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The Company We Keep

Dear Reader,
This blog is now an archive. John Abrams (Founder of South Mountain, author of this blog, and a book of the same name) retired on December 31, 2022. All posts published up until this date are preserved below.

For updates on John's next chapter, visit abramsangell.com.

For updates on South Mountain's second act, subscribe to our newsletter using the form below.

News

Two Stories About David McCullough

August 15, 2022 by John Abrams 1 Comment

Photo by Steve Senne of the Associated Press

As you know, David McCullough died last week – an immense loss for the Vineyard and our world. I want to tell two stories about the consummate storyteller himself.

During the last days of January 2000, South Mountain Company’s 25 employees, along with several friends and planning experts, spent two days thinking about the future of the Vineyard. Our goals were several:

  • to sketch the outline of a future we would like to see;
  • to decide what commitments we, as a company, were willing to make to achieve such a future; and
  • to share our findings with the Vineyard community in ways that might inspire similar inquiries, create dialogue, and lead to action.

We called the session “Future Sketch,” and invited a few people from outside the company to broaden our perspectives. We invited David to open the meeting. He agreed and addressed the group early on a Friday morning.

He spoke about the Chagres River, which was the major obstacle to the building of the Panama Canal, but which was eventually used in a simple but ingenious way to become a part of the overall engineering solution. He related this to the “river of money” pouring into the Vineyard which, he said, was “undoing a way of life.” He expressed two ideas that became central to our discussions:

  • We must re-direct the river of money (that causes such harm) to restoration of community; and
  • Our future is a design issue – it should be the result of intent rather than circumstance.

In the same way that he set the tone for the first Islanders Write event in 2014, and those that would follow, David’s presence set the tone for our retreat.

A few years later, when the Island Affordable Housing Fund was leading the first significant effort to address the Vineyard’s affordable housing needs, we invited David to speak at a fundraising party. His assignment: to convince the Vineyard’s seasonal community to embrace an idea that was novel at the time – that they should be responsible for funding affordable housing efforts.

On a clear summer night, the well-heeled crowd gathered on an expansive lawn overlooking the Edgartown harbor. David took the microphone. He spoke again about the Panama Canal and the Chargres River and “The River of Money” and how we must use it to improve, solve, and resolve problems. This is, in part, what he said:

“We’re failing here on Martha’s Vineyard. We’re failing in a more serious way than we know. What we came here for, what we love about the place is eroding before our very eyes. The essence of civilization is continuity, and continuity must exist for everybody.

It ought to become socially unacceptable among people of affluence on this island not to take part in helping to solve these problems. We ought to be saying to everyone, to ourselves, if you want to be here, you want to be a citizen here, you want to own a home here, you want to take part in the community here, open up your wallet and pay your part proportionately.

Because if the people who need to live here, year-round, who do the work, who make it work, can’t live here, it’s all going to collapse. Simple as that. And this isn’t charity. Let’s forget that. This isn’t charity. This is reality. This is being members of a great community. And it’s emblematic of the oldest, simplest truth in the world: if you want to be happy, do everything you can to make other people happy.”

There was a dramatic silence when he finished as people absorbed his message. Then the audience began to clap and cheer. The people who were clapping and cheering had just been admonished by the famous author and biographer. Many of them went on to become strong supporters of affordable housing; some of them still are today, even as the crisis he addressed 20 years ago is more pronounced than ever before.

Those are my McCullough stories. I’m sure many others have their own, which will re-surface as people share their memories of this influential but modest man. He was soft-spoken and un-assuming, but his message was always powerful.

Filed Under: Collaboration, Housing, Leadership, Long Term Thinking, News, Small Business Tagged With: David McCullough, Island Affordable housing Fund

Election Protection For National Resurrection

July 22, 2020 by John Abrams 8 Comments

Photo by Elizabeth Cecil

Disclaimer: This post may not reflect the views of all the 36 employees/22 owners of South Mountain. It is not the formal position of the company; these words are my own.

I’ll keep it short.

In just over three months the 2020 election will sweep across this pandemic-laced land for one fateful day.

But the ballots open even sooner – some states allow early voting as many as 45 days prior. That’s September 19th, just around the corner.

With our country crippled and enraged by the “social arsonist” (as commentator Mike Barnicle calls him) in the White House, we need to assure an absolute full pivot to a new day by convincingly banishing Trump. As former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich says, “we need to beat Trump by such an enormous margin that his entire toxic approach to politics is discredited forever”.

The electoral turning of our political fortunes that began in 2018 must become a tidal wave of support for Democrats – up and down the ballot – to replace Republicans who have fully abdicated their responsibility to govern. We need to maintain Democratic control of the House, achieve Democratic control of the Senate, and make more state legislatures Democratic to overturn the re-districting travesties which have occurred in recent years.

This is a transcendent moment – Black Lives Matter has inspired a worldwide consciousness-raising. Can it be sustained? Maybe, if we can provoke a political tailwind to augment and institutionalize our anti-racist awakening.

Can we overcome the Covid-19 pandemic? Yes, with federal leadership which can only come from a compassionate White House whose occupants believe in science. (As author John Barry says, “When you mix politics and science, you get politics.”)

And can we, once and for all, tackle climate change for real? (Columnist Tom Friedman recently said “And remember, as bad as this pandemic is, it’s just training wheels for the big, irreversible atmospheric pandemic: climate change.) We can, but not without three branches of government all on the same page, or at least the two that we can bring home on November 3rd.

We need to protect the election in two ways: by maximizing the new voters who are registered to vote and getting them out, and by exercising vigilance to guarantee that those who are hell-bent on election disruption and manipulation are not given the chance.

Joe Biden was never the Democratic candidate I hoped for, but I am heartened by the steps he has taken to include diverse views in his campaign. His commitment to choose a woman for vice-president was a good start. Now the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force has developed a strong progressive agenda. His $2 trillion climate change plan is the first significant plan ever by a major party presidential nominee. We can expect that he will surround himself with a cast of characters who could effectively govern in a way that we have become unaccustomed to.

My support for his candidacy has solidified. Those who are raising their voices need him to win and win big. Those who have no voice – or have not yet found it – need him to win and win big. This matters. A Biden presidency and democratic congress will not end structural racism or reverse climate change, but they can help.

But what can we do to aid this effort? Many wonder. I’ve been wondering too. Friends have led me to three organizations that appear to be doing a stellar job working to get out the vote and ensure a fair election: Movement Voter Project, Swing Left, and Adopt-a-State.

I have donated to all three. I encourage you to do the same. Next I will commit time. I encourage you to do the same. In Adopt-a-state I have chosen Arizona, because it’s a swing state that also has an essential tight senate race.

I remember saying, when George W. Bush was running for re-election, “This is the most important election of my lifetime.” I was so wrong. There has never been an electoral moment like this one, with an incumbent president who might lose the election and refuse to surrender power. Let’s never say that again. Let’s summon a landslide. A national resurrection is at stake. The clock ticks. The time is now.

Donate. Work. Vote.

Filed Under: Climate Change, Leadership, News, Politics

Silver Linings

May 26, 2020 by John Abrams 5 Comments

Photo by Timothy Dewitt for the Vineyard Gazette.

Several years ago, I read an article in The New Yorker called “Estonia: The Digital Republic”. It named the small Eastern European country “most digitized government in the world”. In Estonia, government services – like legislation, voting, education, justice, health care, banking, taxes, policing, driver’s licenses and registrations – transact online in a fast, easy, secure, reliable, and effective system available to everyone. I remember thinking at the time, “This wired-up nation is providing a glimpse of what a more rational and inclusive future could look like.”

I was reminded of this last week when Joe Tierney, who runs our local building department, notified us that building permits are now available online. No more driving to town hall hoping to find Joe or his assistant Jeff. No more paper to copy, collate and deliver. One silver lining of our pandemic-hammered newly shuttered socially-distanced society. No way that’s going back to normal when this is all over. Yes, some personal contact will be lost. But more will be gained. Progress never comes without consequences.

We are no longer at the beginning of this pandemic. We are nowhere near the end. With many lives lost, others threatened, and all of ours fundamentally different than they were a few months ago, it might seem too early to be looking for the silver linings.

But it’s never too soon for that.

In many ways, our lives today are more stressful than ever: Widespread illness and death. Massive job losses and economic disruption. Deficient federal leadership (the silver lining here is that Trump is clearly taking himself down and all the way out.) Those who are already poverty-stricken endure even more hardship. The curtailment of freedoms we treasure. The confinement. The constant veil of uncertainty. Walking around in masks like it’s Halloween (you can’t even recognize friends and neighbors in the grocery store aisles).

But in other ways, you could say our new life has picnic-like qualities (although it does seem a bit like a dog came by and swiped all the sandwiches when nobody was looking).

In mid-April, I scribbled a note to myself: “I love the Vineyard roads during these shelter-in-place times. Mostly empty. Like the winter of 1975 – nearly half a century ago – when we would drive from home in Chilmark to Vineyard Haven. Often, we wouldn’t pass a single car during the 20 minute trip. It’s kind of like that now. Instead of staring at the car in front of me, I can watch the road ahead and look left and right as I drive. I appreciate the signs of gratitude for the grocery and hospital workers. The cherry tree in front of Edu-Comp is in full bloom, at one of the busiest intersections on the island, now quiet. As I head up-island, I enjoy the living tree canopies that reach out over the road – for light – and join with their counterparts on the other side.”

Silver linings.

Here at South Mountain, as in so many other companies and households, we spend our time gathering and collaborating on Zoom. We’re getting used to it. And better at it. So much so that the idea of meeting in a room sitting around a table is starting to seem old fashioned, like making a call standing in a phone booth after putting a dime in the slot. You’re right. . . it’s not that good of a replacement, but virtual meeting comfort and competence will surely serve us well, far beyond this pandemic. And when the time comes that it makes sense for certain meetings to be face-to-face, it will be all the sweeter.

Silver linings.

Here are a few witnessed on MV, from the mundane but poetic, to the lifesaving and essential:


• Kim’s puzzle exchange at the end of our road. She and Livey do puzzles. They ran out. She said, “Let’s make a puzzle exchange.” I sketched a crude drawing and got some old lumber from the SMCo yard. Our friend Rob built a sweet little shed. Kim and Livey made signage and instructions for use. When Kim announced it on the “Islanders Talk” Facebook group, 200 people responded with likes and comments. Countless puzzles came and went.

• Civil engineer Chris Alley waking up the morning after his office closed with nothing to do and deciding to walk Barnes Road, every day, bit by bit, picking up trash, including 400 discarded nips bottles in one stretch.

• Parents faced with their childrens’ at-home education discovering new ways to relate to their kids and new respect for the teachers they sometimes criticized. By the way, March of this year was the first month without a U.S. school shooting since March 2002. Eighteen years.

• Breaking free from the traditional political handcuffs caused by six different towns co- existing on one small island. One town wants this, another wants that. Regionalization used to be rejected by parochialism. But now, like never before, the towns are collaborating and acting in concert. Selectpersons, health agents, hospital – all on the same page. One island, one town at last.

• An outpouring of support for essential community institutions – non-profits that serve those most in need and iconic local businesses in trouble.

Silver linings galore.

More than anything, maybe, this time is a rest for the planet – a vivid testimony to the importance of consigning the sacred growth-at-all-cost economy to the dustbin of history. Overcoming the pandemic foreshadows the real work ahead: the long and hard but fully negotiable road to an absolute reckoning with climate change. According to the New York Times, the United States is on track to produce more electricity from renewable power than from coal for the first year on record, a milestone that seemed all but unthinkable a decade ago. Accelerating the transition to renewable energy is the sure path to restoration of the economy (that has been ransacked by the pandemic) and healing the planet (that has been ravaged by our insatiable appetites). Maybe, just maybe, we will look back on this as a hinge point that straightened our crooked path.

We may be developing a new sense that we are truly all in this together – that what I do, affects you, and what you do, affects me. And that each choice made affects the home we share. Columnist David Brooks calls this “a hidden solidarity, which I, at least, did not know was there.”

To assert that there is good news could seem insensitive to our current collective troubles. But there’s a door opening. And if it’s possible to walk through that door and use the good news to inspire transformation, it would be a terrible mistake to overlook it.

Our resilience is remarkable, as is our transcendent ability to create joy in the face of tragedy. The strength of our collective will to work together is tangible and unshakeable. Maybe it leads to renewal.

Yes, every cloud truly does have a silver lining, even this tragic and frightening pandemic cloud. Especially this one.

Filed Under: Climate Change, Economic Crisis, Leadership, Long Term Thinking, Martha's Vineyard, News, Politics Tagged With: Chris Alley, David Brooks, Edu-Comp, Estonia, Joe Tierney, New York Times, New Yorker

Terry Hass – Artful As Can Be

September 12, 2017 by John Abrams 16 Comments

Terry Hass – Artful As Can Be

NOTE: I wrote this on July 9th, just after Terry Hass died.

Twice each day Chris and I remove toothbrushes and toothpaste from the ceramic holder – the one that Terry made - that sits on the shelf below our medicine cabinet.

The glazes are a mix of brown and gray, earthy like all her pottery. A series of elongated S—like perforations provide ventilation and drying, and are reminiscent of a flock of birds in flight. Practicality and beauty were inseparable for her.

Now that she’s gone those holes in the toothbrush holder are like the holes in our heart.

Read More about Terry Hass – Artful As Can Be

Filed Under: Collaboration, Martha's Vineyard, News, South Mountain Company Tagged With: art, terry hass

Local Sustainable Economies…And Way More Than That

July 17, 2017 by John Abrams Leave a Comment

My colleagues and fellow owners Deirdre, Rob, Siobhán and I just returned from a conference in Boston called Local Sustainable Economies. It was a national gathering, hosted by the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, of people and organizations working to localize economic activity and encourage the long haul shift from the extractive economy of the present to a generative economy of the future.

Read More about Local Sustainable Economies…And Way More Than That

Filed Under: Climate Change, Design, Economic Crisis, Energy, Environment, Long Term Thinking, Martha's Vineyard, News, Politics, Small Business, South Mountain Company Tagged With: alliance bernstein, clean energy, fossil fuel, local sustainable economies, solar, solar power

Transitions Followup…

May 25, 2016 by John Abrams 1 Comment

Apparently my last blog post touched a nerve – I have been swamped with wonderfully soulful e-mails from a wide variety of people and places.  I can’t really post the responses – many are quite personal – but I will say this: there’s a whole lotta heart out there.  But we knew that, didn’t we?

My Dad died peacefully, painlessly, surrounded by family.  He charted his own course.  Many do not have this opportunity.

Not long ago, I read Atul Gawande’s extraordinary book Being Mortal  (don’t miss this one), and more recently Diane Rehm’s book On My Own.  Rehms, who plans to retire from her NPR show after November’s election (and maybe head for Canada with the rest of us if the unthinkable happens!) lost her husband to Parkinson’s disease.

Unlike my Dad, Rehm’s husband was not able to chart his own course.  The experience of his death caused her to become a strong advocate for Compassion & Choices[LINK], the right-to-die organization which was responsible for the first U.S. death with dignity law in Oregon.  Four other states have followed Oregon’s lead and there will be more.  I’ll be glad.

Anyway, to all of you who wrote, and those that might, thanks so much for the outpouring.  I will try to respond to each of you, over time.  But this brings up something that interests me: most people, when they respond to my blog posts, e-mail me directly rather than commenting on the blog for all to see.  I love getting responses either way, so don’t hesitate, but I am curious about why most people choose to do it that way.  I’d love to learn.  Let me know.

Thanks.

Filed Under: News, Politics Tagged With: Atul Gawande, Being Mortal, Compassion & Choices, Diane Reims, NPR, On My Own

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