On commitment from the little guys (us)

[Based on ‘On Commitment from the Big Dogs’]

Commitment. Once upon a time it meant something. Once. There are a lot of words that have lost their luster and their meanings over the years. Beautiful words. Words that would inspire a nation, words that would heal all types of wounds and words that would give solace to an already battered public. But ‘commitment’ was one of those special words that not only conveyed an idea but a message, too. Look it up in any dictionary and you will probably see trust, keeping, obligation, bound, pledge and word. If ‘commitment’ has lost its meaning, what about the words that are used to define it. What about their meanings? That’s where we come in, my friends. Just because some words no longer mean what they used to, it is up to us to recall the strength behind its meaning and give them new life in our lexicon.

There was a poll taken back in July, 2011 that said that 14% of the American work force thought that the company they worked for was ethical and treated their workers fairly. 14%?? Am I missing something here? 14%?? Is this something to be proud of? Is this something that we can run up the flag-pole and wave at the rest of the world? We are getting it from our elected officials. We are getting it from business. We are getting it from every conceivable direction and our heads are spinning as a result. But we can change all that and we can start the change now. This has nothing to do with liberals or conservatives, nothing to do with republicans or democrats either. What it has to do with is a commitment from the little guys. US. And we can do it in the simplest of ways—on a one-on-one basis.

Contrary to the opinion of others, last time I checked, we were still in charge of this country. We elect our politicians and we can unelect them. We buy the goods and services that big business spits at us; if you don’t like what you’re getting, don’t spend your money on their products. You want to get someone’s attention, just stop showing up with your money. When in doubt, boycott—you’ll get the answer that you’re looking for. There are those times when you can’t see the forest from the trees and that’s where we are now. People are running around trying to get their piece of the pie before everything if flushed right down the drain. Whoa, horse. Wait a minute now. There were those who came before us that wouldn’t appreciate that kind of talk or thinking. There were those who believed in America’s greatness and those who knew her soul—and that was in her people; not some Ivy league clown that would sell out her future for a mere bag of silver coins. America’s strength and her spine has always been the people, from the north to the southern border, from the ocean on the east coast to the one on the west, we have a people here that you can’t grow anywhere else in the world. Now, what we have to do, one by one, town by town, state by state is recommit ourselves to that greatness.

Some of us, many of our parents, most of our grandparents and all of our great grandparents came from somewhere else because this was the place to be. It still is. It just needs a little housecleaning, that’s all. Y’know, take out the garbage and clean up the yard a little. They used to say that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now. I can’t argue with that. At least that’s the way I see it. MLProko http://www.mikeproko.com

On giving back

You’ve done very well for yourself. You’ve stood at the trough and filled yourself for years. Your children have done well by you, too. And now, it’s time to pay the piper. You called the tune, now it’s time to ante up. We all have to give something back. There is a very delicate scale that will balance all things—the ups and the downs, the in’s and the out’s, the large and the small—an equipoise that will fall out of kilter if all things aren’t just right. And yet, there have always been those who have taken much more than they have given back; conversely, there are those who have given back much more than they could readily afford to. Therein lays the problem, the balance of the scale.

W. Buckminster Fuller was an odd-duck but most of the geniuses are. One of the several pearls of his that I picked up over the years was what is it on this planet that needs doing that I know something about that won’t get done until I take responsibility for it? There is your call to arms. And there are any number of reasons for giving back, some good, some selfish. But in the final analysis, there can not be a downside to giving back because you are planting the seeds of hope in someone who definitely needs it. I have mentored gang-members from Chicago’s Southwest side and I thought I was banging my head up against a wall for the first 12-15 months and then everything started to click, not just in their general attitude but in the way that they were speaking to their own children. And they carry that attitude today, 10 years later. That’s a pretty warm feeling. When we joined the program, there were over 300 business’ involved in the mentoring. One year later, there were only a handful of us left. ‘Business’ wanted the kids to think the way they did. These kids wouldn’t play that way. There was no family structure, no father figures, no job skills—and for a business to walk in and say do this and do that, well, there was no repo ire there. The few number of business’ that prevailed were the ones who believed in the kids and could talk their talk. It also helped that these guys were pretty ‘street-savvy’, those who could separate the b.s. from the hustle.

There are those today who will tell you that you should put your trust in them and they will take care of you, too many, even some on radio and t.v. But in the final analysis, you want to empower those that you are helping to help themselves in the end. And when you empower others, you also empower yourself. Otherwise, you are just creating dependence and, while that may make for good television, it makes for a poor social fabric. By making them dependent on you, you are, in reality, stifling their own growth.      Then, there are the selfish reasons for giving back. All of a sudden, your anxiety and depression disappear. Dr. Anthony Barbato taught me a lot over the years but when he was running the Loyola Medical Center just outside Chicago, he would talk about putting your anxiety and depression into perspective by just walking up and down the halls of any hospital, not just his. It’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when you’re looking at a 6 year old with cancer or seeing someone waste away from A.L.S.

So, if you have some spare time, maybe a night or two or even one Saturday a month; maybe you want to start feeling a little more useful, then give some serious thought to start giving back. For the most part, your only expense will be your time. But, in the end, it’s worth it.  There are 2 ways to show your strength—push down and pull up. (B. T. Washington). If you’re going to give back, then you have to ‘pull up.’

At least, that’s the way I see it. MLProko (2011) [mikeproko.com]