Sometimes we find examples of Partnership Economics in unexpected places. The next two blogs feature famous books--both of which had popular TV mini-series based on them--that share more than just the same name; they also show the transition from an inequitable economic situation to that of a more just one.
If you're around my age or older, you probably remember the epic mid-1980s TV mini-series, North and South. Those of us who watched it and waited impatiently for each new episode still remember the characters and story based on the famous book trilogy by John Jakes.
On the Southern side, plantation owner's son Orry Main struggles with conflicted feelings over his father's traditional ways and his own desire to bring a new economic vision to the family farm, Mont Royal. On the Northern side, George Hazard battles his brother and sister-in-law for years in order to run the family's iron foundry business in an ethical manner.
George and Orry become best friends during their time at West Point Military Academy, not only because they endure hardships there together, but also because they share the qualities of integrity and honor. George and Orry differ, however, in how early they come to see that their family's version of plantation economics (literally, in Orry's case) is wrong.
Boone Hall, setting for North and South's Mont Royal; © JillLang from Getty Images via Canva
Interestingly, both men expose the faults of the other's system during trips to one another's homes. When Orry visits George in Pennsylvania, he is struck by the appalling living conditions of the Hazard's foundry workers. As he views the miserable shacks that house them, he remarks that they are worse than the quarters in which Mont Royal keeps its slaves. "Well, at least they are free to leave any time they want!" George retorts, to which Orry responds, "A hungry belly is pretty good reason to stay."
Likewise, when George visits Orry in South Carolina, he confronts him about the overseer's brutal whipping of one of his father's slaves. Now on the defensive, Orry lashes out at George. "We are sick and tired of you Yankees coming down here, telling us how to run our lives!" The conflict almost ruins their friendship, especially as the situation escalates to civil war. It is only as the characters become enlightened that they see a way forward toward change and preserving their relationship.
When confronted with the inequities on their side, the first reaction of both men is the same (and a very human one): defensiveness. Very often, we don't want to admit that the way we've been doing things could be wrong. Especially if those ways have been around a while, we tend to defend them reflexively and not thoughtfully.
In George's case, we see a faster progression from a careless view of his workers to genuine concern for their welfare. When a horrible accident occurs at the foundry because of his brother's disregard for safe working conditions, George's righteous anger knows no bounds. He confronts his brother and forces him to pay the dead workers' families $5,000 each, which in today's dollars equates to about $200,000. Though George is not bound by law to do so, he offers this consequential sum as a way to partly make things right. He also orders new equipment that meets needed safety standards, ensuring that another accident will not happen.
Though Orry dismisses Mont Royal's cruel overseer immediately after his father dies, he is slower to understand the injustice and consequences of the plantation lifestyle. Only when he returns home for a short leave from the war does he comprehend that he is entirely mistaken in his view. Upon entrance to the farm, he is passed by numerous slaves leaving. His confusion is apparent as he tries to appeal to one of them by saying, "But Mont Royal is your home," only to be answered with, "No sir, this was never our home."
Orry mistakenly believes that his kinder treatment of the slaves justifies their forced continuation in an inequitable situation. The slave's frank words shock him into a realization of the truth: that by its very nature, the absence of partnership between White and Black was not only devastating for those in slavery, it also eventually set everyone in the South up for suffering and economic failure. "I have been so blind," he later laments to his wife.
We do see a change for the better at Mont Royal as, in the end, two former slaves are given a part of the plantation as their own. This gift is bestowed as a result of these two individuals working side by side with Orry's sister and wife as they do their best to survive the war. This new model of cooperation between former moral enemies exemplifies the transition from plantation to partnership economics, 1860s style. Through this part of the story, John Jakes gives us a worthy example of how a bad economic system can be changed for the better.
Does the system you are currently working in need changing? If you are in a position of authority, consider how those under you are treated. If your answer tends to be defensive or that you are just doing things like everyone else, we suggest that you take time to think about how you can partner with people to make things better for everyone.
In addition, consider asking someone outside your organization to give an honest evaluation. Just as Orry and George were able to see problems that the other could not, so also can an impartial assessment give you a new and valuable perspective. If you are interested in such an evaluation from Better Capitalism, please contact us for a free initial call.
In the next blog, we visit a very different North and South, one that is set in 1850s England. Though the location is an ocean away, one of the underlying themes is the same: inequitable economics. We hope you join us as we look at another example of moving from a plantation to a partnership model!
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