It's All My Fault: How I Messed Up the World, and Why I Need Your Help to Fix It
Page 16
In totality, the entire world pays out over $1.5 trillion dollars each year towards military spending. Any way we slice it, frankly, it’s not only illogical, but an extremely inefficient and damaging way to spend our valuable resources. Even after all of this spending, have we become completely safe and immune to war and violence? If we increased military spending tenfold globally, and collectively spent $15 trillion a year, would that eliminate all threats, and ensure that all violence would drop to zero? Or, would we be in the exact same place we are in right now, except much more paranoid, much poorer, much more stressed out from the further crumbling of infrastructure, education, roads, and other public services, and no less likely to be susceptible to violence? We need to come to terms with the fact that full security from danger is an illusion that we can never achieve; and beyond a certain threshold, more security spending has a very marginal effect on increasing our safety. It would be much more effective to spend that excess money in ways that could eliminate the problems before they begin. What’s even worse is that from an economic standpoint, building up these security-centric industries becomes such a heavy component of the workforce that eliminating them creates a new problem: more unemployment. This means that those who pay their mortgages through imprisoning people, spying on people, and fighting wars will need to continue finding people to imprison, spy on, and bomb to keep being able to put food on the table. It’s madness. In the long run, we cannot truly prevent others from hurting us in some way. We can only help create a world in which they have no reason to want to.
By properly diverting even a fraction of the resources from security-centric initiatives towards initiatives that empower people, we can eliminate the need to have such large defense budgets in the first place. In the United States, Project On Government Oversight released a 2011 report identifying $586 billion in potential national security spending cuts over a ten-year period. Could you imagine if every country in the world decided to divert 25% of their defense spending to be invested in local leaders who wanted to create different versions of the Crowdfunding for Cities initiatives from chapter ten? Can you even begin to imagine how much faster we could start solving all of our biggest problems with an extra $375 billion per year to go towards developing these types of projects? To put that number in perspective, the UNESCO Education For All Global Monitoring Report states that with an extra $26 billion per year, we could provide primary education to every child on the planet who does not currently receive it. All of this military spending comes out of us global citizens’ tax dollars – why aren’t we making a stronger push to allocate some of it towards more productive means that increase our quality of life in the big picture?
In order to make the transition from our current state into the future vision of life as a grand festival --an abundant paradigm in which everyone has their basic needs met -- it can be valuable to start from the end, and work backwards. At this point, we haven’t yet developed the technological and logistical capabilities to completely automate the process of providing for everyone’s food, water, clothing, shelter, energy, and sanitation needs at low cost, so the innovative future breakthroughs in areas such as robotics that emerge will represent the phase right before the final vision can be actualized. However, in moving back another phase before that, we’ve already begun making many of the breakthroughs necessary to begin the transition away from full dependency on excessive consumption, the fiat currency based financial system, and an artificially scarce resource distribution methodology for survival. A hybrid economic system comprised of versatile global citizens capable of both participating in financial markets and creating their own basic survival needs becomes much more stable and balanced; and much less prone to volatility, inequality, corruption, and exploitation. We’ve already got the tools necessary to begin living more self-sufficient, minimalist lifestyles; and the emergence of the sharing economy is aiding the process of resource conservation.
Naturally, in this transition phase, the majority of the groups of people that are most willing to move from the consumption paradigm to the creation paradigm are the ones who are doing it out of financial necessity. Those who have recently left high school or college and haven’t been able to find adequate work --who don’t have any children or mortgages -- are the prime candidates capable of relocating geographically, taking on leadership positions, and spearheading the charge. As we begin to crowdfund our downtrodden cities back to life -- and witness the emergence of completely new types of cities – the next waves of people who will be able to join this movement and reap the benefits include the long-term unemployed, those who have fallen victim to foreclosure, and the homeless community.
One of the great things about this Crowdfunding for Cities model of social change is that it has the capacity to build momentum as slowly or as quickly as the members of the general public are willing to embrace it. For those who are still most comfortable in the traditional consumption paradigm, traditional employee paradigm, and traditional city paradigm, they are not forced to make radical changes right away if they don’t feel comfortable in doing so. Everett Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovation states that there is a process by which new ideas are adopted: the first group that buys into the idea is called the innovators; then comes the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority, and the laggards. Before a new idea picks up steam and becomes trendy, the innovators and early adopters will first bring it to life, and show the early majority why it is superior to the status quo. In this instance, the main benefits will entail more meaningful and purpose-driven types of work, more freedom to self-actualize and discover passions, more channels to foster creativity and sharpen critical thinking abilities, a stronger sense of community, and a more socially conscious type of lifestyle. As time goes on, and more and more jobs continue to get squeezed out by automation, outsourcing, the obsolescence of particular industries, market volatility, and executives seeking to maximize shareholder profits by cutting employee salaries and benefits, more individuals who become disillusioned with business as usual and a life of temp jobs will be willing to test the waters of this new paradigm. In the interim phase, during this transition into the future, both types of cities and ways of living will be able to coexist.
14
End Poverty or Die Trying
It was nearly seven years ago when I first decided that I was going to take a detour off of the beaten path of life to discover what else was out there in uncharted territory. I knew deep down that there had to be more to life than the world I saw, and I knew that I would stop at nothing to find the answers I was seeking. Throughout human history, countless people have sacrificed their lives and suffered immensely in order to allow the world to evolve to its current state for our benefit. From Socrates choosing to drink hemlock to prove that the threat of death could not prevent a person from choosing their own beliefs, to Nelson Mandela spending 27 years in prison to end apartheid in South Africa; we are, in the words of Isaac Newton, standing on the shoulders of giants. The heroic leaders of our past have conspired to put us in a position where we are now able to pursue the peak levels of freedom, happiness, and the actualization of our highest potential to make life better for others. Because of this, I firmly believe that allowing fear to prevent us from doing what is in our hearts is nothing short of a tragedy.
I am a mere link in this chain; doing my best to build upon the breakthroughs of those who came before, so that I can leave this place better off than when I arrived for those who will come next. All of that being said, I still could not in a million years have predicted what life was going to have in store for me during the course of this journey. Looking in the rearview mirror, I can clearly see how every painful setback was necessary in its own way to give me the tools and courage to light the way for others. And now, it’s time to take things to the next level.
Though I’ve used the previous chapters to lay out a roadmap for a better future, at the end of the day, these are nothing more than words on a p
age. A person can spend twenty years reading books about how to ride a bike, and learn all of the parts and terminology like the back of their hand; but if they don’t ever physically get on and practice, they do not know how to ride a bike. Likewise, right now I’ve organized plans that we can absolutely use to revitalize our world, but there is a big difference between understanding ideas intellectually and implementing them. Social change comes about through a change in the way we operate in the world. This is why it is of the utmost importance that we avoid the pit of paralysis of analysis, and be sure to move forward with taking action. Too often, we spend too much of our precious time and energy in endless debates and arguments with people who disagree with our ideas, trying to convince them that they are wrong. This is not a very effective use of time. Whether or not everyone agrees with us does not make an idea valid or invalid, the only thing that makes it valid is executing it and seeing the results. While there are some cases where lengthy debates are unavoidable, I’d estimate that the vast majority can and should be sidestepped. Can you imagine what would have happened if Orville and Wilbur Wright lived in the internet age -- and wasted all day fighting with every doubter and hater in comment sections online about why their idea was sound -- instead of just building the airplane? If every innovator did this, we’d still be in the Stone Age.
Anytime we try to improve upon the status quo, there will always be some people who resist. But we can’t let this distraction consume us. We’ve got to rise above it. We cannot create something new and excellent without at least some criticism from those who don’t like it for some reason or another. I recently watched a video on YouTube about William Kamkwamba, who is easily one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever heard of. When he was only 14 years old, his home country of Malawi faced a severe drought, which killed off many crops, and caused many people to begin starving to death. He was forced to drop out of school, because his family could no longer afford to pay for the school fees. Him and his family were only eating three spoons of nsima (cornmeal product) each per day, and were entering a state of severe malnutrition. Rather than giving up hope, William decided to go to a library. Despite the fact that he was not fluent in English, he picked up an old physics textbook and was able to comprehend the concepts through looking at the pictures. Through this process, he learned that it was possible to build a windmill to pump water, which could be used to irrigate crops and prevent starvation. He then went to a junkyard to gather up old bicycle parts and pipes to attempt to build himself a windmill. Everyone -- including his mother -- thought he had gone crazy, and thought he was wasting his time. But somehow, against all odds, he found a way to make it work. He used nails and wiring to create lights for his home, with a circuit breaker, and people from all over the region began coming to his house to charge their mobile phones. This led to him becoming an international sensation. Even though this is one of the greatest stories I’ve ever heard, and even though it receives tons of positive feedback, somehow, it still has a bunch of negative comments and down-votes as well. If there are some who will find a reason to criticize the amazing work William has done, I don’t think anyone can ever be immune from it. It’s just something we can come to accept, and minimize the amount of attention we give it.
As our main goal is to create a better world, the most important item of business for us is to implement and replicate the best ideas we can find. Yes, they won’t all be clean and perfect fits on the first try, and mistakes will always have to be made during the innovation process to discover how to make a system work optimally. But again, taking action is the most important step. If you think someone else’s idea is bad, don’t spend months arguing with them; just improve upon it, create a better one, and work towards executing it independently. There can be more than one right answer to a problem. If, collectively as a species, we always put all of the brainpower we use to tell people why their ideas won’t work into constructively improving upon them instead, we’d have abolished poverty centuries ago.
If you’re interested in organizing a group to implement ideas for social change, and using them to rebuild our society, a great place to begin would be to use Meetup (www.meetup.com) to start a Crowdfunding for Cities discussion group, and bring together all of the changemakers in your local area. If you’re looking to bring together groups of people from different backgrounds and cultures, and don’t know where to begin to find common ground, creating a weekly or monthly international food night is an excellent way to begin to break down the barriers. Have each person bring their favorite dish, and create an inviting environment that allows bonds to form and grow naturally. At times, we may feel as if we’re not ready to be leaders, and so we sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to step up and take charge. At the same time, many others feel the same way, and this is how opportunities slip away. You might be asking: “Why me? What makes me qualified?” And to that I will say: “Why not you?” There is so much good to be done in the world, and becoming a leader has no age or knowledge requirements. You just have to give yourself permission. I’d rather have one person with a giant heart, strong work ethic, moral courage, and a willingness to learn and grow over a dozen minimally interested PhDs any day of the week. When we truly care about helping people, the purpose becomes bigger than us. Though we may want to avoid negative criticism, or the risk of failing publicly, the upside of transforming and saving a life is so powerful that it outshines all of the bad. If you told me right now that I could save 100 lives, and all I’d have to do is get publically embarrassed to make it happen, I’d do it in a heartbeat. There is something about taking on a mission bigger than ourselves that can cause us to summon courage that we never knew we had before. I would never have been able to write this book if I didn’t wholeheartedly believe that someone, somewhere would read it and feel that it made them a better person.
I am a big believer that actions speak louder than words; and so to create maximum impact as a leader, it’s vital to lead by example from the front line. As such, I am about to do something groundbreaking that goes beyond anything I’ve ever done before. Starting this summer, I will essentially be going homeless for an entire year. Over the twelve-month period, I am going to be traveling from Canada down to Mexico, primarily by foot. I’ll be focusing my energies predominantly upon building support for grassroots initiatives and serving those who need it most. I will be spending time in every major city along the way, including Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tijuana. When I’m walking between cities by foot, I’ll camp out under the stars. When I’m in the cities, I have faith that through interactions with kind strangers, I will find places to sleep at night. The name of this initiative is the Seven Cities Walk. My objective is to call upon all citizens of the world to join up, so that we can work together towards ending global poverty.
During the course of my travels, I am going to be looking to identify communities that are ripe for change, and collaborating with local organizations and leaders interested in increasing their impact. I’m going to be looking for individuals interested in creating Crowdfunding for Cities initiatives, and I plan on launching and directing my first one after the walk is completed. If you live on the west coast of North America, or are interested in taking a trip there, you are invited to join me on this journey, take part in a community service initiative, and come along for a section of the walk. If you’re in a different part of the world, follow along on social media, and take charge to replicate the biggest impact ideas you can come up with in your local area. It’s time to change the conversation about what’s in style in our world. Let’s end poverty, or die trying.
kit-filter: grayscale(100%); -moz-filter: grayscale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share