Part 1: Can We All Agree?
Jackson, Mississippi, United States of America, is the center of the world. If you've lived here long enough, you'll understand what I mean. I've heard it said that Mississippi is the blueprint for the rest of America, and given the Federal government's current direction, that statement seems about right.
Some may agree, disagree, or be ambivalent toward the current Executive administration running the country until 2028. I'm not here to tell you who's right, or who's wrong - I want to discuss what "We the People of the United States, [striving] to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..." should be doing to regain control over OUR democracy.
I've attended various meetings throughout the city and repeatedly heard appeals for a higher quality of life given an honest day's work, affordable education, and affordable healthcare. Most people simply want their investments of time, energy, and resources to pay off in a comfortable life for themselves and their loved ones.
"Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit...Capitalist economies tend to experience a business cycle of economic growth followed by recessions."
-Wikipedia
Capitalism is the current socioeconomic system that has produced over 2x more billionaires (902) than the country, China, with the next highest number (450). [List of Countries by number of billionaires, Wikipedia] This sounds amazing until you add the fact that this a reflection of some of the largest income disparities, with America’s richest 1 percent of households averaging 139 times as much income as the bottom 20 percent in 2021, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Where policymakers once fought to distribute income through equitable taxation, increased unionization, and other reforms [Inequality.org], current elected officials are busy making sure the rich get richer at the expense of the lower economic classes. These are representatives that are ensuring that the top 10 percent of society benefits off the backs of the majority of their constituents.
Why do we herald private ownership of the means of production when it has proven to lead to massive inequality?
Socialism is a dirty word, but an economy where the people own the means of production is the ideal at face value. Take Jackson's water system, or our international airport, for example: the money that is generated by those assets benefits all citizens, whereas if they were privately held, only a small few would see the profits. How, then, do we expect the same system (capitalism) that has produced massive inequality to also be the solution to the problem? That question is rhetorical.
"The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."
- Audre Lorde
A hospitable habitat for all
I'm a native of Mississippi, but also an alien to this place; I've traveled to several metropolises and have found my sojourn welcoming, but when I live in my hometown of JXNMS, I am rejected at every turn. I traveled back home to Jackson, MS, in the spring of 2023. The year did not end before I lost everything except my car, which I chose to use as a home to ring in the new year.
I'm privileged to have lived many experiences that allow me to empathize with different walks of life. Through my journey, I've come to see that we are all connected by innate principles, which are defined as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," in the Declaration of Independence. Expanding what a happy life and ability to pursue liberty looks like for a diverse and ever-expanding population means we must regularly redistribute our resources to keep society moving forward.
There is an idea of merit-based access to resources. Those who qualify attend good schools, have safe and efficient healthcare, and have access to reliable transportation. What are the options for those who are unworthy of benefits? Prison or death tend to be the catch-all categories. Given that Mississippi has the highest incarceration rate in the United States, it might be worth considering whether we are offering enough opportunities for success, since so many of our citizens find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Education is meant to be a great equalizer. With knowledge in hand and the wisdom on how to use it, an American can write their destiny, or so goes the American Dream.
Students are more than test scores
What I have found is that our education system is failing to equip its citizens with the scruples necessary to run society. How to communicate and agree on an issue. How to confront someone peacefully and resolve conflicts. How to register to vote and find your representatives. These are the skills needed to function as a peacable adult, yet they are missing entirely from our schools' curriculum. What does it matter if Tyrone can read on a grade level if he doesn't know how to manage his anger? He's still going to end up endangering his community.
A school needs to see the whole student, not just their test scores. That being said, students come with families. If a student is having issues, the family must be involved for it to ever be resolved. This is where social workers, counselors, and therapists find their value. Every family that is found to be in distress because of the behavior of a student needs a team to help them strengthen the support they are getting so their son or daughter can thrive. I will contend that the government can be that "village" when the private and non-profit resources are insufficient to address the matter.
Healthcare is a human right
What if we could ensure that every expecting mother was provided with all the resources they needed to ensure the health and well-being of their child? Think about it. Prenatal appointments, medication and nutritional meals, rides to and from the doctors, lactation counseling, registering for preschool, and regular health appointments. What a benefit to women who are doing the laborious work of incubating another human being! Mothers are not receiving the benefits they deserve for the work only they can do, and it is time we honor their duties with something more meaningful than breakfast in bed on the second Sunday in May.
From conception to the day we transition from life, we could all maintain our optimal level of health through access to health services and medical professionals. If we are pouring into a system, we should expect it to also benefit us. We invest in a person's education from 0-18 years of age, but we should also ensure that they live long enough for the community to see that investment mature. Health is related to output, which is evidenced by the need for "sick-days" being a common benefit in most salaried employee packages. When a healthy, emotionally mature, and self-aware student graduates from our education system, they should be ready to sustain the ecosystem that is focused on their overall well-being.
Education is an investment in production capacity
Since we are investing wholeheartedly in all of our citizens, let's ensure that they receive the education that would be most beneficial for our communities. If we need more civil engineers, provide paths for those seeking to fill that role to get the education needed to perform that job. The Government should be providing the best services, but that would mean hiring the best people at competitive wages. Instead of getting compassionate-hearted professionals willing to take a pay cut, we find ourselves employing self-aggrandizing embezzlers. There is a virtue in an individual selfishly maintaining provisions for themselves and their family. For that, one cannot fault an honest person for working with a private company over the local or state government, given the latter barely pays enough to make ends meet.
If we need to train qualified individuals for a specific skill, then pay for them to take the training so that we can move forward with the workers we need. The military adheres to a similar ethos when it comes to investing in the soldier. We can look at the individual as an asset that, when well-maintained, can be a major boon for our economy.
JXNMS' biggest export is intelligence
Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, Belhaven University, Millsaps College, Hinds Community College, Mississippi College School of Law, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center all reside within the city limits of Jackson. According to the Secretary of State's office, the City with Soul had a -0.5% population growth over the past year, and the Governor has been complaining about the state's "brain drain" for at least as long as the city has been shrinking. I happen to think that these two facts are related. Our universities and colleges attract talent from all over the state and the world, yet we see Jackson's population plummeting year over year. Can you imagine if the students who studied at our schools stayed for an additional five to ten years after they graduate?
We are already exporting our greatest assets, but we aren't reaping the return on our investments. Why are we seeing so few young, college-educated adults staying in the capital city and taking over the running of our government? Why are we praising our scholars running off to different states instead of encouraging them to return and replenish the wells that they drew from? It goes back to priorities. We value the individual over the collective, and that "crabs in a bucket" mentality is retarding our city's growth.
Jackson needs to have a candidate pool of local graduates returning to the public sector before venturing into the private sector. If we cannot afford to hire the best in a field, we should be the ones training them. Let's define a culture of excellence within our city that is evidenced by those we train and employ. It is easier for a young adult, void of serious obligations, to start their career serving the public for a lower wage than an experienced engineer seeking to support their family. Providing sufficient training and experience will secure quality applicants, reduce turnover, and provide better service to the clients - the taxpayers.
As is, Jackson, MS, is an inhospitable habitat for the best of what we have created. I think it's time we begin building leaders through our public school system who understand what we need for the future, instead of trying to rewrite the past.
A vote is a powerful weapon
Freedom Riders drove from the north to the south to help integrate public transportation, all risking their lives to make possible what some thought would rip this country apart - the end of segregation. We are back at that crossroads because some have put down their arms, refused to fight. They have claimed to see no point in showing up at the ballot box to cast their vote for the lesser of two evils. Some have buried their weapons for religious convictions, or scheduling conflicts, or lack of documentation, or transportation to their polling place, or any other number of reasons. But I bet if you ask them what they want fixed in their neighborhood, or in their schools, or community, they have a long list. It's easy to blame the quality of life in JXNMS on institutional injustices, which is half-true. But a fuller truth is that those with the duty to vote did not honor their privilege.
"And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth... /His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant,... Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents." - Matthew 25:25-28
Voting is an archaic method of getting consensus. Yet globally, there isn't a system that has superseded it. It's not going away anytime soon in democratic societies, so take ownership of your right to express preference on your representatives. If you don't like your options, find better ones - be the change you want to see.
Voting doesn't mean that all of your problems will get solved because the "right" person is in the position you need them to be. That's like thinking your doctor can take care of your health with no input from you. We must be in conversation with our elected officials for them to understand what is important to us and why. They work for us, and if they are unwilling to meet with you, fire them! That's what voting is for. There is lobbying, there is dark money flowing through politics, but despite all of that, your vote is still the most powerful weapon you can wield, and when you have others voting in agreement with you, you're a force to be reckoned with.
"Scared money don't make no money." - Anonymous
Why is money so important? Because we agree that it is. We agree to use it as a means for exchange in all aspects of modern life - from food to clothing to shelter - money is necessary for obtaining a comfortable life.
The wealthy understand the concept of investment - putting money in a vehicle that is expected to increase in value over time. Agreeing to pool our collective resources to provide education, sufficient healthcare, adequate housing, and quality food to all members of society will allow our city to flourish with creative energy, new entrepreneurial endeavors, and an increase in population. Viewing people as investment vehicles instead of liabilities shifts the focus from making profits to grooming the means of production itself - human intelligence.
If a portion of your investment is underperforming, do you take all of your money out of that sector, or do you rebalance your portfolio by taking from the overperforming sections and investing that into the ones that aren't doing as well? It depends on what your long-term goals are. If you're trying to make a quick buck, you may put it all into the investments that are doing well now and hope to cash out before the market turns. However, if you are looking at a longer timeline, you're likely to rebalance your account so that it retains the percentages that you were looking for.
Investing in the "bottom" of society ensures that we all have farther to fall should we have to weather the inevitable economic downturn of a capitalist system. The only reason not to agree to uphold the base of society is if you feel you are outside the need of the community. Otherwise, let's all agree that we need each other and should invest in everyone with equanimity.
