Back to Eden - Southern Economic Renewal: What Can You Do?
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.But is shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:25-28
by Franklin Sanders
About 1954 Murray of Ohio moved to Lawrence County, Tennessee and opened a factory. The first generation of country people who went to work there held onto their farms and worked 18 hour days. After a shift at the factory, they’d go home and raise all the crops and animals they ever had. Owning their own land, they were able to build up an estate for their children.
DOWN INTO EGYPT
The second generation worked at the factory and let the land go. If they stayed, they limited their farming to raising cattle or trees. Most of the land wound up in the hands of paper companies.
The third generation depended completely on their factory jobs. In the meantime Murray, as the largest employer in the county, set wage rates, and they set them low, so wage rates have remained low over the past 50 years. After all, they didn’t move down here because they were philanthropists; they moved down here because labour was cheap.
Meanwhile the rest of the middle class has nearly disappeared, aided no doubt by dropping wages and the invasion of Wal-Mart and other chains. The multitude of restaurants, bakeries, small shops, groceries, hardware stores, shoe shops, dry goods stores, dairies, craftsmen and most other small businesses have vanished. What middle class remains is a small crust of lawyers, doctors, dentists, and, of course, the inevitable bankers.
In a country once covered with independent freeholders — self-sufficient farmers and small business owners — most people have become property-less employees.
The predictable sequel unfolded in 2004 as Murray teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. In one morning they laid off over 100 supervisory personnel. Then they shut down two of three production lines. What employees are left expect the rest of their production to be shipped to Mexico or China — where the labour is still cheaper.
On November 8, 2004, Murray declared bankruptcy.
HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
The shift from freeholder to employee led also to lifestyle and diet changes. No longer do they exercise in their work all day, or eat a diet high in vegetables, home grown meat and eggs, and raw milk. Now they get little exercise and eat a processed diet weighted down with sugar, refined flour, soft drinks, and other carbohydrates. The dietary and lifestyle changes leave the third generation with chronic health problems, notably high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Without insurance furnished by an employer they cannot afford health care, which keeps them chained to a job.
THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MODEL
The Chamber of Commerce model to promote prosperity relies on drawing industry into the community from the outside to create jobs. It aims to draw outside money into the community. This works fine, as long as outside demand for local labour remains strong. When that weakens, however, the community discovers exactly how dependent it has become on that outside money, and to what extent employment has been centralized and made vulnerable to forces outside the community.
The Chamber of Commerce’s mistake lies in (1) centralising employment, and (2) not building up the local economy from the inside out. When employment is centralized in one or two large employers that large employer sets the wage rates for everyone in the community, and not just his own employees. Obviously, employment security becomes dependent on the economic health of those large employers — not just for their employees, but for everyone else in the community through the knock-on effect.
To build up the local economy from the inside out means to encourage local people to take care of local people’s needs. Why should Tennesseans buy tomatoes in season from California? Or cigars from Florida or the Dominican Republic? Or you name it. Most of life’s necessities we can raise right here quite economically, and often with a competitive advantage. We can grow locally, produce locally, and buy locally.
Why don’t we?
First, because we have left or been driven off the land or out of business because we have depended on imported jobs. Second, we have been dumbed-down by public education and robbed of our desire for economic independence and our entrepreneurial ability. We can reverse those shortcomings.
UP FROM EGYPT
What is the answer? A healthy local economy furnishes each other’s needs. Local people can fulfill local needs, patronize each other, and build a lasting foundation for local prosperity.
We have no idea how to become freeholders or financially independent. We have to take a two pronged approach, to free every one personally, and then to help those who can become freeholders.
GET OUT OF DEBT
How do you break the chains of debt slavery? There’s only one way: get out of debt. Impossible? No, it just takes patience, perseverance, and a plan.
Sit down together, husband and wife, and calculate all your debts. Whoa! Don’t give up yet! You may be shocked, but there’s a simple way out.
Work out a budget. Write down everything you spend for just one month. (Stop moaning, it’s easy. Buy a small pad and carry it with you. You’ll establish the habit of writing down everything you spend in just three days. Make it a game with your spouse.) Once you have collected all your figures, sort them out on a big piece of paper into categories: rent or house payment, insurance, food, auto repairs and gas, clothes, entertainment, etc. Go over the figures and establish how much (or better, how little) you should be spending in each category. Now you’ve got a budget.
But knowing your spending habits aren’t changing them, and here’s a sure fire way to change them: the envelope budget. This has worked for thousands of people and it will work for you. Get a box of envelopes, and on each one write down the category, and how much you have allotted for that category every month. Next time you get paid, don’t deposit your check: cash it. Take the money home and sit down together and put the allotted amounts into each envelope. As you need it, take out the money to pay your expenses. The catch is, when the money’s gone, it’s gone. Use no credit cards for any reason. Never spend more in any category than you’ve allowed, and be sure to set aside one envelope for “Debt reduction.” Start with your smallest debts first and as soon as you’ve paid them off, move on to the others. (Obviously, don’t stop making payments on the rest of your debt at the same time. Pay the minimum on everything except the debt you’re focusing on at the time.)
Don’t laugh, it works. After six months on the envelope budget, my wife and I had broken forever our addiction to credit cards, and saved enough money to buy a second car, to boot. By the way, it’s important to engage your children in this budget. By watching Mommy and Daddy handle their money carefully, children learn to handle their own. And you’ll be helping yourself; because the envelope budget will help you spar money you would otherwise have blown — money that will get you out of debt.
But isn’t everybody in debt? Maybe, but it makes a difference for you, because on every cent you borrow, you have to pay interest. Over the course of a thirty year mortgage, for example, you will pay about three times the cost of your house. Think about it. If your house costs $100,000, you pay $300,000. Could you use an extra $200,000, or do you like slaving for the bank? Try doubling or even tripling your monthly payment. Every house payment you make in advance saves you hundreds of dollars in interest.
Ever notice that in every small town or city, the newest, costliest, and flashiest building is the bank? Why is that? Could it be they are fattening off our debt addiction? Isn’t it time you put the bankers on a diet, so they will stop feeding off you?
God save the South!
Franklin Sanders, a resident of Dogwood Mudhole, Tennessee, writes the monthly tabloid The Moneychanger, found at the-moneychanger.com.
