Asheville is experiencing the same inequality challenges as the rest of the nation is. The Ford Foundation has helped us all greatly by establishing how crucial getting America back on track id by forming sufficient local and state anti-poverty strategy supported at the Federal level.
- Short-term thinking in markets, e.g. the classic MBA theory of the firm that ‘returns to shareholders’ (pure profit motivation) on a quarterly basis is all that really matters. This is not responsible innovation. Fewer and fewer individuals and organizations think this way. The next step is wrapping sustainability strategy around our economy and recognize syncing people, economics, and our necessary environmental requirements is our ’next big thing’ innovation platform.
- “Political institutions dominated by elite interests are significant drivers of inequality.” This happens across the world, but the US is more and more acting like lesser developed nations in this regard.
- “These first two factors contribute to a third: Broken social contracts.” Amen.
- There’s discrimination. Women, indigenous people, LGBT, the poor, and racial and ethnic minorities lack equal status and full rights. This discrimination is embedded in our cultures and institutions, and it perpetuates biased policies.” Truth, People!
- “And finally, we see dominant cultural narratives that undermine fairness, tolerance and inclusion. These narratives reinforce stereotypes in society, and play out in media coverage that stokes fear without understanding, or in school textbooks that gloss over some of the difficult truths of history. Combatting narratives of intolerance requires powerful counter narratives that embrace — and truly celebrate — diversity and inclusion.”
Quotes are from Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, in his recent CNN commentary. The Ford Foundation is now entirely dedicated to addressing inequality.
Asheville can coordination with other municipalities and organizations to set the bar higher. Poverty and its subcomponents are primary targets for my Asheville city council agenda. By all means join me and help me to monitor city, state, and national progress in this basic aspect of improved American life.
There is every reason we should all be talking about the risks and opportunities forming at the state and Federal levels. During this 2015 city council race I will be asking our Members of Congress to take legislative action on the following matters. I will continue to pursue solutions that make the state and Federal levels allies of Asheville citizens versus opponents:
- Raise the Federal minimum wage to $10.10 by November 1, 2016. If that doesn’t happen make sure the Members of Congress who don’t get that done are defeated next year.
- Raise the Federal poverty levels based on this new Federal minimum wage. Note: the Federal poverty levels are the income thresholds used by all levels of government and nonprofits to determine whether a US citizen is living in poverty or not.
- At least quadruple SNAP (food stamps) monthly amounts going to most US citizens, meaning the amount of food that can be purchased for each child, woman, and man, following the Federal poverty level increases.
- Consider raising the Federal minimum wage to as close to $20.20 as possible by 2020.
- Develop clear public understanding of state and Federal (‘intergovernmental’) expenditures going to Asheville and Buncombe county.
Lifting Americans out of poverty means more consumers in the market. US household wealth is at least $80 trillion right now, and that’s just household wealth. Children, women, and men eating substandard or insufficient amounts of food and living in hovels, in homeless shelters, or on the streets is an outrage. If we do manage to create very good livability and overall sustainability in Asheville without a Federal approach involved, then more people around the nation will want to move here.