This week ends with the 250th July 4th national birthday celebration.

It is a moment of community consequence for a country founded on ideals and a vision begun  with the words all men are created. .  .

Our implementation of this founding declaration has been uneven. Even with ever increasing economic prosperity that leads the world.

So this milestone celebration creates ambivalent feelings for many who believe our vision is falling short in critical areas of our national life together.  For example, those whose families came to America from far away and many who believe immigration has been a source of America’s international standing and internal strength.

The Credit Union Parallels

Likewise there are strong parallels in today’s credit union story which spans  less than half the country’s.

The movement was founded on an ideal that cooperatives could be an alternative to the for-profit capitalist motivation which viewed  consumers as profit centers.

Credit unions’ financial success is impressive.  These institutions are now the second largest depository system in the country with  $2.5 trillion in assets and generations of members numbering in the tens of millions.

However, as financial success is achieved, some ask if the system has lived up to its aspirations.

For in America today, as Jim Blaine stated decades ago, “those who have the least or know the least, pay the most for financial services.”

There have been significant contributions by the movement’s founding  mothers and fathers that have given credit unions a legacy to be proud of and a system that can do great things for individual members and  their home communities.

But as in the country’s celebrations, there are concerns that the founding ideals are being lost.  There is increasing evidence that in some credit unions, and as common practice in many, the impact  is to actually widen the gap between those who are well off and those  who live on each pay period’s income.

Reasserting the Things that Make Us Special

To address any ambivalence you may feel  about either our country’s or our movement’s histories, or current challenges, I want to select music that honors our aspirational goals as a nation and as individuals.

When words are sung, their meaning is amplified and transformative.

Visions never die.  They lie dormant until leaders arise to challenge our ambitions, to call us to our higher selves and  to ignite hopes that spark everyone’s individual pursuits–of life, liberty and happiness.

A Credit Union Anthem

Here is an anthem for the credit union movement’s collective purpose: Hard Times Come Again No More.  Written by Stephen Foster in the 1850’s, it addresses the cycles of economic reality and the collective willingness to help each other when these circumstances occur.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fddr0CTflQ)