John, there’s an old story I heard once that I wanted to share with you. I know that I can get long-winded sometimes, but I hope you know that when I email you these things, it’s because they matter to more than just this campaign.

The story goes that while giving a lecture on the origins of civilization, the prominent cultural anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead was asked what the earliest sign of a real civilization was. Her research focused heavily on developing societies and cultural attitudes, and the student was curious to know if she’d seen any patterns that could predict a cohesive, successful society.

In answer to the question, reportedly Dr. Mead hoisted a bone high over her head: a 15,000-year-old femur, the longest bone in the human body, fractured and healed halfway down its length.

(Gotta appreciate a cultural anthropologist with a flair for the dramatic…)

This, she said, was the earliest sign of a true civilization. In ancient times, breaking such an important bone would have been a death sentence—unable to walk, unable to hunt, unable to defend oneself from predators, an individual so afflicted would simply have died, likely within a matter of a few weeks.

But the existence of a healed bone, she went on, tells a different story. It tells us that the person lived.

The fact that they lived meant that someone must have taken time to care for the injured person. Someone watched over and protected them. Someone set aside food from the hunt to feed them. Someone afforded the opportunity they needed to recover and get back on their feet.

In other words, John, the earliest sign of a true civilization is not great cities or elaborate divisions of labor or record-keeping. No, the earliest sign of civilization is community. Neighbors standing together, caring for each other, and helping out their community when they’re down.

Humankind didn’t evolve to have sharp claws or great speed or warm fur: we evolved to have each other.

If we want our civilization to be successful, we have to embrace community. We have to invest in each other. The North Carolina I grew up in was a place where we did that, and it’s a place where I believe we can do that again. If we do, then a whole lot of our neighbors will have the opportunity they need to recover and get back on their feet.

And if we don’t, well, more and more of our neighbors will get left behind.

John, this campaign is about our communities. We need a government that is going to help us in the work of community-building, that is going to use its great resources to invest in our people and help us make each other’s lives better instead of standing in the way. Our State Treasurer is the gatekeeper for so much of our capacity to make change—their office controls what infrastructure our municipalities can afford, controls what kinds of businesses benefit from the investment of the state pension fund, controls whether or not our state’s public employees will be able to retire and age with dignity.

And I really need your help if we’re going to be able to take back the Treasurer’s office and use that power to create good in our communities.

So, John, can I count on you to make a contribution to my campaign today? Anything you can give will help us expand our capacity to reach voters in every corner of this state and get our message out to everyone who needs to hear it. This is a campaign for our community—for every North Carolinian—but I’m relying on your support to make that happen.

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Together, I know that we can win this race. Together, I know that we can take our state back. Together, I know that we can make our government one that invests in our communities again instead of leaving them behind.

Thanks as always,
Wesley Harris

Wesley Harris is a North Carolina native and the only PhD economist in the General Assembly. First elected in 2018, he has been fighting hard for the residents of southern Mecklenburg County and working to make our state the best place in the country to live, work, and start a family. Now, Wesley is running for Treasurer to make an investment in our state's greatest asset, it's people. Together, Wesley believes that we can unlock our potential and build opportunity for every North Carolinian.

www.harrisfornc.com

Paid for by Wesley Harris for NC
Wesley Harris for NC
P.O. Box 77764
Charlotte, NC 28271
United States

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