Pennsylvania’s present taunts us with the hangover from too many years of living on cheap credit and devil-may-care optimism.

But it’s the ghost of Pennsylvania’s future that cows us: lost jobs, empty cities, budgets artificially inflated by federal stimulus funds, a looming pension liability crisis, crowded prisons and a government decimated by corruption.

If ever there was a state in need of redemption and rebirth, it is Pennsylvania.

I love the “Christmas Carol” allegory in all its incarnations. (Although I confess a particular fondness for the Michael Cain/Muppets movie version.)

I usually bemoan all the lame attempts to transfer the story to other purposes each December. Nonetheless, it seems to fit.

Scrooge’s problem is fairly simple. He sees the world only through his own value system that puts self-interest above all else.

A “Christmas Carol” is not a knock against conspicuous consumption, wealth or capitalism. Scrooge reminds us, “I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.”

To be sure, there is a New Testament liberalism to Dickens’ classic. Jacob Marley comes to the realization only after his death that, “Business? Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business!” None of the ghosts, however, propose a government solution to Victorian England’s problems.

What Scrooge learns is to open his eyes to the greater issues of society beyond his counting house and get personally involved.

It’s a lesson still worth learning. Civic engagement matters.

Like the good gentlemen in Scrooge’s London who were “endeavoring to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth,” many businesspersons are engaged in philanthropy and public service.

But more businesspersons today need to leave their desks, walk out in Pennsylvania’s communities and join with the next governor, state lawmakers, local government officials, school board members, and the thousands of citizens who volunteer their time and talent in civic service so that, working together, we can restore the American dream of prosperity and trust in public institutions.

Disgust, frustration and cynicism just forge additional links in the chains that bind us to a bleak and lonely future.

In less than one year, Pennsylvania will elect a new governor from a slate of men all promising new leadership and vitality to seize opportunities and confront problems.

No governor can achieve these tasks alone. This will take unity across Pennsylvania and among all interest groups.

The business community cannot remain sequestered in its offices waiting for a newly elected chief executive to make the hard choices.

Mankind is our business.

Pennsylvania’s business community needs to accept the challenge of partnership and collaboration from the candidate who offers to share the burdens of office and the satisfaction of a job well done.

To be productive, it cannot be an exclusive partnership between business and the next governor, but it also will have to include other elected officials, labor leaders, environmentalists, educators, community activists and other diverse interests.

If we are going to solve Pennsylvania’s challenges and seize Pennsylvania’s opportunities then we must set aside the minor distinctions and issues that have divided us to create the future that calls to us.
Some of the choices and compromises will not be pleasant or without cost.

“Bah, humbug” me all you want, but Pennsylvania will have to reduce programmatic spending while allocating new revenue to mounting pension liabilities and crumbling infrastructure.

We have to improve teacher quality and push our students harder. We have to protect our health and environment, while clearing hurdles to increased energy production.

We have to make our communities safe from criminals and reduce the population of bulging prisons. We need principled government without partisan rancor.

Pennsylvania’s redemption will come from embracing contradictions and uncertainty with partnership and unity.

Mankind is our business.

This is about being a Pennsylvanian who walks out within the community and takes in all the wonders, takes in all the worries, and then takes action.

God bless us, everyone.