Sacramento's Sustainable Future: Sustainable Business in Sacramento?

December 11, 2009

Sustainable Business in Sacramento?

I read in the paper this morning that the chamber of commerce backs the strong mayor. Apparently the chamber thinks that sustainability is bad for business, and that a strong mayor will be good for business. But what does KJ think about sustainability?

The recent meeting of his new arena task force suggests he doesn't think much about it. I went to their kick-off town hall meeting last week, and they started off saying the task force was all about economic development. But it really is just about the arena, and jobs for developers.

Most of the people in the room were men, and I was the only woman who spoke to the panel. It's time for the men in the chamber of commerce to refocus on the true and original purpose of business, which is to serve consumers. And consumers' most basic needs are clean air and water, healthy food, and snug shelter. These are the first priorities of economic development for human welfare.

Sports and entertainment arenas are not a basic consumer need. And we don't need to spend a lot of money on them. If we want basketball, we can have a city league. If we want entertainment, we have local and state politics at our doorstep.

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Can Capitalism Be Saved?

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Self-Actualization

is the highest human need, our quest for our highest self and spiritual/ethical potential.

Self & Social Esteem

arises through honest effort and success.

Social Needs

are obvious to those in solitary confinement. Humans need friends and hugs.

Safety Needs

are about the future security of basic physiological needs.

Physiological Needs

are about survival.

Maslow noticed that we are preoccupied with meeting our most essential needs first, before moving up to higher levels of human potential. But we all always need to fulfill ourselves on all levels to be whole and completely human.

Why Do Some People Get Picked On?

Over the years, I have reflected on my experience, trying to figure out what it was about me that caused the other kids to select me as the designated scapegoat for my age cohort.

A relatively accepting and not very competitive personality was a factor, and I was different, because my parents were older and traditional and my mom dressed me funny.

So when you decide to make fun of someone who looks funny or poor, better make sure I'm not around, because I don't care who gets embarrassed when scapegoating is going on.

Obstacle for Youth Volunteers

Everytime anyone decides they want to volunteer with any organization working with youth, they have to get fingerprinted and pay for it too.

I am sure we want to screen out any child molesters, but since very few molesters are strangers, fingerprinting isn't very effective. It also screens out lower-income volunteers.

For worried parents and well-meaning adults, I strongly recommend Gavin de Becker's book "Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (And Parents Sane)."

He explains how to immunize your kids, so they smell exploitative behavior long before it turns into abuse.

My California Roots

I grew up in a different California than most people. Most people who came here after the war (i.e. WW2) left behind traditional ways and thought California living was like Sunset magazine. But my ancestors first arrived just before the Civil War.

I grew up in a pre-war town, raised by traditional parents who taught us both the traditional thrift and self-reliance they learned during the Depression, as well as the contentment which requires economic means but can't be thus guaranteed. Emotional and social sustainability are also essential. Since we were close to a public university, intellectual and cultural values were a normal part of community life.

My father was always a registered Republican, but I'm not sure he voted for one after Eisenhower, and he thought W beneath contempt. My grandfather was a machinist and a union man. When we were kids, there was Bible reading after breakfast, but when my mother decided to read it cover to cover about 15 years ago, her faith was weakened by the experience.

One thing I noticed when I was in France is that there aren't any traditional peasants in California. The closest to that I've experienced here was visiting Mrs. Flint in Auburn in 1972.