Nobody gets any if there ain’t none

Adam Klugman, son of the actor Jack Klugman, lives in the Portland area and is making a short “video anthem” which he hopes will help “brand” the Democratic Party. A front page story in yesterday’s Portland Tribune told all about his effort and gave us a link to watch a rough draft of the video.

In a nutshell, Klugman wants to use what he calls six “fighting words” that he believes will move people to action. The words are:

Think
Speak
Stand
Create
Believe
Engage

After watching the video twice, what struck me was that only five of Klugman’s six “fighting words” were used. The one he left out was “create,” as in create value, create wealth, create jobs, create industries, etc.

The video was very explicit about all the things his party demands: good jobs, living wages, new industries, etc.; but it was silent about how these things are created.

I don’t know whether leaving “create” out of the draft video was an oversight, or intentional. I would simply observe that people can demand all they want, but unless someone first creates those goods and services, they won’t be available for Klugman’s or any other political party to distribute.

A group of young people in the mid 1970s stated it best in their 16mm educational film, “The Incredible Bread Machine”:

“Nobody gets any if there ain’t none.”

Steve Buckstein is Senior Policy Analyst and founder of Cascade Policy Institute, a Portland-based think tank.