THRAMS: Transforming the Heartland’s Social, Economic, Cultural, Political and Natural Landscapes

2046 will mark the beginning of Iowa's third century of statehood. We want our state to remain viable, with communities that are still livable - a place we consciously craft rather than fall into by default.

In its first two centuries, Iowa found its place in national and global contexts. More recently, however, social, economic, cultural and political forces have eroded the state's well-being. If such trends are not reversed, Iowa's greatest era will be behind us, not ahead of us. We cannot tolerate that. I see two key initiatives for turning around Iowa's current trajectories over the next 30 years. The first is to deepen health maintenance and expand wealth generation:

Health is not simply the absence of detectable disease, nor removing its manifestations from the body. Health also consists of intangible conditions that support the natural state of living beings. Rather than only relying on state-of-the-art technology or medical procedures, health arises from fresh, pure air, water and food; from sustaining family and community relationships; it is promoted amid the daily rhythms of safe, sovereign and peaceable home lives, rewarding social lives and meaningful work lives. Health stems from tangible sources of resilient diversity: the vibrant topsoil, farms, forests, orchards, gardens and grasslands around us; poison-free food, water and air in us; vital social networks to support us. Mental health depends on grounded senses of well-being and hope.

All forms of health require sustainable wealth to make real vigor last. The pioneers came to America's Heartland looking not for jobs but for wealth, for ways to transform the region's resources (e.g., rich topsoil) into usable products (crops, livestock, lumber) They came to serve those working the land, as: doctors, lawyers, teachers, pastors, shop keepers. Symbiotic relations kept communities in a fluid balance: consumption did not outweigh production, busyness did not sideline rest or reflection. True wealth is not measured by one's quantities of money but by qualities of well-being.

To secure Iowa's future, we must revitalize rural communities and densify urban hubs. What made Iowa what it is - what made it rich, monetarily, culturally and spiritually - were its farms and small towns. The swelling urban areas we enjoy today arose long after the pioneers first settled the fertile prairies: In the Hawkeye State, abundant agriculture spawned towns, not vice-versa.

Iowa's 100 county seats must serve as anchors in their respective counties, dynamos to hold their area's inhabitants as long-term residents. Life on farms and in small towns offers an intrinsic value not found in large towns or cities. While we cannot revive each of the thousand or more communities that once existed in Iowa, we must draw a line, declaring that our county seats will not be allowed to erode further, and that fifteen cities will be bolstered as urban hubs, offering cultural, retail, financial, service and political institutions and events typically not available at an advanced level in smaller communities.

Only with fortified health and anchored sources of wealth, can all Iowans march forward into a better future.

' More information: www.HeartlandParties.US; Facebook.com/MichaelLuickThrams