The New Social Contract
“To reach a port we must set sail – Sail, not tie at anchor Sail, not drift.” ~ FDR
Jean-Jacques Rousseau first identified the post- feudal relationship between the state and the individual. He did this in his essays “The Social Contract” and “L’Emile ou L’Education.”
Napoleon also recognized the pivotal role of education on society when he addressed the French Council, the Conseil with; "Education is the most important of all institutions, since everything depends upon it, the present and the future. It is essential that the morals and political ideas of the generation which is now growing up should no longer be dependent on the news of the day or the circumstances of the moment...Men (and women) already differ enough in their inclinations, their characters and everything that education does not give and cannot reform...Let us have a body of doctrine that doesn't vary and a body of teachers that doesn't die."
The U.S.
In the early 1900s, Teddy Roosevelt, America’s most vigorous president, failed to lead in winning rights for African-Americans and women. He also failed in his advocation for national health insurance. Two events informed what would become his presidency:
● When a Republican freshman in the NY State Assembly, Teddy Roosevelt visited cigar makers in their NY tenements. He was appalled to see whole families suffering from eye, skin, lung ailments resulting from exposure to raw tobacco.
● After convincing Congress to withdraw the troops — some of which he had led in Cuba, and riding his San Juan Hill exploits to national fame — thanks to an idolizing press, Roosevelt seized on the public outrage from Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” to set about reforming America.
In his 1912 run for president, he called for:
● Universal health insurance
● A national public health service
● Insurance for the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled
● The end of child labor
Roosevelt was not at the forefront on race, on the rights of women, or health. He endured more defeats than successes in the areas that he fought for.
It was left to his related successor, FDR, to create the institutions that would lead America to unparalleled economic development after the debacle of the Smoot-Hawley trade tariffs, after the cycles of competitive currency devaluations -- the race to the economic bottom that resulted in the Great Depression.
Education is the first role of the statesman ~ FDR
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”
“There is no education in the second kick of a mule.” ~ old Kentucky adage
Innovation, Vaping and Vaporware
Vaping merchants have now set about convincing the uneducated American that progress is made when he or she moves from cigarette smoking to vaping. In a similar manner, vaporware salespersons have set about convincing would-be buyers that they offer meaningful products and the empowerment of economic development, using such obligatory terms as “Blockchain” and “Artificial Intelligence.”
Fortnite, Digital Trade and the Avatars of Economic Development
The U.S. Commerce Dept., charged with measuring U.S. trade data, does not consider that Fortnite’s maker, located in North Carolina, booked billions of dollars last year from overseas purchases of limited edition “skins” and “battlepacks” that allow players to customize their avatars.
Amazon, Microsoft and Queens
Microsoft announced that it is spending $500 million to create affordable housing in Seattle. Just before this announcement, the borough of Queens, NY announced that it was providing a $3 billion incentive package to induce Amazon to create 25,000 new jobs in LI City, Queens.
Tapping the Talent Pipeline
Honeywell International Inc. said Friday it will move its headquarters from New Jersey to Charlotte, N.C., to be near its existing operations in the region and to tap the state's talent pipeline. Chief Executive Darius Adamczyk said Honeywell, which is currently based in Morris Plains, N.J., would move 150 senior-management jobs to Charlotte. A company spokesman said Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, offered Honeywell $28 million in incentives to relocate, with the city kicking in an additional $18 million. The state will also be contributing, but the N.C. Department of Commerce declined to comment on the value of the incentive package because it hasn't been finalized. The North Carolina legislature recently approved changes to its corporate-incentives package to lure companies like Honeywell that have high-paying executive jobs. The change raises the annual per-job incentive cap to $16,000 from $6,500, an update that legislators said was needed because the original amount was set more than a decade ago. Honeywell will also benefit from lower taxes by moving its headquarters to North Carolina. The state has a flat corporate income tax of 3%, the lowest of any state that charges a corporate income tax, according to the Tax Foundation. New Jersey has a marginal corporate income tax, with a top rate of 9%. "There were many locations in the running for this headquarters, but our state was so competitive on so many levels," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said, touting the state's low cost of doing business, quality of life and access to talent. Charlotte is already home to Bank of America Corp. and Duke Energy Corp. Honeywell's Safety and Productivity Solutions unit is also located there. Honeywell, which makes products for the aerospace and oil and gas industries, said being located in Charlotte would help it find new employees to support its focus on technology and software Honeywell is in the fourth year of a 10-year deal for up to $40 million in tax credits to stay in New Jersey. The company said it would keep about 1,000 employees in its six locations in New Jersey, and would continue to comply with the agreement. The decision to move company headquarters "does not reflect any issues with the quality of our experience in New Jersey," Mr. Adamczyk said. "Though we're never happy when any jobs leave our state, we appreciate their continued commitment and confidence in New Jersey," said Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. In addition to the senior-leadership jobs moving from New Jersey, Honeywell said it would move about 100 positions from South Carolina to its new headquarters by September 2019. The company said it plans to employ about 750 people in Charlotte by 2024. "Given how Honeywell is growing, I anticipate that is a very conservative number," Mr. Adamczyk said. North Carolina state Senate Leader Phil Berger, a Republican, said, "North Carolina's economy is booming under conservative economic policies, and people are relocating here in droves because of it." Honeywell has 131,000 employees world-wide, including 46,000 employees in the U.S. It reported net income of $1.7 billion in 2017, according to federal filings. AlliedSignal acquired Honeywell in 1999 and kept the Honeywell name. The merged company kept AlliedSignal's headquarters in Morristown, N.J. In 2015, Honeywell moved to Morris Plains.
Boeing and South Carolina -
The Employed and the Spectators
After Boeing moved some of its assembly operations to South Carolina, one of the economic developers of S.C. opined that in the future there would be two categories of people:
● the skilled, trained and educated who would be gainfully employed and;
● the untrained and unskilled -who would be spectators.
The New Social Contract
The new social contract involves education so that the skills and developed intellect of workers attracts and supports enterprises and industries of the future. It also involves investment by enterprise in education, in the arts and infrastructure of the local municipality where its workers will live, work, eat and be inspired. An Amazon that obtains $3 billion in incentives in order to create 25,000 jobs has a reciprocal obligation to work cooperatively with local government, invests in workforce education, provides skills through apprenticeship, invests in access to a clean and safe work environment, the gainful compensation of employees; ensures with local government access to affordable healthcare and the benefits from a logistical infrastructure, efficient transportation and affordable housing.
Healthcare
"If you've got your health, you've got everything," right?
Warren Buffett famously said that " the ballooning costs of healthcare act as a tapeworm on the American economy."