Futurist Touts Power Of ‘Capitalism With A Conscience’

Could “capitalism with a conscience” help transform Spokane into a “state of the art, 21st Century global village?”

Yes - “but you need every sector of the community working together,” for at least three to five years to make it happen, futurist and consultant Dr. Leland Kaiser said Tuesday.

Kaiser, of Brighton, Colo., issued the general challenge to the business community to “redefine American capitalism” and lead a community transformation. He also reiterated a challenge he offered here last year to make Spokane a “saging center.”

Kaiser spoke to about 50 business and civic leaders Tuesday morning at Cavanaughs Ridpath Hotel before he participated in Leadership Spokane’s third annual Leadership Forum.

“You once had a world’s fair (Expo ‘74) and it was a start (at transforming the community) - a small start, but it shows you can pull together and do something,” Kaiser said.

He said capitalism with a conscience, rather than reaffirming a win-lose system of “haves and have nots,” can merge three key elements - “democracy, capitalism and morality - into building a 21st Century prototype community in which everyone can participate.”

Kaiser cited the importance of “developing every boy and girl, because when they become taxpayers, it’s an asset. When they don’t, we lose their contributions and pick up the liability costs of prisons and emergency rooms and welfare rolls. We lose twice.”

In an interview, Kaiser said parts of communities across the country are using his concepts, but no full, communitywide effort has emerged. He is a consultant to Disney’s new Celebration City in Florida, but said “this (Spokane) is real.”

Stressing the importance of voluntarism, Kaiser cited the success of a group of 100 retired doctors in the Hilton Head, S.C., area who provide medical care to 10,000 uninsured people. He said if that happened nationwide, we could significantly reduce chronic disease and most of the need for Medicaid.

In his talk, Kaiser urged senior “sages” to stay active and involved. “There is no retirement in the future. It takes 30 years to get some common sense, and another 30 years to know what to do with it, so by the time you are 60 you are nearly trustworthy,” said Kaiser, who is 61.

His vision includes a community in which every not-for-profit agency has one volunteer for each paid staffer “in the total restoration of the community from the loving service of older people.” Seniors, he said, can make sure every child has a mentor and every needy home gets painted.

Kaiser said economic development will not just be bringing new businesses to town, “but making Spokane a global destination where people come to learn how to think differently” in reinventing their communities.

He urged the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors Leadership Spokane, to take the lead in hosting an international gathering on tranformation topics.

Spokane Chamber President Rich Hadley, in the audience, said it would be good to have Kaiser speak at the national conference of chamber leaders, where 800 chambers could hear his message. Hadley also said it might be possible to have Spokane host a regional meeting with representatives from Western Montana, North Idaho, Eastern Washington, Northeast Oregon and southern British Columbia and Alberta.

Tom White, president and chief executive officer of Empire Health Services, said of Kaiser’s recommendations, “We’ve done bits of this to some extent. There are enough people embracing pieces of this that it might be time to catalyze the efforts into something.”

Dan Baumgarten, director of the Health Improvement Partnership, which sponsored Kaiser’s talk last May to health care industry representatives, said it’s important to take “one tangible step” this year in moving the process forward.

Kaiser said neighborhoods will be focal-points of transformed cities.

City Manager Bill Pupo and City Councilman Jeff Colliton, who attended the session, said getting general agreement on transformation issues will be a challenge.

Colliton noted that there are many “territorial issues” now between neighborhoods and at times there isn’t total agreement among residents in the same neighborhoods on controversial issues.

Pupo added that a certain civility is needed to reach agreement, and some in the community “prefer to dwell on incivility.”

, DataTimes