"Back to the Future" Business

February 9, 2012

As candidates line up to file for public office there are two overarching questions each should be required to answer: What is your vision for the future and what is your plan to get us there?

A community leader in Rocky Mount, along I-95 in Eastern Carolina, recently commented that his city was withering and dying, while Wilson, some thirty miles away, seemed to be prospering and growing, and Greenville, about the same distance to the east, was booming. Textiles, tobacco and banking had once made Rocky Mount vibrant and thriving, but are now a distant memory and the city is languishing. "What is our future?" he asked, his voice approaching desperation. "I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold on." His community doesn't have a future vision. In truth, neither does our state.

North Carolina has been beaten up pretty badly by The Great Recession. We've gone from being positive, confident and willing to take on big challenges, to being distrustful, defensive and unable to see beyond today's problems. The mood of the day is anti-government, anti-tax, anti-business and pretty much anti-everything. Few can deny government has not worked effectively, accomplished desired results or even been accountable in too many instances. Nor can we dismiss the reality that a shrinking economy results in shrinking tax revenues that demand a reduction in the size and scope of government. But just as you wouldn't scrap the entire vehicle because the transmission is broken you can't summarily dismantle government when it hasn't been well managed.

Our point is not to defend or promote government but to point out that we didn't become the America, the North Carolina, we are because we were anti-anything. We've made our greatest progress when we had a vision, goals to accomplish, dreams for a better future. It's not acceptable to spout platitudes about how government is the problem and once we get government out of the way things will be peachy again. Tell me how that's going to happen?

It is time to stop wallowing in what we don't have, what we can't do, what isn't working and start focusing on where we want to go, what we want to accomplish and how we can get there. The Bible says where there is no vision the people perish. We are perishing.

Our friend in Rocky Mount expresses the concern most citizens have for our state and nation. The time for slick TV ads by candidates and Super Pacs taking up our airways with more jargon and attack ads only points to the fact that this candidate has no vision, no plan. Memo to candidates: You won't get my vote because you are the lesser of evils. I want to vote for someone who sees a better future and can articulate in some detail how we are going to get there. I hope there are enough other concerned citizens in our state who feel the same.

We need to get back into the future business in North Carolina. We challenge anyone who wants to lead us to share their future vision with us.