Category: Commentary

I was recently made aware of the reemergence in our recent protests and more of 19th century anarchism stepping right from the pages of Dostoevsky’s novel The Possessed and the writings of Georges Sorel on myth and violence. This anarchist impulse among us has not been much noticed or even superficially covered by our media and commentators.

Here is an article titled “No, We Should Not Condemn Uprisings Against Police Murders Like George Floyd’s” on taking down the system from Jacobin magazine.

Two weeks ago: “An angry crowd broke into the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct headquarters Thursday night and set fire to the building, capping another day of protests, many of them violent, across the Twin Cities.

The police station on E. Lake Street has been the epicenter of protests this week for people demanding justice after the death of George Floyd, who died Monday when a Minneapolis police officer set his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes.

Nearby, Minnehaha Lake Wine & Spirits, the target of looters the night before, also was set ablaze. As flames leapt, sharp explosions sounded as people threw bottles filled with accelerants or fired bullets into the fires.”

Here is the account of the eyewitness report taken from Crimethinc.com, a website with an attitude towards authority and order.

In reading this editorial and report, I realized that the anarchism expressed there was in a moral universe parallel to the Caux Round Table’s long-standing concern for the ethics of systems of authority and order – capitalism, government, civil society and ownership of wealth.

I thought that we should consider, in the context of widespread protest over inequality in this country, more fundamental questions of what is right to do when things go wrong.

I decided to go back to the beginning of the modern movement to deconstruct ideas and systems deemed wrongful for upholding inequality, the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men, written by Jean Jacques Rousseau in 1754. His thesis that society must be blamed for inequality has inspired political movements from the Jacobins to Socialists, Communists, Syndicalists, Anarchists and National Socialists like Mussolini, Hitler and Pol Pot.

Rousseau’s inference was that once society and its inequalities in their current form are dissolved, some utopia will emerge to provide us with much better lives. Ironically, the word “utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas Moore to mean “no place,” borrowing from the Greek and making a pun on another Greek word “eu-topos,” signifying a place of happiness and goodness.

In the spirit of Rousseau, I propose to deconstruct his thesis and thereby deconstruct contemporary American anarchism. You can judge the success of my effort by reading my piece titled “Wherein Lies the Immorality of Inequality?”

I would be most interested in your thoughts and feedback

Herman Mulder, a colleague in The Netherlands, has written up his thoughts and recommendations in a piece titled “From Accidental Pain to Systemic Gain” for an action agenda going forward from the pandemic and, more recently, the concern for inequalities which could be remediated.

Herman has much experience in working to improve our decision-making with the Global Reporting Initiative and now with the effort to document impacts, assess them and in the way of the quality movement, achieve continuous improvements in the outcomes of our economic systems.

To me, Herman embodies what I have come to respect in so many Dutch – practical wisdom, personal modesty when blessed with talent and dedication to the common good.

I am very pleased that he has agreed to let us share his suggestions with you.

I have just received a response to the email I sent on facts about policing in the U.S. raising a question about “who” should be accepted as a guide to realities within the African American community or any other community for that matter?

Who, for example, speaks for white Americans, Hispanic Americans, the Chinese in Hong Kong, the religion of Islam, ad infinitum?

Jason Riley, whom I quoted in my cover note, wrote that in a commentary published by the Wall Street Journal. Riley’s views are different from those of many other African Americans. I am increasingly of the thought that we so often confront impasses when the perceptions of one culture – widely shared within that culture and arising from historical conditions – are foreign to those coming from another culture. The outsider is removed intellectually and emotionally from what seems so true and real to the insider. When we seek to become more aware of the “other,” a challenge is who speaks for a collective other, what texts, what artifacts express a core perception for that other?

I know of other African Americans who have the same general point of view as Riley and we all know from their public remarks and writings of notable African Americans who disagree with him.

In a way, the work of the Caux Round Table is to be between various “others,” both individual and group and through dialogue, seek to bring out what can be accepted and believed in by more than one tradition.

I have received many worried emails from our international network about the protests and violence here in the U.S. since the death of George Floyd. Some abroad may presume the worst about our institutions.

I have also read, more on the margins of our anguished public discussions than featured front and center by leading media outlets, a few commentators who have brought forth facts about policing in America, facts which should inform our thinking.

For example, Jason Riley, an African American, wrote in the Wall Street Journal today: “So long as blacks are committing more than half of all murders and robberies while making up only 13% of the population and so long as almost all their victims are their neighbors, their communities will draw the lion’s share of police attention. Defunding the police or making it easier to prosecute officers, will only result in more lives lost in those neighborhoods that most need protection.”

I feel an obligation from seeking to understand truth to communicate uncomfortable facts to our network internationally and so have written a short piece titled “Narrative and Reality: Racism and Policing in the United States.”

As the Caux Round Table advocates in its Principles for Government and as is implied in our Principles for Business, moral judgment depends on thoughtful discourse about reality. Morality cannot be the forceful imposition on others of untruth or personal prerogative.

Two phrases have come to mind. One is the Latin fiat justicia, ruat caelum – “Let there be justice though the Heavens Fall,” which is a call to irresponsibility and dismissal of consequences to others. The other is the quip of Mme. Roland, on the way to her execution by other Jacobins during the French Revolution, said: “Oh, Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!”

I would be very interested in your thoughts and feedback.

As you know, anger and resentments have once again boiled over in American cities. The fault line of displacement is along the interface of police and African Americans in the inner cities. But this time, protests calling for an end to racism and for justice were manifest in London and in Paris.

There is a time to reflect and a time to plan, but there is also a time for action. “There is a time for every purpose under Heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Here in Minnesota, I was working the past few days with two of our colleagues – Matt Bostrom, former Sheriff of Ramsey County and now working on a Ph.D. in policing at Oxford and Richard Bents, a psychologist who helped us with a self-assessment psycho-metric questionnaire on leadership decision styles – to design a new method of hiring for character in new police officers.

Yesterday morning, I sent our proposal to the Governor of our state and the Commissioner of Public Safety.

For your information, you may find a copy of our proposal here.

What we are living through these days is historic. In several senses, historic as of great importance and an inflection in the course of events and historic in its parallels to past moments of breakdown – Lexington and Concord, the Bastille, the March from Selma 1965, Detroit 1965, Watts 1967.

When disruption subjects the common good to abuse of power, there are no winners and cycles of fear and retribution dissolve well-being, fair politics and cultural reassurance. The community falls apart.

The actions of four Minneapolis police officers on Monday night were such a disconnection between the common good and the use of power. A particularly important insight into the behavior of those officers is the complaint issued by Hennepin County for the arrest of officer Derek Chauvin. A copy of the complaint is here. Please read its statement of facts.

In 1829 when creating the first modern police force, Sir Robert Peel demanded that the force of law be part of the community and never stand against it. He set down ethical principles for policing for the benefit of community.

These principles are:

1. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.

2. To recognise always that the power of the police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

3. To recognise always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing co-operation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.

4. To recognise always that the extent to which the co-operation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.

5. To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humour and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.

6. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public co-operation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.

7. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

8. To recognise always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary, of avenging individuals or the State and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.

9. To recognise always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.

With our podcast discussions with guests, keeping up with family and associates and reading here and there, after a while, one begins to settle on some lessons learned from our global exposure to a mere virus. I’ve been keeping notes and put my thoughts into five different short video commentaries.

My attention has been drawn to 1) risk shifting and not sharing, 2) the responsibilities of government, 3) self-reliance, 4) leadership and 5) capitalism.

The series of videos are available here in order, with the first being the one on risk shifting and the last on capitalism.

I welcome your reactions and comments.

I wanted to share with you an article from one of our fellows, Stephen Jordan, on how we can recover from the policies enacted to combat the coronavirus.

Stephen is a keen thinker looking at the forces set in motion by institutions and markets who served as the Executive Director of the Business Civic Leadership Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Today, he is the CEO of the Institute for Sustainable Development.

Since the intent of the Caux Round Table for Moral Capitalism is to offer practical help and not be too overly conceptual, discursive and academic, we consistently seek to provide you with evidence of alignment between our recommendations and wider perspectives on business and financial realities.

Recently, I was sent a paper by McKinsey & Company on “purpose.” I have excerpted portions which validate our emphasis on vision and mission as determinative of success with stakeholders and so as drivers of profit and growth in a firm’s equity valuation.

Responsibility – of a person or an organization – reveals itself in mindful intentionality. Purpose has become a trendy word in the last year, or so, for highlighting our intentions. As the McKinsey paper advocates, purpose focuses our intentions into a channel of dedication and collaboration leading to success.

You may find the paper here.

The full version can be found here.

I welcome your thoughts on these recommendations.

As a coordinating member of the Minnesota Council on Character, I would like to share with you an unusual statement by two or our council members, Todd Otis and Chuck Slocum. As some of you may remember, both Todd and Chuck were Chairman of their respective political parties – the DFL and the Republicans.

At the Council, we seek to elevate worthy character as the foundation for citizens and as a goal of education. As Ben Franklin said at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, “A republic stands or falls on the virtue of its people and their chosen leaders. Our laws and our policies flow mostly from our character as people for good or for bad.”

Chuck and Todd have written this appeal, which has appeared in local newspapers. I wanted to share it with you and so have included it below.

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Column: Turn to Our Better Angels and Away from Partisanship

By Todd Otis and Chuck Slocum, Guest Columnists

May 7, 2020

We are former chairs of the two major political parties in Minnesota; we care deeply about public issues.  Yes, the two parties are driven by different priorities and principles and the two of us have our strong and cordial disagreements.

But at this remarkable and agonizing time, we find ourselves in total agreement on one idea.  And that is that now is absolutely not the time for nasty partisanship in the public affairs of our state or our nation.  All of our elected leaders, from our president and Minnesota governor and thousands of others, need to be guided by character and not political expediency.

Our Anishinaabe brothers and sisters can show us the way.  They have treasured the “Gifts of the Seven Grandfathers: Humility, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Truth, Respect and Love.”

Humility. The awesome responsibility that elected leaders have to lead honorably and focus exclusively on the public good requires giving up the usual orientation toward re-election.

Wisdom. Knowing what to focus on to develop strategies and garner resources to attack the coronavirus requires great wisdom.  It requires securing the public’s health and regenerating the economy.

Truth. The solutions we need urgently must be guided by facts, science and verifiable truth.  The scope of the dangers, the effectiveness of treatments, the challenges related to developing and distributing vaccines must be unwaveringly guided by the truth.

Honesty. Now more than ever, our citizens need to have leaders they can trust who will tell the truth.  Indeed, trust is the bedrock for a vibrant and effective democracy.  In our adult lifetimes, trust has been eroding ever since the 1960s; 2020 is the time for our leaders to reverse what has been eroding for that last 60 years.

Respect. The heroes of the COVID-19 crisis are on the front lines, putting their lives at risk to serve us all.  Respect for them must be continuously and profoundly offered.  Leaders must not point fingers at one another as the blame game often creates losers across the spectrum of public opinion.

Courage. The courage that is shown privately by doctors, nurses, public safety professionals, grocery store and other service workers is a worthy model for all leaders.

Love. The spirit that “we are all in this together” is sweeping across our nation and the globe. Rather than inciting racism and xenophobia, now is the time to lead with love, understanding and forgiveness.  As Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

We are certain that we will get through this crisis.  We grieve for those who are losing their lives and livelihoods because of this cursed virus.  This is a calamity for the ages.  It calls upon all of us to summon our faith, hope and charity.

With leaders who demonstrate character, what is at the other end of this tunnel could literally transform our state, nation and world.  We can summon our “better angels” to do that.  That transformation can change the tone of public life from one of polarized recrimination to robust, but respectful debate on the important issues.

We can find helpful ways to provide greater financial and health care security for millions while rebuilding our economy.  And we can join hands to protect the environment and the earth.  As Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

Todd Otis of Minneapolis is a former state legislator and State Chair of the Minnesota DFL. Chuck Slocum of Minnetonka is a management consultant and former State Chair of the Independent-Republicans of Minnesota. They are members of the non-partisan Minnesota Council on Character.