I have had this post opened all day (thank goodness for auto-save on blogger!) and it is getting close to the end of the day so i am forcing this out but it is an important one.Over the last two weeks we have all been so busy and so obsessed about talking about the pain we personally feel, our employers feel, or our clients and even our neighbors in the economic spiral we are experiencing that we might forget about the folks that are already suffering because they have to think every day about how they are getting food on the table. For many this is not something new that happened over the last few weeks, they have been struggling in and out of poverty for years.
Using Twitter hashtag @bad08 i just spent some time looking at some of the other Bloggers who have been participating in the Blog Action Day: Poverty 2008 and they certainly are inspiring.
Last night a bunch of us showed up at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay for a Meetup with a focus to have conversations about how we can share best practices around the need for an 'economic turn around". I thought it was ironic that we were going to meet at the Ritz to drink wine and cheese and discuss the doom of the economic marks so i twittered "Going to: Economic Turnaround Meetup @ the Ritz where we will drink wine and cheese- rule #1 for turnaround- attitude, act like you're rich "
The meetup was organized by Robert Scoble based on his post The customers are gone, now what? Tent sale!. The night was lovely with a full moon and with great conversations as Bill Sanders's blogged about this morning- from real issues that are affecting ourselves and our families (like Robert's brother's bar for example) to the spectacular stories of Paul Allen's Octopus yatch and Space X odysseys.
And as i drove home from the event last night, i thought about the long day at work i had ahead of me today with back to back calls and thought about all the people out there in the world that unfortunately are not tossing and turning like me at night because of the big presentation they are doing, the pitch they need to nail, or they contract they need to get their client to sign- but tossing and turning about how they are going to get food on their table for their family the next day. I hope events and communities like the Blog Action Day continue to make people aware of these issues and help us understand how we can help.
Image| Bill Sanders
1 comment :
Hi, Dani!
Discussion groups and actions are very important to an economic turn around. But what should really be the focus? The only way to find the right solution is identifying the problem.
From my point of view, the socio-economic pyramid, has been suffering deformations, in global scale, in a way that the middle class is not expressive enough to sustain the connection between the tip (rich dominant) and the base (masses). In other words, like hot air, capital is flowing very fast to the top.
That’s because the primary, secondary, tertiary and even quaternary sectors of world economy are in the hands of a few groups.
Some people would attribute that phenomena to the capitalist frame work, but I prefer to consider that is a consequence of protectionism and trusts. That is, so our problem, a political one.
Focusing on solutions, education would be a good one. But a long term solution.
Socialization would be a solution. Focus on distribution of the economy sectors evenly along the pyramid would definitely work. But that would scare away our representatives and the media.
I think, in the end, entrepreneurial intelligence would be the fastest solution. If those on the tip of the pyramid invest in to create conditions in which the masses can increase their income, the economy would accelerate again. Maybe micro finances would be a good strategy, like some giants with flat growth graphs in Europe and US are doing, financing low risk initiatives in Africa, Asia and South America. That helps fighting poverty and creating new consumer markets.
The question now is: “How can we get involved?”
Hope I have helped your readers to brainstorm about the theme
Have a great week
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