Last week we made a series of
postings on the Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice, creatively
titled Distributism
and Ronald Reagan I, Distributism
and Ronald Reagan II, and Distributism
and Ronald Reagan III. Today we
conclude the series with (what else?) “Distributism and Ronald Reagan, IV.” Making it easy for us, the conclusion of
Reagan’s speech sums up things nicely:
“I’ve long believed one of the mainsprings of
our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people
and the expectation that anyone’s child, even from the humblest of families,
could grow up to own a business or corporation.
 |
| Abraham Lincoln |
“Thomas Jefferson dreamed of
a land of small farmers, of shop owners and merchants. Abraham Lincoln signed
into law the “Homestead Act” that ensured that the great western prairies of
America would be the realm of independent, property-owning citizens-a mightier
guarantee of freedom is difficult to imagine.
“I know we have with us today
employee-owners from La Perla Plantation in Guatemala. They have a stake in the
place where they work and a stake in the freedom of their country. When
Communist guerrillas came, these proud owners protected what belonged to them.
They drove the Communists off their land and I know you join me in saluting
their courage.
“In this century, the United
States has evolved into a great industrial power. Even though they are now, by
and large, employees, our working people still benefit from property ownership.
Most of our citizens own the homes in which they reside. In the marketplace,
they benefit from direct and indirect business ownership. There are currently
close to 10 million self-employed workers in the U.S.-nearly 9 percent of total
civilian employment. And, millions more hope to own a business some day.
Furthermore, over 47 million individuals reap the rewards of free enterprise
through stock ownership in the vast number of companies listed on U. S. stock
exchanges.
“I can’t help but believe
that in the future we will see in the United States and throughout the western
world an increasing trend toward the next logical step, employee ownership. It
is a path that befits a free people.
 |
| Walter Reuther |
“Walter Reuther was one of
the first major labor leaders to advocate that management and labor shift away
from battling over wage and benefit levels to a cooperative effort aimed at
sharing in the ownership of the new wealth being produced. He was looking far
beyond the next contract. There is a story that Reuther was touring a highly
automated Ford Assembly Plant when someone said, Walter, you’re going to have a
hard time collecting union dues from all these machines. Reuther simply shot
back, not as hard a time as you’re going to have selling them cars.
“Reuther was killed in a
tragic place accident in 1970, so he did not live to see passage of legislation
sponsored by Senator Russell Long of Louisiana that provides incentives for
Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or ESOP’s.
“In recent years, we have
witnessed medium-sized and even some large corporations being purchased, in
part or in whole, by their employees. Weirton Steel in West Virginia, Lowe’s
Companies in North Carolina, The Milwaukee Journal, Lincoln Electric Company of
Cleveland, Ohio, and many others are now manned by employees who are also
owners.
“The energy and vitality
unleashed by this kind of People’s Capitalism-free and open markets, robust
competition, and broad-based ownership of the means of production- can serve
this nation well. It can also be a boon, if given a chance, to the people of the
developing world. Nowhere is the potential for this greater than in Central
America.
 |
| Russell Long (left), President Reagan (right) |
“Ambassador Middendorf, I am
looking forward to examining thoroughly the recommendations in this report,
especially those that deal with debt equity swaps as a method of reducing the
debt burden in Central America. Members of my staff described for me the
overwhelmingly positive response your Task Force received when it floated this
idea during a visit to Central America. That debt payments can be reduced,
state-owned businesses privatized and made more efficient, and employee
ownership expanded, all as part of a mutually reinforcing plan, is an exciting
idea. I’d like to think of it as the Middendorf plan for growth and justice. I
hope all of you on the commission will continue to work with me to see that
this proposal and the other innovative ideas put forth in the Task Force’s
report don’t get lost or ignored as so many good ideas do.
“Privatization is part of our
current Economic Bill of Rights reform effort. If privatizing government
operations is valuable for the United States, with our powerful economy, how
much more valuable will it be for developing economies to be freed from such
burdens.
 |
| Russell Long (left), Norman Kurland (right) |
“I am instructing the
appropriate officials in our administration to take a close look at all of the
Task Force’s recommendations and to move on those that can be put into
practice. This effort builds nicely on the foundation laid by the Kissinger
Commission, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the Agency for International
Development, and the Secretary of the Treasury. I would hope that a dialogue
with our friends in the Region commences quickly as to how this report can be
turned into economy-building action.
“On July 3rd, I announced our
Economic Bill of Rights Reform Package from the steps of the Jefferson
Memorial. Well, the Founding Fathers, Jefferson in particular, did not see
economic and political freedom as the right only of the citizens of the United
States, but the right of all people, everywhere and for all time.
“Today the free people of the
United States and Central America face a great challenge. I have every
confidence that together we will meet the test, and that freedom will not only
survive but triumph. The work of this Task Force should help bring about that
triumph. Thank you for all you are doing.
“God bless you.”
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