Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism; Good man, Bad man

“I’m having a difficult time understanding who was harmed here,” said Richard X. Bove, a banking analyst with Rochdale Securities. “Why is this company being put into court over a series of events that benefited the nation, its economy, its financial system, the shareholders of Bank of America and the bank itself.”

Our nation has much work to do. Our communities have much work to do. Walking through one of Orlando's wealthiest neighborhoods I see and feel the work that must be done. From gentrified neighborhoods, to a degraded environment, such a blisteringly alienated population brings rise to individualism that cannot sustain the community, and sustaining our communities is the work that needs doing. The question is, how do we build sustainable communities? What tools can we use? Who are our allies? Where are the pitfalls? If our communities are to survive the trends toward misunderstood and under-appreciated local resources and opportunities brought about by industrialism and globalization, we must answer these questions on our way to investing in all of our people, our environment, and our businesses. Preferably locally produced, but also locally critiqued and consumed through a more positive culture of consumption.

We then come to the investors in our future communities. In the 21st century we will need greater initiatives from the private sector and the public sector and volunteering citizens to create opportunities for responsible growth and positive progress toward sustainable economies and communities. Often the business world forgets that the foundation for positive commerce is positive communities of consumers supporting a capitalism that perpetuates the same concern for the producers. Integrating new techniques to accomplish this goal of sustainable capitalism should be the next step for social entrepreneurs. Everyone has a role in the process of making sense of the confusing network of forces at play on community members on any given day. Leadership must be checked by followership.

Think about our current situation. Here in 2009 with a ravaged economy, a globe dealing with extreme amounts of environmental pressure, a media system siding with their financiers, and communities of people anonymous to one another, our leadership is organized to perform their agenda but the followership is not. The scale bends as far as we allow it to.