Occupied or looking for opportunities?
About 2 years ago I read "Common Wealth" by Jeffrey Sachs, an inspiring book full of amazing ideas to move the world into the next century on a sustainable way. Mr Sachs argues among other things that to safeguard the prosperity of the rich countries these countries should help undeveloped countries get developed (this is a very short summary of the argument I know). Spreading prosperity kills poverty and opens up new markets and opportunities as well as redistributes the economy across the world.
Looking at the video D.C. Douglas (LanceBaxter) posted on Youtube I had to rethink what I read in Mr Sachs's argument. Due to the financial / credit crisis a lot of people lost a lot of money, I cannot judge whether all of them lost it because of the actions of others but manifestations have started and these people aren't happy.
It seems like the division between rich and poor, or to be more matching, between those who have lost and those who are winning again, has become stressed too much. The difference has become too big. Combining that with the stress of "surviving" in the modern western economies without a lot of money makes me think about the argument of Mr Sachs on the Sudan conflict. In most parts of the world water is most important for survival. According to astronomers liquid water is the most precious substance in the universe. And it of course is the basis for survival of life as we know, I wouldn't dare to compare both life situations as equals. But in most western cities water is abundant and money has taken the role of the survival basic.
That money now becomes even more a power item because it is becoming scarce to the masses more than it was, although on average people have become richer. On top of that most of the western money is debt and the claims are nontransparent. So what will be next, to what will the system evolve?
I believe that the much called for change is at hand. We have seen the Arab spring, this year and that is still very much going on. Now a new spring is kicking in. Adding up all that I see and what I have read and learned from Mr. Sachs and Mr. Rifkin I believe that this could be the beginning of very rapid democratisation of resources.
The Internet has started this process, everyone can start a company now and have a certain amount success, and the industrial economies are following. One of the largest companies in the world (Google) makes it possible for small start-ups to use its infrastructure and making starting up for web companies very cheap. They stimulate innovation and enable others to make a business out of it.
In the classic economy large companies and institutions controlled the capital. Capital was for the elite. But now that capital is becoming stressed due to the shift of the unbalance from west to east, large western companies have to reevaluate their positions. In order for our economy to flourish again capital needs to be freed up for development and production to all layers of our society.
It seems like it's time for large organisations to become more facilitating and their products more commoditized, they will likely have to accept lower margins and they will have to share their capability to stimulate creativity with society. But they can help others. Individuals can build their own businesses on the foundations that larger companies and infrastructures have to offer. They in turn can make a (smaller) profit and help other companies and individuals to become successful. Combined with the new markets that are opening up all over the world and our inherent trade skills this can easily lead to a renewed growth in GDP which will also result in stronger positions for the companies that fund and support the new businesses.
Together we can make this work, but we will have to work together and work hard to succeed.
Looking at the video D.C. Douglas (LanceBaxter) posted on Youtube I had to rethink what I read in Mr Sachs's argument. Due to the financial / credit crisis a lot of people lost a lot of money, I cannot judge whether all of them lost it because of the actions of others but manifestations have started and these people aren't happy.
It seems like the division between rich and poor, or to be more matching, between those who have lost and those who are winning again, has become stressed too much. The difference has become too big. Combining that with the stress of "surviving" in the modern western economies without a lot of money makes me think about the argument of Mr Sachs on the Sudan conflict. In most parts of the world water is most important for survival. According to astronomers liquid water is the most precious substance in the universe. And it of course is the basis for survival of life as we know, I wouldn't dare to compare both life situations as equals. But in most western cities water is abundant and money has taken the role of the survival basic.
That money now becomes even more a power item because it is becoming scarce to the masses more than it was, although on average people have become richer. On top of that most of the western money is debt and the claims are nontransparent. So what will be next, to what will the system evolve?
I believe that the much called for change is at hand. We have seen the Arab spring, this year and that is still very much going on. Now a new spring is kicking in. Adding up all that I see and what I have read and learned from Mr. Sachs and Mr. Rifkin I believe that this could be the beginning of very rapid democratisation of resources.
The Internet has started this process, everyone can start a company now and have a certain amount success, and the industrial economies are following. One of the largest companies in the world (Google) makes it possible for small start-ups to use its infrastructure and making starting up for web companies very cheap. They stimulate innovation and enable others to make a business out of it.
In the classic economy large companies and institutions controlled the capital. Capital was for the elite. But now that capital is becoming stressed due to the shift of the unbalance from west to east, large western companies have to reevaluate their positions. In order for our economy to flourish again capital needs to be freed up for development and production to all layers of our society.
It seems like it's time for large organisations to become more facilitating and their products more commoditized, they will likely have to accept lower margins and they will have to share their capability to stimulate creativity with society. But they can help others. Individuals can build their own businesses on the foundations that larger companies and infrastructures have to offer. They in turn can make a (smaller) profit and help other companies and individuals to become successful. Combined with the new markets that are opening up all over the world and our inherent trade skills this can easily lead to a renewed growth in GDP which will also result in stronger positions for the companies that fund and support the new businesses.
Together we can make this work, but we will have to work together and work hard to succeed.
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