As we head to this Saturday’s national celebration, this week’s posts put credit unions’ role in the context of the country’s ongoing pursuit of “life, liberty and happiness.”
The country’s fulfillment of its ideals has not been a straight line for either individuals or our collective accomplishments. Independence and interdependence in our common life often seem at cross purpose.
Credit unions operate in an economy dominated by capitalist ownership and the incessant drive for financial success, individually and corporately. The cooperative way is a decision we must actively choose for ourselves.
As one commentator observed: It is almost impossible to turn away from what seems like the only game in town (political, economic, or religious), unless we have glimpsed a more attractive alternative. It’s hard to imagine it, much less imitate it, unless we see someone else do it first.
Cooperatives are designed to meet individual needs with collectively managed resources in a democratic structure. Theory and practice unfortunately do do not always align in specific cases. As in the country at large, credit unions must constantly strive to achieve their goal of enhancing members’ economic freedom.
Doing the Right Thing and Me-First Ambitions
Credit unions’ ongoing challenge to be an alternative to the dominant ethos is not new. It is a struggle for individuals in all generations as described in this story-poem.
Grandma Shorba’s Ragamuffin Stew
During World War II, Grandma Shorba
handed plates of bread and meat to strangers
who asked for work in exchange for food.
After chopping wood and mending fences,
the lean, stoop-shouldered men went on their way.
“May God watch over them,” Grandma said.
I was glad I didn’t have to follow them
down the long train tracks silvering west.
I didn’t want to sleep beside a strange campfire
around the bend, in the next world.
But I worried how they’d survive, and asked
my parents if they could live with us.
My begging only made everyone nervous.
Maybe Grandma’s stories of The Good Samaritan
and the Loaves and Fishes weren’t true?
If I’d been in charge, I’d have asked those men to stay—
but Gramma, who trusted God,
fed them, then sent them on their way.
The Eternal Striving for an Unclouded Day
We all have a dream in which life’s contradictions are resolved. A home where we don’t have to face all the ambivalent choices of life This dream of perfection. of “a city on a hill” motivated America’s founders. Credit unions are one example of searching for this “home where no storm clouds roam.”
Credit unions are a uniquely American accomplishment. In just over 100 years an alternative, member-owned financial choice is thriving in a system dominated by privately owned, profit making institutions. And in doing so they constantly strive to bring “unclouded days” for members.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE3nN6IvlGA)