An advocate of parochial federalism continues his/her presentation[1] …
Student Economic Interests [2] (cont.)
This posting begins with a continued discussion over the motivation
to start a business and the opportunities to do so. The reason for this concern is to what extent
parochial/traditional federalism encourages such an activity. That would be not only to be so engaged but also
to do so within the guides of federalist values, i.e., not to offend through
one’s actions the common good.
Some years ago, a lot of discussion – pointed out in the last
posting – was over how the exiting of manufacturing to low-wage nations was
affecting how viable the US production of goods was. As Robert Reich[3] pointed
out, due to resulting downsizing and consequential disruptions to market
controls by large corporations, there have been many new opportunities for a whole
new generation of entrepreneurs to begin small businesses. But, in more recent years, some question this
general judgement.
These other commentators cast doubt on this general cause, but they
do not question Reich’s generally identified consequence. In the ensuing years since his book was published, large
corporations (valued at $1 billion or more) have resumed their dominant
positions in OECD nations’ economies (like that of the US, United Kingdom,
France, Germany, and Japan). Here is a
quote from a McKinsey & Company article:
The size of the business sector varies only
slightly within each of the major economies, and their share has remained
steady for the past 60 years. This steadiness masks significant underlying
shifts, notably including the growth of corporations over $1 billion in
revenue, which increased their global revenues by 60 percent relative to their
home country’s GDP since 1995.[4]
That business
landscape has been fertile ground; those current economies, including the US’s
economy, do afford newly found opportunities.
This is not an easy topic to summarize in this sort of review – there
are a variety of factors affecting manufacturing advancements, for example, in
the US including emissions and power generation – but the general literature
does report an optimistic future.[5]
Across the board (manufacturing and service businesses), this
might very well be the result of technological advancements – one thinks of
online accesses – that have proven to lead to a meaningful uptick in the number
of businesses getting started. In terms
of small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees), the following is
reported:
The strengthening United
States economy in recent years has nurtured many opportunities for
entrepreneurs, with the number of small businesses in the US on the rise.
In 2021, the number of small businesses in the US reached
32.5 million, making up nearly all (99.9 percent) US businesses.
The increase in the number of small businesses in the US in
2021 is representative of the sustained growth as it makes a 2.5 percent increase
from the previous year and a growth of 9.8 percent over the four-year period
from 2017 to 2021.[6]
Perhaps a parochial/traditional federalist perspective would
encourage many more young people to seize these opportunities and become more
actively engaged in the economic as well as political world than would otherwise
be the case. This is not to indicate
that insufficient numbers are drawn to entrepreneurial pursuits when they are
only spurred on by acquisitive motives, but for the sake of the nation, one is
justified to hope for better.
The point is that in addition to the desires for ever higher
levels of material well-being, individuals can be motivated to such endeavors
by the old republican, federalist desire to expand one’s liberty (through the
entailed enhancement of one’s dignity) and gain a larger control over one’s
life by being of service to a commonwealth.
By doing so, individuals create for themselves a more interactive role
in the welfare of the broader community.
Stated in other words:
entrepreneurs, with their heightened financial commitment, find it in
their interest to become more involved with the social conditions of their
community. Often, the welfare of the
community will affect the health of their businesses. In addition, the polity is benefited by more
of its members having a greater personal stake in the general welfare of that
community. When one thinks of it, the
natural rights argument of this dialectic struggle can also cite this advantage.
Young people should be introduced to this broader image and
language – of parochial federalism – in how businesses are portrayed during
their secondary school years. This
notion also plays as a segue to the next topic, political student interests. What the nation is coming to see, given the
rise of polarized politics, is that relying on a system in which off-setting
interests check one another – a la Madisonian federalism (reviewed in
the last posting) – is not enough.
What at minimum is needed, in part, are espoused values that
promote virtue for its own sake and that view does not rise naturally – it
needs to be encouraged or socialized.[7] And to further make the point, one cannot
merely count on this more communal view as being an outward perspective relating
to or an off-shoot of a natural rights-based sense of personal interest. As this blog has argued, if anything, that
view actively encourages – most of the time[8] – the
individual to form and hold a shallow concern for the advancement or even the
maintenance of the common good.
[1] This presentation begins with the posting, “A Parochial Subject Matter” (March 11, 2022). The reader is reminded that the claims made
in this posting do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or knowledge of this
blogger. Instead, the posting is a
representation of what an advocate of parochial federalism might
present. This is done to present a
dialectic position of that construct.
[2]
William H. Schubert, Curriculum: Perspective, Paradigm, and Possibility
(New York, NY: MacMillan Publishing
Company, 1986). The meaning of this term
has been shared in previous postings.
[3]
Robert B. Reich, The Work of Nation: Preparing Ourselves for the 21st-Century
Capitalism (New York, NY: Vintage
Books, 1992).
[4]
“A New Look at How Corporations Impact the
Economy and Households: A Discussion
Paper,” McKinsey & Company (May 31, 2021), accessed May 12, 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/a-new-look-at-how-corporations-impact-the-economy-and-households .
[5]
For example, see Torsten Lichtenau, Mattis C. Karlsson, Karl Strempel, and
Emmet Gaffney, “The Great Retooling for Sustainability Is a Huge Opportunity in
Machinery,” Bain & Company (May, 2, 2022), accessed May 15, 2022, https://www.bain.com/insights/great-retooling-for-sustainability-is-a-huge-opportunity-global-machinery-and-equipment-report-2022/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwyYKUBhDJARIsAMj9lkHLPDj59oGFs1h1wQRLQRlHHz4kKx61T8ONaulmkAxON5qCWZXoxvwaAgO_EALw_wcB
. While this cited report addresses the
topic from a global perspective, it pertains to the US.
[6] “How Many Small Businesses Are There in the US in 2022?,”
Oberlo (n.d.), accessed May 12, 2022, https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/number-of-small-business-in-the-us#:~:text=The%20increase%20in%20the%20number,period%20from%202017%20to%202021. Of course,
the COVID pandemic affected this general condition, but reflects a background
for the quickening recovery of business activity during the last year or so.
[7] Public schools can legitimately do the former and
parents should be obliged to do the latter.
[8] For a vivid depiction of natural rights values at
work and posing dangerous results, see MSNBC’s documentary on the case study of
the travails of GameStop and the roller coaster progression of its stock. “‘Diamond Hands’ doc Explores the Rise and
Fall of GameStop Stock,” MSNBC (n.d.), accessed May 16, 2022, https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/-diamond-hands-doc-explores-the-rise-and-fall-of-gamestop-stock-139993669626 . This cite
reviews the documentary entitled, “Diamond Hands: The Legend of Wall Street Bets.” At one point, the TV presentation quotes the
baby boomer, Mike Bloomberg, who in a short statement captures a lot of the
difference between the espoused values that are expressed by today’s
millennials and those values emanating from a time closer to when federalist
values dominated.
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