[✔️] August 23, 2022 - Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
Richard at CredoandScreed.com
Tue Aug 23 07:37:11 EDT 2022
/*August 23, 2022*/
/[ PBS video report on the Thames and other European rivers ]/
*Conservationists urge action as the headwaters of the River Thames vanish*
Aug 22, 2022 Across Europe, rivers have sunk to historic lows because
of brutal heat waves fueled by climate change. In Britain,
conservationists are urging the government and water companies to take
action to counter devastating droughts. Meanwhile, the source of the
legendary River Thames has dried up and m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRZIuvqvabM/
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/[ PBS video -- Dave Roberts opines on the big bill ]/
*What the Senate deal could mean for the fight against climate change*
Jul 28, 2022 A deal formed late Thursday among Senate Democrats would
bring substantial new money to boost the expansion of renewable energy
and provide more incentives for people to buy electric vehicles. But it
also expands more fossil fuel development projects. David Roberts, who
covers the politics of climate change in his Substack newsletter and
podcast called “Volts,” joins William Brangham to discuss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAaQd-FbAQQ
/[ Let the game of assigning blame begin ]/
*People doubt their actions affect climate change. Is that a bad thing?*
Kate Yoder
Aug 23, 2022
- -
More Americans are blaming corporations, not individuals, for the
climate crisis, a new poll shows.
A new poll from the Associated Press and NORC, a public affairs research
organization at the University of Chicago, suggests that there’s a
shifting understanding of who’s responsible for dealing with our
overheating planet. According to polling conducted in June, well over 60
percent of Americans think that governments and companies have a large
responsibility to take on climate change. By comparison, only 45 percent
think the blame rests with individuals, down from 50 percent in 2019...
https://grist.org/accountability/people-doubt-their-actions-affect-climate-change-personal-responsibility-poll/
/[ Just have a think ]/
*A vertical axis wind turbine that doesn't need the prevailing wind! How
do they do that?*
Apr 18, 2021 Wind turbines are everywhere nowadays, and they do a great
job of harnessing all that free energy. But as a restless species
constantly on the move, we humans also cause many other air flows
through our activities. And most of it just goes to waste. What if we
could scoop that air up and do something useful with it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcSnwW5v3f8
/[The news archive - looking back at the origin of the Powell Memo - it
is important to know about the origins - long document ]/
/*August 23, 1971*/
August 23, 1971: Attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Lewis F.
Powell Jr. writes a memo to the US Chamber of Commerce urging a greater
special-interest pushback against public-interest groups. The memo
becomes the template for efforts by the fossil-fuel industry to generate
faux-outrage over, and ginned-up opposition to, efforts to regulate
greenhouse gases.
http://web.archive.org/web/20120129225919/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/The-Lewis-Powell-Memo/
*https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/assets/usa-courts-secrecy-lobbyist/powell-memo.pdf*
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*The Lewis Powell Memo: A Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy*
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/democracy/the-lewis-powell-memo-a-corporate-blueprint-to-dominate-democracy/
- -
Written in 1971 to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Lewis Powell Memo
was a blueprint for corporate domination of American Democracy.
For more, see Greenpeace analyses of how Lewis Powell’s suggestions have
impacted the realms of politics, judicial law, communications and education.
The full text of the Powell Memo is below or can be downloaded as a PDF.
*CONFIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM*
*Attack on American Free Enterprise System*
DATE: August 23, 1971
TO: Mr. Eugene B. Sydnor, Jr., Chairman, Education Committee, U.S.
Chamber of Commerce
FROM: Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
This memorandum is submitted at your request as a basis for the
discussion on August 24 with Mr. Booth (executive vice president)
and others at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The purpose is to
identify the problem, and suggest possible avenues of action for
further consideration.
*Dimensions of the Attack*
No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system
is under broad attack. This varies in scope, intensity, in the
techniques employed, and in the level of visibility.
There always have been some who opposed the American system, and
preferred socialism or some form of statism (communism or fascism).
Also, there always have been critics of the system, whose criticism
has been wholesome and constructive so long as the objective was to
improve rather than to subvert or destroy.
But what now concerns us is quite new in the history of America. We
are not dealing with sporadic or isolated attacks from a relatively
few extremists or even from the minority socialist cadre. Rather,
the assault on the enterprise system is broadly based and
consistently pursued. It is gaining momentum and converts.
Sources of the Attack
The sources are varied and diffused. They include, not unexpectedly,
the Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries who would
destroy the entire system, both political and economic. These
extremists of the left are far more numerous, better financed, and
increasingly are more welcomed and encouraged by other elements of
society, than ever before in our history. But they remain a small
minority, and are not yet the principal cause for concern.
The most disquieting voices joining the chorus of criticism come
from perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college
campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary
journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians. In most of
these groups the movement against the system is participated in only
by minorities. Yet, these often are the most articulate, the most
vocal, the most prolific in their writing and speaking.
Moreover, much of the media — for varying motives and in varying
degrees — either voluntarily accords unique publicity to these
“attackers,” or at least allows them to exploit the media for their
purposes. This is especially true of television, which now plays
such a predominant role in shaping the thinking, attitudes and
emotions of our people.
One of the bewildering paradoxes of our time is the extent to which
the enterprise system tolerates, if not participates in, its own
destruction.
The campuses from which much of the criticism emanates are supported
by (i) tax funds generated largely from American business, and (ii)
contributions from capital funds controlled or generated by American
business. The boards of trustees of our universities overwhelmingly
are composed of men and women who are leaders in the system.
Most of the media, including the national TV systems, are owned and
theoretically controlled by corporations which depend upon profits,
and the enterprise system to survive.
Tone of the Attack
This memorandum is not the place to document in detail the tone,
character, or intensity of the attack. The following quotations will
suffice to give one a general idea:
William Kunstler, warmly welcomed on campuses and listed in a recent
student poll as the “American lawyer most admired,” incites
audiences as follows:
“You must learn to fight in the streets, to revolt, to shoot guns.
We will learn to do all of the things that property owners fear.”
The New Leftists who heed Kunstler’s advice increasingly are
beginning to act — not just against military recruiting offices and
manufacturers of munitions, but against a variety of businesses:
“Since February, 1970, branches (of Bank of America) have been
attacked 39 times, 22 times with explosive devices and 17 times with
fire bombs or by arsonists.” Although New Leftist spokesmen are
succeeding in radicalizing thousands of the young, the greater cause
for concern is the hostility of respectable liberals and social
reformers. It is the sum total of their views and influence which
could indeed fatally weaken or destroy the system.
A chilling description of what is being taught on many of our
campuses was written by Stewart Alsop:
“Yale, like every other major college, is graduating scores of
bright young men who are practitioners of ‘the politics of despair.’
These young men despise the American political and economic system .
. . (their) minds seem to be wholly closed. They live, not by
rational discussion, but by mindless slogans.”A recent poll of
students on 12 representative campuses reported that: “Almost half
the students favored socialization of basic U.S. industries.”
A visiting professor from England at Rockford College gave a series
of lectures entitled “The Ideological War Against Western Society,”
in which he documents the extent to which members of the
intellectual community are waging ideological warfare against the
enterprise system and the values of western society. In a foreword
to these lectures, famed Dr. Milton Friedman of Chicago warned: “It
(is) crystal clear that the foundations of our free society are
under wide-ranging and powerful attack — not by Communist or any
other conspiracy but by misguided individuals parroting one another
and unwittingly serving ends they would never intentionally promote.”
Perhaps the single most effective antagonist of American business is
Ralph Nader, who — thanks largely to the media — has become a legend
in his own time and an idol of millions of Americans. A recent
article in Fortune speaks of Nader as follows:
“The passion that rules in him — and he is a passionate man — is
aimed at smashing utterly the target of his hatred, which is
corporate power. He thinks, and says quite bluntly, that a great
many corporate executives belong in prison — for defrauding the
consumer with shoddy merchandise, poisoning the food supply with
chemical additives, and willfully manufacturing unsafe products that
will maim or kill the buyer. He emphasizes that he is not talking
just about ‘fly-by-night hucksters’ but the top management of blue
chip business.”
A frontal assault was made on our government, our system of justice,
and the free enterprise system by Yale Professor Charles Reich in
his widely publicized book: “The Greening of America,” published
last winter.
The foregoing references illustrate the broad, shotgun attack on the
system itself. There are countless examples of rifle shots which
undermine confidence and confuse the public. Favorite current
targets are proposals for tax incentives through changes in
depreciation rates and investment credits. These are usually
described in the media as “tax breaks,” “loop holes” or “tax
benefits” for the benefit of business. * As viewed by a columnist in
the Post, such tax measures would benefit “only the rich, the owners
of big companies.”
It is dismaying that many politicians make the same argument that
tax measures of this kind benefit only “business,” without benefit
to “the poor.” The fact that this is either political demagoguery or
economic illiteracy is of slight comfort. This setting of the “rich”
against the “poor,” of business against the people, is the cheapest
and most dangerous kind of politics.
The Apathy and Default of Business
What has been the response of business to this massive assault upon
its fundamental economics, upon its philosophy, upon its right to
continue to manage its own affairs, and indeed upon its integrity?
The painfully sad truth is that business, including the boards of
directors’ and the top executives of corporations great and small
and business organizations at all levels, often have responded — if
at all — by appeasement, ineptitude and ignoring the problem. There
are, of course, many exceptions to this sweeping generalization. But
the net effect of such response as has been made is scarcely visible.
In all fairness, it must be recognized that businessmen have not
been trained or equipped to conduct guerrilla warfare with those who
propagandize against the system, seeking insidiously and constantly
to sabotage it. The traditional role of business executives has been
to manage, to produce, to sell, to create jobs, to make profits, to
improve the standard of living, to be community leaders, to serve on
charitable and educational boards, and generally to be good
citizens. They have performed these tasks very well indeed.
But they have shown little stomach for hard-nose contest with their
critics, and little skill in effective intellectual and
philosophical debate.
A column recently carried by the Wall Street Journal was entitled:
“Memo to GM: Why Not Fight Back?” Although addressed to GM by name,
the article was a warning to all American business. Columnist St.
John said:
“General Motors, like American business in general, is ‘plainly in
trouble’ because intellectual bromides have been substituted for a
sound intellectual exposition of its point of view.” Mr. St. John
then commented on the tendency of business leaders to compromise
with and appease critics. He cited the concessions which Nader wins
from management, and spoke of “the fallacious view many businessmen
take toward their critics.” He drew a parallel to the mistaken
tactics of many college administrators: “College administrators
learned too late that such appeasement serves to destroy free
speech, academic freedom and genuine scholarship. One campus radical
demand was conceded by university heads only to be followed by a
fresh crop which soon escalated to what amounted to a demand for
outright surrender.”
One need not agree entirely with Mr. St. John’s analysis. But most
observers of the American scene will agree that the essence of his
message is sound. American business “plainly in trouble”; the
response to the wide range of critics has been ineffective, and has
included appeasement; the time has come — indeed, it is long overdue
— for the wisdom, ingenuity and resources of American business to be
marshalled against those who would destroy it.
Responsibility of Business Executives
What specifically should be done? The first essential — a
prerequisite to any effective action — is for businessmen to
confront this problem as a primary responsibility of corporate
management.
The overriding first need is for businessmen to recognize that the
ultimate issue may be survival — survival of what we call the free
enterprise system, and all that this means for the strength and
prosperity of America and the freedom of our people.
The day is long past when the chief executive officer of a major
corporation discharges his responsibility by maintaining a
satisfactory growth of profits, with due regard to the corporation’s
public and social responsibilities. If our system is to survive, top
management must be equally concerned with protecting and preserving
the system itself. This involves far more than an increased emphasis
on “public relations” or “governmental affairs” — two areas in which
corporations long have invested substantial sums.
A significant first step by individual corporations could well be
the designation of an executive vice president (ranking with other
executive VP’s) whose responsibility is to counter-on the broadest
front-the attack on the enterprise system. The public relations
department could be one of the foundations assigned to this
executive, but his responsibilities should encompass some of the
types of activities referred to subsequently in this memorandum. His
budget and staff should be adequate to the task.
Possible Role of the Chamber of Commerce
But independent and uncoordinated activity by individual
corporations, as important as this is, will not be sufficient.
Strength lies in organization, in careful long-range planning and
implementation, in consistency of action over an indefinite period
of years, in the scale of financing available only through joint
effort, and in the political power available only through united
action and national organizations.
Moreover, there is the quite understandable reluctance on the part
of any one corporation to get too far out in front and to make
itself too visible a target.
The role of the National Chamber of Commerce is therefore vital.
Other national organizations (especially those of various industrial
and commercial groups) should join in the effort, but no other
organizations appear to be as well situated as the Chamber. It
enjoys a strategic position, with a fine reputation and a broad base
of support. Also — and this is of immeasurable merit — there are
hundreds of local Chambers of Commerce which can play a vital
supportive role.
It hardly need be said that before embarking upon any program, the
Chamber should study and analyze possible courses of action and
activities, weighing risks against probable effectiveness and
feasibility of each. Considerations of cost, the assurance of
financial and other support from members, adequacy of staffing and
similar problems will all require the most thoughtful consideration.
The Campus
The assault on the enterprise system was not mounted in a few
months. It has gradually evolved over the past two decades, barely
perceptible in its origins and benefiting (sic) from a gradualism
that provoked little awareness much less any real reaction.
Although origins, sources and causes are complex and interrelated,
and obviously difficult to identify without careful qualification,
there is reason to believe that the campus is the single most
dynamic source. The social science faculties usually include members
who are unsympathetic to the enterprise system. They may range from
a Herbert Marcuse, Marxist faculty member at the University of
California at San Diego, and convinced socialists, to the ambivalent
liberal critic who finds more to condemn than to commend. Such
faculty members need not be in a majority. They are often personally
attractive and magnetic; they are stimulating teachers, and their
controversy attracts student following; they are prolific writers
and lecturers; they author many of the textbooks, and they exert
enormous influence — far out of proportion to their numbers — on
their colleagues and in the academic world.
Social science faculties (the political scientist, economist,
sociologist and many of the historians) tend to be liberally
oriented, even when leftists are not present. This is not a
criticism per se, as the need for liberal thought is essential to a
balanced viewpoint. The difficulty is that “balance” is conspicuous
by its absence on many campuses, with relatively few members being
of conservatives or moderate persuasion and even the relatively few
often being less articulate and aggressive than their crusading
colleagues.
This situation extending back many years and with the imbalance
gradually worsening, has had an enormous impact on millions of young
American students. In an article in Barron’s Weekly, seeking an
answer to why so many young people are disaffected even to the point
of being revolutionaries, it was said: “Because they were taught
that way.” Or, as noted by columnist Stewart Alsop, writing about
his alma mater: “Yale, like every other major college, is graduating
scores’ of bright young men … who despise the American political and
economic system.”
As these “bright young men,” from campuses across the country, seek
opportunities to change a system which they have been taught to
distrust — if not, indeed “despise” — they seek employment in the
centers of the real power and influence in our country, namely: (i)
with the news media, especially television; (ii) in government, as
“staffers” and consultants at various levels; (iii) in elective
politics; (iv) as lecturers and writers, and (v) on the faculties at
various levels of education.
Many do enter the enterprise system — in business and the
professions — and for the most part they quickly discover the
fallacies of what they have been taught. But those who eschew the
mainstream of the system often remain in key positions of influence
where they mold public opinion and often shape governmental action.
In many instances, these “intellectuals” end up in regulatory
agencies or governmental departments with large authority over the
business system they do not believe in.
If the foregoing analysis is approximately sound, a priority task of
business — and organizations such as the Chamber — is to address the
campus origin of this hostility. Few things are more sanctified in
American life than academic freedom. It would be fatal to attack
this as a principle. But if academic freedom is to retain the
qualities of “openness,” “fairness” and “balance” — which are
essential to its intellectual significance — there is a great
opportunity for constructive action. The thrust of such action must
be to restore the qualities just mentioned to the academic communities.
What Can Be Done About the Campus
The ultimate responsibility for intellectual integrity on the campus
must remain on the administrations and faculties of our colleges and
universities. But organizations such as the Chamber can assist and
activate constructive change in many ways, including the following:
Staff of Scholars
The Chamber should consider establishing a staff of highly qualified
scholars in the social sciences who do believe in the system. It
should include several of national reputation whose authorship would
be widely respected — even when disagreed with.
Staff of Speakers
There also should be a staff of speakers of the highest competency.
These might include the scholars, and certainly those who speak for
the Chamber would have to articulate the product of the scholars.
Speaker’s Bureau
In addition to full-time staff personnel, the Chamber should have a
Speaker’s Bureau which should include the ablest and most effective
advocates from the top echelons of American business.
Evaluation of Textbooks
The staff of scholars (or preferably a panel of independent
scholars) should evaluate social science textbooks, especially in
economics, political science and sociology. This should be a
continuing program.
The objective of such evaluation should be oriented toward restoring
the balance essential to genuine academic freedom. This would
include assurance of fair and factual treatment of our system of
government and our enterprise system, its accomplishments, its basic
relationship to individual rights and freedoms, and comparisons with
the systems of socialism, fascism and communism. Most of the
existing textbooks have some sort of comparisons, but many are
superficial, biased and unfair.
We have seen the civil rights movement insist on re-writing many of
the textbooks in our universities and schools. The labor unions
likewise insist that textbooks be fair to the viewpoints of
organized labor. Other interested citizens groups have not hesitated
to review, analyze and criticize textbooks and teaching materials.
In a democratic society, this can be a constructive process and
should be regarded as an aid to genuine academic freedom and not as
an intrusion upon it.
If the authors, publishers and users of textbooks know that they
will be subjected — honestly, fairly and thoroughly — to review and
critique by eminent scholars who believe in the American system, a
return to a more rational balance can be expected.
Equal Time on the Campus
The Chamber should insist upon equal time on the college speaking
circuit. The FBI publishes each year a list of speeches made on
college campuses by avowed Communists. The number in 1970 exceeded
100. There were, of course, many hundreds of appearances by leftists
and ultra liberals who urge the types of viewpoints indicated
earlier in this memorandum. There was no corresponding
representation of American business, or indeed by individuals or
organizations who appeared in support of the American system of
government and business.
Every campus has its formal and informal groups which invite
speakers. Each law school does the same thing. Many universities and
colleges officially sponsor lecture and speaking programs. We all
know the inadequacy of the representation of business in the programs.
It will be said that few invitations would be extended to Chamber
speakers. This undoubtedly would be true unless the Chamber
aggressively insisted upon the right to be heard — in effect,
insisted upon “equal time.” University administrators and the great
majority of student groups and committees would not welcome being
put in the position publicly of refusing a forum to diverse views,
indeed, this is the classic excuse for allowing Communists to speak.
The two essential ingredients are (i) to have attractive, articulate
and well-informed speakers; and (ii) to exert whatever degree of
pressure — publicly and privately — may be necessary to assure
opportunities to speak. The objective always must be to inform and
enlighten, and not merely to propagandize.
Balancing of Faculties
Perhaps the most fundamental problem is the imbalance of many
faculties. Correcting this is indeed a long-range and difficult
project. Yet, it should be undertaken as a part of an overall
program. This would mean the urging of the need for faculty balance
upon university administrators and boards of trustees.
The methods to be employed require careful thought, and the obvious
pitfalls must be avoided. Improper pressure would be
counterproductive. But the basic concepts of balance, fairness and
truth are difficult to resist, if properly presented to boards of
trustees, by writing and speaking, and by appeals to alumni
associations and groups.
This is a long road and not one for the fainthearted. But if pursued
with integrity and conviction it could lead to a strengthening of
both academic freedom on the campus and of the values which have
made America the most productive of all societies.
Graduate Schools of Business
The Chamber should enjoy a particular rapport with the increasingly
influential graduate schools of business. Much that has been
suggested above applies to such schools.
Should not the Chamber also request specific courses in such schools
dealing with the entire scope of the problem addressed by this
memorandum? This is now essential training for the executives of the
future.
Secondary Education
While the first priority should be at the college level, the trends
mentioned above are increasingly evidenced in the high schools.
Action programs, tailored to the high schools and similar to those
mentioned, should be considered. The implementation thereof could
become a major program for local chambers of commerce, although the
control and direction — especially the quality control — should be
retained by the National Chamber.
What Can Be Done About the Public?
Reaching the campus and the secondary schools is vital for the
long-term. Reaching the public generally may be more important for
the shorter term. The first essential is to establish the staffs of
eminent scholars, writers and speakers, who will do the thinking,
the analysis, the writing and the speaking. It will also be
essential to have staff personnel who are thoroughly familiar with
the media, and how most effectively to communicate with the public.
Among the more obvious means are the following:
Television
The national television networks should be monitored in the same way
that textbooks should be kept under constant surveillance. This
applies not merely to so-called educational programs (such as
“Selling of the Pentagon”), but to the daily “news analysis” which
so often includes the most insidious type of criticism of the
enterprise system. Whether this criticism results from hostility or
economic ignorance, the result is the gradual erosion of confidence
in “business” and free enterprise.
This monitoring, to be effective, would require constant examination
of the texts of adequate samples of programs. Complaints — to the
media and to the Federal Communications Commission — should be made
promptly and strongly when programs are unfair or inaccurate.
Equal time should be demanded when appropriate. Effort should be
made to see that the forum-type programs (the Today Show, Meet the
Press, etc.) afford at least as much opportunity for supporters of
the American system to participate as these programs do for those
who attack it.
Other Media
Radio and the press are also important, and every available means
should be employed to challenge and refute unfair attacks, as well
as to present the affirmative case through these media.
The Scholarly Journals
It is especially important for the Chamber’s “faculty of scholars”
to publish. One of the keys to the success of the liberal and
leftist faculty members has been their passion for “publication” and
“lecturing.” A similar passion must exist among the Chamber’s scholars.
Incentives might be devised to induce more “publishing” by
independent scholars who do believe in the system.
There should be a fairly steady flow of scholarly articles presented
to a broad spectrum of magazines and periodicals — ranging from the
popular magazines (Life, Look, Reader’s Digest, etc.) to the more
intellectual ones (Atlantic, Harper’s, Saturday Review, New York,
etc.) and to the various professional journals.
Books, Paperbacks and Pamphlets
The news stands — at airports, drugstores, and elsewhere — are
filled with paperbacks and pamphlets advocating everything from
revolution to erotic free love. One finds almost no attractive,
well-written paperbacks or pamphlets on “our side.” It will be
difficult to compete with an Eldridge Cleaver or even a Charles
Reich for reader attention, but unless the effort is made — on a
large enough scale and with appropriate imagination to assure some
success — this opportunity for educating the public will be
irretrievably lost.
Paid Advertisements
Business pays hundreds of millions of dollars to the media for
advertisements. Most of this supports specific products; much of it
supports institutional image making; and some fraction of it does
support the system. But the latter has been more or less tangential,
and rarely part of a sustained, major effort to inform and enlighten
the American people.
If American business devoted only 10% of its total annual
advertising budget to this overall purpose, it would be a
statesman-like expenditure.
The Neglected Political Arena
In the final analysis, the payoff — short-of revolution — is what
government does. Business has been the favorite whipping-boy of many
politicians for many years. But the measure of how far this has gone
is perhaps best found in the anti-business views now being expressed
by several leading candidates for President of the United States.
It is still Marxist doctrine that the “capitalist” countries are
controlled by big business. This doctrine, consistently a part of
leftist propaganda all over the world, has a wide public following
among Americans.
Yet, as every business executive knows, few elements of American
society today have as little influence in government as the American
businessman, the corporation, or even the millions of corporate
stockholders. If one doubts this, let him undertake the role of
“lobbyist” for the business point of view before Congressional
committees. The same situation obtains in the legislative halls of
most states and major cities. One does not exaggerate to say that,
in terms of political influence with respect to the course of
legislation and government action, the American business executive
is truly the “forgotten man.”
Current examples of the impotency of business, and of the
near-contempt with which businessmen’s views are held, are the
stampedes by politicians to support almost any legislation related
to “consumerism” or to the “environment.”
Politicians reflect what they believe to be majority views of their
constituents. It is thus evident that most politicians are making
the judgment that the public has little sympathy for the businessman
or his viewpoint.
The educational programs suggested above would be designed to
enlighten public thinking — not so much about the businessman and
his individual role as about the system which he administers, and
which provides the goods, services and jobs on which our country
depends.
But one should not postpone more direct political action, while
awaiting the gradual change in public opinion to be effected through
education and information. Business must learn the lesson, long ago
learned by labor and other self-interest groups. This is the lesson
that political power is necessary; that such power must be
assidously (sic) cultivated; and that when necessary, it must be
used aggressively and with determination — without embarrassment and
without the reluctance which has been so characteristic of American
business.
As unwelcome as it may be to the Chamber, it should consider
assuming a broader and more vigorous role in the political arena.
Neglected Opportunity in the Courts
American business and the enterprise system have been affected as
much by the courts as by the executive and legislative branches of
government. Under our constitutional system, especially with an
activist-minded Supreme Court, the judiciary may be the most
important instrument for social, economic and political change.
Other organizations and groups, recognizing this, have been far more
astute in exploiting judicial action than American business. Perhaps
the most active exploiters of the judicial system have been groups
ranging in political orientation from “liberal” to the far left.
The American Civil Liberties Union is one example. It initiates or
intervenes in scores of cases each year, and it files briefs amicus
curiae in the Supreme Court in a number of cases during each term of
that court. Labor unions, civil rights groups and now the public
interest law firms are extremely active in the judicial arena. Their
success, often at business’ expense, has not been inconsequential.
This is a vast area of opportunity for the Chamber, if it is willing
to undertake the role of spokesman for American business and if, in
turn, business is willing to provide the funds.
As with respect to scholars and speakers, the Chamber would need a
highly competent staff of lawyers. In special situations it should
be authorized to engage, to appear as counsel amicus in the Supreme
Court, lawyers of national standing and reputation. The greatest
care should be exercised in selecting the cases in which to
participate, or the suits to institute. But the opportunity merits
the necessary effort.
Neglected Stockholder Power
The average member of the public thinks of “business” as an
impersonal corporate entity, owned by the very rich and managed by
over-paid executives. There is an almost total failure to appreciate
that “business” actually embraces — in one way or another — most
Americans. Those for whom business provides jobs, constitute a
fairly obvious class. But the 20 million stockholders — most of whom
are of modest means — are the real owners, the real entrepreneurs,
the real capitalists under our system. They provide the capital
which fuels the economic system which has produced the highest
standard of living in all history. Yet, stockholders have been as
ineffectual as business executives in promoting a genuine
understanding of our system or in exercising political influence.
The question which merits the most thorough examination is how can
the weight and influence of stockholders — 20 million voters — be
mobilized to support (i) an educational program and (ii) a political
action program.
Individual corporations are now required to make numerous reports to
shareholders. Many corporations also have expensive “news” magazines
which go to employees and stockholders. These opportunities to
communicate can be used far more effectively as educational media.
The corporation itself must exercise restraint in undertaking
political action and must, of course, comply with applicable laws.
But is it not feasible — through an affiliate of the Chamber or
otherwise — to establish a national organization of American
stockholders and give it enough muscle to be influential?
A More Aggressive Attitude
Business interests — especially big business and their national
trade organizations — have tried to maintain low profiles,
especially with respect to political action.
As suggested in the Wall Street Journal article, it has been fairly
characteristic of the average business executive to be tolerant — at
least in public — of those who attack his corporation and the
system. Very few businessmen or business organizations respond in
kind. There has been a disposition to appease; to regard the
opposition as willing to compromise, or as likely to fade away in
due time.
Business has shunted confrontation politics. Business, quite
understandably, has been repelled by the multiplicity of
non-negotiable “demands” made constantly by self-interest groups of
all kinds.
While neither responsible business interests, nor the United States
Chamber of Commerce, would engage in the irresponsible tactics of
some pressure groups, it is essential that spokesmen for the
enterprise system — at all levels and at every opportunity — be far
more aggressive than in the past.
There should be no hesitation to attack the Naders, the Marcuses and
others who openly seek destruction of the system. There should not
be the slightest hesitation to press vigorously in all political
arenas for support of the enterprise system. Nor should there be
reluctance to penalize politically those who oppose it.
Lessons can be learned from organized labor in this respect. The
head of the AFL-CIO may not appeal to businessmen as the most
endearing or public-minded of citizens. Yet, over many years the
heads of national labor organizations have done what they were paid
to do very effectively. They may not have been beloved, but they
have been respected — where it counts the most — by politicians, on
the campus, and among the media.
It is time for American business — which has demonstrated the
greatest capacity in all history to produce and to influence
consumer decisions — to apply their great talents vigorously to the
preservation of the system itself.
The Cost
The type of program described above (which includes a broadly based
combination of education and political action), if undertaken long
term and adequately staffed, would require far more generous
financial support from American corporations than the Chamber has
ever received in the past. High level management participation in
Chamber affairs also would be required.
The staff of the Chamber would have to be significantly increased,
with the highest quality established and maintained. Salaries would
have to be at levels fully comparable to those paid key business
executives and the most prestigious faculty members. Professionals
of the great skill in advertising and in working with the media,
speakers, lawyers and other specialists would have to be recruited.
It is possible that the organization of the Chamber itself would
benefit from restructuring. For example, as suggested by union
experience, the office of President of the Chamber might well be a
full-time career position. To assure maximum effectiveness and
continuity, the chief executive officer of the Chamber should not be
changed each year. The functions now largely performed by the
President could be transferred to a Chairman of the Board, annually
elected by the membership. The Board, of course, would continue to
exercise policy control.
Quality Control is Essential
Essential ingredients of the entire program must be responsibility
and “quality control.” The publications, the articles, the speeches,
the media programs, the advertising, the briefs filed in courts, and
the appearances before legislative committees — all must meet the
most exacting standards of accuracy and professional excellence.
They must merit respect for their level of public responsibility and
scholarship, whether one agrees with the viewpoints expressed or not.
Relationship to Freedom
The threat to the enterprise system is not merely a matter of
economics. It also is a threat to individual freedom.
It is this great truth — now so submerged by the rhetoric of the New
Left and of many liberals — that must be re-affirmed if this program
is to be meaningful.
There seems to be little awareness that the only alternatives to
free enterprise are varying degrees of bureaucratic regulation of
individual freedom — ranging from that under moderate socialism to
the iron heel of the leftist or rightist dictatorship.
We in America already have moved very far indeed toward some aspects
of state socialism, as the needs and complexities of a vast urban
society require types of regulation and control that were quite
unnecessary in earlier times. In some areas, such regulation and
control already have seriously impaired the freedom of both business
and labor, and indeed of the public generally. But most of the
essential freedoms remain: private ownership, private profit, labor
unions, collective bargaining, consumer choice, and a market economy
in which competition largely determines price, quality and variety
of the goods and services provided the consumer.
In addition to the ideological attack on the system itself
(discussed in this memorandum), its essentials also are threatened
by inequitable taxation, and — more recently — by an inflation which
has seemed uncontrollable. But whatever the causes of diminishing
economic freedom may be, the truth is that freedom as a concept is
indivisible. As the experience of the socialist and totalitarian
states demonstrates, the contraction and denial of economic freedom
is followed inevitably by governmental restrictions on other
cherished rights. It is this message, above all others, that must be
carried home to the American people.
Conclusion
It hardly need be said that the views expressed above are tentative
and suggestive. The first step should be a thorough study. But this
would be an exercise in futility unless the Board of Directors of
the Chamber accepts the fundamental premise of this paper, namely,
that business and the enterprise system are in deep trouble, and the
hour is late.
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/democracy/the-lewis-powell-memo-a-corporate-blueprint-to-dominate-democracy/
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