Lessons from 35 Years of Working for Positive Change
The Center for Rural Affairs is committed to making a difference. Making a statement is not enough. Working positively with other organizations and elected officials is almost always the best approach to changing policy. But there are some instances when we must hold others accountable by speaking hard truths to the public.
I learned about working with those with different views in 1979 on my first trip to Washington. I went seeking support to repeal an investment tax incentive that placed small hog producers at a disadvantage in competing with big producers and investors. I met with a seasoned congressional agriculture aide by the name of Owen Donley, expecting him to help.
Instead he told me, “You need to get the National Pork Producers Association on your side.” I was disappointed in him because that was the organization that had lobbied for the tax break. But he was right, and eventually I took his advice.
So instead of criticizing the Pork Producers Association, we met individually with its state and local leaders across several hog states, discussing our concerns and listening. After several years they came to our side, and the tax incentive was repealed. It provided a lesson on what we could accomplish by working with people.
But we’ve also learned there comes a time to tell hard truths. In the recent farm bill, some who promised to fight for family farms by supporting payment limitations did the opposite. The conventional wisdom was that there was more political cost to taking on the big farms than abandoning ordinary rural people on this fundamental issue. We needed to demonstrate the opposite. So we took to the airwaves and editorial pages, sharply criticizing members of Congress and organizations by name.
That ran against the grain in Washington, where most cultivate powerful friends to do their bidding and rarely anger them. But we cannot play that game and be true to our mission of creating a better future in rural America. For democracy to work for the common good, we must sometimes speak truths that the powerful prefer untold.
There are also instances when we must settle for making a statement in support of an unpopular position, in hopes of someday winning enough support to make a difference. When many favored eliminating estate taxes, we spoke out for keeping them. In the long run, estate taxes protect opportunity for family farmers and small business by preventing wealth from concentrating in a few hands.
We knew we would not win the immediate debate, but democracy requires lonely voices of dissent that challenge conventional wisdom and eventually change it.
We will never be satisfied to just pronounce our opinion and criticize those who differ. That can become a self-centered exercise that accomplishes nothing. But we must speak hard truths when they are needed to make democracy work and, most important and most often, we must engage constructively with others to solve problems and create a better future.
Agree or disagree? Send your comments to Chuck Hassebrook, chuckh@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1018.
I learned about working with those with different views in 1979 on my first trip to Washington. I went seeking support to repeal an investment tax incentive that placed small hog producers at a disadvantage in competing with big producers and investors. I met with a seasoned congressional agriculture aide by the name of Owen Donley, expecting him to help.
Instead he told me, “You need to get the National Pork Producers Association on your side.” I was disappointed in him because that was the organization that had lobbied for the tax break. But he was right, and eventually I took his advice.
So instead of criticizing the Pork Producers Association, we met individually with its state and local leaders across several hog states, discussing our concerns and listening. After several years they came to our side, and the tax incentive was repealed. It provided a lesson on what we could accomplish by working with people.
But we’ve also learned there comes a time to tell hard truths. In the recent farm bill, some who promised to fight for family farms by supporting payment limitations did the opposite. The conventional wisdom was that there was more political cost to taking on the big farms than abandoning ordinary rural people on this fundamental issue. We needed to demonstrate the opposite. So we took to the airwaves and editorial pages, sharply criticizing members of Congress and organizations by name.
That ran against the grain in Washington, where most cultivate powerful friends to do their bidding and rarely anger them. But we cannot play that game and be true to our mission of creating a better future in rural America. For democracy to work for the common good, we must sometimes speak truths that the powerful prefer untold.
There are also instances when we must settle for making a statement in support of an unpopular position, in hopes of someday winning enough support to make a difference. When many favored eliminating estate taxes, we spoke out for keeping them. In the long run, estate taxes protect opportunity for family farmers and small business by preventing wealth from concentrating in a few hands.
We knew we would not win the immediate debate, but democracy requires lonely voices of dissent that challenge conventional wisdom and eventually change it.
We will never be satisfied to just pronounce our opinion and criticize those who differ. That can become a self-centered exercise that accomplishes nothing. But we must speak hard truths when they are needed to make democracy work and, most important and most often, we must engage constructively with others to solve problems and create a better future.
Agree or disagree? Send your comments to Chuck Hassebrook, chuckh@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1018.
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