107th Edition
Polls
I’ve never been a big fan of polls because I think a lot of them are rigged to support existing opinions. Today, what isn’t biased in some way? Nevertheless, I was intrigued by a recent Gallup poll on public confidence in U.S. Institutions. Topping the list were small businesses and the military. At the bottom of the list is the U.S. Congress in which only 9% said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence. Despite this abysmal rating, 98% of incumbents win re-election in congressional elections. (Source: Wikipedia). Other sources put the percentage around 95%. This begs the obvious question – If 90% of us are not confident in Congress, why do we keep electing the same politicians? Is it possible that we all trust our own local representative but distrust all the rest? What, if anything, does all this mean?
Meanwhile, on a related note, there is a huge current debate about the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government. More specifically many people are concerned that presidents are becoming too powerful. It is not a recent phenomenon that the residing president tried to expand the power of the executive branch when Congress wasn’t supporting his agenda. Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and FDR, all expanded the power of the executive office. In recent years, with Congress largely divided and unable to pass meaningful legislation, presidents have issued hundreds of executive orders to further their agenda. Again, this isn’t a recent phenomenon, as the table below illustrates:
President # executive orders issued (source: The American Presidency Project)
Nixon 346
Ford 169
Carter 320
Bush 166
Clinton 364
GW Bush 291
Obama 276
Trump I 220
Biden 162
Despite this historical data, I can’t help but think that now is the time for a new political paradigm. What would this look like? Dishonesty, an unquenchable thirst for power, and crony capitalism, in all its destructive forms, would be eliminated from the political process. What could fill this cavernous void if we eliminated all these damaging forces? Here are three suggestions…
Personal integrity, servant leadership, and free-market capitalism could be three pillars of an amazing transformation of our political process, leadership, and culture. Totally unrealistic? To some people maybe, but not to me. Why?
First, conducting oneself with personal integrity is a habit that in some cases, is being taught effectively to our youth by coaches, teachers, mentors, and parents. We just need to make this a top priority more broadly. How hard can that really be? Changing the behavior of some adults, whose hearts have been hardened through years of cynicism and firsthand experiences with dishonesty and disloyalty, may not be possible. So the first step is the realization that transformative change won’t happen quickly. But it is certainly possible.
The transformation to servant leadership from bullying, coercion, and exploitation cannot occur until personal integrity is an integral part of our culture, which it obviously isn’t today. So, this might take a generation to accomplish. No person who lives by a code of personal integrity can lead by coercion, nor can that individual willfully exploit others for personal gain. Personal integrity and an unquenchable thirst for power are incompatible.
The final foundation post of this extraordinary transformation is the return to free-market capitalism and the elimination of crony capitalism. And yes, the prerequisite for this change is the preponderance of the first two. Crony capitalism involves way too much government regulation and control, the powerful exploiting the powerless, oligopolies and insatiable greed. All of these forces can be lessened if not eliminated by free-market capitalism operated by servant leaders and individual market participants that operate with a code of personal integrity. Sound far-fetched, even impossible? It’s really not. It actually exists today between small business owners and individual customers in which a level of trust has been established and built over many years. These relationships are the backbone of our economy and country. It’s why these business owners often work seven days a week and relish every minute of it. Many understand and embody servant leadership principles which enable them to build a loyal and trustworthy workforce and company. It’s why after retirement many of these leaders spend the remainder of their lifetime giving back to the community. I know people like this personally and have been inspired by many of them. Proud, yet humble, honest and loyal. A friend you can call in the middle of the night confident they will respond in your time of need. Prayer warriors, first and foremost.
Every person dedicated to the principles of personal integrity, servant leadership, and free markets can make a difference and lead this transformative effort. Treat each person better than they expect to be treated. Be consistently reliable and dependable. Balance pridefulness and humility. And most importantly, accept that God is ultimately in control.
Please help me grow my readership by forwarding this to a friend(s). In the meantime, stay tuned for my next newsletter. Thanks
Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization