May 24, 2025

In Praise of Liberal Capitalism as the Systemic Conduit to Democratic Socialism

A Concise Treatise by Gary Marvin Davison


 

In the liberal capitalist democracies of the world, those of the numerically dominant middleclass wake to a potential Eden.

 

Those in their youth and middle age and, increasingly, those in their early elder years, at the median rise in good health and frame of brain, especially if they have taken advantage of the knowledge that has evolved under capitalist dominance over the course of the last two centuries as to health, diet, and exercise.

 

These middleclass beneficiaries of capitalist innovation go to their place of employment, earn a salary of $75,000 or more and often put that together with another in the family for a combined total of $150.000.  If they have seized the advantage of opportunity to select a job that is compatible with their values, they will work happily at this means of employment for 40 years or so, with options to move from place of employment under the circumstances of liberal capitalist democracy.

 

When these lucky occupants of society’s middle class in a liberal capitalist democracy go to the supermarket, they may select from a cornucopia of edibles from the region of their residence, their state, the nation, and the world---    this as a result of the agricultural productivity under the Green Revolution induced by research, innovation, and economic efficiency in the advanced liberal capitalist democracies of the world;  and the advances in shipping and marketing also made possible by these economic and political systems.

 

In their moments of leisure, middle class people have an extreme variety of options, from the technological to the intellectual to the natural;  these options may be exercised at the level of the home, community, town, city, state, and the nation;  and they may be seized as opportunity to travel globally, to witness the astounding beauty and cultural variety that exists across the world.

 

Living in a liberal capitalist democracy affords one the material means and the temporal space to contemplate the highest ethical principles for living happily and altruistically.  One can imagine life at Life’s best.  One can construct a future in which the downside of capitalism, with potential for class and environmental exploitation, is turned back upward with solutions to what humanity at worst has wrought.

 

Thus, liberal capitalist democracy offers humanity the opportunity to seize the many advantages of the system for application to the solution of the dilemmas created under that same system and forge a future most advantageous for all.

 

None of this would have been possible under primitive communism, slave society, or feudalism;  the advantages of liberal capitalist democracy make possible the creation of the next dominant stage, at which people live equitably and with common joy, according to a sense of purpose guided by the principle of Justice and Joy for All.

 

We already have certain societies---  those of Scandinavia and Taiwan---  that have advanced very far along the continuum that would lead toward the ideal society.  Liberal capitalist democracy made this advance possible, along with specific serendipitous features of those societies that have propelled them to the fore of human development.

 

The role of liberal capitalist democratic policies in forging these ethically most advanced societies raises the question as to whether liberal capitalist economic principles will continue to exist as the human ideal is approached, so that highly advanced democratic socialist society in which common human concern oversees a liberal economic system made ever more humane will in fact be the highest form of politico-social arrangement for humanity.

 

The highest development of liberal capitalist democracy will have made possible the dominance of democratic socialist principles and given humanity the best chance for Happiness.  

May 6, 2025

Introduction to a Multi-Article Series >>>>> Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center (Central Office) Staff by Position and Salary

In the articles immediately following this introduction, readers will find a listing of all Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center (Central Office) staff members by position and salary.

 

Staff members at the Davis Center total 568 (five hundred sixty-eight) by my current calculation;.  sixteen additional staff members may occupy positions at the Davis Center, but as I clarify the actual figure, I am proceeding with the figure of 568 (five hundred sixty-eight) as reference for most of the comments and data that I provide in this series.

 

The figure of 568 would be a reduction of 26 (twenty-six) staff members from the figure of 594 (five hundred ninety-four) that prevailed eight months ago, in September 2024;  this would calculate to a 4.38% reduction.

 

The figure of 584 would be a reduction of 10 (ten) staff members from the figure of 594 (five hundred ninety-four) that prevailed eight months ago, in September 2024;  this would calculate to a 1.68% reduction.

 

Both figures (4.38% and 1.68%) would be far short of the 14.22% reduction claimed in the FY 26 Budget document presented by Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams and staff at the 22 April 2025 Committee of the Whole meeting of Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education. 

 

The claim in that document is that “Staff based at the Davis Center are being reduced by 14.22%” for fiscal year 2026. If the latter claim is valid, further cuts will be made in staff by comparison to the mid-April figures on which the current series is based.

Current median salary at the Davis Center is $83,291.

The 568 five hundred sixty-eight) Davis staff members are given by category of salary received, as follows.

 

 

Over $200,000

 

6 (six) staff members

 

$180,000 to $200,000

 

4 (four) staff members

 

$145,000 to $170,000

 

14 (fourteen) staff members

 

$125,000 to $145,000

 

32 (thirty-two) staff members

 

$100,000 to $125,000

 

116 (fourteen) staff members

 

$90,000 to $100,000

 

55 (fifty-five) staff members

 

$80,000 to $90,000

 

75 (seventy-five) staff members

 

$70,000 to $80,000

 

86 (eighty-six) staff members

 

 

$60,000 to $70,000

 

28 (twenty-eight) staff members

 

 

$50,000 to $60,000

 

71 (seventy-one) staff members

 

 

$40,000 to $50,000

 

64 (sixty-four) staff members

 

 

$30,000 to $40,000

 

8 (eight) staff members

 

 

$20,000 to $30,000

 

7 (seven) staff members

 

 

Under $20,000

 

2 (two) staff members

 

…………………………………………………..

 

Total   >>>>>   568   (five hundred sixty-eight) staff members

 

…………………………………………………..

 

First in a Multi-Article Series, Salaries at Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center

 

$200,000 or More       (6 [six] Davis Center Staff Members)

 

Lisa Lorraine Sayles-Adams

Superintendent of Schools

$266,000

 

Ty Camille Thompson

Deputy Superintendent

$226,852

 

Ibrahima Diop

Senior Finance Officer

$218,644

 

Tia B. Classen

Senior Academic Officer

$216,717

 

Jamie Lynn Jonassen

General Counsel

$207,295

 

Thomas Christian Parent

Senior Operations Officer

$201,270

Second in a Multi-Article Series, Salaries at Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center

 

$180,000 to $199,000      (4 [four] Davis Center Staff Members)

 

Shawn Harris-Berry

Associate Superintendent

$198,258

 

 

 

 

Yusuf A. Abdullah

Associate Superintendent (Group A)

$190,564

 

Laura A. Cavender

Associate Superintendent (Group B)

$190,564

 

Alicia Inez Miller

Senior Human Resources Officer

$183,896

Third in a Multi-Article Series, Salaries at Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center

 

$145,000 to $170,000    (14 [fourteen] Davis Center Staff Members)

 

Scott G. Weber

Executive Director, Human Resources

$169,739

 

Tamuriel Latrice Grace

Executive Director, Equity & Schools Climate

$163,238

 

Lisa K. Beck

Executive Director, Transportation Administration

$163,238

 

Timothy Dean Wilson

Executive Director, Information Technology Services

$162,358

 

Amy J. Tanzer Hillenbrand

Executive Director, Community Education

$156,437

 

Stacey Lynnette Joyner

Executive Director, Early Childhood Education

$156,437

 

Marie Rollinger

Executive Director, Academics

$156,437

 

Tyrize Cox

Executive Director, Community Partners/External Relations

$156,437

 

 

Sarah K. Hunter

Executive Director, Strategic Planning

$156,437

 

Meghan Colleen Hickey

Executive Director, Student Support Services

$156,437

 

Emily R. Olson

Executive Director, Talent Management

$154,978

 

Bertrand A. Webefmaas

Executive Director, Culinary & Wellness Services

$154,415

  

Katrina Marie Magistad

Assistant General Counsel, Supervisory

$150,648

 

Ryan A. Strack

Assistant to the Superintendent & Board

$149,636

 

Fourth in a Multi-Article Series, Salaries at Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center

 

$125,000 to $145,000      (32 [thirty-two] Davis Center Staff Members)

 

Hai-yen Thi Vo

Special Education Programming 4

$143,389

 

Daren L. Johnson

Director of Extended Learning

$143,389

 

Antony Myron Fisher

Director, District Athletics

$143,389

 

Paul D. Klym

Director, Career & Technical Education

 $143,389

 

Sara Walker Etzel

Director, Career & Technical Education

$143,389

  

 

 

Deron Lee Carrington

Assistant General Counsel

$143,389

 

Elizabeth Marie Meske

Assistant General Counsel

$143,389

 

Muhidin Warfa

Executive Director, Multilingual & Magnets

$142,385

 

Donnie Belcher

Executive Director, Communicaton & Engagement

$142,385

 

Deeqaifrah Hussein

Executive Director, Special Education Department

$142,385                      

 

Conra Joan Frazier

Director, Equality & Civil Rights

$139,392

 

Grant L. Lindberg

Director, Equality & Civil Rights

$136,480

 

Courtney Deveaux Holmes

Director, Special Education Programs

$136,480

 

Colleen M. Kaibel

Director, Student Retention & Recovery

$136,480

 

Girish Bhatnagar

Director, Procurement & Supply Chain Management

$136,480

 

Amber R. Spaniol

Director, Nursing Services

$136,480

 

 

 

 

Oluwagbengo Omoniyi Ogungbe

Director, Risk Management

$136,480

 

Aaron L, Gilbert

Director of Finance, Controller

$136,480

 

Marion Tizon

Director, Office of Latine Achievement

$136,480

 

 Jennifer Rose Simon

Director, Indian Education

$133,151

 

Mason Campbell

Director, Enterprise Systems

$133,151

 

Kelly Ann Barrick

Director, Accountabiity

$133,151

 

Nolan P Murphy

Director, Special Education Compliance Monitoring

$129,904

 

Syed Yaseen

Manager, Financial Systems

$129,904

 

Christopher T. Moore

Data Scientist, Senior

$129,904

 

Andrew E. Meierding

Director, Special Education Programs

$126,736

 

Dena J. Luna

Director, Office of Black Achievement

$126,736

 

Nicole Deverich

Director, IT Design & Training

$126,736

 

Ryan M. Stremke

Manager, Information Technology Operations

$126,736

 

Natalie L. Tourtelotte

Director, Core Instruction

$126,736

 

Kimberly Iveris Haynes

Director, Compliance

$126,736

 

Jenny Yang

Director, Office of the Ombudsperson

$126,735