Monthly Memos

Interconnectedness: The Lesson Of OneMinnesota

Charles I. Mundale
Executive Director of MCCR

January 1993

"The body politic" was once a fashionable notion. The expression now strikes us as pretentious or, at best, arcane. Nonetheless, "the body" for centuries provided a useful metaphor for theological as well as social thinkers trying to examine and express the interconnectedness of things. Then, along came modern science and its obsession with taking things apart. "The body" lost its metaphorical punch and became one more empirical object to be divided into smaller objects. As a result, we got modern medicine, rugged individualism, free trade, interest-group politics, and a host of other mixed blessings.

Meanwhile, interconnectedness lost its appeal as an intellectual puzzle, and it became standard scientific procedure to destroy things in order to understand them. But we have now been reminded--by mercury in the salmon, acid in the rain, and holes in the ozone -- that everything is indeed connected to everything. Interconnectedness is once again a major concern -- and still a puzzle.

In economic matters, the reminders are different, but the lesson is the same. We now accept without surprise that decisions made in Tokyo or Berlin affect the price of corn in Minneapolis and the sale of cars in Redwood Falls. In fact, we are approaching obsession with such global connections -- and neglecting connections closer to home.

The neglect of these closer connections is the focus of discussion for the Blandin Foundation's OneMinnesota Initiative. MCCR -- aided and abetted by the Minnesota Bankers Association Enterprise Network -- has joined the conversation.

On January 27 and 28 in Rochester, we will hold the first of what we hope will be a series of conferences on The Logic of Linkage. Discussions will focus on the potential for more balanced development in Minnesota through the expansion of economic relationships that link the metropolitan area to the rest of the state.

Such relationships -- commuting, branching, supplying, and sub-contracting -- are already widespread, according to research by Prof. Wilbur Maki at the University of Minnesota and funded by the Blandin Foundation. Realizing the full potential of these linkages can help close the worrisome gap between community and economy in Minnesota.

In 35 of our 87 counties, transfer payments now account for 20 percent or more of personal income. We can either continue that pattern or we can make a greater effort to involve the rest of the state in the economic activity of the metropolitan area. Like it or not, the economic lifeblood of our rural and urban areas flow together. They are OneMinnesota, one body politic.

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