Haves and Have Nots

During the holidays, and with the usual orgy of consumption of food and gifts, it is hard not to think about inequities, and what we are do to address them. I have heard it said that 'you are heartless if you are not a liberal before 30, and a fool if you are not a conservative after;' however I think that it is possible to be hard- headed and open-hearted at the same time - but it takes some work.

My background and natural inclination is for the arts and humanities - books, music, and art appeal to me - but if it is true that as you get older you begin to integrate opposing sides of your nature, than it is economics and politics that fascinate me now. I had a professor in college who defined politics as 'the art of who gets what - where, when and how much' and because of my job, I get to see this in action. Money to build and rehab houses, to organize, and to provide services, comes from our taxes and flows through the hands of politicians and bureaucrats until it is finally returned to us, the citizens. This process is awkward and often ugly, but if it is transparent, no better way presently exist. Our group consciousness, or a collection of our decisions, will come to reflect our will. And 'we will get the government that we deserve;' a good one, to the extent that we are willing to be an active part of the process.

From my essentially romantic view of the world, based on my love for art and books, it came as a shock to realize that there is an entirely different way of seeing the world - of looking at it for what it can yield, rather than for what it represents. In other words, where one person sees a tree, another sees lumber. Or rather, they see the profit, because the lumber is a means to an end. The trees themselves are unimportant to the capitalist; to the romantic, they represent life, beauty, growth or any number of things that we envision.

At its best, community development reflects both of these realities - seeing the world with compassion and beauty, yet with an understanding of monetary value.

Conservatives love to talk about the 'invisible hand' of the economy, and they have a high regard for leaving this 'force' uninhibited, (I wish they had a similar regard for the 'invisible hand' of nature!) Our job in community development is to interfere - to build and rehab houses and businesses in neighborhoods that the economy, the 'invisible hand' has left behind. If we are good, we will reveal value where others had failed to see it, and create new markets - if we are bad, we will waste money on a project for which there is no demand. It takes a combination of head and heart to see the vision and the reality.

I think this combination of head and heart is what is needed to be a good steward - neither unfettered greed nor starry-eyed idealism. It is tough to get at the right combination, but I believe it is possible when we are honest and open and refrain from demonizing the opposition.

The right loves to criticize the left for being soft and unrealistic. While I embrace the word Liberal, I agree with the critics. To take a phrase from the right, I would suggest that 'compassionate conservatism' is just what we need - taking these words literally and not for the deceptive buzzwords they have become. We must be conservative with our resources, whether they are historic buildings, people, or wealth - while at the same time being compassionate for those who have as well as for those who do not. It may be trite, but it is important to remember that we are all in this together, and to work for the common good takes just the right combination of head and heart.