Enlightened Conflict

living below the line

October 17th, 2012

“Long ago it was said that ‘one half of the world does not know how the other half lives.’ That was true then. It did not know because it did not care. The half that was on top cared little for the struggles and less for the fate of those who were underneath.” - Jacob A. Riis <How the Other Half Lives – 1890>

This is about the have-nots … “the other half” … this is about poverty and this is about perspective.

I decided to write this after a disturbing conversation among friends about “hand outs” and how low income people need to assume some personal responsibility <the implication being that most are lazy, not ambitious or not working hard to change their situation>.

At the core of the discussion was about how people believe other people were using, and abusing, government support systems.

Of course I heard the infamous “they checked out at the super market with porterhouse steaks using food stamps” example.

The real point was that a bunch of people think that another bunch of people are getting support <hand outs> from the government while they are working their own asses off.

So.

I tried. And after maybe making up some ground by suggesting that the majority of people getting government assistance really did need it <and there would always be a minority who will abuse anything> the next suggestion hit the conversation … someone said “I know people need help but there should be limits.” <i.e., at some point we need to stop>

Limits? <hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm>

Ok. Enough with that discussion. Because inevitably we are discussing a lack of understanding for ‘the other half.’

It is a fact that the world is becoming more unequal with wider disparity between haves and have nots than ever before (in measured history). This disparity is very real <in terms of income> and it is even more real when thinking in terms of perceptions.

Me? I personally care less about equality of income (or the gap as it were) but more on equality of opportunity. Therefore I see the inequality as an outcome of an opportunity, or lack thereof, issue.

And therein lies the issue to me.

Too many people want to see it as an economic issue when it is actually an opportunity issue. This issue is created around a belief that people are lazy and actually are happy living off these hand outs. I believe the issue is that most of these people not only cannot tangibly get out of the hole they cannot even see the opportunities to get out of the hole. That is a double whammy of reality + lack of hope.

Which gets me back to poverty and living below the line because most of us don’t understand the reality <of life in poverty> and cannot grasp the lack of hope <because we believe we live in the land of opportunity … if someone works hard enough>.

Why do we struggle with understanding? Because most of us who have it ‘tougher than we had it before’ are NOT living in poverty.

Sure … a tough global economy has impacted everyone forcing some fiscal decisions. And many middle class people consider this hardship. And they combine that attitude with “if you work hard you can gain opportunity.”

Well. I hate to break the news. In today’s world working hard doesn’t guarantee anything and those of us in the middle class have no concept of the really difficult decisions many of the people who the government is helping have to make … every day.

Someone at the table said “I see these people making irresponsible choices, I make responsible choices so should they.”

Well.

I would argue that those of us who have not lived in their shoes cannot really judge fairly. Our ‘responsible choices’ are not the same as their ‘responsible choices.’

Let me try this out on you.

I equate a head of household in an income challenged household in the same decision-making grouping as a small business owner or even someone like a president of a country – day in and day out every choice and decision is important. Every one.

The difference is that they do it without the luxury of a comfortable bed, some bottled water (or a beer) in the ‘frig and a car to get away from it all.

Try this on for size. They are a small business owner who never gets a vacation. Never.

I understand, or I imagine, the question everyone seems to be wrestling with is how much should a government assist.

And that gets driven by “geez, I am paddling as hard as I can why should they get a handout.”

Well.

Here is why.

Because they need it and you don’t <reality>.

Oh. And because we have not offered them a way out <opportunity>.

I admit. I don’t know how to offer a way out. In my table conversation I even sickened myself when I said something like “maybe our efforts should be focused on the next generation of kids … be sure they have an opportunity … be sure they have a chance at a good education <which is the research proven leveler between economic inequality>.”

Sickened? Yeah. My flippant thought implies you are giving up on a group of adults who never had the opportunity to get out and be all they could be.

Regardless. Solving poverty is a huge issue that is not going to be solved in this post.

But I can bend your ear on government assistance to low income households.

Here is the hard part to tell my readers <maybe the part we just don’t want to hear>.

We may be struggling, we may not have it as easy as we have had it before as we look at our stack of bills, and we absolutely are probably more worried about paying bills … but most of us definitely do not understand sheer poverty and the life you lead when you are within poverty.

I do know that here in America the election seems to bring out the worst in us … entitlements, handouts, food stamps for those who don’t need it, etc. … all these simplistic frustrated comments avoid the fact that America has, and has had, a large number of people in extreme poverty and the world has significantly more.

But our simplistic frustrated comments avoid the fact that recent global studies suggest that “opportunity” <the ability to change social/economic status from lower to higher> is not a truth in today’s America. People born in poverty and/or low income households are more likely to remain a poverty/low income household in America than in most European countries <although we do beat Mexico … but not Canada>.

In fighting extreme poverty it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of just how extreme the conditions that we associate with poverty is … even within our own countries.

Approximately 1.2 billion in extreme poverty globally.

That’s those who live on $1.25 a day. That is about 17.6% of global population.

This does not count “the vulnerable.” Vulnerability measures those who are “sometimes poor” while poverty measures those who are “always poor.” Between one year and the next, many people move into or out of poverty. Thus measures of who is poor now are imperfect guides to who will be poor next year, yet it is the latter that is relevant for public policies that aim to reduce poverty. The solution is to identify those who are vulnerable to poverty—that is, who have a significant probability of being poor next year. People are highly vulnerable if they have more than an even chance of being poor in the next period, and moderately vulnerable if they are more likely than the typical person to be poor next year. <worldbank poverty data>

All this thinking got me thinking about living below the line.

Thinking about how I could put myself in their shoes if but for one week and doing a reality check.

And what made me truly decide to take the step on living below the line <this ‘line’ of $1.25 a day from a global poverty perspective> was not this table discussion among friends but rather when I heard a story about a 3^rd grade daughter asking her mother for a pair of $1,500 <yup … those are thousand 0’s … I did not forget a decimal point> shoes for getting straight A’s.

I must be getting altruistic in my old age because, to me, this is lesson time for the daughter.

To be fair, if the story had been $150, I am not sure I would have got so wound up on this topic <not sure what that says about me> but the combination of $1,500 and SHOES kind of put me over the top. My hope is that I would have been a strong enough parent to have stepped back and taught a lesson. But that is for my parent readers to figure out.

Me?

I am not going to preach.

I thought I would do something to see if I knew what the hell I was talking about.

So let me take a second and talk about the “living below the line” thought.

Yes. That is living on $1.25 a day. Yup. 125 pennies or 25 nickels if you don’t like pennies.

The World Bank defines “extreme poverty” as living on the US dollar equivalent of $1.25 a day, or less.

Regular everyday poverty is actually $2.50 a day just to put ‘extreme’ into perspective for you.

That said, nearly 1.2 billion people around the world currently live in extreme poverty, surviving on $1.25 a day. That is their <dangerous> reality.

I don’t even have to type the choices one would have to make living on $1.25 a day because I would imagine it is so far out of most of my reader’s realm of possibility that it isn’t feasible.

Therefore I found a game developed by the Global Poverty Initiative that actually allows you to put yourselves in those shoes <even if it is just a game>.

Survive125 is an interactive game that puts players in the shoes of Divya Patel, an Indian woman with four children, trying to survive on $1.25 a day:

Players will be faced with many of the impossible choices that those living in extreme poverty have to make every day. It is not only an educational game, it’s a painful experience. By placing themselves in the shoes of someone living in extreme poverty, players are able to struggle with hard decisions and ultimately choose their future.

I have played it several times.

Why several? Well. The first time was simply so unimaginable to me that it ended up being slightly surreal <if not irrelevant>. So I went back. And played around with it. The first time you play through it you will find yourself going “this is not my life.”

By the 3^rd time you are saying “shit, could I make these choices?”

I am honest with myself.

I couldn’t.

From my altruistic ‘children’s education’ pulpit I began as a high & mighty futurist and eventually I ended up as a more realistic survivalist.

Enlightening? You bet.

Realistic survivalist. That phrase will now enter my ongoing lexicon in discussions.

Think you can live on a $1.25? Play and see if you can Survive125.

Okay.

Then I took the next step.

A real reality check. I said maybe I could do this for a week. Actually live on $1.25 a day for food & beverage & entertainment.

Keep the car & gas, home & electricity and I will even give you the cellphone <I said to myself>.

A confession.

When I started this personal challenge I didn’t think it was going to be that difficult for just one week. I am a single guy for gods sake. I figured I could easily drink tap water, eliminate the diet coke <and, grudgingly, the coffee> and gather the ingredients I needed to throw a bunch of stuff into a crockpot that I could live on for a week or so.

I mean, c’mon, for one week how difficult could living on $1.25 ($8.75 for the week) a day actually be?

I learned very quickly that it is pretty fucking hard.

For all of the whining that I may have done throughout my life about having to budget or scrape money together to pay bills … I have <apparently> never come close to experiencing anything even near to poverty. Nor <apparently> have I experienced the lack of choice, monotony, and plain hard work that is all part of having to live on such a dismally small amount of money.

My reward for all of this effort?

A truly terrible and relatively tasteless soup/stew <because you cannot afford to buy salt or spices> that I had to ration out so it lasted the week. And more water drinking then I have done in possibly my entire lifetime.

The point is that for all of my effort I received no reward. None. There was no money or energy left for a reward. In fact my only reward was I existed for another week.

This reminded me of a couple of things:

- A life lived in poverty is met with little reward and is unfair … relentlessly unfair … so unfair that reality is grinding.

- A life lived in poverty with no possible reward of ‘opportunity’ seems a pretty dismal space to reside in within life because that means the grinding just puts you further and further into the hole.

The unfairness wasn’t the stew <although it does make you really really think about what someone in poverty feels when they see someone drive by in a nice car or watch commercials with some succulent meal sitting on the table> but it was from the understanding that all choices are eliminated. The food I bought was dictated by my financial means, where I bought it was dictated by my financial means, and my entire life was dictated by financial means. Any extraneous choices were taken away.

In the context of a real lived extreme poverty these choices would become far more serious.

Healthcare or no healthcare?

Do I feed my child a decent meal?

Clothing? Housing?

The list is … well … relentless.

Relentlessly in your face day to day. There is no relief.

As I stated upfront … this was as tiring as running a business … but with absolutely no reward or breaks.

None.

Okay … moving on <because I imagine many of my readers will think $1.25 is just not realistic>.

Don’t want the 1.25 test because you say ‘no way’?

For my middle class friends I will throw you a couple options because when I have talked about world poverty people say “but that is there … you could never live here on that.”

First …

Yes, folks, some do.

Second.

Okay. Try this on for size then.

I have readers all around the world. Find your country’s poverty level <for example … Rodrigo in Brazil would see $29.45/day is Brazil’s poverty level>.

In America poverty <not extreme poverty> is about $24,000 annual for a family of 4. Say it is actually close to Brazil’s for a single person so you also get about $10,720 annually if you are single.

That is $462 a week <$66 a day> if you are in a family.

- Now halve it <assume it is being used for home> and you have $231 for the week <$33 a day> for food & beverage & entertainment.

Single? This is $206 a week <$29.45 a day> if you are single.

- Now halve it … a single person gets $103 for the week <$14.71 a day>.

Disregard mortgage/rent/cell/utilities/gas and do it.

Watch how difficult it is. Then imagine you actually had to pay utilities, rent, gas, etc. within it.

I offer no solution today.

Today I simply ask you take a minute and walk in their shoes.

It may make you feel differently about “hand outs” as well as why “work hard” just may not be enough advise to give someone in this situation.

the right to an education

October 15th, 2012

“I have the right of education,” Malala said in a 2011 interview

I was tempted to call this ‘someone has to be the first’ <and will explain later>.

Probably because I can’t watch news 24/7 I missed the original interview but since its being replayed I can finally give it its due.

Here is the true shame.

I didn’t become aware of it until something <really> bad happened. This is about the 14 year old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousufzai, who was shot when a Taliban gunman walked up to a school bus, yes, a bus full of children going home from school, and shot her in the head and neck. Another girl and a teacher were also injured in this attack.

Why was she shot?

Because Malala Yousufzai threatened the Taliban existence.

How could a 14 year old girl threaten the Taliban?

By advocating overcoming ignorance through education to empower more enlightened individual choices (now everyone knows why I am writing about this).

Yes. This implies the existence of the Taliban depends on ignorance.

Okay.

Before I get to the point of what I want to say you should see the interview if you have not.

Malala Yousufzai is a young girl. A daughter I believe we all would be quite proud to call our own <wherever you live>. She is wise beyond her years as she tells us about hope and dreams. In a way, and in words, any of us can grasp.

Malala has made a stand in Pakistan <and that area of the world> for education, progress and the advancement of all children of all ages. Her interview is worth watching even if you don’t care about what I want to say.

CNN interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hHgPFBDeh0

Now.

Women’s human rights advocates will come out of the woodwork saying she is a martyr for women’s/girl’s rights (by the way … just to be clear … I am a supporter of women’s rights). But I wish they would take a step back and prioritize. This young lady is first and foremost a martyr in the fight against ignorance.

She is not anti taliban (per se) she is pro informed choice.

That said … it is sad we need a martyr at all with regard to this issue. Yet, sometimes we do, not only to fully embrace the seriousness of an issue … but it is proof that someone has to go first.

I am not implying in any way that the majority of people who know what is right are sheep but rather it is a fact that not everyone has the DNA to go first. I like leaders. I advocate leadership. But I tell young kids in school that just because they don’t lead, or go first, doesn’t mean they are weak or a failure or even a coward.

I tell them they can only be judged by their ultimate actions. The when and the where of the actions are less important than the fact you may actually have taken action.

But, in the end, on the really big issues, the tough ones, someone has to go first.

Many influential people will now step out into the spotlight and try to nudge the cause forward. I am glad they are doing so (albeit I would love all of them be aligned behind education as a human right). But Malala will be truly measured by the actions of her peers … the true measure of action is the actions of the youth.

A generation hungry for knowledge.

A generation focused on enlightened decision making.

We adults should never lose sight of the fact that under any indifference we may perceive within today’s youth, there is a fire.

If we attempt to extinguish that fire I can guarantee you they will act. In fact I believe we will see this as this story and message spreads.

This young lady is certainly become a focal point on the right to get an education in that part of the globe. But, we in the west should not be putting the boundaries of this issue just geographically there. This young lady is a reminder to all of us that EVERY child everywhere deserves an education. And while in her case the point of education would be so someone could make an informed choice with regard to the Taliban. It is also a point that we want all of our children to make informed choices on all important issues – religious choices, political choices, economic choices and life choices and … well … joining any organization called the Taliban or not.

A well educated population may become more centrist (a balance of choices) but you would have to assume it moderates divisiveness in some aspects. Extremism, of any kind and situation, is typically a reflection of some choice full ignorance. I abhor all extremism because of this self-imposed ignorance aspect.

And I cannot think of anything more effective in combating that then education at a young age.

A side note <albeit an important one>.

I would like to point out <just in case anyone may be misguided on this issue> Islam is not the one in disgrace in this situation. It is the Taliban. And they are not the same.

Islam is a traditional religion of peace and an extreme minority, the Taliban, has committed this act by twisting and, ultimately tainting, the essence of Islam.

I would hope that the true Islamic people will step forward and deal with this issue.

Anyway.

Malala. The fact that she is articulate, has a wonderful courage of her convictions, and outlines a concise vision of equal rights, education and opportunity clearly drives the point home for all of us to think about.

And … because someone has to go first … and she did.

It reminded me of something that the great Russian writer Lermentov wrote in one of his novels:

“We can no longer make great sacrifices for the good of mankind or even for our own happiness, because we know it is unattainable; and as our ancestors plunged on from illusion to illusion, so we drift indifferently from doubt to doubt. Only unlike them we have no hope, nor even that indefinable but real sense of pleasure that is felt in any struggle, be it with man or with destiny.”

Lermontov wrote this because he rejected this idea … and in the novel he had his hero, Pechorin, reject this passivity and, in fact, Malala rejected this idea.

As do I.

And I do not believe I am in the minority in this belief.

My point?

We should not seek to drift indifferently from doubt to doubt.

global citizens

October 2nd, 2012

“… mobilise thousands of ambassadors for change. We’ll unite around a simple yet powerful idea: that by giving every child a chance to thrive, our generation can end extreme poverty.” - the Global Citizen website

Global citizenship is a big concept but I am going to focus on the UN Millennium Goals and the recent Global Citizens Festival in Central Park.

I probably should have made this into 3 separate posts but I just watched the festival and wrote out all my thoughts into 3 sections:

- Global festival music

- Global festival presentations

- Global Citizen poverty & education Initiative

Global citizenship is pretty self-explanatory … it is a basic premise is that people all over the world should come together as one and practice justice, equality, diversity and a mutual respect for the earth & its population. In the UN’s words:

- Development and poverty eradication – We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want. We resolve therefore to create an environment – at the national and global levels alike – which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty.

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, set specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a ‘Global Partnership for Development.’

If you are not aware of the Millennium Development Goals take a minute and visit the following sites. The first outlines the specific Goals as well as does a very nice job outlining the pragmatic steps to address them and a report of performance to date <some businesses could learn a lesson with regard to how they do this> and the second link is the formal declaration itself.

UN Development Programme: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html

United Nations Millennium Declaration: http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf

Before I get to thoughts inspired by the festival let me say one thing.

I imagine the everyday person probably has no clue what the United Nations actually does <in a practical sense> as well as wonders about its value … and both are a shame in different ways.

If nothing else the Millennium Development Goals should explain the value of the United Nations. Please. Please take a minute and look.

I am not asking you to actually take action other than read. Because awareness of issues is half the battle. And, who knows, you may find one of their goal initiatives is something you have a passion.

Okay.

The Global Citizen festival in Central Park. Beyond the fact I want one of their incredibly cool tshirts there were some things to note. Some fun things, some practical things and some inspirational/aspirational things. Here you go.

global citizen music

The concert was scheduled around the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. I was really impressed by how the organizers used an innovative approach to ticket distribution so that many of the concert-goers had no choice but to learn about the global citizen issues/initiatives such as polio, child mortality, education and clean drinking water. The neat idea was that anyone wanting free tickets had to register at globalcitizen.org, which then required users to watch videos or read information about poverty-related issues. Each time material was clicked-on, users could earn points toward a drawing for tickets. Points were also accumulated by sharing information via Twitter or Facebook. Well done. Very well done.

It all added up to five hours this past Saturday in New York City’s Central Park with 60,000 people – and more using a web and television simulcast — in an effort to draw attention and action to the cause of eradicating extreme poverty around the world.

There were not a lot of bands at the Festival but the ones who played killed it. Just killed it. I know that bands have off nights and other nights when they are on … and all were on this night.

The acts were silent about the cause but in their short, maybe one hour, sets <or less> they just ran off a strong of really well performed songs.

Four songs from Band of Horses provided some surprisingly grunge/crunchy guitar rootsy music. Very well done. Then the Black Keys. I am not a huge Black Keys fan but when they burned their way through fourteen songs in fifty minutes they made me rethink how I felt about their music. They were tight … really tight. They were so tight I wondered whether the Foo Fighters could maintain the quality level.

Well. Now that I have seen The Foos live I know they are good. But they absolutely killed it, killed it, in their set. They had their full line up <supposedly because there are claims this was their last performance> and they kept their heads down in a no-frills straight forward alt-rock in your face guitar onslaught and just frickin’ rocked the place.

This was a nice rendition of Times like These: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abt8Z8dcPdM

The festival closed with Neil Young & Crazy Horse who gave a characteristically ornery performance basically just coming out and playing as if there were no audience. But, as he and Crazy Horse blistered their way through Powderfinger, I was reminded how much I loved Neil with Crazy Horse. While most people believe their first album together, “everybody knows this is nowhere” was their best album my favorite remains Zuma <with Cortex the Killer on it>.

And when they performed “The Needle and the Damage Done” the set became an instant classic.

Great music for a great cause.

And, most likely, because of the format with long presentations as the sets were traded out, is the reason why the artists did their thing without a lot of preaching.

Their job was to entertain and they did.

If you didn’t watch you missed some excellent live music performances.

global citizen speakers

So.

If I were a betting man I would bet I was the only one who watched all the speakers during the simulcast <excepting the guys who managed the speaker’s microphones>.

In between the roughly hour-long sets by the headliners, there were dozens of speakers from foundations, charities, and corporations. The speakers also included celebrities like Olivia Wilde, Selena Gomez, Sophia Bush and Katharine McPhee. They also used videos, highlighting the wide range of poverty-related causes from malaria and polio to education and maternal health, to introduce the speaker topics.

Really well done.

Okay. The videos were really well done <I will post when they become available>.

The speeches? Well. It was a mixed bag. And, of course it reminded me of a variety of things with regard to presenting.

But let me begin with the best presenter.

And she is only 20 years old.

Selena Gomez speaking on behalf of UNICEF was outstanding. Better than the 40something+’s speaking at other times and pretty much everyone else.

She communicated passion without ever raising her voice, was clear & succinct and delightfully mature.

Selena Gomez: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnDI0COPfC4

Well.

I seriously doubt any older speaker will ever watch this video <despite the fact they should> because a young person could never teach them anything … and that is a shame. But, having said that, please make sure if you have a tween or teen you show it to them. I know I will use her, and this speech, as an example to young people in the future.

60000 people <not really there to listen to speeches>, in an outside environment with a global web & television simulcast and with no ‘uhms’ or colloquialisms she was herself <probably the number one defense someone uses for presentation colloquial mistakes> and delivered what she had to say in a quite understandable way.

I cannot name one song she has ever sung or any movie she has ever been in but I now know she can present.

Regardless.

All the presenters reminded me of how difficult it is to present to a group of people.

All presentations really can get boiled down into 2 important aspects:

- Figure out what you want to say

- Figure out how you want to say it

All the other mumbo jumbo on ‘tricks to effective presenting’ is irrelevant if you don’t figure out these two things. In fact, I would argue you could throw away all the presentation books if you figure these two things out.

What you want to say sounds simple but it is not. Because inevitably you get caught up in ALL the things you want to say, prioritizing what you want to say and getting what you want to say down on paper <or whatever format you elect to organize the presentation>.

All I can say for sure is that you need to put it in a document or a script. Without it you cannot edit. And without editing <unless you are Bill Clinton> you are screwed on the second aspect.

Next.

Figuring out how you want to say it.

Okay. Let me tell you a truth, a fact, a ‘something no one really wants to hear.’ 99% of the time what you just figured out to say will sound like crap if you just read it as a presentation. Maybe 99.9% of the time. Writing & speaking are two different skills. They may be derivatives of each other but one typically does not translate directly to the other.

There were presenters at this festival who were obviously reading their presentation script off a teleprompter <which is a skill in itself by the way> and it sounded obviously stilted and in some cases like it was the first time they had heard these words out loud. Thankfully for them most of the 60,000 were either looking for a Port-a-Pottie, seeking a beer stand or cheering for the next band to take the stage. However … I watched. It was disappointing.

And the issue wasn’t because they were reading a script <another complaint young people throw around when arguing they want to be ‘natural’ when presenting>. It was the script they were reading. They wrote something that sounded good in their head when they read it … but sounded stupid when actually saying it. By the way … that is why rehearsing is important <what happens between aspect 1 and aspect 2>.

Why does this shit happen? Well. Let me give you 4 thoughts <beyond the obvious lack of rehearsing>:

- Forced rules of behavior

All the things I am going to type drive me crazy but maybe this one the most. These are the ‘rules’ like … you cannot stand still, or you have to move, or you can’t have your hands in your pockets, or … well … just go ahead and pick up a ‘how to’ presentation book … they will list all the ‘don’t rules’.

Nuts.

I just say ‘nuts’ to that.

Selena Gomez has her hands in her cardigan pockets just stepping up to the microphone and delivered. No one cared she wasn’t using her hands. Why? Because they were listening to what she had to say. As a generalization all the ‘how to present’ rules are stupid. If you have something good to say, and you say it in a compelling, believable, likeable way, the rest of the stuff just gets in the way. It’s all about the message. If you know, and like, your message just deliver it in as comfortable a ‘behavior’ style you want.

Nuts to all the book rules.

- Forced passion

This one drives me nuts too. It’s kind of like speaking with exclamation points hoping the exclamation points travel through the ether between you and your audience and pricks them in the ass to make them stand up and yell “hell yeah!”

Some people shout. Some people create sentences which they purposefully amplify the end. Some people shake a fist, or pound a table or make some ‘exclamatory’ gesture just so everyone knows they are passionate about whatever they are talking about. Sometimes they don’t really want to but someone suggests “show them you are passionate” and … well … the wheels start to fall of the good presentation wagon.

Well. It’s all forced.

And it’s a shame because most presenters are actually passionate about something related to their topic. And they don’t need to be overt to communicate it. They just need to share their passion in whatever way they exude it.

Selena Gomez? I had no doubt in my mind she was passionate. And all she did was talk. She said how she felt and what she believed. And you know what? I believed her. And I may have actually gone to my computer and done something if I wasn’t stupefied/mortified by the guy who took the microphone from her and tried to ‘infuse energy’ into the discussion <most likely because he didn’t feel like she was ‘energetic’ enough>.

Here is the bottom line. If you care, it will show. You need not tell someone you are passionate. In fact … here you go, a rule. Never say in a presentation, meeting or discussion … “I am passionate about ‘x’.” Prove it without ever saying it.

- Forced relevance <or forced theme>

I almost split this into two but they are just two sides of the same coin. In an attempt to make their topic relevant to either the audience or the environment <you can choose either> a presenter can go to some fairly absurd lengths.

They can use a joke which isn’t really relevant until you explain why.

Or you can do what an Australian presenter did by featuring a Men at Work <because she & they were Australian and she was speaking at a concert> lyric and stealing a word to thematically build energy to encourage people to act <”just like Men at Work said … they should hear our thunder!”>.

Well, let me say this, 99% of the time if you are using a joke or come up with some forced relevance it means you are working too hard. Go back to the simple first aspect and think about what it is you want to say. If it isn’t compelling or understandable, a joke or forced metaphor or forced semi-topical linkage isn’t going to help. In fact it can hurt. How? Because it is extraneous. And extraneous things and activity tugs the audience away from what you really want them to remember and say. I don’t usually get aggravated over this one instead I just get frustrated that the speaker doesn’t trust the topic is interesting enough, and it can be presented interestingly enough, to simply present it.

At the end of the concert I guess I was just surprised how bad <overall> the speakers were. Having never spoken at an outdoor festival <but I have been on the stage itself> I cannot imagine the level of nervousness standing in front of that microphone. My guess is your first inclination is to shout to be heard <thank god musicians learn that they do not have to very early on> and get thrown a little bit by the fact 90% of the audience is obviously, noisily, doing anything but listening to you. But that is no excuse for the level of performance.

Excepting Selena. She stood out. Very well done.

global citizen education

I left this to last because of all the Millennium Goals they discussed at the festival this is the one nearest and dearest to my heart – global children’s education.

<and I will update this post with the UN video on poverty & education when it becomes available because it is very well done>.

First.

Some numbers:

Total number of people that live on less than $2.50 a day 3 Billion

Total percent of World Populations that live where income differentials are widening 80%

Number of Children that live in Poverty 1 billion

Total Number of children that die each day due to Poverty 22,000

Total Number of School Days lost to Water Related Illness 443 million school days

Children around the world who are presently being denied an education 67 million

Total number of Americans that live on less than $23,050 annually <family of four> 46 million

Poverty & education is not just your country’s issue but also a global issue.

If you would like to read more about Children Out of School visit my post:

http://brucemctague.com/global-generation-10-115-million-children-out-of-school

Second.

I am always pleased when people recognize that education can play a crucial role in alleviating poverty. Because I believe most of the people in the West associate a ‘broken education system’ as the key issue and not poverty. When a community, in any part of the world, is living in poverty or even simply struggling economically, it is often the first thing to be overlooked.

In unstable living environments and communities education can often take a back seat as the health and safety of families takes priority, and rightly so, but this doesn’t mean that education should be ignored.

Today’s world doesn’t really have the time nor space for workers who cannot ‘read, write, and do arithmetic’ as well as find and use resources, frame and solve problems with other people and continually learn new technologies. Realistically the education challenge facing the United States is not that its schools are not as good as they once were but rather that schools must help the vast majority of young people reach levels of skill and competence once thought within the reach of only a few <and hopefully also opening minds to the ideals of a just and civil society>. When looked at his way the issue is similar everywhere globally.

But before you can even talk about teaching, or lessons, you need to discuss access and ability to attend.

Richer developed countries, where people are most able to afford to send their kids to school, provide an education at least through secondary school for free (some through university) yet poor countries that are full of people living at closer to poverty levels charge a fee for at least secondary school if not primary school as well.

For those of us in places like the US or UK going to school is a normal part of life, yet, for kids growing up in many developing countries, going to school is a luxury reserved primarily for those living above the poverty line. For instance in Pakistan, almost half of children from poor households are not in school, compared to only 5% of children from the richest households (UNESCO).

For those families living in poverty whose kids are in school, further barriers continue to stand in their way. Many rural villages lack access to schools. This leaves communities to either create makeshift schools in their homes, old buildings or in open spaces with unqualified community members stepping in as teachers, or to send their children to walk long distances to and from the nearest school each day, or to simply not send them anywhere at all.

These are just two factors that contribute to the 67 million children around the world who are presently being denied their basic human right of receiving an education, 95% of whom live in developing countries.

For those lucky children who manage to make it into a classroom, many of them are still leaving without a good education. The 2011 Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report reveals that millions of children in low-income countries are leaving primary school with reading, writing, and numeracy levels far below what is expected for their age group. Overcrowded classrooms, lack of teachers, high teacher absences, and lack of teaching materials are a few of the circumstances that contribute to problems we see in places like Pakistan where nearly two in three rural school children (aged 6-16) cannot read a basic story (March for Education).

Without providing a good education for these kids in developing countries to equip them with the skills and qualifications they need to be able to get a decent paying job, we risk the chance of trapping them in a never-ending cycle of poverty.

In addition it deprives the global community of a rich intellectual entrepreneurial/innovation opportunity.

While I don’t necessarily agree with HOW they are going about addressing this issue I absolutely 100% agree it is a key issue that needs to be addressed. Therefore in this case I believe any action is better than none.

Speaking of ‘good actions’, I am not sure this is part of the UN initiative, but I really like his program Credit Suisse is doing. It is extremely pragmatic but in its pragmatism it ‘drags’ the basics <reading, comprehension, critical thinking, and arithmetic … even ‘working well with others’ values> through the process. I may steal it <use it> as an example of what I envisioned as the ‘on-the-ground’ aspect of Project Global Generation.

Regardless. Here is a short video of the Credit Suisse Global Citizenship Education program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_potMotM9M

Anyway.

There is a great paper written by some professor <I am not good at sourcing> who pointed out some things about the education system relevant to any education system but particularly relevant as we think about poverty-stricken areas:

In the united states <and most western countries I would assume> our public schools have evolved historically as organizations serving two potentially conflicting purposes: to educate citizens and to process them into roles for economic production. To accomplish the first, schools have the role of supplying students with information and with learning skills. The results can be unpredictable because children’s intellects and skills develop in ways that we cannot predetermine. For the second goal, schools process students through stratified steps leading to predictable, marketable credentials for the workplace. The steps, and some of the outcomes, can be managed, controlled. Thus the school is organized to be in conflict with itself.

In the context of global social responsibility, the issues of livelihood and work need to be examined. We in the industrial world associate survival with employment. This association is being forced on other cultures as the global economy establishes dominance. But we must not forget that employment for survival is a relatively recent concept. It has not always been this way, and there are still parts of the world where survival is not based on working for someone seeking a profit from the labor of others. The conflicting educational purposes of jobs vs. citizenship can be alleviated if we encourage students to consider the social and environmental impact of the work they do. Jobs need not be about extraction, devastation, pollution, over-consumption or exploitation. It is important to remember that for thousands of years humans lived with sustainable relationships to nature and only spent a few hours of every day for their own subsistence. One of the purposes of technology was to save labor. By doing so, technology has been used to eliminate people’s livelihood, i.e. their jobs. Instead, it could be used to simply reduce the amount of time people have to work to support themselves and their families.

I admit I partially included this because I do believe the use of technology in education inherently can reduce to the amount of time to educate <thereby increasing the amount of time needed to survive> and ultimately reduce the amount of time people have to work to support themselves <and increases the amount of time to family>.

Last thoughts.

Poverty is a tough issue for people to practically grasp <easy in concept>. Mainly because, to many, it is so far beyond the simple “have” versus ‘have not.” Unless you actually understand what life in poverty truly is it becomes very easy to misconstrue the true issues with regard to education.

What I do not believe is difficult to grasp is that education is a strong weapon to kill the poverty cycle many families get stuck in. and, once out of poverty, these young minds become productive global citizens.

Selfishly … I hope we solve this poverty problem so these young minds can save us older people from what we have currently wrought.

Sorry for the long post … I probably should have broken it up but hopefully you found something in here worthwhile.

project global generation enlightened update

March 6th, 2012

So.

Here is what I hope to do that will “echo in eternity.”

Project Global Generation.

I have updated project global generation, about 75+ pages of it, with sources including TED, The Economist, Time Magazine, multiple foreign education programs (including Singapore & Korea), PewResearch, UNESCO and additional research studies … all as best I can.

www.projectglobalgeneration.com

I would have had to rewrite complete posts if I wanted to eliminate all redundancy (and … sigh … I was not up to the task) so most articles were updated to insure they had the most up-to-date thoughts.

Why update now? Time magazine had two recent articles on web based education.

“… hopes that the internet can improve teaching may at last be bearing fruit” – Time Magazine (Flipping the Classroom) 9/17

“… many people now believe that the internet can make a real difference educating children.” – Time Magazine (The Great Schools Revolution) 9/17

Maybe I am not as nuts as I thought I was (at least with regard to this idea).

Since 2008 or 9 I have been writing about Project Global Generation – a web based global children’s education initiative (and I am probably done because re-reading everything I am not sure I can write anything new or prove why it is a good idea and it is the time to do it).

Most people thought the idea was nuts … okay … they just thought (a) teaching via web was not going to be effective <in school hands on teaching was best> and (2) it wasn’t practical to implement <they couldn’t envision how it could actually happen>.

Maybe some people don’t think it’s that nuts anymore.

Regardless. I still believe it is a good idea.

If you want everything from strategy underpinnings, rationale, specific tactics, implementation plan of action and real costs, the project global generation website has it all.

Read it if you are interested.

Forward it to anyone you believe would be interested in it.

And.

If this isn’t your thing … please … at minimum … be interested in kid’s education.

Someday we will be dependent on them.

So. Care now.

And.

If you elect to visit the site here is what you will find. Here is the table of contents:

- About Project Global Generation

The welcome to the site and why I created this idea/initiative.

- Table of contents and summary

If you read only one thing this would be it. Right here (this post is the contents/summary). A cliff notes version of everything you can find on the site.

- 1. global generation: dawn of enlightened individuality (the global generation)

using a variety of sources I outline what I believe the generation after the Millennials, called The Global Generation, will look like attitudinally and how they ‘fit’ in the cycle of generations.

- 1a. The global generation student: about their abilities & attitude

using a Fischler study and the Singapore Ministry of Education I try and overcome some misperceptions about the abilities and attitudes of a younger generation of students

- 2. global generation: a look at millennials (and why they are not the global generation)

in this post I take a deeper dive into why I believe the Millennials will end up facilitating the Global Generation opportunity and not be the generation that will impact education & enlightened conflict directly.

- 3. global generation: sociology & the internet platform

there are some inherent sociological benefits to a we based education initiative and in this post I outline them.

- 4. global generation: developing critical thinking skills

in this post I outline how the Global generation, facilitated by a web based program, will be the greatest critical thinking generation we have seen.

- 5. global generation: education messaging underpinnings

in this article I outline the specifics of what makes up the educational aspects (and what does not).

- 6. global generation: learning by lurking

in addition to the sociological benefits as outlined in GG 3 we have seen some possible improvements a web based model can offer to learning/education.

- 7. global generation: tactics & implementation

after outlining the thinking behind the initiative in this post I outline the specific tactics & costs.

- 8. global generation: the role of the web (versus existing education systems)

in this post I outline the benefits of using a web based model for education trying to explain why flipping the existing education model is better and more practical for the future generations

- global generation 9: measuring the initiative impact (attitudinally and global attendance)

now that I have outlined the thinking behind the program, the specific tactics & costs to implement I suggest measurement objectives and will also using the most recent UNESCO global education report I outline how the initiative will assist in reaching the UN Millennium goals.

- 10. global generation: more on impact – conflict & enlightenment

Using an article from The Economist I outline how the initiative impacts value systems

- 11. global generation: implementing a conflict prevention program

I compare the initiative against other existing global initiatives to outline how this initiative will be more effective than most other programs because it affects ongoing behavior as a ‘preventative’ initiative rather than a ‘intervention’ type program

- 12. global generation: not too close a link to human rights

I outline my thoughts that this initiative is an education program and not a Human rights program and part of its challenge is to not judge different cultural/governmental/religious systems but rather through education there is a high potential for a stronger tolerance of different views as the generation moves into adulthood.

Some additional conclusion thoughts:

- global generation finds a voice

A number of well known celebrities have stepped forward to discuss the importance of improving education globally. In this article I highlight the “free your mind” award and spectacularly articulated award speech from an unlikely source – Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars

- Thomas Jefferson on Ignorance and Enlightened Conflict

using some Thomas Jefferson thoughts I leave you with some more philosophical ‘bigger picture’ things to ponder.

- me and my thoughts on conflict & people

just some last thoughts … because this is all about enlightened conflict anyway …

That’s it.

Oh. Why do I care?

“What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

global generation 12: not too close a link to Human Rights activity

February 14th, 2012

So.

With this post I am going to try and wrap up what I believe will be my last thought article on this initiative and then I plan on updating projectglobalgeneration.com with updating all the posts … and then let the chips fall as they may on that idea. I spent a couple days over my holiday vacation basking in the sun and writing. You have seen most of what I wrote, on this initiative, and this is it.

Anyway. I have written two back-to-back project global generation articles, one on the power of global collaboration and one on impact of conflict, referencing human rights and human rights initiatives as reference points.

Therefore, before anyone got too far in putting Project Global Generation initiative into a Human Rights bucket I wanted to take a moment and discuss kids’ education and Human Rights.

How close a link should there be? Not too close I suggest.

I am more interested in the “stimulus” within this particular ‘stimulus-response’ model.

The intent of this Global Generation education plan is the betterment of children’s minds. Sure. Somewhere down the road (let’s say when they are adults) this plan of action will probably benefit Human Rights initiatives.

Anyway.

I said two things specifically at the end of Global Generation 6 (actually 11 on enlightened conflict site and 6 on www.projectglobalgeneration.com) that I wanted to use as I discuss the impact Project Global Generation can have on human rights (and yet not be a human rights initiative):

In the end, society benefits from groups performing productively with another. Of course, teaching the basics of all of this at the preschool age means a greater likelihood of kids continuing positive collaboration abilities as they progress in life.

This is an idea of molding a people from diverse origins, cultural practices, languages, into one collaborative group of thinkers, within a framework which has to be democratic in nature (because it crosses any and all geographic boundaries, yet it can be absorbed within any cultural construct).

And by doing so it mitigates conflicts and adversarial interests without oppression and injustice but rather through expanding brain power.

I try and always am careful when discussing this global education initiative and the use of the word “values” or human rights … as well as ‘democratic’.

First.

Democratic in this sense has nothing to do with government not each city-state’s constitutional beliefs. Democratic in this sense has to do with the belief of a collective friendly collaborative framework.

Second. About values & rights.

I am less willing to get into some debate of whether one country’s values are better or more important than another’s (The Economist gave a nice snapshot of this discussion in a recent EU versus China article pointing out what is right in one country does not always make it right for another country .. nor healthy in terms of constructive relationships).

That said.

Simplistically I am proposing an education initiative for the betterment of minds and not a betterment of values. There is a sharing of ideas, and I assume values (or let’s call this … some belief system) will follow, because all of that is inherent in the “global collaboration” aspect simply because it is a web based initiative.

But (please). This is not a Human Rights initiative.

Sure. I do believe some rights are basic to all … but some are not universal (because of cultural differences). And I do believe that ignoring cultural differences (i.e., what is right in the minds of Americans, or even someone in the EU community, versus what is right in the minds of, say, a Muslim based country or a Monarchy directed country) is imperative for the success of a children’s global education initiative.

And, yes, I did use the word ‘ignore.’ Global education has to be religion/governmentally “blind” (or agnostic if you would like).

All that said. Interestingly there is something called “the 2048 initiative” which is more focused on a global legal platform – the overall intent of this adult legal program is similar to the Project Global Generation children’s initiative.

And I actually believe the 2048 initiative has the right perspective on human rights, i.e., side step sterile arguments about whose values may be better and focus on building a global legal platform and help individual countries obey their own laws (and the global foundational laws). And, interestingly, there is a good current debate on how effective this is (if you care about this kind of stuff pick up “The Justice Cascade: How Human Rights Prosecutions are Changing World Politics by K. Sikkink).

note: the first part of this sentence is not my idea but rather The Economist.

So.

I avoid human rights and debating values when discussing a global education program and focus on respect for choices (within some basic values construct such as ‘killing is bad’ and high level non debatable values type things). It should probably be noted that I actually placed these human rights initiatives on the left hand side of my tactical plan on action chart (highlighting the fact I believe they are important but separate).

A global education movement like I am suggesting is going to have to redefine traditional education itself. It will be expansive and non directional (meaning open-ended) in terms of values definition, governmental beliefs & religion.

All that said.

It would be foolish to ignore the fact that education at a very young age does affect morality (or, maybe better said, some values-based critical thinking). It is just inherent within learning.

In children, morality is typically reflected in judging, or in other words, the capacity to make good/bad distinctions. And that is all I care about within this initiative (although it has been brought up in discussion that this initial young child foundation evolves in teen years into a more principled behavior/decision making and, ultimately, in adults as a sense of obligation to contribute to the well-being of others).

Each step begets the next. If we elect to implement the first step in childhood then, bigger picture, as adults it is embodied as empathy (or tolerance as Helen Keller has suggested) for other humans.

This initiative, through the collaboration aspect, teaches children to treat each other with dignity, to act with concern for others, to take personal responsibility (all of which inherently benefit humanity … but, once again, is not Human Rights as such).
I believe Project Global Generation should be free and ‘choice neutral’ and accessible to all children (or via parent).

Through education we should all be aiming to empower children as they grow into a more educated adult to understand and critically reflect the conflicts of interests surrounding them, as well as to reflect one’s own individual role within a larger global community (and how they can impact as an individual within their own smaller community).

The inherent collaboration, or learning by lurking, aspect of Project Global Generation has the added benefit of encouraging an entire generation to actively shape the global future (in big and/or small ways).

Ultimately the intent is to provide a foundation of learning for children so that it actually leads to “understanding of choice” (even if you do not actually have freedom of choice).

Why do I feel this way?

Rights are often in the eye of the beholder, with some of them clearly demonstrating a perplexing and perhaps even contradictory side.

So this initiative really has nothing to do with ‘rights’ but rather values.

And when I came to that conclusion I searched value systems definitions and discovered this:

- Indications for understanding of value systems

It would seem useful to distinguish sets of value functions. It is also useful to attempt to distinguish for each case between: a positive interpretation (p); a negative interpretation (n); a paradoxical negative interpretation of the positive (pn); and a paradoxical positive interpretation of the negative (np):

Class I: Efforts at recognizing ‘the’ one fundamental underlying value governing human society, readily labeled by different constituencies as ‘love’, ‘profit’, ‘peace’, ‘justice’, etc according to orientation (p). This then tends to be used in an overly simplistic or fanatical manner resulting in a form of behavioural blackhole (pn). These value terms are however readily deconstructed into a referential void that is characteristic of this class and the (entropic) pull that it exerts on the constructions of other classes (n). Such seemingly ‘negative’ aspects of this function are also recognized in references to existential despair, alienation and emptiness (n) — which is valued in spiritual disciplines for the perspective (np) that it gives (‘dark night of the soul’, ‘ego death’, etc) and its mysterious relationship as a catalyst or matrix for the creativity of Class IV (Nishitani, 1982).

Class II: Value sets as assiduously elaborated by international constituencies in an effort to achieve universal consensus on a framework for action and governance (p). Such sets are also characteristic of religious dogma (eg sets of virtues). They may be viewed as essential to society for the reasons well argued by their advocates. They can also be viewed with suspicion as straitjackets on that very development of value sensitivity and diversity which ensures their relevance to living systems (pn). From a Class III perspective, such value sets are quite claustrophobic and inappropriate to a learning environment, to the point of being associated with outmoded patterns of dominance (n). Such sets may thus be seen as continuously decaying into Class I in the mindsets of the disabused and alienated. But it is precisely their ‘outdated’, predictable, dependable, disciplined quality which constitutes a vital complement (np) to the chaotic and evanescent value experiments of Class III, providing the stability through which Class IV can emerge.

Class III: Value systems created by individuals and groups to frame and enhance their particular, and often private, experience (p). The freedom and experimental quality of such value creation reflects the views of social constructionists and an appreciation of diversity. Not necessarily viewed as (to be) widely held, permanent, coherent, or systematic. They are essentially unstable and unaccountable (pn) and may be quickly abandoned (through a decay process into Class I) although they may undergo a form of reification (into dogma) into Class II, possibly accompanied by some form of institutionalization. Some, notably those advocating Class II frameworks, severely question and condemn the social incoherence and irresponsibility of such value relativism where ‘anything goes’ (n). It is however precisely in their role as an evanescent, exploratory complement (np) to Class II that Class III creates a dynamic environment through which Class IV can emerge.

Class IV: Emerging, surprising, new value patterns reflecting new degrees of sensitivity, coherence and fundamental groundedness as a source of inspiration (p) that contrast with those of Class II. In contrast to the chaos of Class III, these carry a recognizable quality of stability and integrity (failing which they decay into Class III, or directly into Class I). They tend however to attract a pathological enthusiasm, in a manner somewhat analogous to Class I, as offering ‘the secret elixir’ by comparison with the perceived irrelevance of other classes (pn). Through a form of value narcissism, they distract from the vital functions of other classes (n). They can be confused with more familiar values in other classes through a failure to recognize their originality and as such run the danger of being coopted under the frameworks of those other classes. It perhaps precisely in this manner that the new strengths renew the values in the other classes (np).

< Note: I apologize in that I lost the source for this but please note I cannot take credit for this extensive insightful analysis of value systems >

Although that may have sounded quite clinical, in an academic fashion, I believe it is helpful in uncovering how Project Global Generation can positively impact children through education – and its inevitable impact on a global value system.

In summary.

If you believe in the words you have just read, i.e., a more educated individual educated within a collaborative global community creates a strengthened global value system, then it is difficult for you to not be a proponent of this initiative.

I strongly believe that if we want individuals to benefit a more global community perspective then we have to work for it … and the best place to start is by giving our children an education.

And education that includes problem solving skills, critical thinking skills and collaboration skills.

I believe if we do so then we endow in them a consciousness and respect (for others ideas & ideals) all in “a spirit of brotherhood.”

Yes.

I believe very strongly that all human beings are born equal and free and are guaranteed certain inalienable rights that can never be taken from them and, in this case, I am speaking of education.

Project Global Generation is simply seeking to secure a higher standard of life for future generations – through education.

And through education at the youngest ages and, with that, I will go back to the beginning of this post:

So.

While Project Global Generation is not a human rights initiative, with its successful implementation, it should benefit what is right globally. Is that a play on words? You bet. But it gets me out of the Human Rights morass that could bog down this idea and be able to focus on the bigger education opportunity.

Using a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, then chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, here is where I believe the Global generation education plan and Human Rights meet.

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world … Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.”

Therefore … education can be viewed as a right. And it is so right to think of it that way because it isn’t about a country or a culture … but rather ‘so close, so small’ that it is unseen on a map. So. As with most relatively good ideas this idea circles back to the beginning as you read this quote – community individualism.

It will be the main characteristic of the global generation.

A generation retaining a strong sense of “small places, close to home” and the culture they hold each & every day … yet balanced by what they have learned in a larger global society collaboration of learning and shared ideas through education.

Regardless.

I don’t want an education initiative to get bogged down on a human rights discussion. What I do know is that it is our responsibility, as adults, to uphold educating our children as a promise for bettering future generations.

global generation 10: 115+ million children out of school

January 9th, 2012

Okay, here we go, back to discussing global education for children.

I just got my hands on The UNESCO “children out of school” global research study (it is a study focused on The UN Education for all Campaign and Millennium Development Goals in which, worldwide, it attempts to ensure that no child is excluded from receiving a primary education).

Official title: The study from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in Montreal – Children Out of School: Measuring Exclusion from Primary Education.

This study is amazing.

Particularly if you care about what kids are, or are not, learning globally.

And particularly if I needed a specific tangible objective for project global generation children’s education initiative.

Let me state some things (before I go into one of my diatribes).

Globally, 28% of all children at official school entry age are not in school (that translate into almost 18% of ALL global children are not in school).

Yup.

Think about it. That’s almost one in 5 of all children. Just less than 30% of all kids who should be getting an education.

This is the kind of stuff that really gets me going.

This is the kind of information that makes me believe a web based children’s education initiative is THE way to future education success.

And while one in 5 is scary … I believe the numbers are understated (in terms of the issue).

UNESCO did an excellent job of isolating kids in school versus kids not in school (and normalizing the numbers from country to country).

But there are a couple of things which makes these numbers scary.

They did not measure dropout (and this is a MAJOR issue when discussing a lot of global rural communities).

They did not measure quality of education (that’s another discussion for another day).

And the numbers (issue) is certainly skewed toward emerging countries … and we in the industrialized countries certainly understand what issues reside in the education system we have today (and the numbers don’t isolate that issue).

The historical data shows a decline in the number of children out of school. But they also indicate that the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015 is most likely out of reach.

And I am going to show some numbers that may make it appear like we are being successful in creating a global education base (the graph plots trend data on the number of children out of school calculated by UNESCO for the period 1999-2005 and by UNICEF for the period 2002-2006 and the 2002 estimate in the latter trend line is based on joint work by UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics):

But we need to look beyond ‘the numbers.’

The truth is a little more disturbing.

If we assume that the reduction in the number of children out of school continues at the same average rate as over the past years (which is a big assumption because trends tend to flatten over time) more than 30 to 40 million children will still be out of school by 2015. We will certainly have failed in our effort to secure primary education for all children.

In addition.

The study reflects, as they isolated issues, that children who do NOT enter education at the appropriate entry age are significantly more likely to drop out (stop) education.

But.

Let’s stick with the issue as of today.

The study states that there are almost 115 million (out of a possible 650 million) children who are not gaining an education.

Unacceptable my friend … unacceptable.

So lets move on to seeking solutions and where to start by sharing some thoughts concluded from the study:

- Mothers matter (more than dads). The presence of a mother in household increases likelihood of education .. as well as NOT likelihood of education. If a mother has no education a child is significantly less likely to go to school. In fact 2 times more likely to be out of school.

- Poverty matters. 84% of out of school children in Latin America come from the poorest 60% of hhlds.

- Religion has no (statistical) significance. For all we pontificate about the suppression within some religions from a statistical significant it ain’t a dot on the map compared to other factors.

- Gender is also not significant (we just need more kids being educated … not girls or boys).

- In terms of sheer numbers India leads the pack representing almost 23% of the total

- In 14 African countries 50% or more are not attending school (which is scary because this country represents a significant growth population in the global economy).

Ok.

Those are some facts.

Some thoughts (because I still do believe in a global web based kid’s education initiative).

Let’s go to the big one.

Year one is important. REALLY important.

If you don’t start a kid at the right time … well … the odds of them getting the knowledge you desire decrease significantly.

You have to get them started.

In my eyes that is all about engaging their innate curiosity (that isn’t a research thing that is a Bruce thing).

I tend to believe part of the value of getting into the game early is that it sparks the natural/inherent internal engine inside each child.

Funding & getting kids in the game

So.

Let’s take a minute on “getting in the game.”

The Guardian just had a nice commentary on why poverty matters and financing/funding for The UN Education for all Campaign and Millennium Development Goals.

Oh.

Just in case you don’t know … this is the specific Millennium Development Goal (number 1 is directed toward Poverty and there are 8 goals in total).

- Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education targets

Target 2a: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling

- Net enrolment ratio in primary education

- Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach last grade of primary

- Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds, women and men

Will we reach the Millennium universal primary education goal by 2015?

No way. Not with the numbers I showed earlier. It will be a combination of children not even having the opportunity combined with the drop out rate.

The only way we can attain the goals (and all of the above, not some, are imperative to meet) without some innovative financing and thinking.

Here is the Guardian article on the funding challenge:

The MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) promised education for all, but to avoid failing the world’s most disadvantaged children, we need a global fund. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/dec/28/universal-primary-education-innovative-financing

So.

Unfortunately money does matter (even where this is good intent).

Do I agree with a global fund? You bet.

Do I believe it should be private investment driven rather than UN driven? You bet.

Why? Well … as I outlined in my Global Generation funding aspect … I believe someone with a truly philanthropic perspective (a betterment globally for all) is the only one who will have the kahones & fortitude to forge what needs to happen … across all geographic boundaries.

But funding of what (because just having the dollars is not enough if the idea is flawed)? This is where some innovative thinking should be kicking in. And there needs to be some innovative thinking because to truly have a global education initiative it needs to accommodate a couple of things:

- This Poverty issue (or what can someone afford). Why? Because poverty is a root cause of students dropping out of school. For example .. the Cambodia SES Survey found the literacy rate in rural Cambodian areas was a mere 64%. In the area around Kravanh, one of the remote SC locations, poverty is widespread. Making matters worse, many students live so far away from larger villages that they are unable to get to a traditional school. And with the poverty, their families can’t afford the school supplies, supplementary class expense or transportation to help their children continue in school.

(I mention that because a web based education system resolves lack of urbanization and supplementary class expense)

- Lack of urbanization. While emerging countries are urbanizing the fact it globally we are dependent upon a thriving rural community. Dependent not only from an economic point of view but also from a sustainable point of view. and if you combine a lack of affordable transportation infrastructure we need to find a viable non-brick & mortar education infrastructure to provide the access.

Of course I have a point of view on the innovations in the education infrastructure.

Global access (and the web)

Ok.

Let me attach another factoid (because I mentioned Africa earlier and that continent is an important segment of the global challenge).

Africa has over 600 million mobile phone subscribers.

This more than USA or Europe (I didn’t make that fact up).

Yes. More than USA or Europe (surprising isn’t it as we walk up & down our streets and seemingly everyone has a mobile phone).

I state that to make the point there is an education opportunity here beyond the tried & true brick & mortar school system.

And while we in the industrialized world may not get it, or understand it, there is an entire world out there existing off a mobile technology platform (for more than texting, calling & sending pictures).

So often we focus on what is right in front of us rather than seeing the big picture. The big picture isn’t face to face. The big picture is mobile technology. “Cloud” education and collaboration.

This probably sounds wacky to many of my readers but you need to take yourself out of your own situation and see yourself in a different place in a different environment.

Mobile technology is going to drive the emerging economy and world.

Think about this.

Today Africa emerging countries) only represent 2.5% of total global economy.

And while having 600 million mobile phones only 10 percent of the geography is mobile enabled.

Oh.

And while it may be easy to think they don’t have the leadership to allow it to happen this portion of the world is encountering a higher level of peace & stable government (whether we like it or not) then ever before.

If you examine generational trends you would see that the emerging countries (let’s just say Africa) or on the cusp of their own industrial revolution … with an internet engine which past industrial revolutions have never had before).

Ok, my friends, we will never see something like this ever again.

This is like having etch-a-sketch minds … millions of brilliant innovative intelligent minds … with NO preconceived notions (a blank etch-a-sketch) creating new ideas.

I hate to tell everyone here (in the good ole USA and any industrialized countries) but they are gonna think of shit we have never thought of ever before (and it will be good shit … things we can all benefit from).

C’mon.

Beyond Africa specifically … we are talking about 115 million untapped minds.

This is about potential and “what could be” (ok. what will be).

I am not going to go through all the characteristics to showcase how all the emerging economics are simply in the neophyte stage of “what has already been” because if you don’t just believe it inherently than all the facts I may show you won’t convince you.

Look.

The point of all this is:

- There is a global education issue.

- There is a global education opportunity

- There is a need to look at education in a non traditional way to maximize the opportunity.

In the end, Bruce opinions aside, there are 115 million kids not getting an education. For chuckles add another 84 million who drop out, for a variety of reasons, and say we have 199 million kids who are going to be uneducated adults.

What a waste of mind power.

What a frickin waste.

summarizing the global generation idea

June 23rd, 2010

It occurred to me after posting an introduction and 8 (maybe 9) posts and some ancillary relevant posts on the Global Generation and the Global Generation children’s program (which probably constitutes maybe 30 word document pages not including graphs and whiz bang images) that I should possibly attempt an executive summary type thing (or a recap). Ok. I would like to think I arrived at this brilliant summary thought myself but really someone read my stuff and said “hey. It would help me if you had a summary).

So. A brief recap.

I identified the window of opportunity by triangulating Generational attitudes and characteristics (citing Strauss and Howe cyclical generation sociological studies) and global interaction enabling innovations (the advent of internet based clustering trends and smartphones citing an Economist study among others) and “people” behavioral trends (Mass Mingling and “glocal” – citing trendwatching.com).

By triangulating I found the space (or window of opportunity) for the idea.

A reasonable question is “won’t people naturally gravitate to what you are suggesting naturally?”

Well. Beyond the fact people globally have shown no inclination in the past to develop this type of behavioral pattern I would also suggest this is a “window of opportunity” scenario. And I do not believe this window will remain open for the following reasons:

The enabler will move on to another iteration and the idea will have to shift with it.
If you believe in cyclical generational attitudes the next generation(s) will attitudinally not be receptive to the overall intent of the program.
Consumer trends (behaviors) will match generational attitudes therefore trends, which wouldn’t inherently support a global education program like this idea, will take on the characteristics of the generation attitudes.

I do believe there is a window of opportunity in this convergence of attitude, behavior and technological enablement.

Here’s the thing. No one has identified and labeled the generation after the Millennials yet. This ideas feeds into the gestalt of that following generation. Therein lays the success of the program and idea.

The benefits of this program or what would we hope the program achieves.

In my “measuring results” post I suggested two things that I believe are the most important:

1. “If 30 to 40 years from now we are in the midst of the greatest innovation revolution since the industrial revolution as cross culturally an entire generation will debate and ideate.”
2. Lessen ignorance global = lower levels of poverty globally, lower levels of genocidal conflict, higher levels of personal success, and higher levels of overall happiness.

In general, the overall plan should lead to less ignorance. Less ignorance leads to several things – less extreme types of human conflict and more positive friction type conflict (ideation & innovation).

If implemented correctly all income levels and cultures of children will “rise to a higher level” in adulthood.

So. In looking at these benefits one could debate ‘is this really an education initiative?”’

Maybe not in a traditional sense. It certainly has components of traditional “abc’s” and mathematical but in order to ‘fit’ the Global Generation attitudes it incorporates a higher level of importance on:

Critical thinking
Understanding of different cultures (and the choices they make)

It is a more expansive education platform then a traditional education intuitive.

What that also means is that there is nothing like this idea currently in the market.

Aspects of it? Yes.

If one were able to get possibly 9 existing web based children’s education organizations in one room with a 10^th who knew how to fill in the missing information and tie-in thinking this idea could happen next month (although I doubt it would be possible to get all 10 in alignment).

I guess my bottom line is that, no; there is no existing web program, like this already I place.

This is my summary of the idea in less than 600 words.

global generation part 2: a look at millennials

May 11th, 2010

This is a continuation of my thoughts on the Global Generation given there was an excellent new study about the Millennial Generation (sometimes referred to as Gen Y) issued several weeks ago (and the fact I continue to argue that the Millennials cannot be the Global Generation). As the millennials emerge into adulthood their experience will lead to a transfer of some positive aspects (additional learning) to the Global Generation.

With that said. This Pew Research study is the most detailed to date of the Millennial generation (say about 15+ to about 29). If you can’t remember a time when the world was not wired, you are a member of the 33 million American in the Millennial Generation. You feel you are special. You feel you are different. The fate of the planet is on your shoulders (or at least you think you are per the research). Millennials will probably be the most educated in American history (but they are also saddled with unemployment and debt and other issues proving education alone doesn’t solve all issues).
Before Millennials, perhaps the largest, richest and most influential – although that last is debatable – generation in American history were Millennial parents, the Baby Boom Generation, the some 78 million Americans born to G.I. Dads and Lindy dancing Moms in the years after the end of World War II. Succeeding them, born between 1964 and 1977, was Generation X, clocking in much smaller, at 37 million. But with over 80 million Americans born after 1977, the Millennial generation is the new large and in charge generation (it includes Echo Boomers – loosely defined as the children of the Boomers born after 1977). Like their Boomer parents before them, the opposite ends of the Millennial generation are vastly different from each other. And Millennials, say experts Strauss and Howe, “are unlike any other youths in living memory: More numerous, more affluent, better educated and more ethnically diverse than those who came before.” (source: social scientists who coined the term “millennial” – LifeCourse Associates, March ’06).

So. Although there is no one-size-fits-all description of individuals within a generation, Pew says its findings show clear, distinctive traits for the Millennials group, particularly in certain areas. The following sections showcase excerpts from the study followed by my thoughts on the impact for the Global Generation:

Technology & Media

Perhaps the most outstanding detail that distinguishes this generation — from even those born just a couple of years earlier — is their level of media consumption, particularly online. Today, the average teenager spends more than 72 hours a week using electronic media — cell phones, internet, television, music and video games — according to a 2006 study. 41% (and growing) have no landline just a cellphone. Because of their upbringing, life events and the advent of the internet The Millennial generation is moving forward as a group with an intense focus on openness, sharing information, as both an ideal and a practical strategy to get things done.

What this means to the Global Generation idea:

While Millenials are on course to become the “open, information sharing enabling generation.” Unfortunately, due to existing “local” circumstances and a desire to strengthen community, they will be stuck focusing on community (or national if you want to call that a large community) issues. They are an emerging power in this subject of media and technology. Let’s call them the “ice breaker ship” generation. What the heck. With all the glaciers melting and breaking up it seems an appropriate nom de plume. The Millennials are at the forefront of the enlightenment mindset. As they proceed into adulthood and start dealing with the adult issues they have been avoiding (and if Strauss & Howe are correct they will be facing some crisis type event that will solidify their legacy) attitudinally they will pass the openness torch onto the next generation (the global generation) where it should flourish. Functionally (with the web and technology) this generation is fine tuning the early adopters of technology, standardizing practices and usage, so that the Global generation will be empowered to maximize the technology (and probably enhance it in their own way).

Attitude.

Millennials think that the world owes them something. These are the offspring of helicopter parents, t-ball, and soccer games that have no winner and no loser. They’ve gone through the educational system without the benefit of constructive criticism for their work and in the workplace, can’t grasp the concept that they actually must perform and do it well. There are exceptions but often “just showing up” becomes a personal standard of “I am doing well.”

However, Overall, Pew says, Millennials are confident, upbeat and open to change. They’re more ethnically and racially diverse than their elders and also less religious.

Interestingly the Millennials legacy, attitudinally, may end up being how their collective non-conflict “whatever” personality deals with a crisis and an increasingly conflict world (how do they resolve the desire for community sense and manage conflict slowing the spread of sense of community).

What this means to the Global Generation idea:

The Millennials openness to a diversity of thinking, beliefs and attitudes will provide the platform for the Global Generation to enable that attitude. Millennials acquired this attitude “on their own” without the assistance of parents while the Global generation will gets ‘hands-on’ encouragement for enabling diverse attitudes. The Global Generation will further benefit as Millennials mature and recognize life is about winners and losers and their grayish attitudes on life begin to start taking on clearer colors (not always black & white). Attitudinally the Global Generation will doubly benefit as GenXers fully mature from the “Me” attitude to a fuller understanding of “we” and will encourage this combination of me/we attitude to younger generations.

Social.

Because the recession has someway shattered the world Millennials thought they knew they talk more about having autonomy and freedom, and in so doing, not being as enslaved to material goals that they perceived their parents being caught up in. They do talk about life happiness not based on economic success or achievement as much. Millennials are reordering their values and attitudes. They volunteer at higher rates than previous generations. “Civic trends have always risen with age. This generation is now emerging as being much more involved at a much younger age,” says Pew.

What this means to the Global Generation idea:

This Millennial sense of community, and civic duty, on a local level will start clashing with the Global Generations’ experiences via the internet on what is happening in “other local areas” globally. It sets the stage for individual empowerment to make a difference in communities worldwide (not just local community). The Global Generation will become the communicator of this “power of the community to
make a difference” globally helping begin the creation of a global community made up of distinct local communities. Having shed the burden of solely seeking material goals (encouraged by Millennials) global communication becomes easier as conversations evolve to values and aspirational alignment versus “haves and have nots” materially. This, combined with individuality (driven by the next topic – family), will create the social foundation for the Global Generation.

Family.

From the way they were raised to their views on marriage, Pew found, Millennials are a world apart from their elders. For example, only 61% grew up in a two parent household, a smaller percentage than the three previous generations. And just 21% are married (half the percentage of their parents’ generation at the same ages) and 34% are parents.

What this means to the Global Generation idea:

The Millennial experience simply strengthens the Global Generation’s social capabilities (understanding the value of an extended family). Family will always be valued but the Global Generation will have firsthand knowledge of the fragility of the belief and the strength of extended family ties. In addition, the Global Generation will be impacted by their parents, the first “divorce driven” generations the GenXers/Boomers, as well as the family value but materialistic generation of maturing Boomers. As with many other things this convergence of conflicting experiences will create a strong sense of Individual Empowerment (or the belief that the only thing you can count on is ‘yourself’). The recession’s impact on families will assist in strengthening the Global Generation’s resolve with hard work and the value of simple camaraderie (rather than cutthroat competitiveness).

Mindset.

From what I have seen, the Millennial generation is institutionally-minded, has a “we can fix it” attitude despite a libertarian bent, is community-focused, materialistic, upbeat, and usually is respectful and cheerful. Millennials are socially liberal (and so were the GIs by the standards of their days). But. Keep in mind this is not really a radical type thought for a generation (as noted by Winston Churchill):

“Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.”

What this means to the Global Generation idea:

Boomers as they reach senior leader status are going to be stretched to learn to stop judging generations according to 1950s era education preferences, when knowing what nation & ideology last mattered. Borders may be less important because of internet yet I also see a new stronger stance on the importance of country (an extension of community) with the Global Generation. This in part will be formed by the extent of whatever Crisis the Millennials will have to deal with. Regardless the Global generation, seeking some construct in their lives and living through the internet the aspects of communities globally, will recognize the importance (and distinctness) of country. So while the borders may be less important the national attitude will become stronger. Because of many of the factors listed above (recession, family, technology, information access, etc.) I believe the Global Generation will also acquire parts of the preceding attitudes and be an “optimistic realist” generation. Gathering up the upbeat community of Millennials, GenXer ‘me cynicism’ and Boomer optimistic no boundaries the pieces will converge within the Global Generation creating a unique understanding of Individual and Community and Optimism and Realism.

How it all fits together (with this whole Global generation idea I have)

This study continues to confirm not only my hypothesis but also furthers Strauss & Howe’s 4^th Turning construct. A snapshot of 4^th Turning ‘turnings’ as they lead into the Global Generation:

From the Arthurian Generation through today’s Millennial Generation children, there have been 24 generations in the Anglo-American lineage. The first six were purely English. The next four were colonial, yet still heavily influenced by English society and politics. The eleventh (Awakeners, born 1701-1723) became the first distinctively American generation—the first whose name, birth years, and persona diverge significantly from peers in the United Kingdom. The Awakeners were also the first generation to be comprised mostly of native-born Americans and—late in life—the first to know the U.S. nation and flag. So although today’s Millennial children are the 24th in our full lineage of post-medieval generations, they are 14th in the American line. The Global Generation will be the 15^th.

Where we are today (and tomorrow):

- The Hero archetype is born in an Unraveling, enters young adulthood in a Crisis, midlife in a High, and elder hood in an Awakening. (this is the Millennial Generation)

- The Artist archetype is born in a Crisis, enters young adulthood in a High, midlife in an Awakening, and elderhood in an Unraveling. (this is what I call The Global Generation)

In 4^th Turning terms we are currently living at the tail end of what they call an “Unraveling” (and if you read my site at all it is easy to believe it is so).

Associated with Unravelings in the past are the same generational (people) divisiveness and spiritual wanderings we see today. In addition this also means we are at the cusp of a Crisis (yet to be determined) that will inevitably realign us on a variety of issues.

A brief overview of the entire lifecycle so you can possibly go back and reassess some words and thoughts):

- As ARTISTS replace Heroes in childhood during a Crisis, they are overprotected at a time of political convulsion and adult self-sacrifice.

- As conformist ARTISTS replace Heroes in young adulthood during a High, they become sensitive helpmates, lending their expertise and cooperation to an era of growing social calm.

- As indecisive ARTISTS replace Heroes in midlife during an Awakening, they apply expertise and process to improve society while calming the passions of the young.

- As empathic ARTISTS replace Heroes in elderhood during an Unraveling, they quicken the pace of social change, shunning the old order in favor of complexity and sensitivity

Conclusion:

While the Millennial Generation is highly educated they, of all generations in recent (possibly anytime) history, are unprepared for the crisis or catastrophe they will be faced with (that doesn’t mean they won’t figure it out just that it will be challenging). Strauss & Howe suggest they will be the next Hero generation. All signs are that they have all the characteristics, if not capabilities, to assist us in dealing with the inevitable crisis we will have to deal with (Straus & Howe suggest that ‘crisis’ will occur sometime within the next 5 to 10 years).

“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.”

H. G. Wells

This crisis will further define many things for our future. Yet. As with historical cycles there are certain aspects that will inevitably evolve. The Global Generation will be in one of the most unique situations of any prior generation (I may do another post to identify similar generations and how they responded).

My biggest concern, or fear, is not the Crisis but rather remains with the “enabler” <the web>. The generation of people is happening and evolving attitudinally. It is a convergence of everything necessary to create the global generation. A generation which will combine a community attitude diverse and open to attitudes as well as individual empowerment (the strength of individuals to make an impact). But the enabler, the internet, remains the wild card. I do not believe there is any doubt the internet will become available worldwide (I believe cellphones will take it to the next level to access developing countries to become a true global platform – there is a brilliant study on cell phone technology printed in The Economist late last year).

The main issue with the internet it is the accuracy of the information and the even handedness of the information that needs to be resolved. The web continues to be a megaphone for divisiveness and biased opinions. At some point someone needs to offer an altruistic open factual information platform. Google certainly has the opportunity but other organizations or an unbiased philanthropic group could step up.

Part 3 will be specifically about the Global Generation and thoughts on how they to impact them and how they will impact the Globe (and America).

Think + Minds Get Enlightened = Qatar

March 3rd, 2010

Huh? (Be prepared. This is a mini rant on my own ignorance)

So. The Qatar Foundation has a marketing campaign called Think (“unlocking human potential” is the theme). Immediately I thought I would be re-writing my Nigeria re-branding rant using Qatar as an example. Qatar? Open minded? Schools for fresh ideas? C’mon. It’s a Muslim country.

Uh oh. There’s that damn ignorance popping its head up again.

So I did some searching.

First. Idiot that I am, I needed a map to even be sure where Qatar is. Kind of slightly embarrassing.

Second. Yes. Qatar is an Arab emirate, primarily Muslim, on the northeasterly coast of the Arabian Peninsula bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise surrounded by the Persian Gulf.

Here’s the deal. They have an incredible 83% literacy rate. (depending on the numbers you use…USA has an 86% literacy rate). The Qatar Academy, member of Qatar Foundation, recently welcomed leading UK children’s poet and author Nick Toczek to give a presentation of his poetry. Ok. I didn’t expect that either.

Ignorance is a scary thing.

The fact I couldn’t mentally pinpoint Qatar on a map without a physical one is scary. The fact for some odd reason my knee jerk reaction to this advertisement was “wow, how open minded for a Muslim country.”

Scary reminder for me how much I don’t know.

It reminds me that the biggest war being fought is not in Afghanistan, Africa or Israel. It is within the individual. It is the war against ignorance. What I know could probably fit in a thimble.

The sooner all of us recognize that (excluding the people who aren’t that ignorant) the sooner we may have a chance globally.

Ignorance is debilitating.

Conversely, curiosity is surprisingly energizing.

It facilitates debate and dialogue and yes sometimes conflict.

We need to remind ourselves that possibly the two greatest libraries in the history of the world resided in Muslim geography – Alexandria and Cordoba (yup. Muslims controlled the majority of Spain for several hundred years…and they had an open society inclusive of Christians and Jews).

I am not defending the religion of Islam (because I honestly don’t care what an individual’s religion is). What I am fighting is ignorance.

So. Here’s the deal. I am using Qatar as an example of perception versus reality. And the fact my ignorance almost made me look quite silly. Thank God curiosity came to save the day.

In the end I guess, despite the fact I just conducted a rant on my own ignorance, this little learning on Qatar has reminded me of three things:

I need a world atlas

90 percent of Muslims (ok, a big number) are not extremists and have always been students of knowledge

Never trust perception (seek reality). Or maybe better said…Always trust Curiosity.

my thoughts on conflict and people

February 2nd, 2010

So. What is it about me and conflict?

First. I like contradictions in life. Smart and funny. Silent but says a lot. Liberal conservative. Cynical optimist. Things like that. Oh. And enlightened and conflict of course.

Contradictions are powerful. They create a chemistry ending in positive friction (when done right) and the fire for innovative thinking and thoughts. In general I believe they make life interesting.

Second. Conflict is part of life. Humans are neither passive nor stagnant. We move. We do. We think. Combine that fact with individuals are unique (although they may group together) and inevitably there is some conflict. It can simply be healthy competition or it can be staggeringly evil intended activity (i.e. there will be conflict because your point of view and thoughts shouldn’t exist and I am going to extinguish them).

Third. I believe conflict can be “managed”. Maybe call it competitive camaraderie. I call it enlightened conflict. I believe if people know more about stuff (I don’t really believe it needs a technical term) then conflict will be conducted with knowledge. Ignorance guides conflict toward evil interactions and knowledge guides conflict to responsible interactions.

Fourth. “Enlightened”. My focus in life, whether I have recognized it or not, has been overcoming ignorance. Fulfilling curiosity – either mine or anyone’s life I glance off of. But I would envision someone would argue I am fighting for some version of pluralism. Freedom to learn and think different thoughts. I love freedom of speech but it is less important to my thoughts globally. Possibly because I believe the less ignorant people are the more likely they are to speak out (therefore we will end up getting some form of freedom of speech as a byproduct of this whole thing).

In the end I imagine what I really care about are people’s actions. They can remain mute as far as I am concerned as long as their actions respect others opinions and lives and global responsibilities.

Summarizing my deal with conflict.

My theory is conflict will always exist (human nature). On all levels – from huge populations aligned for ‘whatever’ cause to an individual aligned behind a belief. And that is okay. The friction between beliefs and causes often creates the spark for something better. Yup. I am suggesting conflict and friction is good (I apologize to all the “why can’t we all get along” groups). Good conflict leads to positive friction and ideation and evolution of ideas. And I believe we should try to manage that conflict globally by developing kind of a ‘values’ rules of competition.

Simply it revolves around two thoughts

Positive friction.
Enlightened conflict.

The first is based on curiosity plus friction equals better ideas and thinking.

The second is lack of ignorance plus conflict equals respectful competition (and yes … unfortunately the competition can be war … but it is war understanding the repercussions on humanity and the toll it takes).

If I could do what I really want to do it would be to create a global program or educating a global generation of kids. I have written some fairly extensive thoughts on how to create a global program for kids (up to 8 years old) to help fight ignorance and create a more balanced global community with respect to individuals, their beliefs and the environment (it is not a math, grammar, etc. education program). Someday I hope to find someone who will ask me to implement it.

Until then? I will hope that I can impact the little corner of my world with positive friction for enlightened conflict.

“Enlighten the people, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.”

Thomas Jefferson