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Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
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1. Issue: The economic crisis and current political responses will continue to destabilize our communities and erode our democracy. We cannot return to "economics as usual" without deepening economic inequality, fragmenting community resilience, and exacerbating the ecological crisis. Most areas of injustice are connected to the nature of our current economic system. 2. Grounding in Unitarian Universalism: Stories of how our financial sector came to such a crisis reveal a moral malaise that is shocking to UUs who treasure the principles of our ethical religion. Guided by our goals of justice, equity, compassion and the democratic process we are called to examine and work to reform our financial system. 3. Topics for Congregational Study: ** What caused the collapse? ** Can the economy be repaired by regulation of the current financial system or is the structure itself inherently unjust? Is the Federal Reserve federal or a reserve? ** What would a caring economic democracy look like? How would it address the distribution of resources, meaningful work with a living wage, health of local communities, the locus of decision-making? ** If corporations were chartered to promote the public good not just maximization of profit, how should they be structured, reviewed and controlled? Does the "personhood" of corporations affect our democracy? ** Whom does the current tax system serve? ** What are my responsibilities as an individual con**er, shareholder, owner, investor, or employee, toward a just financial system? What are our responsibilities as religious congregations and as a denomination? ** What is the ethical balance between individual freedom and community responsibility? ** What structures and practices can we promote to achieve our principles of justice, equity, compassion, democratic process, the interdependent web of all existence and world community? 4. Possible Congregational/District Actions: ** Study Groups on Richard Gilbert, How Much Do We Deserve?; David Korten, Agenda for a New Economy; Riane Eisler, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics; Naomi Klein, Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism; Les Leopold, The Looting of America; Jack Bogle, Enough: Measures of Money, Business and Life. ** Research into what our current investments support and what social screens they utilize. ** Research into community banks, local private equity investment opportunities and into the effects of giant corporations on local quality of life. ** Recognize and value our "real wealth" through support of local businesses, farmers, artisans, so that creativity is encouraged and money re-circulates within the community. ** Create a new economic story that affirms and promotes our UU Principles and values service, local communities and real wealth over fantasy finance that rewards the distant few. ** Establish "common security clubs"-to learn together, strengthen mutual aid activities and engage in social action toward a more just financial system. ** Districts may put on workshops to extend the resources within congregations. 5. Related Prior Social Witness Statements: A Job, A Home, A Hope (1995) Working for a Just Economic Community (1997) Economic Justice, Poverty and Racism (2000) Economic Globalization and Its Consequences (2003) Substantiating Information For Documentation on the Current Economic Crisis, its roots and prospects for cure see any newspaper and the books listed under study group material for congregations: Richard Gilbert, How Much Do We Deserve; David Korten, Agenda for a New Economy; Riane Eisler, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics; Naomi Klein, Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism; Les Leopold, The Looting of America; Jack Bogle, Enough: Measures of Money, Business and Life Naomi Wolf, The End of America National Organizations currently working on this issue: Americans for Financial Reform is a coalition of nearly 200 national, state and local con**er, labor, retiree, investor, community and civil rights organizations who have come together to spearhead a campaign for real reform in our banking and financial system. "For too long, the rules of Wall Street have been written by the bankers themselves. The huge mismanagement of risk by major financial firms, the ensuing financial crisis, and the related economic recession have cost millions of workers their jobs, forced millions of families out of their homes, and wiped out trillions of dollars in retirement savings. The large banks and Wall Street have undermined Americans' confidence in the integrity and fairness of financial institutions, and of the regulators and regulations that should have held them accountable. Now we have to look at the mess and look at the root causes to ensure that it won't happen again." www.ourfinancialsecurity.org Center For Partnership Studies- Alliance for a Caring Economy (ACE) is supported by Riane Eisler's work and is composed of groups and individuals working with representatives from government, business, civil society, and academic sectors (based on partnership/caring principles) to develop the foundation for a Full Spectrum Economy. They are currently working collaboratively to: ** Collect information on what is already happening to give economic value to care giving, such as paid parental leave and economic measurements that, unlike GDP, take into account the essential economic contribution of care giving in both the formal and informal economies ** Catalog economic metrics to be published, refined, developed, and promoted ** Provide a forum for new ideas and initiatives, support pilot projects, and provide a framework for testing and disseminating new programs and policies ** Bring the concept and practicalities of Caring Economics into business and economics schools ** Bring together innovative thinkers to conceptualize new economic inventions ** Offer education and opportunities for discussion about Caring Economics and the Full Spectrum Economy ** Develop virtual outreach to assist with communication and discussion ** Prepare educational booklets (hard copy and virtual) to raise awareness of the value caring and caretaking, including what can be done at the home, community, business, and national levels to recognize and reward this work ** Develop an implementation guide to assist organizations to put these examples into practice www.partnershipway.org/caring-economics Navigating The Great Turning Initative is a project of the People-Centered Development Forum and is developed in response to David Korten's latest book, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, This Initiative's mission is to contribute to the greater body of Great Turning work by forwarding the following framing ideas and connections: o Help individuals, communities, and organizations displace the prevailing Empire prosperity, security, and meaning stories that define dominator hierarchy as the natural and essential human order, with Earth Community prosperity, security, and meaning stories that celebrate the human capacity to live in cooperative balance with one another and Earth. o Facilitate the creation and strengthening of networks and alliances based on mutual trust and a shared commitment to changing the defining stories of the prevailing culture. o Expose the dominator relationships of Empire as the upstream source of the many forms of violence against people and nature that threaten the human future, and identify the partnership relations of Earth Community as a defining feature of the cultures and institutions now within our means to bring forth. o Name this the time of the Great Turning to highlight the epic nature of the choice between domination and partnership, and the opportunity created by a potential terminal crisis to create a world that works for all by turning to partnership as a conscious collective choice. o Provide a strategic framework grounded in a theory of change that calls for displacing stories of Empire that affirm domination as inevitable and beneficial with stories of Earth Community that celebrate the positive potentials of partnership. New Economy Working Group's mission "is to contribute to reframing the economic policy debate to address the social and environmental imperatives and opportunities of the 21st Century. The distinctive role of NEWGroup is to serve as a virtual policy think tank and communications resource for the growing number of civil society groups concerned with economic justice, environmental sustainability, and peace that are forming alliances and coalitions under a New Economy banner. Because of the powerful tendency to slip into a conventional framing in the midst of the myriad political battles at hand, we see our distinctive contribution as being to look beyond what is currently politically feasible and to articulate and hold for the larger movement the long-term vision of a New Economy that functions by spaceship rules and values to: ** Provide everyone the opportunity for a healthy, dignified and fulfilling life, ** Maintain and enhance the vitality of Earth's natural systems, ** Grow the relationships of strong caring communities, ** Honor sound, rule-based market principles, ** Support an equitable and socially efficient allocation of resources, and ** Fulfill the democratic ideal of one-person, one-vote citizen sovereignty." www.neweconomyworkinggroup.org Common Security Clubs - What are they? A place to come together to grapple with our personal security in a rapidly changing world. ** To learn about the root causes of our economic and ecological challenges. ** To explore ways to increase our personal/economic security through mutual aid and shared action. ** To build on what we have together -- and strengthen the institutions that we all depend on. ** In the process, make friends, find inspiration, have fun, and strengthen community. There are three basic components: LEARN: Through popular education tools, videos and shared readings, participants increase their understanding of the larger economic forces on our lives. MUTUAL AID -LOCAL ACTION: Through stories, examples, web-based resources, a workbook and mutual support, participants reflect on what makes them secure. SOCIAL ACTION: Many of our challenges won't be solved through personal or local mutual aid efforts. They require us to work together to press for larger state, national and even global changes. Over 50 communities (including many UU congregations) around the country have piloted "Common Security Clubs" in 2009. Clubs typically are 15-20 adults who commit to meet for six initial facilitated meetings using the Facilitator's Guide that we have created. Have a look at our suggested "Introductory Meeting" here. Anyone who feels comfortable leading a group can start a CSC! We have the (free) Facilitator's Guide available for use, and other tools and resources here on our website. Contact us and we'll provide materials and guidance at andree@commonsecurityclub.org. www.commonsecurityclub.org United for a Fair Economy is a national, independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. UFE raises awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart. We support and help build social movements for greater equality. www.faireconomy.org UU Organizations: Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community has among its programs "to inspire Unitarian Universalists to become informed on society's economic and social systems and how they promote justice and injustice; to develop and work for passage of UUA study resolutions; to develop study materials on economic justice for use by UU congregations to use." www.uujec.org Unitarian Universalist Service Committee has a department for Economic Justice currently working on A Living Wage, Strengthening the Rights of the "Informal Economy" with Women and Children at its Core, and Equitable Distribution of Wealth through Fair Trade. "Economic justice is essential for securing basic human rights, alleviating local and global poverty, and achieving a more peaceful and just world. As a human rights and social justice organization, UUSC embraces a vision of economic human rights, recognizing that workers' rights are human rights." www.uusc.org Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation is a continental membership organization that advances equity and justice for women through education and advocacy. They recognize and support the essential element of economic justice in empowering women both nationally and globally. www.uuwf.org |