Lawson for Congress

I was pleased to receive the following endorsement today from Dr. Larry Burk, a radiologist with whom I worked at Duke:

Friends and former colleagues,

I went on the Triangle Farm Tour this weekend and visited the Piedmont Biofuels Coop, a sustainable farm in Moncure, NC, linked to the local biodiesel pioneers at biofuels.coop.  Then today by happy synchronicity, I got an email from BJ Lawson, one of my former Duke med students who is running for Congress in the 4th District, featuring an interview he did with Lyle Estill, VP of Stuff at Piedmont Biofuels and author of Small is Possible: Life in a Local Economy.

Both Lyle and BJ emphasize the need for a vital and sustainable local economy that will provide “Hometown Security” for all of us during these times of turmoil on the national level.  That would be the opposite of the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility that his opponent David Price is advocating bringing to Butner as Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee for the Department of Homeland Security.

So, progressives wake up and vote your conscience, not your party this November.  Yes, it is possible to split your ticket and vote for both Obama and Lawson.  I made the radical move of switching my registration from Democratic to Republican to vote for him in the NC Primary where he won 70% of the vote against a hardcore neocon opponent.  BJ bases his platform strictly on the Constitution, and he is more of a peace candidate than most Democrats in Congress now.

Liberty is Priceless,
Larry

The terrorists we must fight are not crouched in caves thousands of miles away.

The terrorists we must fight are threatening us with financial weapons of mass destruction that are destroying our economic system.

As described by Warren Buffet in his 2003 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, the financial industry has created new types of derivatives that he described as “financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.”

As summarized in this BBC article:

Contracts devised by ‘madmen’

“Derivatives generate reported earnings that are often wildly overstated and based on estimates whose inaccuracy may not be exposed for many years” - Warren Buffett

“Large amounts of risk have become concentrated in the hands of relatively few derivatives dealers … which can trigger serious systemic problems.” - Warren Buffett

Derivatives are financial instruments that allow investors to speculate on the future price of, for example, commodities or shares - without buying the underlying investment

Derivates like futures, options and swaps were developed to allow investors hedge risks in financial markets - in effect buy insurance against market movements -, but have quickly become a means of investment in their own right.

Outstanding derivatives contracts - excluding those traded on exchanges such as the International Petroleum Exchange - are worth close to $85 trillion, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

Some derivatives contracts, Mr Buffett says, appear to have been devised by “madmen”.

He warns that derivatives can push companies onto a “spiral that can lead to a corporate meltdown”, like the demise of the notorious hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should. We’re living it.

How is Congress reacting to this clear and present danger, which is sitting right across the table from them as it testifies in Washington?

They’re ignorant and scared:

WASHINGTON — It was a room full of people who rarely hold their tongues. But as the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, laid out the potentially devastating ramifications of the financial crisis before congressional leaders on Thursday night, there was a stunned silence at first.

Mr. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had made an urgent and unusual evening visit to Capitol Hill, and they were gathered around a conference table in the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“When you listened to him describe it you gulped,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

As Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, put it Friday morning on the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the congressional leaders were told “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.”

How did we get into this situation? This is the endgame for an inherently unstable system that has been forever destined to fail. As I noted in a previous post:

If asked to pick one word to describe why I’m running for Congress, that word is sustainability. Sustainability doesn’t mean stability, it doesn’t mean safety, and it doesn’t mean protection from life’s inevitable uncertainties. Sustainability does mean recognizing and obeying the natural laws that govern of our world.

Every branch of science has certain laws: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion; force equals mass times acceleration; every action has an equal and opposite reaction; energy in a closed system cannot be created or destroyed but merely changed in form; and closed systems tend towards increased entropy are a few good examples.

These laws of motion and conservation of energy are not limited to high school physics class. Every system in nature must obey these underlying principles — including our financial and monetary systems.

Let’s start with Newton’s laws of motion — it’s a short hop from there to defining leverage as the ability to move a large object a short distance using a small force exerted over a long distance. Leverage is a concept in finance, as well — using borrowed money to increase returns based upon small underlying price movements. Just as the car lifted with a hydraulic jack can hurt you if it falls, a small price movement in an imprudently leveraged investment can wipe out a lifetime of savings.

Next consider conservation of energy and open versus closed systems. Since energy within a closed system cannot be created or destroyed, and since closed systems tend towards increasing entropy, every growing system must be open to an external energy source. In this setting, one can immediately see problems with our debt-based monetary system.

What is debt-based monetary system? It’s where money is debt, and every dollar in circulation exists because a bank created it out of nothing based upon someone’s promise to pay it back, with interest.

Our economy is an open system relative to money, which is created and destroyed by banks. Banks create the money through loans — but they only create the amount you borrow. They don’t create the interest that you also promise to repay. Where do you get the interest? You have to earn it, but first it has to be created — yes, by someone else borrowing more money that they promise to repay with still more interest.

In the end, our monetary system is like a game of musical chairs — the banks create money based upon someone’s willingness to borrow, and the bank’s ability to lend. The constant demand for new money to repay interest on existing money compels growth and new money creation at an accelerating rate.

Refer to the chart of America’s total debt, which raises obvious questions about sustainability. Trees do not grow to the sky — and when banks cannot lend, or people are no longer willing to borrow, the music stops. When the music stops, there are more loans outstanding than money to repay, so everyone left standing loses whatever they pledged in exchange for their loans. Even worse, money that was created out of nothing through borrowing just as easily disappears back into nothing as asset values plummet — so when the music stops, the chairs start disappearing from the room.

Leverage, debt-based money, fractional reserve banking, and interest are fundamental features of our economic system. Our economic history of boom/bust cycles and decisions dominated by short-term gain as opposed to long-term stewardship are fundamental consequences of this underlying system. In short, our system has undesirable consequences and is fundamentally unstable — but it’s working as designed.

Interestingly, now we have the terrorists who created and detonated these weapons holding us hostage. They’re asking us for more power, and to punish us with more debt, only to further enable the corrupt system to which we are hopelessly enslaved in the first place.

In other words, they’ve thrown a massive brick through the window, and are asking us to assume a crippling debt so that we can hire and pay them to “fix” it:

As noted by many, including Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning and Texas Representative Ron Paul, the Federal Reserve and the banking system that controls it are the cause of our systemic risk. Even the Federal Reserve’s own Harvey Rosenblum emphasizes that the Federal Reserve’s job is to create moral hazard, which enables systemic risk:

Rosenblum: The Federal Reserve is in business to create moral hazard. The mere act of being a central banker means that your job description involves creating moral hazard. A central bank is a “lender of last resort,” what more moral hazard can you have than having a lender of last resort that people know, when push can to shove, can be relied upon? The Federal Reserve’s job is to cushion the blow to 300 million American citizens of all the economic shocks that hit out there. What drives me crazy is when I hear people shouting “Moral hazard, moral hazard”… that’s what my job is to do…

Of course, it’s a bit disingenuous to say that the Fed’s job is to “cushion the blow” when the Fed threw the brick that caused the economic shock.

Gary Larson’s classic Far Side cartoon says it all. The Federal Reserve has heaved a gigantic brick through the window of our nation’s economy. Jobs are getting scarce, retirement savings and housing values are declining, and basic necessities are less affordable. Using the current crisis as an opportunity to further empower the Federal Reserve at the expense of the people is not the answer.

We need to restart past conversations, and restore a Constitutional money and banking system that removes moral hazard from the equation entirely. We cannot allow a private monopoly to create money out of nothing to loan to us at interest. The Federal Reserve is welcome to compete in a free market, but accepting private debt-based currency should not be compulsory — it should be voluntary, and other forms of money that facilitate trade and local economic growth should be welcomed.

Alan Greenspan noted that our money system is not a free market — the power over our money is centralized in the hands of the Federal Reserve. That fact, along with the Federal Reserve’s support for the inherently unstable process of fractional reserve banking,  create the bricks that break our windows.

Our founders intended for our money and banking system to be democratized. Our ability to create wealth in our communities is one of our unalienable individual rights. The government is only authorized to establish a level playing field with accurate “weights and measures.” In particular, Congress was given the authority to coin money, and regulate its value — it is not authorized to delegate monopoly authority over our money to a private central bank.

Since 1913, however, our money comes from a monopoly run for the benefit of private banks. The banks have the power to create money through debt, and the people and our governments thus accumulate debt instead of wealth.

So what is Congress going to do? Let’s continue reading about their negotiations with the terrorists:

When Mr. Schumer described the meeting as “somber,” Mr. Dodd cut in. “Somber doesn’t begin to justify the words,” he said. “We have never heard language like this.”

“What you heard last evening,” he added, “is one of those rare moments, certainly rare in my experience here, is Democrats and Republicans deciding we need to work together quickly.”

Although Mr. Schumer, Mr. Dodd and other participants declined to repeat precisely what they were told by Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Paulson, they said the two men described the financial system as effectively bound in a knot that was being pulled tighter and tighter by the day.

“You have the credit lines in America, which are the lifeblood of the economy, frozen.” Mr. Schumer said. “That hasn’t happened before. It’s a brave new world. You are in uncharted territory, but the one thing you do know is you can’t leave them frozen or the economy will just head south at a rapid rate.”

As he spoke, Mr. Schumer swooped his hand, to make the gesture of a plummeting bird. “You know we’d be lucky …” he said as his voice trailed off. “Well, I’ll leave it at that.”

Folks, we’re in trouble. When Republicans and Democrats are both ignorant and scared, we do horrible things.

Don’t believe me? Turn off Faux News and read Roubini. Read Denninger. Read Shedlock. This is not a drill, and our elected representatives need to hear our anger at this unprecedented hostage crisis.

In this setting of ignorance and fear, a proposed “fix” is being circulated that will authorize our government to go further into debt to buy toxic debt from failing banks. Note that the “fix” will not work — it will simply push the system further out of equilibrium. Karl Denninger succinctly dissects it here. Key quote:

The claim is that this is intended to “promote confidence and stability” in the financial markets.

It will do no such thing.

It will instead strike terror into the hearts of investors worldwide who hold any sort of paper, whether it be preferred stock, common stock or debt, in any financial entity that happens to be domiciled in the United States, never mind the potential impact on Treasury yields and the United States sovereign credit rating.

What should Congress do? Follow the Constitution: eliminate the money monopoly that is crippling our country. As I noted here:

Return our money to the people, for starters. Do people want to exchange and transact in gold and silver? Great. Do people want to do business in private local currencies that build self-sufficient communities? Great. Affirm that all barter transactions between individuals are tax-free, and let individuals build wealth by helping each other.

Eliminate fractional reserve banking, eliminate legal tender laws, and eliminate our private money monopoly. Our government can use its sovereign power to create currency that is not based upon debt, and based upon how responsibly our government creates that currency, people can choose to accept it or discount it appropriately.

This idea is not new, it’s in fact how we originally grew into a prosperous nation — colonial scrip. Scrip is fine for domestic trade, and specie or other commodities can be used for international trade. Competition between different money systems keeps people honest, and elimination of fractional reserve banking and fraudulent “deposit insurance” keeps banks honest.

Relentlessly seeking another hit of debt will not cure our unsustainable addiction. The poison is not the cure.

It’s time to look around and reassess our national priorities. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Constitution, Green, Unaffiliated, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Straight, Gay… none of these labels matter. We are all on the same boat. When the boat hits the iceberg, we all sink or swim together.

It’s time to get off the treadmill of a collapsing debt-based currency and empower local economic growth through an honest, Constitutional money system that will strengthen communities by empowering local producers of real goods and services.

Here’s the bottom line: we may or may not be able to prevent a a misguided bailout. Ultimately, however, self-sufficient communities are the only lasting antidote to the current crisis. There is one thing that Congress could do to provide a safety net that would empower individuals to build self-sufficient communities:

Congress must unambiguously affirm that all voluntary barter transactions between individuals are tax-free.

What do I mean by “barter transactions”? They may be transactions exchanging time for time, time for goods, goods for goods, time for dollars or private barter currencies (paper or specie), or goods for dollars or private barter currencies. The key point is that human individuals (not corporations or other creatures of the legal system) need to be free to create wealth in their communities.

Again, If the banks get bailed out, the people need to be bailed out. People must again have the ability to serve each other as individuals to recreate the wealth that is being destroyed all around us.

It’s time to focus on hometown security, instead of homeland security.

Our campaign is flourishing across a broad base of people, all of whom share the desire for good government. Advancing a federal government that lives within its means and respects its Constitutional limitations is not a partisan message, nor a message that discriminates.

It’s been reported that our campaign has attracted the attention of some bloggers associated with fringe hate groups. Let me make this perfectly clear: there is no room in our campaign, or our message, for hatred or bigotry.

The essence of our Constitutional republic is government that protects the rights and liberties of the ultimate minority, the individual. Furthermore, our country’s challenges transcend gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. We’re all on the same boat. To live up to our nation’s promise for our children, it’s imperative that we work together.

As we celebrate Independence Day, it’s a great time to reflect on how dependent we’ve become on a federal government that knows and respects no boundaries. The statistics are stunning, and best shown by the simple chart to the right. The red bars show government spending growing 4 times faster than the economy, from 12% prior to the New Deal, to 43% today. The blue bars show non-government, private spending declining over that same time period from 88% down to 57% today.

The vast majority of Americans are concerned about our nation’s direction. What is astonishing, however, is that after 80 years of growing government to our nation’s detriment, many Americans are still looking for the government to “help”. If we’re not pleased with government “assistance” at this point, how can we justify giving additional money and power to government that increasingly serves itself as opposed to the people?

Self-serving government exists at every level: federal, state, and local. At the federal level, the Congressional pension program will provide a lifetime of benefits to David Price when he leaves Congress. I can’t think of a single competitive industry that still offers a pension program — how can our government justify such an insult to the American worker?

At the local level, the Chapel Hill Town Council recently stirred up controversy by voting to provide healthcare benefits for outgoing members. Imagine that — serve two terms on the Town Council, get free healthcare coverage until you are eligible for Medicare. A groundswell of criticism caused the council to immediately rescind its vote, although it’s interesting to note that Orange County and Durham County already offer this benefit. (Note to legislators: it appears much more difficult to pass self-serving benefits during periods of economic difficulty. During boom times, folks don’t tend to pay as much attention to government largess.)

One of the most concerning aspects of government growth is government’s tendency to crowd out community-based initiatives. At one point, private organizations and communities of faith were the backbone for community safety nets. Recent studies suggest that in our era of big government, church attendance and involvement suffers.

Even more concerning, over the past eight years the Bush administration has worked to make churches and charities dependent on the federal government — witness the creation of our White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. Featuring an amazing array of reports, newsletters, and conferences, the OFBCI celebrates high-profile opportunities to spend taxpayer dollars:

White House Gulf Coast Conference Explores Role of Nonprofits in Disaster Response and Preparedness

NEW ORLEANS, LA – On May 29, 2008, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) kicked off a two-day Gulf Coast Conference on Disaster Relief and Preparedness, exploring ways to strengthen disaster recovery efforts through expanded partnerships with America’s nonprofit sector. As part of National Hurricane Preparedness Week, the conference also emphasized the critical and increasing role of faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs), and their armies of volunteers, in response and rebuilding plans for future disasters.

President Bush to Spotlight Success of Faith-Based and Community Initiative at National Conference

On June 26, President George W. Bush delivered remarks at the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) “Innovations in Effective Compassion National Conference” in Washington, D.C.

Joined by members of the President’s Cabinet, OFBCI Director Jay Hein and more than 1,000 public- and private-sector leaders, the Conference will explore and expand the ways the Faith-Based and Community Initiative is transforming government’s approach to human need, in partnership with faith-based and community organizations, to solve problems from addiction and homelessness to malaria and HIV/AIDS.

How much does it cost to “spotlight success” with more than 1,000 public- and private-sector leaders? Are these events essential for organizations’ charitable missions, and would they successfully attract funding if they were not funded by the taxpayer?

Here’s an alternative hypothesis: if we allow Americans to keep more of their own earnings, and reduce the federal government’s size and spending, there will be more resources available for community-based initiatives funded locally by accountable organizations. For example, most religious traditions embrace the concept of tithing, or regular charitable giving:

31 If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the LORD. Leviticus 27:31-32

Is there more or less money available for local initiatives if the government takes 40-50% of our community’s income? Furthermore, when the government’s own policies result in the gradual erosion of our currency’s purchasing power, are people concerned with their ability to buy food and gas more or less motivated towards charitable giving?

I believe the federal government has overstepped its Constitutional boundaries with its foray into funding “faith based and community initiatives.” To the extent that churches and other civic organizations start receiving funds from the federal government, they cannot help but serve their new master: government, instead of the community.

Unfortunately, Sen. Barack Obama highlighted his desire to expand President Bush’s flawed initiaitive just last week:

With an eye toward courting evangelical voters, Senator Barack Obama arrived here on Tuesday to present a plan to expand on President Bush’s program of investing federal money in religious-based initiatives that are intended to fight poverty and perform community aid work.

“Now, I know there are some who bristle at the notion that faith has a place in the public square,” Mr. Obama intends to say. “But the fact is, leaders in both parties have recognized the value of a partnership between the White House and faith-based groups.”

He thus embraced the heart of a program, established early in the Bush administration, that critics say blurs the constitutional separation of church and state. Mr. Obama made clear, however, that he would work to ensure that charitable groups receiving government funds be carefully monitored to prevent them from using the money to proselytize and to prevent any religion-based discrimination against potential recipients or employees.

That last sentence is particularly interesting, and illustrates the dangers of spiritual organizations dependent on the government. “Carefully monitored” churches are traditionally associated with oppressive totalitarian regimes as opposed to a constitutional republic.

As we close out the National Day of Prayer, I was reflecting on the excellent experience my oldest daughter and I had this past Sunday joining folks at Abundant Life Church in Hillsborough for their Faith in Action Day. The motto for Faith in Action Day is simple: “Don’t just go to church, BE the church.”

We met ALC’s youth pastor, Ray McKinnon, while tabling at the Last Friday Celebration in downtown Hillsborough. We had a great conversation, and quickly found common ground around the need for a federal government that follows our Constitution. While Ray was staffing the Hillary Clinton table, many of the folks in his church are Republican — so he was kind enough to provide a steady flow of interested voters who are extremely interested in an alternative to the David Price and the status quo.

At the close of the evening, he invited us to join their church Sunday morning, when they were taking a break from the usual service and going out in the community to engage in a variety of service projects. That’s how Katie and I found ourselves in Hillsborough Heights, working with an enthusiastic group to rehabilitate a neighborhood park. Everyone brought their A-game that morning — David Bailey of Bailey’s Landscaping was among those directing the troops and equipment, and there were well organized piles of lumber, mulch, and tools for building play areas, flower beds, and a fence:

We spent a couple good hours digging post holes for the fence. Or rather, a machine bored the holes, and we simply scooped out the dirt. Needless to say, that was much more enjoyable than my prior experiences with post hole diggers. Then came the more detailed task of setting and aligning the fence posts:

Besides being a great way to improve the community, it was also an excellent opportunity to meet people and engage in meaningful conversations. The folks in this church come from various backgrounds, and have a variety of political views. But the common ground provided by putting faith in action through service is a great foundation for civic and spiritual dialog.

Sunday was a gentle reminder of our ability to seek and do God’s will, and how we can meaningfully improve our community in the process.

Best of all, no federal funding required!

Regular readers and fellow patriots know that one of the most important things we can do in pursuit of a better future is to reach out and make a difference in our own communities. Highlighting efforts such as Durham Nativity School and Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate has been one of the true pleasures of this campaign.

This morning I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with Howard Manning, Jill Wissing, and numerous enthusiastic volunteers with Christian Community in Action (CCA). CCA turns forty this year, and since its founding in 1968, it has been an essential part of the social safety net for area residents. Like Durham Nativity School and Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate, CCA accomplishes its mission without any assistance from Washington. That wasn’t always the case, however. In speaking with one long-time volunteer, he noted that right after the organization’s founding, CCA did pursue and obtain some federal funding. The strings attached to the money proved so burdensome that they eventually decided that it wasn’t worth the trouble.

Today, CCA provides a local crisis ministry that includes financial support, emergency food, clothing for school or work, and loans of used medical equipment. In 2007, they served 4,355 people and are expected to increase that number again this year with a benevolence budget of around $250,000. In the tradition of “social entrepreneurship”, much of their enterprise is self-funded. CCA operates the Dorcas Thrift Shop, which takes donations from the community and provides gently-used, quality goods at low prices. Revenue from Dorcas provides 85% of CCA’s operating budget, with the remaining 15% raised from private sources.

I had the privilege of a guided tour by Howard Manning, CCA’s Executive Director. Howard joined CCA after a career in the pharmaceutical industry, and his collaborative leadership style and commitment to excellence are reflected in the over 250 enthusiastic volunteers who are the heart and soul of the operation. The Thrift Shop’s “supply chain” was in full swing during our tour this morning — a well-choreographed group of volunteers were sorting clothes, cleaning toys, labeling merchandise, testing electronics, and even polishing shoes.

Dorcas is also diligent at extracting as much value from its donations as possible. For example, since many donated items are collectibles, they began identifying items of greater value and making those available to a broader online audience through EBay and Craigslist. They also recycle aggressively to prevent donations from entering into the waste stream — even clothes that don’t make the cut for resale on the floor are purchased for $.05 per pound and shipped to developing nations by another organization. All told, the Thrift Shop was a model of retail efficiency — and the packed parking lot is a testament to its value in the community.

After my tour with Howard, I sat with Jill Wissing who runs the Crisis Ministry. She and her team of trained counselors are on the other side of our current economic challenges, and provide a variety of short-term assistance to those who have fallen on hard times. Jill has been with CCA for five years, and over that time has seen our economic and social challenges reflected in her daily work.

For Jill’s “patients”, the most common “chief complaint” is underemployment and unemployment. While years ago most people seeking help had extenuating circumstances such as addictions or other social problems, today she is increasingly confronted by people who just cannot make ends meet. Perhaps it’s unexpected medical expenses, layoffs, work hour reductions, or loss of a spouse — in some cases, she’s even seeing people from upper or middle management positions who have been abruptly laid off and who are viewed as overqualified for other lines of work.

By Jill’s estimates, 30-40% of people seeking help are currently unemployed, while 60-70% are working but underemployed or facing other problems. While CCA often cannot fix the underlying problems, it is a valuable part of the safety net that helps people get back on their feet. Food and financial assistance is limited both in duration and in amount, and they also provide links to other organizations that can help address longer-term needs and identify employment opportunities. Importantly, they also provide childcare assistance — sometimes the cost of child care is the one thing that prevents an otherwise willing person from obtaining employment.

If you are interested in helping Christian Community in Action, visiting their Web site is a great place to start. Howard and his Board are leading a vision for CCA that will include a larger facility and sharing space with other area nonprofits to address even more needs for area residents. While there are many challenges we face as Americans, there is also great reason for hope — our traditional American willingness to give of ourselves and help our neighbors is a cause for optimism and celebration.

Best of all, we can help each other and make our community a better place without waiting for permission or funding from our federal government.

Our legislators in Washington spend a lot of time and taxpayer money talking about the great things our federal government does for us. This recent release from Rep. David Price’s Web site illustrates how he was able to bring $14.5 million “back” to our District to fund a variety of projects, for a variety of purposes.

Some of these projects are appropriately the role of government. The problem is that none of these projects are the role of the federal government. Why must we always go begging in Washington to get some of our money back for projects that should be funded by our state and local governments?

Can we survive without begging a bankrupt federal government for help? Can the people of North Carolina, and the 4th District, really take care of themselves, and each other, while making our community a better place?

The more people I meet in my congressional campaign, the more convinced I am that we are capable of making the world, and our community, a much better place. I’ve written previously about the fantastic work being done at Durham Nativity School. More recently, I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with Graig Meyer, a local educational activist in Chapel Hill who founded and runs the Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate Program.

BRMA demonstrates the best aspects of public/private partnership, and today is successfully bringing out the best in our next generation. Graig started BRMA in 1995, and it is specifically focused on closing the “achievement gap” for disadvantaged students in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro school system.

It operates on a “strength based” framework, where the mentor recognizes that while challenges exist in the student’s life and environment, the best foundation for improvement is identifying and cultivating areas where the student has strengths and natural abilities. In other words, “What’s the hook?” that allows that student to grab on, discover him or herself, and start exploring the world from a true position of strength.

Another key attribute of BRMA is that they identify students who seek out adult attention, and family situations where the parent is eager to participate in the process. In that fertile environment, a mentor can gradually change the sense of what’s possible and literally give a child an entirely new life.

The duration of the mentoring relationship is the single most important predictor of success. Recognizing that fact, BRMA mentors commit for at least two years, for two hours per week. Also, BRMA provides twelve hours of training to ensure mentors are ready to benefit themselves, and the student, as much as possible in a truly mutual-growth process.

So how well does it work? Well, the numbers are startling: 100% of BRMA’s students have graduated and gone on to post-secondary education. Sixty percent of BRMA students have the same mentor from fourth grade (when the program begins) until high school graduation. That’s a great example of a program that just flat-out works.

So how much federal money is required for BRMA? None. It receives no federal funding or grants. Two-thirds of its operating expenses are paid for by the school district, and private funds are raised every year for a variety of summer and after-school events, as well as college scholarships. Right now, 91 students in grades 4-12 enjoy a mentoring relationship, and 80 high school students are participating in a separate Youth Leadership Institute organized by BRMA.

Graig Meyer is a fantastic example of a committed individual whose focused and disciplined leadership has organized other committed individuals to help provide new opportunities for an entire population of children. BRMA’s success is rewarded by a vibrant and growing program, and in the tradition of “social entrepreneurship”, we need to celebrate and recognize this success so it continues to grow.

Right now, BRMA is recruiting mentors for the upcoming year, and hopes to identify another 20 volunteers this spring. If you are a graduate student, young professional, empty-nester, or retiree in Orange County who wants to help a child build a foundation for the future, please visit the BRMA Web site to sign up and learn more.

We all face challenges, and problems, in life. Many of today’s children face tremendous problems that need focused, caring attention. I think Graig put it best when he said, “We want to give children the strengths and the skills to walk away from their problems.”

This morning I had the pleasure of visiting a retired Duke general surgeon, Dr. Joseph Moylan. Dr. Moylan was a highly respected attending when I was in residency at Duke, and I hadn’t seen him for years when we recognized each other at a local coffee shop last month. After reintroducing ourselves, Dr. Moylan shared his new “job” since retirement: founder and president of Durham Nativity School.

I’ve had a long fascination with education. My wife taught fourth grade in Durham while I was in medical training, and four of her five years were at E.K. Powe Elementary on Ninth Street. Powe had a diverse student population with lots of social challenges, and every year we agonized over the difficulty of reaching children whose home situations included hunger, homelessness, physical and substance abuse, absent parents, and a general apathy towards education and basic social skills.

The limitations in public education are such that my wife’s optimism as a first-time teacher gradually gave way to pragmatic realism, and at some point we realized that her eight hours per day the classroom (plus the typical assortment of before- and after-school care) was not enough to raise a child successfully in the absence of engaged and concerned parent(s). While some still believe we can “outsource” social problems to governmental institutions, the harsh reality is that government has never proven to be an effective parent.

The model at Durham Nativity School is different, and worth celebrating. From the moment Dr. Moylan walked me around the halls, things immediately stood out. All the boys were neatly attired in shirts and ties, with real knots. I wasn’t tying a tie in the sixth grade, so these young men were already ahead of me. He introduced me to two of the students, and each reached out his hand, looked me straight in the eye, gave me a firm handshake, and said, “Welcome to Durham Nativity School. My name is …”.

At that point, I was floored. My wife and I have noticed how rare it is for children and young adults to look us in the eye nowadays, and the message of insecurity and duplicity communicated by those who refuse to make eye contact is a sad commentary on self-image and self-confidence.

Then I watched them change classes. The bell rang, and instead of a mad scramble between classrooms and lockers, there was an orderly movement of young men culminating in each class lining up outside its respective door for the next class. The teacher then appeared at the door, also dressed in business attire, and each student received a handshake and a greeting while entering the classroom. Dr. Moylan then shared with me that the Headmaster greets each child at the main door upon arriving in the morning with — you guessed it — a handshake, welcome, and shared commitment to do one’s best during the course of the day.

We then sat down in Dr. Moylan’s office so I could ask some tough questions about how this place really worked. The office wasn’t much — no Herman Miller Aeron chairs, just furniture that reminded me of my startup days when we furnished our office with used dorm furniture from the Duke surplus store. Clearly, chairs and desks for the President are less important than the educational mission. That’s a good sign.

Dr. Moylan shared some lessons learned, and perspectives on the curriculum, that reflect seven years of iterative improvement on an established model. There are over 40 Nativity Schools in the country, and all of them focus on identifying and serving children who would otherwise fall through the cracks of the public educational system. Admission criteria include academic potential (even if the student is currently “underperforming”), as well as financial hardship. Graduating fifth-grade applicants are then taken through a orientation/screening program starting in February and lasting through the summer, when the new sixth-grade class is identified.

After seven years, their record is remarkable. They take incoming sixth graders functioning at a 4-5 grade level, and graduate eighth graders functioning at a 9.5-10.5 grade level. Their graduates earn scholarships at private high schools such as Cary Academy, Durham Academy, Ravenscroft, or even boarding schools like the Asheville School. While transitioning from an underprivileged background into competitive and often wealthy private schools has its own challenges, the challenges of upward mobility for both students and parents were deemed preferable to the social challenges of public high school.

While they initially experienced more attrition than other Nativity Schools, with classes of 15 dropping to 10 at graduation, they objectively studied their performance and identified the home situation as the root cause of most attrition. As a result, their program now includes a dedicated social worker who works not in the school, but in the homes with the parents. They’ve also discovered the value of engaging the parents directly in the school through volunteer activities and mentoring opportunities.

The final critical variable is their curriculum. It’s an extended day program, from 8am to 6pm with a heavy focus on language arts, mathematics, and faith-based, character building activities. Students spend one-half day per week performing community service, and learn that no matter how challenging their situation, there are those who are even less fortunate. Mentors and volunteers from the community also play a critical role, and on average 40 volunteers give one hour to the school every week.

Not only are the days long, but the curriculum is year-round, as well. Camp experiences and field trips during the summer take the students out of often hazardous neighborhoods during peak times of gang activity. A recent trip took them to Washington D.C., where they had the chance to meet Colin Powell:

So how much does all this goodness cost Durham and North Carolina taxpayers? Nothing. How about American taxpayers? Nothing. Durham Nativity School receives no federal or state funding. The students receive a $66,000 education over three years, and a chance at a radically different future, thanks to the devotion and generosity of highly-motivated staff and private donors. To whom much is given, much is expected, and the motto for Durham Nativity School says it all: “Educating tomorrow’s community leaders.”

Durham Nativity School accepts 15 students per year. Last year, they only had 38 applicants for these 15 positions. If you know of an at-risk young man who would benefit from this unique opportunity, he has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, from applying. The application process for next year has already started, so interested students, parents, and guardians should contact the school as soon as possible.

Finally, if you’re looking to make a charitable or time contribution that will be highly leveraged for maximum impact, I strongly recommend Durham Nativity School. Isn’t it great that the government does not have a complete monopoly on education?