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Renewing American Culture: The Pursuit of Happiness
Tease:
NARRATOR:
As a 21st century planet races toward unprecedented economic and technological growth, is the sun setting on the ideals that were once established by America’s Founding Fathers? Or is the founders’ vision of “life, libery and the pursuit of happiness” more pertinent today than ever before? Are the values of humanity, culture and community still relevant today?
Ed Bilous: approx. 2:13: 00:06
Despite divisions that are happening in many areas of the world, there is a kind of global consciousness and global understanding that’s taking place. So we all feel compelled to reach out and understand, try to understand what artists and thinkers from other lands are doing.
Jonathan Reckford: approx. 1:12:28:17
Everyone, I think, has some yearning to be a part of something that’s bigger or more important than themselves…(edit)…I think that what really brings joy and a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction to people is that sense of connectedness and that sense of relationship.
Luis Cortes: approx. 1:25:20:06
We create social capital. Social capital is tangible in that you can see its results. Where there’s more social capital, there’s more cohesiveness, there’s more volunteerism, and you can see lives begin to change, and ideas change.
NARRATOR:
Throughout the country, innovative leaders FROM EVERY SECTOR are tapping into a true sense of civic spirit. They ARE buildING economic capital. AND They also seek to cultivate community and inspire citizens in transformational ways that renew our American culture.
Show Title – Renewing American Culture & the Pursuit of Happiness (:10)
NARRATOR:
Our world plays host to more than 6.6 billion citizens – people who are finding themselves moving faster and connected to each other in more ways than most could hardly have imagined a quarter century ago.
NARRATOR:
The end of communist governments around the world has given rise to new political freedoms, as well as the birth of new world economies. As author and pundit Thomas Friedman points out, the world is becoming “flatter,” as emerging market countries join the playing field.They are integrating into the global supply chains that were once solely the domain of the United States and a few exclusive partners.
NARRATOR:
Connecting an increasing number of the WORLD’S population is a rapid growth in technology – a world with instant access to information and the transmission of commerce worldwide. The American free enterprise system has inspired an unprecedented era of innovation that serves to connect much of the planet – a “perfect storm” of change in which globalization, pioneering technologies, and the growth of commerce converge to create unparalleled opportunities for an increasing number of citizens worldwide.
Michael Eskew – Chairman and CEO, UPS: (Leadership Summit Tape)
Asia has become the sourcing center of the world. Europe remains a strong design center. India has emerged as a strong IT center. The US is the leading marketing, product development, services, and innovation center. All of this is coming together because we live in a world of “just-in-time,” “made-to-order” and “assembled-in-motion” – a world where consumers expect increasingly customized, one-to-one relationships, a world where consumers…(edit)…can demand what they want, how they want it, where they want it, and at what price they are willing to pay.
NARRATOR:
In the rush to navigate this sea of change, there are examples of those who have become misdirected. Those in business who focus solely on building economic capital and their own personal gain at the expense of employees or of the communities in which they are located often find themselves facing legal action, the victims of their own financial ruin. And when advanced technology brings cultures together, political and social conflicts can often ensue. Resolving such conflicts requires a higher sense of Civic Spirit – a greater understanding, of economies and technology, AND also of humanity and community.
Michael Novak, American Enterprise Institute: approx. 00:49:45:04
We’re living more and more in one world, and we’re filling it with the notion “humanities.” “Humanities” and “global” are the same word, really, and we need to begin understanding the humanities in that context.
Scott Massey, Indiana Humanities Council: approx. 1:09:36:21
If we don’t renew the core cultural values that give rise to that change and develop the ability to articulate and defend those core values at a time of rapid change, we run the risk of putting all that advance in jeopardy.
StanleyRomanstein, Minnesota Humanities Council: 00:37:40:28
For us as Americans, the humanities are those bridge-builders that help us understand who we are as a people. They help us understand our history. They help us understand our current times in which we live. And most importantly, from my perspective, the humanities help us determine the kind of world that we want to leave for our children and our grandchildren as an inheritance.
Title: The American Experiment
NARRATOR:
Here in the oldPennsylvaniaState House in Philadelphia, in this Assembly Room in 1776, the American experiment was launched when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. The core value of American life and experience was contained in its preamble: “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Sarah Knott, Editor, American Historical Review: 1:08:14:19
The final part of that phrase, the pursuit of happiness…(edit)…the founding fathers, like other late 18th century Americans, believed that to be happy was to do what is good. The being virtuous, being benevolent, which was a word they liked to use, led you to your own sense of happiness. So to promote private happiness was the same thing as to promote the good of society.
NARRATOR:
Throughout the country, regardless of region, ethnic background or faith tradition, organizations and citizens are REcommitting themselves to the principles forged by the founding fathers. These visionary leaders nurture a personal and organizational mission that reflect the founders’ true meaning behind the words “the pursuit of happiness” – that is, the cultivation of community and HUMAN flourishing through the growth of a notion known as Spiritual Capital.
Scott Massey, Co-Author, Renewing American Culture and the Pursuit of Happiness, approx. 1:01:58:06
In today’s world, economic gain is a result of innovation, and innovation is profoundly human and a profoundly spiritual thing. And that’s not a win-lose kind of proposition. Form that perspective, economic innovation is about creating new value and that can be shared with every person. In that way, it’s a generous thing to do.
Ted Malloch: 2:01:20:04
For a very long time, spirituality and commerce were absolutely divorced from each other. Frankly, it wasn’t until Thomas Aquinas put them back together that we were even able to admit that the words “commerce,” “communion,” and “community” all have the same Latin root. In fact, unless you have a spiritual basis for money, unless there is such a thing as spiritual capital, the entire economic activity is really less than it should be.
NARRATOR:
The dynamic model for spiritual capital begins with a base of Natural Resources and individual capacities for transformation. Out of these resources comes the growth of Human Capital, Social Capital, IS the dynamic that allows individuals to develop structures and networks. These two interact Spiritual Capital is the dynamic that overlays the entire cultural system and provides opportunities to develop transcendent norms – ideas that stretch beyond the individual to notions of the common good.
Massey: 1:03:34:24
From one point of view, spiritual capital is a set of ideas that is grounded in our faith traditions. It’s a set of habits and actions. It’s an orientation toward the future. We see it as providing the DNA out of which human capital and social capital is ultimately created.
NARRATOR:
At the American Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin noticed the carving of a sun on the back of George Washington’s chair in the front of the assembly room. Comparing the ideals of the young country to the carving, he wondered aloud if this represention was a rising or a setting sun. Would this American Experiment simply be a noble theory that would soon fade into the sunset? Or would it rise and endure, and continue to inspire and guide FUTURE leaders.
It is a valid question now, as we race into the 21st century. In today’s environment, Wall Street mounts pressure to perform. As well, society adds pressure to push the technological limits at seemingly BREAKNECK SPEED. In this environment, can leaders afford to govern with an unyielding commitment to ethics, culture and community?
Malloch: 2:05:42:10
There is a wide range of companies…(edit)…What we found that they have in common is that they understand this nature of transcendence, that they cared deeply about their stewardship responsibilities – even from managing their companies – that they govern their companies and their relationships with their communities and the consumers in which they operate with a great deal of care.
NARRATOR:
From coast to coast, in all areas of commerce, non-profit and educational enterprises, innovative leaders are creating practical solutions to 21st century challenges in ways that celebrate community and cultivate spiritual capital. Their sense of civic spirit, nurtured through the humanities, is proving that the American Experiment is alive and well.
** Segue to seven feature segments **
Michael Novak, Olin Fellow, American Enterprise Institute: (approx. 00:45:20:20)
There’s been a powerful aspiration in humanity, you see it in the Gothic, these great lines soaring Heavenward, trying to be better than we are, so to speak, living up to the better angels of our nature. I think the humanities perish without that…(edit)…In truth, democracy depends on our evaluation of the human spirit. That’s where we get our sense of the inalienable dignity and the inalienable rights of the individual person.
Title – God vs. Gangs
NARRATOR:
Building community can help organizations save money. At times, it can quite literally save lives. In Dorchester, an inner urban neighborhood in Boston, crime was at an all-time high in the early 1990s. Teen homicide rates in the area were among the highest in the country. Motivated by outrage and compassion, Reverend Eugene Rivers, then a student at Harvard, decided to take action.
Rivers: 3:30:07:04
We were not politically motivated in any partisan way. There was not a partisan political agenda. It was real basic. We were trying to keep kids alive, and more basic than that, I was concerned about keeping my family safe. I had a wife, I had a very young son that was one or two at the time, and I wanted to make sure that my neighborhood was safe.
NARRATOR:
Rivers was no stranger to gang violence. He grew up on the streets of North Philadelphia and ran with a gang throughout his early teens. His Pentecostal faith and his Harvard education could scarcely disguise the street savvy energy and blue-collar work ethic of his impassioned community activism.
Fueled by funds from President Bush’s faith-based initiative, Rivers purchased a large Victorian in the heart of Dorchester that had once been the site of a local crack house. After an extensive renovation, he opened The Ella J. Baker House, an after-school recreational center and parish that now serves more than 1,300 area students with various educational and recreational programs.
Rivers: 3:41:29:25
A few years ago we had a young man who comes in to the building – it’s amazing. And he pulls out a gun, upstairs in our reception area, and says, “Listen, I’ve come to you for help. Either you’re going to help me or this will.” And he put the gun down and surrendered the gun. He had been stabbed in the lung, and he was going to go back and get justice.
NARRATOR:
As he campaigned for the poor and disinfranchised in Boston, Rivers often ruffled many feathers. Several community leaders found his methods unorthodox, and some members of the Boston clergy believed his style to be too brash. But all agreed that Rivers had an unmistakable ability to connect with the young people of Boston’s inner city.
Alan Turner: 3:03:40:26
I see when kids come through that door, say if it’s their first time, you notice it, they’re looking for help, whether it’s a job, whether it’s to get out of a gang, whether they’re having a problem at home, nowhere to stay, you see it, because that was me. Only a person who’s been through certain things will understand it and see it.
NARRATOR:
Alan Turner was a former gang member who now serves as a counselor for the Baker House. He works the streets and infiltrates area gangs. He tries to convince followers to leave the gang by introducing them to various Baker House programs.
Turner: 3:05:35:20
A few months ago, there was a kid who ran into the building for help from some kids that were chasing him. I put my body out there for him. “There’s nobody coming in this building.” The kid had a knife in his hand, and you’re not coming into this building. I don’t care. I got kids in this building, you’re not coming in.
NARRATOR:
Each day students arrive at Baker House shortly after school. Tutors are available for help with school assignments. Counselors are on hand for spiritual, emotional and family guidance. Mentoring services are available, and a computer lab encourages high-tech exploration.
the community partnerships forged by Rivers and other key members of the Boston clergy have HAD a dramatic impact. Armed robberies in the area were cut in half and teen homicides had dropped by nearly 300 percent. National publications celebrated Rivers’ community-wide efforts to restore civic pride to the neighborhoods.
Sgt. Brian Carey, Boston Police Department (1:40:45:15)
Police cannot single-handedly take care of a situation. They need input from the community, which consists of community activists, social workers, probation officers, school department, other resources…
Jimmy 2:38:30:17
I used to run the streets when I was younger. I was exposed to everything from living in crack houses to hanging on the corners with guys selling weed, coke and everything in the early ‘90s.
NARRATOR:
Jimmy Dauphine is another disciple of Rev. Rivers and his energetic, community-building street gospel. He, like many others here, walked away from a life of crime and gang activity and found a sense of place and purpose at the Baker House. He now counsels other gang members who come to the facility.
Rivers: approx. 3:41:20:00
There are tragedies, there are losses. And then there are these remarkable successes of kids who say, “Listen, if it weren’t for this sanctuary space, I’d be killing somebody. I’d have a gun.”
NARRATOR:
Rivers’ community-building strategy is now being implemented throughout the country. His National Ten-Points Foundation is developing elements of the Baker House program in cities from coast to coast.
Jimmy 2:42:30:00
It’s not what cards you’re dealt. It’s how you play it. That our philosophy. OK? You’ve been dealt a bad hand. But if you know how to play the card game, you can probably win. And that’s how we play this whole Ella J. Baker House thing. We play to win.
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James O’Toole, Research Professor in the Center for Effective Organizations, University of Southern California: (approx. 00:48:09:14)
It’s very clear to us there’s an incredible hunger for people to now find meaning and satisfaction and happiness that they have, no matter how successful they’ve been in work or how much money they’ve made. Indeed, the only way in which they can answer that question, “What is a good life for me? How should I be leading my life?” is through reference to the great wisdom of the ages, to great poets and philosophers. People come to a certain stage where they realize that just thinking in economic terms, will not help them fill the void.
Title – “The Soul of the Firm”
NARRATOR:
In the business world, the goal to stress community-building scarcely seems to rate among those whose goal it is – first and foremost – to FIND profit. But there are some corporate leaders who believe the two are interlinked—those who seek to cultivate “the soul of the firm.”
Pollard: approx. 1:11:37:02
The “Soul of the Firm” speaks in our mindset here at ServiceMaster to the people of the firm and to whether those people are growing as individuals, are becoming someone in fulfilling a significant purpose and mission in life. That goes beyond the task of the job everyday.
NARRATOR:
This is Bill Pollard, chairman emeritus of ServiceMaster, Incorporated. Consumers know ServiceMaster primarily by its commercial service providers, such as TruGreen ChemLawn landscaping, Terminex pest contol, and Merry Maids cleaning services. Pollard served as CEO of the multi-billion-dollar PUBLIC firm from 1983 to 1993. But he insists that the company’s success is not exclusively a matter of finance, but rather of faith.