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Today someone said to me: "I am so sorry you live in Kali Yuga, this age of darkness." Evils of this age..... Hunger, sweatshops with suicide nets in china, sex slaves in syria with isis, child slaves peeling prawns, Answer
Social Entrepeneurs.
With the global warming, I think many of us are impelled to think and are trying to change our ways of living to produce less CO2. Being able to see the bigger picture, in an effort to try and make a change in the bigger global picture, helps.
Cities are looking at ways of becoming more educated on becoming sustainable, while first world countries are making HUGE leaps at developing infrastructures for renewable energy! With our shop small trend, we have proven that we can educate consumers with purchase power. Advertising and clever marketing does cloud our judgement while prying on our needs.
While it is proven to be difficult to make better purchases, even when the consumer is educated, it's one strong vote to put your money where it will make a difference in the world, in the long term. Your purchase can be your strongest vote. This is just one way to be the change we need to see here on Earth.
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi
So, as this year ends, will you to be the change that you would like to see in the world? Will you claim it, change it, and make it reality? Making the change an actual part of our world?
Have you heard of HANDY yet? Indeed, a very handy study conducted by Safa Motesharrei. It pretty much comes down to the collapse of western civilization and why. In this paper the goal was to propose a mathematical model that would explain why societies collapse. With so many variables this does seem like an attempt grasping at air but using the variables of population, nature and wealth they reached HANDY short for Human and Nature Dynamics. It says, for example, that if there are many rabbits but only a few wolves in an area, the wolf population will rise because food is plentiful, and the rabbit population will fall because they are being eaten. Eventually there will be too many wolves and too few rabbits, so most of the wolves will starve to death. With fewer predators remaining, the rabbit population will increase, and the cycle repeats – lots of rabbits, then lots of wolves, then …. They then looked at the interactions of human-nature in three distinct types of societies: Egalitarian, Equitable and Unequal with the non-working elites consuming 10-100 times as much as the commoners who do all the work. They did fail to show any other past civilizations who collapsed due to the gap between the overpopulated poor masses and the needy elite consumptionists. So as the wealth of Corporate giants accumulates wealth with production and decreases with the buying power of consumption from the elites and commoners. There should be enough wealth to pay the working population but since the elites pay themselves high salaries the wealth becomes so small that the payment of the working gets reduced resulting in famine and death. This tipped balance in the scale of class power cripples the means and infrastructure of the poor working class leaving them helpless. A full collapse happens when wealth cannot grow any further. This could be because of the poor working class dieing, depletion of natural resources. The commoners and the elites fall with the working class who cannot sustain them anymore. I am an average USA consumer and commoner. I cannot afford to NOT shop at the corporate giants and bigbox retailer who grows wealthy on the backs of these poor workers. Growing up with very little in South Africa I am well adverse with making my own clothes. Comparing the price of fabric, the time spent and the low asking price of fashionable clothing, making my own clothes makes absolutely no sense. Getting out of this evil cycle of consuming and repeating the cycle seems hopeless. So am I part of the problem? Absolutely and it makes me sick to my stomach. In my limited understanding I would say: we need restrictions on the salaries of the elite, standardized sales prices on products, restrictions on misleading advertising, extended lifespan of products, perception campaigns to represent the working-class, corporate funding for infrastructures and resources of the poor, legal limitations on corporate giants extorting the poor, weak and uninformed.
Following the rabbit down the hole from #UN to #GlobalGoals I stumbled upon #SDGs... NO IT IS NOT #STD and that is why I hate acronym #tags.... If you however take to twitter and search #susdev you will get a great resource about sustainable development with big and many many small companies all in conversation. So getting back to #SDGs the Sustainable Development Goals as set out by the United Nations on sustainabledevelopment.un.org. In my ignorance Transforming our World: The 2013 Agenda for Sustainable Development reads like a novel by Sir Thomas More. Is it's Utopia even a realistic goal? I am all for big goals but how about starting with small ones? In the opening paragraph this sentence however stands out: "...extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development." We cannot progress or put an end to poverty when people are not feeling safe. Maslow already proved this. To start the process to a more humane future we need to "re-humanize politics and economics based on the solidarity of ordinary citizens" (Ikeda's Peace Proposal) RIGHT NOW, and figure out the basics for peace, TODAY.  I think a good small goal to start with would be to eradicate weapons of mass destruction. An International Survey by SGI Youth Shows 91% Consider Nuclear Weapons Inhumane. Nuclear weapons are only the tip of the iceberg of what is wrong but as a human race we cannot develop or prosper with the threat of weapons of mass destruction hanging over our heads. Collectively, the abolition of nuclear arms is a start to feeling safe, and to be free of fear. Taking a stand together, as a generation of people, is the only way to ensure a future for our kids.
For Work for Africa to ever become a reality we would need certain resources to make it happen. 1) Electricity. As you can see this is not a given in most of the world. Elon Musk is working on sustainable power with the Tesla Powerwall.  Source: NASA.gov 2) The Internet. Connecting the world in equility requires having access to the internet which Mark Zuckenberg is making a reality with Internet.org. 3) Electronic Devices A device that needs to be repaired or replaced every 2 years wont do.... Im still trying to find solutions on this one... 4) Easy tools to explain SEO and Marketing to the average joe on the street. Almost there with the grace of God who gives me strength.
Frederick Willen de Klerk was the South African president who put an end to apartheid. He facilitated the transition of 'white -ruled' South Africa over to the black oppressed majority lead by Nelson Mandela in 1994. This happened a small 30 years after all segregation was abolished by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the USA. President de Klerk was finally able to do this only because he understood that: "Peace does not far well where poverty and deprivation reign. It does not flourish where there is ignorance and a lack of education and information. We still do not have peace in South Africa. South Africa is the only county in the world where affirmative action is in the favor of the majority who has complete political control. The fact the the political majority requires affirmative action to protect them against a 9% minority group is testament to a complete failure on the part to build their own wealth making structures, such that their only solution is to take it from others. - London Times This also make South Africa the PERFECT test subject to help pave the road to peace....
January 1 is the start of a new year and beginning, but also a day to renew your commitment to a World of Peace by acknowledging World Day of Peace.
Nelson Mandela said that “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
Every year Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist philosopher, author, peacebuilder, and Soka Gakkai International's president, issues a Peace Proposal every year. A year ago, Ikeda proposed for a more humane future through increased collaboration between the UN and civil society that would empower people to overcome suffering.
This year Pope Francis calls for peace....
It's been just a few short months since we were here, on social media, honoring the 70th anniversary.
While... there is conflict in Syria. Chaos and destruction caused by “Daesh” (ISIS) with a refugee crisis following its path of apocalyptic-like destruction.
But how bad is it really? See the movie below: 'The Fallen of World War II'? The amount of people who lost their lives in this 6 year Middle Eastern war has staggered to 70 million with 20 million lives being civilians'.
"Peace is a difficult thing to measure. It is a bit like counting the people who didn't die, in wars that never happened. We give such importance to the word peace but we don't tend to notice when it occurs or report on it." - Neil Halloran The Fallen of World War II from Neil Halloran on Vimeo.
And here we go again? Right now, if we're planning on NOT repeating history, then it is more crucial than ever to talk about peace and to remember the alternative... This narrative cannot be forgotten in history!
The Rising Tide - Europe Refugee Crisis
Life is like an echo. What we send out is what comes back to us. You will sow what you reap and get what you give. What you see in others is often what also exists inside of you.
Mark Zuckenberg has a dream to provide free internet to the world, something we already enjoy without thinking twice in the USA. He envisions it as a “911 of the internet” and feel that just like we have access to emergency care, so the internet should also be accessible by all.
As a South African in America I can understand first hand the effect this dream of his can have. Back at home we have students desperately trying to complete studies while textbook got delayed by corrupt officials. Riots and violence makes it hard to leave home let alone hold a job. Having access to the internet gives us access to knowledge, remote communication, the ability to be productive without being at a workplace.
"Bringing the World Internet access is our moral responsibility!" - Mark Zuckenberg.
Targeting the poor and giving them the ability to explore a digital word will definitely be scary and strange at first. I often tell my clients before they are able to fully understand marketing their businesses on Facebook, they need to plugin on Facebook as a human.
Make friends with people you know, find your estranged family, seek out old flames. When you are drawn to the addiction down the rabbit hole of your social feed only then you can also understand the power of its full reach.
The poor might feel extorted and used to drive capitalism but I am urging you to please look further. When you look further and see that YOU can be on the receiving side. YOU can be empowered. YOU can use this tool to be your own boss. YOU can work towards building your own business. YOU have the ability to support your family....if you decide to put in the work.
The internet is one of the most powerful tools for economic and social progress. It gives people access to jobs, knowledge and opportunities. It gives voice to the voiceless in our society, and it connects people with vital resources for health and education. - Mark Zuckenberg
Internet.org was created to connect the world, but to do this many obstacles must be overcome. In this day and age it might be hard to grasp but not everyone wants the poor connected and empowered. In a consumer driven society capitalism and corporate giants with big CEO's dependent on the labor and submission of the poor.
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." - Steve Biko. "Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings". - Nelson Mandela
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