Book Report: America the Principled

Just in time to feed the election year media machine comes a new book from Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, America the Principled: Six Opportunities For Becoming a Can-Do Nation Once Again. I believe this will be the must-read book of the year, and hopefully every Presidential candidate will take it to heart.

First, let’s get the political biases out of the way. I am a Canadian citizen with Permanent Resident Status in America. As such, I cannot vote, although no doubt many non-citizens have cast ballots in the past. If I had voted in the last election, I would have cast my ballot for George W. Bush. In Canada, I generally voted for the Western Canadian Conservative party, whatever name they were using at the time. Western Canadian conservatives are generally middle of the road – we don’t like taxes or welfare bums, but we believe that citizens and corporations have responsibilities to society. I do not know how I would vote in America today. I do not, at this posting, see a reasonable middle of the road candidate. I suspect that the Republican Party is going to get thumped in the upcoming election.

So now you know where I am coming from. And perhaps that makes it a bit surprising that I love this book by a definitely-to-the-left Harvard professor. Let’s face it, Harvard and the rest of America’s tenured college professors names are unlikely to show up on a Republican 4^th of July picnic invite list.

As an immigrant, I think I take a little different view of America than a native born American (like my wife). I see the great possibilities in this country. I didn’t come from a third world country, but I still see America as a symbol of freedom and opportunity. So it saddens me to see the increased polarization of America – Red and Blue states; white, black and Latino cultures; rhetoric and intolerance on both the right and the left. And Americans complaining that their freedoms are being usurped? They have no idea of what it’s like to live without basic freedoms. You don’t see anyone tying an inner tube to their rear end and setting off from Miami hoping to land in Cuba for the good life. You don’t see anyone sneaking across the border into Mexico. No one hides themselves in a cargo container with hopes that they will end up in China. The entire world looks to America as the land of the free.

But Dr. Kanter points out correctly that we are losing that image. Instead of the land that offers hope for freedom, we have become thought of as a bully. As formerly third world countries gain economic and military prominence, people don’t look to America for leadership. But her book offers a plan for America to regain center stage and its leadership role in the world.

Dr. Kanter’s six points are, briefly:

• Make prosperity available across all economic and social levels through a science-based “white-coat” economy;
• Restore trust in government, making it an instrument of public interest, i.e. a servant of the people;
• Focus on real family values by creating fair, flexible and attentive workplaces;
• Rid the private sector of imperial excess by instilling a values-based capitalism of businesses that are well run, make lots of money, and do lots of good;
• Support individual grass-roots engagement with citizens of other countries to defeat the “Ugly American” image;
• Move from “me” to “we” through national service programs that engage young people through retirees to create a community spirit that unites America.
  

Bravo, I say. And rather than just spouting theories, Kanter goes into detail on how these steps can be implemented. The thing I find interesting is that she doesn’t think it’s just the job of government to implement these steps. It’s a tripartite union of government, business and citizens all dedicated and motivated to make America great again.

Unfortunately, Dr. Kanter reveals her left-wing biases from time to time. She suggests that much of the harm to America’s reputation has come over the last 7 years, or the “Bush is responsible for all evil” shtick. I think there were Presidents before Bush who can take some of the blame for that as well. She trots out the old line that if we weren’t spending trillions for the “futile war” in Iraq, we could have universal health care, free schooling, blah, blah, blah. If we weren’t in Iraq, we wouldn’t be going into debt to our eyeballs. I’m not sure that money would be directed to social programs.

And in a book that criticizes the polarization of American politics, could she not have found a prominent right winger to provide a blurb? Bill Clinton, Arianna Huffington and Donna Shalala are hardly middle of the road proponents for political moderation.

Still, Dr. Kanter has provided a valuable book for opening discussion on where America is going. At this stage of the election campaign, I haven’t heard anything from any candidate that speaks to any of these issues. I hope we aren’t heading for more of the polarizing politics that we’ve seen in the last 3 elections. That’s the fault of both parties. Hopefully someone will take up the torch Dr. Kanter has lit and light a fire under the electorate.

You can purchase your own copy from the publisher

by clicking here.