SwampFox

Open letter from John Warner regarding the upcoming election: The drivers of economic prosperity are not politicians in Columbia

Submitted by: John Warner on Oct 24, 2010 at 9:59 am Tagged with: Innovation Source: Swamp Fox

I'm politically homeless in a broken society. We need a fresh political wind. I am not inspired by anyone in either party at any level of government. Politically the wheels have come completely off the bus.

This is a reflection of the transformative times we are living in. Our state and country have survived highly contentious and anxious times of transition like this before. US Senator Benjamin Ryan Tillman, the man most responsible for the current South Carolina Constitution, in 1900 said from the floor of the Senate:

It was generally believed that nothing but bloodshed and a good deal of it could answer the purpose of redeeming the state from negro rule and carpetbag rule." [Referring to the Hamburg Massacre in Edgefield County, South Carolina, in 1876], "the purpose of our visit was to strike terror, and the next morning when the negroes who had fled to the swamp returned to the town the ghastly sight which met their gaze of seven dead negroes lying stark and stiff certainly had its effect ... The state of South Carolina has disenfranchised all of the colored race that it could under the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. We have done our level best, we have scratched our heads to find out how we could eliminate the last one of them, and we would have done it if we could, we took the government away. We stuffed ballot boxes. We shot them. We are not ashamed of it.

As toxic as South Carolina politics are today, we don't have roving bands of vigilantes reigning physical terror in the state. We do live though with a state government fragmented by people like Benjamin Ryan Tillman who feared rule by blacks. (If you stand on Main Street in Columbia facing the Confederate Monument and the State House, look to the right and you will see a statue to Tillman, one of the most insipid racists in American history. The most prominent structure on the Clemson University campus is Tillman Hall.) Much of the dysfunction in state government we live with today is a legacy of the sins of our past.

Today we are at an incredibly important inflection point. It is past time that we move South Carolina into the 21st century. Regardless of who is ultimately elected Governor, we need a consensus around a new economic strategy for South Carolina based on Education = Prosperity.

Dr. Peter Beattie, former premier of Queesnland Austrailia, recently gave a very compelling presentation at CU-ICAR on the "Smart State" strategy that drove Queensland from "rocks, crops and tourism" to economic prosperity over the past 15 years. It is clear investments in research and education, and robust connections to industry, are required to succeed economically in the 21st century global economy. Because the Chinese are their neighbors, Australians pay close attention to them. Dr. Beattie said while the Chinese system leaves much to be desired in terms of individual freedom, they can more easily reach a consensus to make massive investments in new knowledge and technology like clean energy, and they are. Thomas Friedman frequently comments on this too in his New York Times editorials and books. We either recommit ourselves as a state and a country to lead the world in knowledge and technology, or we need to teach out children and grandchildren Mandarin so they can talk to their bosses. There are several other opportunities to hear Dr. Beattie coming up soon.

I have been vocal about my concerns about the heavy handed moratorium on university construction that not only the Governor voted for, but so did a majority of the Budget and Control board. {We don't want more of this in South Carolina? Really? Are you sure?) The Governor also vetoed, but a majority of the House sustained, funding for the NanoCenter at USC. (The Assault on Education, and Taking Responsibility for Problems as Well as Credit for Successes in our Economy.) Two top leaders of one of the universities contacted me and asked why I was one of the few people in the business community speaking out about this and other recent attacks on higher education in South Carolina. (Is this what Governor Sanford means when he says SC shouldn't invest in higher education like NC?) They told me that while the universities have influence with the legislature, two constituencies who have huge influence on education policy are parents and the business community.

I have been involved in visits to study communities that implemented Smart State type strategies for the past twenty-five years. In every successful community the leadership for a long term strategy for economic prosperity came from the business and the academic communities, because this is a marathon not a sprint and state politicians are by necessity slaves to 2 or 4 year election cycles. One of the most impressive comments anyone has made to me was 87 year old George Kozmetski, architect of the Austin renaissance, who put his hand on my shoulder and told me that if I did not dedicate the rest of my life to the vision of a more prosperous community, I would never see it.

While depressed by the state of the political class, I am incredibly encouraged and inspired by Greenville's growing creative culture across industry, academia and entrepreneurs. Many recent initiatives from TEDxGreenville, to Google on Main, to Technology After Five, to InnoVenture Southeast, to Artisphere, to Open Studios, have been individual champions stepping up to make something they were passionate about happen. And this has become cultural, with the success of one champion inspiring the next one.

After a group of young entrepreneurs got 2,200 people in Falls Park with glow sticks one Saturday night to celebrate Greenville and let Google know We're Felling Lucky, I set up a meeting with Anna Kate Hipp and ladies from the Foothills Garden Club to make sure the young folks knew they painted on the Falls Park canvas that was decades in the making by kindred spirits. My office is at CU-ICAR, so every day I am reminded of how critically important it is for the state to provide the public assets and community standards that make a creative community possible. That requires effective political leadership. It is critically important who we elect.

Regardless of who gets elected, the drivers of economic prosperity are not politicians in Columbia. They are the people who are among the world's best in the industry and academic research labs, and in the high impact entrepreneurial companies, across the state. Politicians must support and nurture them. But we will not be successful in South Carolina until leaders outside the State House and the Governor's Mansion step up to provide the long-term vision and leadership that only we can provide.

John