The Power Of One: Part One

Minnie Bee's Rant:

     A recent birthday has caused me to reflect that in the past few months, by focusing on my feelings of discouragement, frustration, and anger over the state of the economy and the failure of our political system,  I have allowed myself to lose sight of the reason I started blogging in the first place:  because I believe in the power of one to make a difference.  Of course, if one happens to have fame, or at least notoriety, plus a lot of money, that power is multiplied tenfold.  That's why I believe that such people should take the opportunity to use their power for positive change.  Yes, I'm an idealist, but it's still a pleasant surprise when one of these people, particularly a business-type, actually does this.  From now on, when an influential person breaks from the pack to act in a public way for the good of the country, I will try to showcase their efforts here.  Hence, the "Part One" part of the title for this week's rant.           

     My first example of the power of one is Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. Schultz, who is Brooklyn born and raised, has apparently not forgotten his humble beginnings in the Brooklyn projects.  He has been making the rounds of TV programs in the past month, expressing frustration over the extreme partisanship in U.S. politics these days, and calling on Americans to put concern for their country first.  Schultz believes, as I do, that campaign finance reform is essential to the political and economic health of our country. 

     Schultz thinks that the large amounts of money given to political campaigns by corporations to further their own special interests is a significant cause of the political gridlock preventing lawmakers from moving our country forward.  He has started a program primarily aimed at his fellow corporate CEOs and business owners called "Upward Spiral."   Using his position as a bully pulpit, Schultz is calling on these business leaders to take two pledges. 
    
     The first pledge is geared towards stopping the influence of big business on U.S. politics.  This pledge asks Americans, particularly "business leaders," to withhold political contributions to elected members of Congress and the President until they come together to forge a long term plan that "sets our nation on stronger long-term fiscal footing."  This pledge represents a positive first effort by a U.S. CEO towards campaign finance reform.  However, it fails to include some important components.  First of all, any successful effort at campaign finance reform must include four major ingredients: (1) acceptance by the majority of big business CEOs and owners, (2) acceptance by the majority of members of both houses of Congress, (3) acceptance and approval by the majority of Supreme Court justices, and (4) the mandated public disclosure of individual/corporate contributions over a specified amount (e.g., $500) to political action committees (PACs and Super PACs.)  Through the withholding of campaign contributions, Schultz's "Upward Spiral program attempts to directly address the first ingredient and to indirectly influence the second and third.  However, to date, only 22,291 individuals have taken this pledge, and just 97 "key supporters" aka big business CEOs and owners (of these 97, five are retired.)  Secondly, Schultz's pledge includes contributions to the President and already-elected members of Congress, but does not include giving to political challengers who are potential Presidents or elected members of Congress, or to PACs and Super PACs where wealthy donors typically hide their contributions.     

      The second pledge that Schultz asks fellow business leaders to take in his "Upward Spiral" program represents a positive first effort by a U.S. CEO to publicly organize businesses to put more people to work.  As head of Starbucks, Schultz employees approximately 200,000 people worldwide.  Over half of these jobs are in the U.S.  Schultz has also made it a practice to give benefits to any employee working 20 hours or more per week, and he believes that the U.S. needs to increase manufacturing jobs here. I would feel more comfortable if this second pledge specifically asked companies to hire more "Americans"  and/or to create more jobs in the "United States," although after listening to Schultz and looking at his own track record, I believe that this is his intent.  Furthermore, I would like to see Schultz put his money where his mouth is regarding U.S. manufacturing jobs by establishing a packaged Starbucks coffee or line of coffees that are eligible to bear the label "Made in USA."  At present, I have not discovered a packaged Starbucks coffee that bears this label. As of this blog post, 3,129 companies have taken this second pledge.
    
     As usual, there are some who immediately have criticized Schultz for what he is trying to do.  However, Schultz's activism is refreshing in a culture where money usually matters more than anything else.  In previous posts, I have talked about the need for a new, patriotic business model.  Schultz may be the real deal.
****************
 We create and keep U.S. jobs when we demand, promote, and buy Made in USA
goods and products.

This week's recommended products:

To jumpstart your morning, there's nothing like a good cup of coffee.  Although all coffee companies, even those in Hawaii, sometimes use coffee beans grown outside of the USA (the only USA coffee beans come from Hawaii), this is the only packaged coffee product on the market that I could find that is always totally manufactured in the USA:

·         New England Coffee - Made in USA by New England Tea and Coffee Co., Inc., Malden, MA

(http://www.newenglandcoffee.com)

Blog Sources:

http://www.upwardspiral2011.org/?gclid=CIzMjdy-yKsCFYiC5QodOyiD5A

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-hold-forum-today/story?id=14452295&page=3

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/14/eveningnews/main20106281.shtml

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-15/starbucks-schultz-urges-fellow-ceos-to-boycott-campaign-giving.html