic growth. As long as the bottom and middle-income levels are moving up, the fact that the wealthiest are far better off is considered a necessary trade-off. Indeed, in 1975 Harvard University economist, Howard Okun encapsulated this view in his book, Equality and Efficiency: The Big Trade-off.
Yet, changes in the economy since the 1990s have led to a reexamination of this argument. Harvard Business School economist, David Moss, states, "in the 1990s, it began to appear that income was being concentrated among the very highest earners and that stagnation was occurring not just at the low end but across most income levels." The data indicate that the very top income earners have been absorbing most of the economy's growth and investing it in new, volatile financial instruments. The resultant inequality is more extreme and dynamic than the country had seen since the 1920s.
As the country's earnings migrate toward the highest reaches of the income distribution, with 80 percent of us seeing very modest or no gains in income, the economy's activity tips away from spending and toward investment. Some economists, such as Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, argue that this is putting a drag on effective demand. With a related surge and instability in the financial markets, we are now in an era when even economists question whether income inequality is an economic good.
This means that our efforts to create communities that work for everyone--by alleviating poverty, eliminating racism, supporting sustainability, encouraging creativity, and reducing social inequities-- is not only morally just, but economically prudent--a position well supported in a recent publication by PolicyLink, America's Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model. I recommend you take a look. I mention only highlights here.
Not surprisingly, a wide variety of studies indicate that income inequality is correlated with, and even causally related to, increased crime, decreased health, and diminished access to quality education. The repercussions and consequences of these social problems drain our communities of valuable resources--resources that could be channeled toward enhancing their vitality, sustainability, and resilience instead.
In addition, structural racism continues to create barriers to higher education, quality jobs, and wealth generation for people of color. While it is projected that 45 percent of jobs in 2018 will require post high school education, there are wide racial disparities in higher education attainment. Forty-three percent of white workers have at least an associate's degree, yet this is true for only 27 percent of African American workers, 26 percent of U.S. -born Latinos, and 14 percent of Latino immigrants. Nearly six million young people, ages 16 through 24, are neither working nor in school- this is both the highest absolute number of disconnected youth and the highest share of youth that are disconnected over the 24 year period for which data are available. These disconnected youth are disproportionately youth of color. Lacking successful work experience by the age of 25 increases the risk of lifelong poverty. Moreover, disconnected youth are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system, imposing both personal and societal costs. As top echelon earners are catapulting ahead, America's middle class is shrinking, and with it the ability to move up the income ladder in one's lifetime or from one generation to the next. The barriers are greater for people of color. More than half of black children born to parents whose incomes are in the bottom fifth of all incomes remain there as adults, compared to three in 10 white children.
By the end of this decade, the majority of youth under age 18 will be people of color. By 2042, people of color will make up the majority in America. If the roadblocks to their chances for quality education, jobs, and wealth creation remain, we all suffer from the subsequent drain of human and financial capital. It is as if we are playing on the economic court with only half our team. Imagine how much more competitive, innovative and resilient our economy would be if all of us could realize our full potential as active participants.
We can turn this situation around by recognizing that our diversity as a country is our competitive asset. Diversity provides the richness from which creativity and innovation is borne, essential in our rapidly changing society. If we tackle racial disparity in education and employment, we will lift up those at the bottom of the income spectrum and grow the middle class. We will all thrive.
This work--that of social entrepreneurs and innovative change makers across the country-- is the kind of service that promises peace and prosperity. It reflects the South African notion of Ubuntu. By safeguarding the dignity and well-being of each and everyone amongst us, the dignity and well-being of all are upheld. Each of us is because of who we all are.
The Center for Transformative Action (CTA) helps to create communities that work for everyone. We do this by providing fiscal sponsorship to innovative social change agents in New York State, as well as financial, human resources, and grants management services. CTA is an educational non-profit organization affiliated with Cornell University.
