Profits for Justice (Page 7)

American progressives have long preferred nonprofits over for-profits. Yet why should we lionize all nonprofits, even those with poor labor practices, bureaucratic excess and undemocratic power structures? And why should we view all business as the enemy, whether big or small, global or local, dirty or green, exploitative or responsible? These attitudes are self-destructive. They unnecessarily distance us from millions of otherwise simpatico entrepreneurs. We should remember the potential virtues of many businesses--the positive contributions their goods and services can make to people's lives, the living-wage jobs they can supply, the leverage they can provide for women, people of color and other long-disadvantaged members of our society.

If foundations and donors did not exist and professional panhandling were outlawed, we would be forced to turn to creating and running new enterprises, and our movement would be considerably healthier than it is today. Progressives have become the classic 20-something kid still living at home, expecting an allowance from the deep-pocket parents for a few basic chores, while agreeing, as a condition for the chump change, to obey someone else's rules on social change. It's time to grow up, move on and strike out on our own.

Here's a challenge to fellow activists (one we take seriously ourselves): Let's try to wean ourselves from the charity habit, say by 3 percent per year. Think about just one piece of your agenda that could be framed as a revenue generator, dream about it a little, develop a business plan, and give it a try. If you lack the skills, skip your next fundraising class and instead attend one of thousands of entrepreneurship programs around the country. Or hire someone who might start the entrepreneurial subsidiary of your nonprofit.

Gandhi understood that the key to freeing India was to transform his fellow citizens into economically productive agents by spinning their own cloth and taking their own salt from the sea. Martin Luther King Jr. implored African-Americans to form their own credit unions and community development corporations. The secret to being as radical as we want to be--and as radical we need to be--is to finance the revolution ourselves.

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