The Freedom to Be All You Can Be

Lay Sermon by John Watkins
at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Laconia, NH
May 21, 2006

Thanks to Mary Rivers who has been the point person in arranging my visit today. And to Judith Buswell who apparently made the first suggestion that I might have something to say.

Being here is part of my UU journey, a journey that began when I was officially introduced to the Unitarian Church by one of my mentors.

She became my mentor because she recognized my natural tendency to simplify work patterns and get jobs done more cost effectively. In many ways, that tendency led to my being here today.

In one of my jobs, as a field representative for a college publisher, I had to travel widely. Most Sunday's, I found myself in another college town attending a different Unitarian church.

In one of those churches, I first heard the highly motivating words: Idealism: all else is treason

For me, this means we should accept nothing less as our goal I call it the future-ideal

It may not be an achievable goal. But what better goal can there be?

I also call it pragmatic idealism. The larger your vision, the more you're likely to achieve.

Another UU sermon suggested that the function of the church should be to encourage it's members to take risks for human betterment and, if they failed, help them get back on their feet and start again. That became part of my vision for a human empowerment system.

Part of my UU journey included founding the nursing book department at Little, Brown -- about a block away from Beacon Press and UU national headquarters. I suggested that nursing needed a journal devoted to the administration of nursing practice. When they refused to publish it, I set about forming a business to do it. Even though I raised only a fifth of the capital it should have taken, I persevered and created two journals that are still actively published -The Journal of Nursing Administration and Nurse Educator. I created those specific journals because their audiences had the most power to improve nursing practice and hopefully health care--to create a future-ideal.

My one frustration was that the very good editors I hired were unwilling to risk pushing for major change of any sort. Maybe they were right but I hope not. My risk-taking forced me to sell the company after thirteen years.

That too was part of my UU journey.

Then, many years later, I experienced a Unitarian miracle. To claim a miracle is amazing because I often joke that a Unitarian prayer is crossing your fingers.

When I joined the Nashua church, I told the minister I was thinking about forming a Simple Society. He mentioned that goal from the pulpit when he welcomed me to membership.

A year later, I missed a Sunday and asked for a tape of the sermon. The tape had been re-used. At the end, there was part of the previous recording -- our minister saying... " our new member, John Watkins, is going to start a Simple Society."

A Unitarian miracle! Simple Society was incorporated within six months. Achieving its mission will probably be the end of my UU journey.

The mission is first to design a new, innovative model of a simpler, more humane society that empowers everyone to achieve their full potential; a society that actually solves its problems, and treats everyone fairly.

And, second, to get it adopted.

A major barrier is complexity and so the design will reduce all institutional and social structures to the minimum required to produce the intended benefits.

Einstein said it well - "as simple as possible, no simpler."

As I began to organize the work, I was saddened by how many truly bright people were absolutely convinced that systemic change is not possible.

It IS possible.

We've developed or discovered a number of pro-active things society can do. We've developed a human empowerment paradigm. We've discovered two other concepts, the Citizen's Dividend and Capitol Homesteading, which we'll blend with the empowerment paradigm, concepts that can effectively promote economic justice giving everyone much more power over personal goals and the use of their time. The Freedom to Be All You Can Be!

We've also explored how to remove some of the barriers by simplifying overly complex governmental, political, economic, and justice systems. You can find some of those ideas on our website: www.simsoc.org.

It takes more than talk to bring about social change.

So we have an action plan:

The Simple Society has created

I hope you'll look at the website and I hope your church will join the Alliance.

Too often, we fail to solve problems because we aren't asking the right questions. My hope is that each of the four models will result from asking the right questions and answering them satisfactorily. To do so requires, in part, that we address the commonalities as opposed to the differences among our problems -- you know... seeing the forest as well as the trees.

There are two central commonalities for developing individual potential: good advice and adequate funds.

Our human empowerment system provides every person with an empowerment guide, a life-long best friend, mentor who can help them assess their individual capabilities, help them formulate a plan for their personal development, help them adjust the plan as time passes, and assure that they have the resources to carry out the plan.

The model is based on the Big Brothers/Big Sisters approach with a touch of super-ego added to assure that each person's relationships with the larger community are both harmless and supportive.

Whenever you need additional help, part of the guide's task will be to direct you to the best source of help available. Each guide is backed up by the larger network of guides who, working together, will be able to identify highly qualified resources (preferably voluntary or collaborative). Part of a guides responsibility will be to encourage provision of voluntary assistance to others. If needed, the guides will be able to organize community action, organize co-ops, find shared living facilities, etc. I also envision the guides as being a personal ombudsman -- possibly your primary contact with government.

You will never encounter a problem and not know where to turn.

What about the financial issue?

The system emphasizes and bolsters personal responsibility. You pay for every service you receive (unless it's provided voluntarily). If your resources are inadequate, the empowerment guide can give you a loan. The only criterion is a legitimate need. The re-payment plan will be compassionate and the interest rate will be low. For a variety of reasons, most of the services you need will cost less with a direct payment system. And, because the guides will be helping you develop your own potential, your earnings will generally be greater. Because prices will be lower, your discretionary funds will be greater. There will be less need for loans.

As you'll see when we discuss the Citizen's Dividend and Capital Homesteading, loans may never be needed. Nevertheless, if they're needed, they'll be readily available.

It will be possible to do away with high interest debt of all kinds.

If the loans reach oppressive levels because of personal adversity, the system includes a simple debt remission plan--not much different than what is being recommended for third world countries--operated by a public trust like the United Way. The debt will be reduced using voluntary funds. No one will be hurt by your inability to pay. Default on debt hurts other people and, downstream, adds to the cost of living. It hurts everybody. Why hurt anybody?

Adoption of this system will almost immediately solve many problems -- hunger and homelessness, access to healthcare, early detection of dysfunctional behavior, inadequate education, job shortages, disaster relief, even issues of discrimination. People in jobs now devoted to reducing these problems will be absorbed by the human empowerment system and by reductions in the work week. Because of direct payment, human service providers won't need to beg for donations or search for grants. There will be more money available to support the arts, social advocacy, recreational services, medical research, and our churches.

Now for a look at the Citizen's Dividend and Capital Homesteading. Both address the important issues of equality, personal security, and the distribution of power.

The Citizen's Dividend is based on the notion that no one can separately own certain parts of the universe - the earth, atmosphere, radio spectrum, etc.

They were given to us by what I call "first cause" and others call God. We own them equally. They are common wealth.

You are entitled to own or trade whatever is produced by your brain or brawn but you must rent the common wealth you use in the process. We all deserve an equal share of that rent.

The Geonomy Society calls your share of the rent a Citizen's Dividend and estimates that every human in this country (from birth to death) would receive $600 a month--$900-$1,000 a month if children are not included. That's almost as much as current social security payments--more for the average retired couple. A family of four would receive $28,800 a year.

How does that change the power balance?

The Capital Homesteading concept was developed by The Center on Economic and Social Justice. It goes a lot further than the Dividend in re-dressing inequality and the imbalance of power. And, IT SOLVES THE SOCIAL SECURITY PROBLEM.

As an aside, The Center suggests that the situation in Iraq would be vastly and immediately improved if every Iraqi citizen was given an equal share in Iraqi oil resources.

Capital Homesteading is a simple mechanism. The Federal Reserve Bank and the banking system now underwrite credit for those who already have assets-- the haves but not the have nots. Under Capital Homesteading, they begin to underwrite safe loans to purchase capital stock in the creation of new productivity. They advocate a loan of $3,000 a year for every person from birth to retirement age. $3,000 per person is roughly half the amount invested in new productivity each year in the U.S. These are very safe investments.

They add a legal requirement of full dividend payouts by all corporations. These dividends are used first to pay off the loans. Here are some amazing numbers. By age 65, each person will have a net accumulation of $198,000, almost all the loans will be paid, and they will have received $780,000 in taxable, spendable dividends. (and possibly another $360,000 in citizen's dividends). In addition, everyone will have all the social security taxes and insurance premiums they no longer have to pay. Each year after 65, retirement income will exceed $26,000, more than $50,000 for a couple. If they've invested any of the dividends over the years, these numbers could be even better. Most important, they own those assets and can pass them on to their heirs.

Since most of the investments will be devoted to enhancement of productivity, it will be possible to substantially reduce the work week. Juliet Schor of Boston College estimates the work week could be reduced to six hours. People will be able to work less and still have the wherewithal to buy the goods their investments have produced. They will own those investments and they will own their time.

Think about how this changes the power dynamic and its influence on the wages you can negotiate!

These changes free people to be all they can be.

Whatever they choose to be, I hope they will choose to pursue excellence.

To close, here's what John W. Gardner, an idol of mine, says about excellence.

"An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable
than an incompetent philosopher.

The society that scorns excellence in plumbing
because plumbing is a humble activity,

and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy
because philosophy is an exalted activity,

will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy.
Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."

Thank you for being one more stop on my UU journey.

John Watkins
at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Laconia, NH
May 21, 2006