Gaia Community: Michael's Blog

Knee-Slapping Spiral Dynamics Humor

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Tue, 08 May 2007 00:19:21 GMT

My kind of humor, from Chris Cowan's Spiral Dynamics' FAQ:

These days, students often come into our seminars having been pre-exposed to some variation on the theme of Spiral Dynamics®. While there are some good representations of the point of view which begin to equip them, other spin-offs are misleading in that they program participants into the typology trap or worse. Some versions foster obedient belief in the dogma of a quasi-religion swathed in cultish saffron yellow robes more than critical thinking about emergent systems in human nature, how complex we are, and how much we still don’t know.

   That is to say, derivative renditions frequently impart an over-simplified, types-of-people, color-coded view of SD which relies on ‘altitude’ or ‘verticality’ to point to idealized end states: “Enlightened people are Turquoises, at the least, and travel the Yellow brick road to get there.” When followers of these approaches come to us, they often have the impression that ‘up’ is good and ‘down’ is deficiency, and that to be at least ‘second tier’ or ‘turquoise’ is the necessary goal of any sensible human being or organization. They aren't seeking to understand SD and Graves as a window on human nature: they want their faith in their own 'turquoiseness' to be confirmed since a sensation deep inside irks them with, “I’m not there yet.” So, they put on a mask and try harder to be something that has no substantial definition.

   Very well-meaning people are sometimes so highly ego-involved in preserving their high-status colors, even to creating an identity around 'living the spiral' just as others might organize their lives around the sacred words in a holy book that mundane facts become heresies. De-programming this pre-frame in favor of a clearer understanding of what the model is and is not, as well as demonstrating that all the systems have both strengths and weaknesses in their times and places, is not simple.

   Appreciation for all the levels is easy to say, hard to do. For people stuck in New Age versions of the DQ/ER transition in search of purpose, meaning, and empowerment with missionary zeal, it's nearly impossible. Too much integral indoctrination seems to fixate rather than open their minds. And the self-centric certitude of many struggling to break out of ER and into FS (while proclaiming theirs to be a Yellow-to-Turquoise conversion) makes understanding of the whole spiral profoundly difficult and the elegance of each level difficult to discern.

http://www.spiraldynamics.org/faq_overall.htm

Tags: Spiral Dynamics, irony, social theory, complexity, ego

Creating a New Perspective

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:11:41 GMT

Human beings, including academics, journalists, and political commentators, are incredibly tribal animals. Most individual political perspectives are strongly influenced by the tribalisms of the Left or Right.

I began studying economics as an idealistic Leftist. As I became convinced of the power of economic arguments, I did not lose any of my idealism: I just realized that Leftist strategies for improving the world were simply not very well considered. At the same time, as I became more interested intellectually in economic analysis, I found that most of the perspectives that I studied included a certain "there ain't no free lunch" cynicism. I have found it difficult, in relative isolation, for my thoughts not to be distorted either by the mindless idealism of the Left or by the intelligent cynicism of market advocates. Flow is an attempt to create a community of intellectually sophisticated and intellectually honest idealists that can transcend the magnetic pull of these opposing forces.

Given the fact that "intellectual" was nearly synonmous with "Leftist" for much of the 20th century, it may seem odd or biased from a left-liberal perspective for me to claim that Leftist strategies for improving the world were not very well considered. For those on the other side, the fact of 100 million Marxist murders alone is shocking and horrifying proof that Leftist strategies for improving the world were not very well considered.

Sociobiology provides compelling arguments that a sophisticated capacity for self-deception was genetically useful in the competition for genetic replication. In order to be a realistic idealist, or a realistic visionary, one must take complete cognizance of the depth and pervasiveness of human self-interest and self-deception.

Young people, eager to believe themselves good, and eager to position themselves as morally superior to their elder tribesmen, are thus vulnerable to shallow idealisms. Academics and intellectuals, many of whom spend their lives surrounded primarily by young people, often occupy a social status niche in which they maximize their psychic well-being, at the cost of intellectual integrity, by claiming moral superiority to the rest of society by means of their Leftist politics. There are even sociologists who conduct formal research studies to determine what social and psychic pathologies cause conservative beliefs: surely a healthy, sane, decent human being would share their Leftist political beliefs?

There is pressure from decent, well-intentioned left-liberals to leave the communist murders behind. None of them advocated such murderous regimes and they consider arguments that they were somehow complicit in these murders to be spurious and in poor taste.

Spiritual and emotional maturity has to do with taking responsibility for one's actions. When I was in college in the 1980s, communist enthusiasm among university faculty was common. To a remarkable degree, it still is. Noam Chomsky, the Pol Pot apologist, is still a hero among the Left.

In the eighteenth century, classical liberals developed a sophisticated body of political analysis showing the necessity and the means of limiting political authority. The American founding institutionalized many of these insights. The French Revolution served as horrifying proof of the need for such constraints on power. After the 1790s, anyone who blithely talked about a "dictatorship of the proletariat," as did Marx and his followers, is complicit in murder. Others, who endorse the ideas of such advocates of murder, are also complicit. Che Guevara whole-heartedly endorsed mass murder.

Idealism has been discredited by the 100 million communist murders. In order to create a legitimate idealism, we must purify ourselves by acknowledging wholeheartedly the crimes of idealisms of the past. Until the fellow travellers and communist apologists come clean, the cause of idealism will be discredited as morally corrupt and suspect.

There was a specific intellectual failure: well-educated people, who should have been adequately educated in classical liberal political theory, nonetheless were enthusiastic supporters of those who advocated a "dictatorship of the proletariat." The fact that these nice intellectuals may have envisioned a benign, romantic, idealistic "dictatorship of the proletariat," with lots of comradely poetry and art, is no excuse. Drunk drivers who kill people are often just nice kids out having fun while drinking a few beers in the car. Good intentions do not absolve people of responsibility while driving drunk nor while intoxicated with political ideals.

When an alcoholic becomes committed to serious recovery through AA, one of their first duties is to apologize to every individual who may have been harmed by them while they were drinking. This step of taking responsibility for past actions is rightly considered to be a crucial stage in healing, spiritual growth, and emotional maturity.

In order to create a spiritually clean idealism, it is crucial that the moral contamination of Leftist intellectuals has been fully acknowledged. One cannot build on crumbled foundations.

Tags: Politics, Left, Marxism, Intellectuals, Classical liberalism, Economics, Liberalism

The Ethanol Alliance

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:17:16 GMT

Vinod Khosla has convinced me that the entire issue of ethanol goes far beyond corn subsidies in Iowa; read his white papers on biofuels to get a provocative, big picture perspective:

http://www.khoslaventures.com/resources.html

that includes a future with genetically-engineered biofuels that are far more energy efficient and that produce far less carbon emissions than does first generation corn ethanol. Cane ethanol might be considered step two on this path; below is the beginning of an interesting article on the politics of ethanol:

The Ethanol Alliance
April 4, 2007
Alvaro Vargas Llosa

WASHINGTON—Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to Camp David last weekend was meant to seal what is being dubbed as “the ethanol alliance” between the United States and the South American giant. I have no idea whether ethanol will eventually deliver the grandiose promise of a clean environment or the bankruptcy of oil-rich despots. But I do know that there is a huge disconnect between the objectives of the ethanol alliance and current policy.

If the United States wants to boost ethanol consumption and reduce oil-dependency, it needs to make a simple decision—eliminate its 54-cents-a-gallon tariff. Experts tell us that corn-based ethanol, the kind being produced in the United States, is eight times less efficient than Brazil's sugarcane version of the biofuel. Alessandro Teixeira, Brazil's point man for his country's ethanol strategy, insists that “we are the world leader, and if people really want to benefit from our ethanol industry, they have to embrace it in practice, not in theory.” Precisely because corn is much less efficient than sugarcane, the U.S. has been able to replace only about 3 percent of its oil consumption despite a huge government biofuel program.

The second way in which current policy defeats the purpose of the ethanol alliance has to do with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. Clearly, the Bush administration wants to entice Central American and Caribbean countries that benefit from Venezuelan oil subsidies to adopt biofuels in order to become independent of Caracas. The idea is to encourage Brazil to export its technology to those countries and help them build distilleries—such as the one recently constructed in Jamaica—for ethanol production. But there is a hitch: Due to various preferential trading arrangements, Caribbean and Central American countries don't face the tariffs that currently hurt Brazilian exports to the U.S. So, while Brazil might take some pride in exporting its technology and eventually getting some cash incentives from Washington to help the Caribbean basin liberate itself from Chavez, Lula's real interest lies in exporting to the American and the European markets, both of which are now protected.

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1953

Tags: global warming, climate change, energy, ethanol, corn, sugercane, biofuels, genetic engineering, Vinod Khosla

Ralph Nader's Support of DDT spraying

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 03:27:37 GMT

From a 2004 article, when DDT was about to be phased out globally; this fall, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially approved DDT for anti-malarial mosquito spraying:

". . . there is no mention on Nader's various sites of the one project he should be most proud of: the funding of the Malaria Project from his Center for the Study of Responsive Law in Washington, D.C.

The Malaria Project fought, in the face of massive environmental opposition, for the continued use of DDT for mosquito control in poor countries. Since DDT is such a totemic baddie for the Greens, it is probably politically unwise for Nader to support (even tacitly) its use. And this probably explains why the Malaria Project site at CSRL doesn't mention DDT at all. . . .

Courage in politicians is rare. . . .

The fact that Nader could put humanitarian concerns above his well-known dislike for DDT is commendable and strategically sensible. He could foresee, where no one else could, the harm to the environmental movement of being saddled with the blame for millions of dead children from malaria. It is likely that's how the history books would have written it had DDT been banned (and it still may be)."

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bate200406030904.asp

Tags: DDT, pesticides, Nader, environment, malaria, Africa, health, WHO

Introduction to Flow

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 01:02:28 GMT

Introduction to Flow The purpose of Flow is to create a dialogue community that combines two contrary trends in existing social/political discourse: 1. The progressive, humanist desire to make the world a better place by means of conscious effort. 2. The increasing recognition that market solutions to social problems are more effective than are command-and-control government strategies. Hitherto, for the most part, advocates of the first position have identified themselves as "Left" and they have pushed for government legislation to fight "capitalism." For the most part those who have advocated the second position have identified themselves as "Right" and have been considered "conservative" rather than progressive. As an inveterate do-gooder, I am constantly horrified that the Left continues to advocate policy measures that will increase poverty and human misery while failing to advocate measures that would significantly enhance human well-being. I am an educator who has created public school programs and private and charter schools from scratch. For me, school choice is not an academic issue. Given adequate freedom from government control, I can create schools that are significantly more humane and intellectual than are standard government schools. (Those interested in creating better private or charter schools should email me, socraticpractice@yahoo.com, and we can get to work immediately on designing a great school in your area). It disgusts me that "progressive" advocates of public education continue to undermine the development of new and better ways to educate young people. Advocates of social mobility, human potential, intellectual ability, independent thought, spiritual awareness, creativity and innovation, and most other valuable human traits need to band together to destroy our public school monopoly. Microsoft has a smaller market share and less control than does the government school system. Those who hate Microsoft's influence in the software industry should hate government schools ten times as much: the stakes are much higher, the constraints on innovation are vastly larger, the extent of monopolistic control is incaluculably tighter. Consider other sectors of the economy: In the 1970s health food stores were tiny, hippy places that were only open occasionally and forced us to eat carob instead of chocolate. If Safeway and Albertsons had had a government-enforced monopoly in the 1970s, Whole Foods and Wild Oats would not exist and Safeway and Albertsons would not carry health foods. If Crown Books and Waldenbooks had had government protection at the time, then Barnes & Noble, Borders, and amazon.com would not exist. If IBM and DEC had had government protection, the entire microcomputer industry, the consumer software industry, and the internet as we know it would not exist. If Keds had been controlled by the government, there would be no Nike or Adidas. And on and on. As an innovative educator, my projects are constantly attacked and destroyed by the government education monopoly - endless specific anecdotes are available on request (Or request my manuscript Whole Lives: The Creation of Conscious Culture Through Educational Innovation.) A few more conventional examples from the globalization issue: 1. Global Trade: Although certainly the WTO is no model of social justice, the fact that the WTO is imperfect is not a justification for fighting globalization. Oxfam, hardly a right-wing organization, recognizes that increasing international trade is the _only_ way that global poverty will be reduced. We can, and should, be concerned regarding the rules for international trade. In particular, Oxfam cites the $1 billion per day in agricultural subsidies in the wealthy nations that greatly reduces income in poor nations. Glaring injustices such as this are cause for pushing for more freedom in global markets, not less. The fact that Jose Bove, the French agricultural protectionist, is celebrated as a hero by the Left, strikes me as surreal. 2. Immigration: Increased immigration should be one of the top agenda items for Leftist do-gooders. By means of remittences, education, contacts, and familiarity with first-world social and legal institutions and customs, immigration is probably the single most effective means of transferring wealth from the first world to the third world. The $30 billion in remittances that U.S. immigrants sent home last year is a very small fraction of the total value of these cross-cultural exchanges. The creation of a thriving software industry in India is due to the know-how and contacts that Indian software engineers and entrepreneurs acquired in Silicon Valley and then transferred back home in hundreds of ways, formal and informal. Those who are concerned about global population growth should note that immigrant families who move to the first world typically have much smaller families than they did in their home countries. 3. Out-sourcing: Why should a U.S. software engineer make $80 an hour if an Indian software engineer will do similar work for $5 an hour? The wealthy industrialized nations provide relatively high incomes for their citizens in part by excluding competition from the billions of needier human beings on earth. Do-gooders should celebrate the transfer of jobs to the third world. 4. Economic Freedom: The Economic Freedom of the World index, published by the Fraser Institute, rates countries around the world on their economic freedoms, including trade issues, but also banking laws, the free flow of capital, etc. There is a high correlation between those nations highly ranked on this index and most of the those features of society desired by the Left: health, education, welfare of the poor, etc. Finland, often regarded as a "socialist" paradise, is the top-ranked nation outside the Anglo-American leaders (including former British colonies Singapore and Hong Kong as Anglo-American). In general, Scandinavian "socialist" nations might better be described as wisely capitalist nations with extensive social welfare benefits. They tend to have low corporate tax rates and significant freedoms with respect to the flow of capital. Leftist rhetoric, if followed, would destroy Scandivian "socialism." Leftist rhetoric, as followed, creates poverty in the third world. If third-world nations allowed their citizens the same economic freedoms as Finland, they would all experience a dramatic increase in their standard of living. It trouble me that most advocates of markets do not adequately advocate for the amelioration of social problems and for the reduction of injustices in global markets. At the same time, Leftist attacks on market mechanisms cause much greater poverty and injustice than do the greediest capitalists on earth. We need to develop a coalition of individuals and organizations who seek to improve the world and who recognize that, often, market mechanisms are the best means of doing so.

Tags: FLOW, politics, globalization, consciousness, political economy, economics

Why Democrats Should Become More Libertarian

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:40:28 GMT

Michael Strong, Copyright FLOW, 2006

The current issue of Cato Unbound is devoted to the issue “Should Libertarians Vote Democrat?” The issue includes essays by well-known Democrats articulating the ways in which they see a possible rapprochement. Certainly many libertarians are angry and disappointed with Bush Republicans; one described him as the worst president in the past fifty years. Others are actively encouraging fellow libertarians to vote Democratic. Given the fact that Democrats are increasingly marginalized in elections, it would behoove them to consider additional constituencies, especially one that is angry with Republicans and therefore ripe for the picking.

Although the number of people who vote for the Libertarian Party is small, the number of people who are culturally liberal but fiscally conservative is large. Pew Research comes up with 9% of the population as libertarian based on three fiscal questions and three cultural questions. If the Democrats captured this libertarian swing vote by moving in a more consistently libertarian position, they could re-form an electoral majority. A broader interpretation of “libertarian” will give Democrats an even larger advantage.

A Libertarian Democratic Party that was serious about small government and deregulation, now that the Republicans have shown that they are not, could, if credible in their promises, appeal to Wall Street, business, entrepreneurs, and the middle class. At present, Republicans are winning by pandering to the religious right. What if the intellectual leaders of the Democratic Party shifted it in the libertarian direction so that the libertarian-inclined, who have hitherto either voted Republican, libertarian, Reform Party, or not at all, became inspired to support far more libertarian Democrats?

The Democratic Strategist recently printed an essay titled “Message of Misery,” on how the Democrat’s litany of economic catastrophe is not resonating with voters:

$23,700. That is the household income level at which a white person became more likely to vote for a Republican over a Democrat in congressional races in 2004.

The authors of this article point out that the reason that Democrats have been losing is not because Democrats have been framing the issues poorly (Lakoff), nor is it because voters have been deceived by Republicans into voting against their economic interests (the “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” thesis). Their research shows that voters simply don’t buy the anti-capitalist doom and gloom rhetoric put out by Democrats. Their research shows that 80% of Americans think it is “still possible to start out poor in this country, work hard, and become rich,” and when asked to identify the biggest threat to America’s future 61% chose “big government” compared to 27% who chose “big business.” That 61% is the foundation of a libertarian majority.

Bright young techies are increasingly libertarian; Wired Magazine has libertarian roots and many old Leftists complain about how libertarian cyberspace is. Last year the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial on tech entrepreneurs that described them as embarrassed by the religiosity of the Republicans and by the teachers unions and trial lawyers on the Democratic side. Libertarian Virginia Postrel’s excellent book on the need for a dynamic society, The Future and Its Enemies, was endorsed by Democratic Silicon Valley gurus Steward Brand and Esther Dyson. And, of course, John Mackey, whose Whole Foods Market is the greatest achievement of the conscious capitalism being developed by cultural creatives, is a self-identified libertarian (He is also, the co-founder of FLOW, which has been described as a "sane version of libertarianism," or, in Ken Wilber's language, "Second-Tier libertarianism.")

Wall Street, and business interests more broadly, are another constituency the Democrats should consider capturing: A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) analyzed the expected outcome of the Bush – Gore election during the 24 hours of dramatic uncertainty as predicted by the Iowa Electronic Markets and compared the expected outcome with stock market fluctuations during that period. They found that an anticipated Republican victory raised equity values by about 2%. Based on more circumstantial evidence they found historical trends supporting the notion that Republican victories tended to raise equity values by about 2% going back to 1880.

It has long been a stereotype that Wall Street votes Republican. If equity values are 2% higher under Republicans than under Democrats, there is a very powerful reason for this preference. The New York Stock Exchange alone has a market capitalization of about $20 trillion, with NASDAQ adding another $5 trillion out of a global market capitalization of about $45 trillion. Presumably Wall Street takes seriously the anti-capitalist rhetoric and past behavior of the Democratic Party, which has traditionally positioned itself as more eager to tax, spend, and regulate. From a Wall Street perspective, the election of a Democratic president reduces equity market values by about $500 billion dollars - about what we spend on all of K-12 education each year simply vanishes as soon as a Democrat is elected through the anticipated destruction of opportunity.

Fifteen years ago the DLC revived the Democratic Party by moving it towards a more market-friendly direction. Clinton and Gore are policy wonks who understand that markets are fundamentally positive: Clinton, the only Democratic President to serve two terms since FDR, has described himself as a libertarian and has praised Milton Friedman-Prize Award Winner Hernando De Soto as the leader of “the most promising poverty alleviation initiative in the world.” He pushed through NAFTA and welfare reform, both more libertarian initiatives than anything we’ve seen from Bush. While Gore is not Clinton, he recently came out in favor of exchanging payroll taxes for carbon taxes, a move that frankly acknowledges the negative economic consequences of payroll taxes while allowing Gore to remain true to his core issue. Gore is proving that it is possible to be a serious environmentalist and yet take markets seriously at the same time.

Smart policy wonks like Clinton and Gore have found ways in the past to reconcile markets and their identities as Democrats. A new age of libertarian Democrats could continue in this direction and go much further and faster, reviving the Reagan and Gingrich revolutions to reduce the role of government under a Democratic banner that simultaneously ensured that the poor and the environment were cared for.

With regard to the poor, Milton Friedman’s proposal of a Negative Income Tax was the ultimate inspiration for the Earned Income Tax Credit, one of the most effective government-initiated poverty-alleviation moves in the past thirty years. This could be expanded as other government programs were eliminated or Libertarian Democrats could consider Charles Murray’s recent proposal to give every American $10,000 per year and completely dismantle the welfare state.

With respect to the environment, Libertarian Democrats could come out in full favor of property rights or environmental trust solutions (as advocated by Peter Barnes - see his recently released Capitalism 3.0) to environmental issues while showing a commitment to repeal counterproductive environmental regulation. The libertarian and economics literatures are filled with thousands of market-friendly policy proposals that show the path to a dramatically smaller government that would actually be more effective at reducing poverty and improving the environment than is the welfare and regulatory state. Partisan bigotry, especially among academics, has prevented or delayed the adoption of many of these prudent and effective measures.

The greatest obstacle to movement in this direction comes from the Left wing of the Democratic Party that remains essentially anti-capitalist. Much of academia and the leaders of many advocacy organizations retain attitudes that are quasi-Marxist in their passion for equality, as they understand it, and their hatred of business, capitalism, and America. Others, perhaps more pro-business and pro-America, nonetheless regard the anti-market policies of FDR and LBJ as successful policies.

The last thirty years have seen the Chicago economics free market perspective largely vindicated in the world of academic economics. About half of economics Nobel laureates have had some association with the University of Chicago. More importantly, many “free market” ideas that were once considered marginal have become mainstream: monetary policy and tariffs did contribute to the Great Depression, whereas inequality of wealth did not; Rent controls reduce the quantity and quality of housing; Increases in economic freedom in the developing world result in increases in economic growth; tradable emission permits are an effective means of reducing pollution. These and thousands of other policy issues have been more or less decided in favor of “free market” economists in the past thirty years. People respond to incentives.

There will always be special interests that oppose free market policies, and there will always be populist demagogues that rally popular support against free market policies. But an increasingly large range of leftist policy notions that were once intellectually credible and morally respectable have fallen from grace in the face of facts. The free market economists have won battle after battle in the past thirty years not because they were funded by right-wing think tanks (though sometimes they were), but because the empirical record has turned out overwhelmingly to be consistent with their predictions.

Because the pain of repudiating FDR and the legacy of the 60s is too great, I don’t anticipate a rapid change of mind among the left-liberal intelligentsia. I’ve experienced this pain myself; when I discovered that the left-liberal establishment was largely wrong on economic issues I became depressed for two years. Everything that I had believed was false: The reviled Milton Friedman is actually a better friend of the poor than is the legendary J. K. Galbraith? Well, yes, he is. Had Friedman’s advice on economic development been followed in 1960 rather than Galbraith’s, billions of human beings would be better off today. Economic freedom, as advocated by Friedman for decades, is positively correlated with GNP per capita. Economic liberalization, as advocated by Friedman for decades, has resulted in dramatic increases in wealth and standards of living in Chile, China, India, Ireland, Estonia, and elsewhere.

A new consensus on globalization is forming in which it is increasingly acknowledged that poor people in developing nations benefit more from job creation than from hand-outs. Oxfam, the global NGO, now supports reduced trade barriers as a way of alleviating poverty. Corporate Responsibility Newswire has acknowledged that new factories built by American companies in Mexico improves the standard of living of Mexicans. The moral high ground is increasingly with globalization rather than against it; even Joseph Stiglitz, famous as the Nobel economics laureate who wrote a book skeptical of globalization, is now clearly in favor of globalization as long as the developing nations reduce their trade barriers first. (And note that this is a morally-motivated policy proposal at odds with traditional Leftists constitutencies such as labor unions).

While there are continuing disputes in economics and economic development, the scope of the discussion has moved dramatically towards the direction sketched by Friedman, Hayek, and others fifty years ago. While there may well be some elements of the left-liberal economic perspective that survive into the future, by and large the bulk of that perspective, the premises on which the liberalism of the 30s and 60s was built, continues to look weaker and weaker.

For decades now, left-liberals have followed a strategy of denial, reluctantly conceding point after point once the evidence against them becomes overwhelming, while still dogmatically insisting on the rest of their program in those areas where they have not yet been defeated by the evidence. The problem with this strategy is it positions them in a posture of permanent retreat in the face of the facts.

Moreover, there is reason to believe that more retreat in the face of more evidence is still to come, especially from the results of prediction markets. Prediction markets are increasingly being used in businesses to forecast outcomes, and properly designed markets are proving to be remarkably accurate at foreseeing the future, at least compared to the opinions of experts. Prediction markets incentivize accuracy because only the accurate predictions receive financial rewards. By contrast, both academic and public policy debates bias decisions through rhetoric, emotion, status, and popularity rather than empirical validity alone.

It is only a matter of time before prediction markets will be set up to evaluate the prospective outcome of public policy initiatives. At that point, we will be more focused on the actual outcomes of proposed policies and we will receive information about the outcomes of those policy initiatives more quickly than is the case at present. Again, some left-liberal policies may survive the test of real-world outcomes, but I predict that much will not: Will increasing teachers’ salaries increase test scores? Will expanding government health care coverage improve health? Will government job training programs increase the earnings of the poor and unskilled?

As we continue to focus on the real results of policies, rather than academic promises, we will continue to discover that government is rarely an effective agent. Most of us, the 61% who said that “big government” is the greatest threat to our future, already know this. An increasing number of wise, but chastened, Democrats understand this as well. Libertarian Jonathan Rauch’s excellent popular account of public choice theory, Government’s End, was endorsed by David Broder, Patrick Moynihan, and Senator Bill Bradley. In the 1960s, bright young idealists aspired to be civil servants; now they aspire to be entrepreneurs. Although people still rally to the cry of “national health insurance,” when it comes down to it no one is inspired by government action anymore. The alternative to a more libertarian Democratic Party is to simply wait for the Democrats to complete their self-destruction and then have it out between the conservatives and the libertarians.

Democrats like to believe that they are intelligent people who care about the poor and about the environment. For most of the past hundred years, they have also believed that free market advocates are people who don’t care poor or the environment and that the smart liberals must use government to create a more just society. But consider: 70% of inner-city African-Americans are for school choice. Opponents of charter schools claimed they would cream away the best students; in fact, charter schools cater disproportionately to poor, minority, and at-risk students, those who are currently being least well-served by our “public” schools. Many urban areas are experiencing black flight from urban public schools; Detroit Public Schools lose about 20,000 students per year to charter schools, and by 2008 a majority of students in Detroit will attend charter schools. Why can’t those who care about the poor and the environment focus on pragmatism rather than an obsolete party identity?

As Gurcharan Das said of Nehru’s policies in India, “We set out to create socialism but instead created statism.” Social entrepreneurs and socially responsible corporations are fulfilling the aspirations of the left without government involvement. The idealism and passion for the good that inspired the Left is valuable. Government was just the wrong means. It is time to admit this openly and move on.

A Democratic Party that authentically appealed to libertarians could be as socially liberal as it pleased; gay marriage, medical marijuana, abortion rights, and other issues are currently supported by many people who are unhappy with the Republican Party but who do not currently consider the left wing of the Democratic Party to be sane or responsible when it comes to government and the economy. Libertarians are often among those who are most committed to civil liberties and to the avoidance of war. A sincere and sustained commitment to reducing the size of government, by any party, could bring forth new funding and new voters, and result in a burst of economic growth and dynamism that will benefit all Americans; indeed, it would benefit the entire world.

Tags: Democrats, Republicans, elections, politics, Libertarians, environment, poverty

Economic Freedom and Happiness

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 23:50:07 GMT

"Contrary to the findings on political freedom, economic freedom was found to be statistically significant in nearly all estimations, and of the positive sign. Furthermore, the relationship between SWB and economic freedom depicted in Fig. 2 largely held, unlike that for income, after controlling for alternative explanations of well-being. For instance, when the economic freedom index average in the sample rises from 5.76 to 6.34, the happiness levels rise from 3.01 to 3.07. The effect on life satisfaction is identical. The results suggest that people unmistakably care about the degree to which the society where they live provides them opportunities and the freedom to undertake new projects, and make choices based on one’s personal preferences. Compared to the GDP per capita measure, the index of economic freedom – personal choice, freedom to compete and the security of privately owned property as its core components – turned out to be about four times as important, as measured by elasticities. This indicates that the newly found interest of economics and of policymakers in measures of institutional quality is well placed. Based on the regression results, economic freedom holds some promise in serving as one of the policy tools that could be potentially used to increase the SWB of a nation’s population."

Economic Policy and the Level of Self-Perceived Well-Being: An International Comparison by Tomi Ovaska and Ryo Takashima, the Journal of Socio-Economics 35 (2006) 308-325.

From Will Wilkinson's wonderful blog "Happiness and Public Policy,"

http://happinesspolicy.com/

Tags: happiness, public policy, economic freedom, well-being

After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 18:49:58 GMT

Can we make tax policy sexy and exciting? It has taken me years to realize that most of the issues that idealists care about are largely driven by tax and regulatory policy; dry, abstract systems that determine how life and energy flows far more than is generally realized.

From an excellent article proposing that tax policy is a more effective means of controlling carbon emissions than are carbon emissions trading systems:

After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming

William D. Nordhaus | March 27, 2006

Abstract: This paper reviews different approaches to the political and economic control of global public goods like global warming. It compares quantity-oriented control mechanisms like the Kyoto Protocol with price-type control mechanisms such as internationally harmonized carbon taxes. The pros and cons of the two approaches are compared, focusing on such issues as performance under conditions of uncertainty, volatility of the induced carbon prices, the excess burden of taxation and regulation, accounting finagling, corruption, and implementation. Although virtually all policies involving economic global public goods rely upon quantitative approaches, price-type approaches are likely to be more effective and more efficient.

A price approach gives less room for corruption because it does not create artificial scarcities and monopolies. There are no permits handed over to countries or leaders of countries, so they cannot be sold abroad for wine or guns. Any revenues would need to be raised by taxation on domestic consumption of fuels. In fact, a carbon tax would add absolutely nothing to the instruments that countries have today. The only difference would be the international approval of carbon taxes, which probably adds little to their acceptability in corrupt countries. The dangers of quantity as compared to price approaches have been shown frequently when quotas are compared to tariffs in international trade interventions.

Conclusion

The coming years will undoubtedly witness intensive negotiations on global warming as concerns mount and the quantitative approach under the Kyoto Protocol makes little difference. As policy makers search for more effective and efficient ways to slow the trends, they should consider the fact that harmonized environmental taxes on carbon are powerful tools for coordinating policies and slowing climate change.

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3167

Tags: sustainability, environment, global warming, climate change, tax policy, pollution rights, idealism

If Money's the Solution, That's the Problem

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:41:06 GMT

           From David Kirkpatrick, a former teachers' union leader from Pennsylvania:

"If Money's the Solution, That's the Problem

         That was the title of an article by Al Knight in The Denver Post fifteen years ago tomorrow. What was true then is still true today. And if the past is indeed prologue, it will still be true fifteen years from now.

         One interpretation of Knight's title is that the problems of public schools cannot be corrected with any amount of money, however much. Therefore, emphasizing money is futile.

         Another is that, even if it is assumed that large amounts of money could prove to be the answer to the problem such sums of money simply aren't, and won't be, available.

         Note, for example, a few commonalities of the remarks by those who insist more money is needed.

         They rarely provide specifics, such as how much money they are currently spending; how much money do they need; and how would they spend those dollars to create a successful district. In one debate when a teacher union president said more money was needed he was asked how much. He didn't know. When then asked if he didn't know how much was needed how did he know there should be more, he didn't know that either.   To be fair to him, no one else seems to know either.

         Just a few days ago, here in Pennsylvania, television news reporting on a public meeting in Allentown presented an individual who said Allentown should get at least as much money as Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. Among the things she didn't say were (a) how much money the Allentown schools spend, either in total or on a per-pupil basis; (b) the school district budget or per-pupil expenditures in either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh; or (c) the relative cost-of-living in the three cities, and (d) most importantly, any awareness of the conditions in either of those larger school districts that would justify using them as a model or justification for spending more money. Her basic point seemed to be if others have more money Allentown should too.

         In fairness, it should be noted that Philadelphia has made progress in the past few years since the state transferred control of the district from the local school board to a special commission appointed jointly by the city's mayor and the state's governor. But it still is not a model of high achievement, nor have its gains been the result of large amounts of new money. Significant changes have been made in how the system operates, including the creation of dozens of charter schools which were recently cited as a major reason district scores have improved.

         None of which is to say that more money may not be needed in specific instances. One such is a small district in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, with which I had some personal experience and involvement more than 15 years ago. The local steel industry had closed which devastated both the local community and the school district. The "science lab" at the ancient high school, for example, didn't even have bunsen burners. There was no way the crisis could be resolved locally.

         The state did step up, and began to increase funding, to which no fair person could object. In the years since, there have been several superintendents, a large turnover in staff, and a more than 100% turnover in students, as is natural in any district over a 15-year period. A report two weeks ago noted that the state now provides 73% of the district's funding, and per-pupil spending is now more than $20,000, ranking at the 97th percentile in the state.

         According to the report, student achievement in the district remains among the state's very lowest. All the money that was supposed to make a difference has made no difference. Nationwide, $20,000 per pupil would require more than $1,000,000,000,000 - one trillion dollars - more than can possibly be realized. School districts spend up to $45,000 per pupil annually and still have problems.

         The report's conclusion? "The real problem is the complete unwillingness of the state to mandate any substantive reform that would threaten the interest groups who have created the situation.""

I know of a situation where one inner city public school received a $10 million grant from a foundation, and the only result was an increased teen-age pregnancy rate.

It would be better if we legalized markets in happiness and well-being:

http://www.edspresso.com/2006/07/legalizing_markets_in_happines.htm

Tags: education, schools, public schools, unions, teachers unions

Gore Should Run as a Green Libertarian

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:33:00 GMT

The best environmental news and the best political news in a long time:

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Monday suggested taxing carbon dioxide emissions instead of employees' pay in a bid to stem global warming.

"Penalizing pollution instead of penalizing employment will work to reduce that pollution," Gore said in a speech at New York University School of Law.

The pollution tax would replace all payroll taxes, including those for Social Security and unemployment compensation, Gore said. He said the overall level of taxation, would remain the same.

"Instead of discouraging businesses from hiring more employees it would discourage business from producing more pollution," Gore said."

http://tinyurl.com/j3h6q

Tags: gore, environment, global warming, politics, social security, pollution

The Sex Strike

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:47:38 GMT

The Sex Strike
September 20, 2006
Alvaro Vargas Llosa

WASHINGTON—A group of women have started a sex strike in Pereira, a city in western Colombia, to persuade their men to give up violence. They will make love again only when their husbands and boyfriends make peace. A catchy song put together by the women is blasting out of all the local radio stations to persuade other females to send their partners to the sofa.

The Greek playwright Aristophanes, who 2,500 years ago invented the concept of the sex strike to achieve peace, must be celebrating somewhere in the afterlife. In “Lysistrata,” a group of women who are sick of so much death and destruction, try to force their men to put an end to the Peloponnesian War by declaring their bodies off-limits.

It is not the first time real life has honored Aristophanes. The sex strike was tried in Colombia itself in the late 1990s at the behest of an army chief. And in a Turkish town, some women used the same tactics to force their lazy partners to restore the water supply. Success ultimately eluded the strikers both times, but some short-term results were achieved.

In the current case, the move was preceded by some interesting research. In a city that is considered the most violent in Colombia and where nine out of 10 victims are between the ages of 14 and 25, violent men apparently consider sex more enjoyable than snuffing their neighbors. Many of them partake in the gang culture because they think it makes them sexually attractive. More significantly, a number of women thought so too—until it dawned on them that they held to key to the peace.

Julio Cesar Gomez, the security official at Pereira's local government, says, “this is about changing the cultural parameters: Some women thought that men wearing fatigues and holding guns looked more attractive, and most men are members of gangs not because of financial necessity but because killing is associated with power and sexual seduction.''

Why is this story so seductive? Because it involves the greatest lesson in the time of terrorism: The ultimate hope for halting indiscriminate violence lies in civil society. Unless there is a grass-roots effort to uproot violence, terror cannot be stopped. It will merely be replaced by another type of terror.

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1820

Tags:

Africa: African Politicians Imposed 'Economic Apartheid' On Afric

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 20:22:44 GMT

A very important article, especially when one remembers that as many people have died in Africa in the past fifty years as in all other wars on earth combined, and that countries with declining rates of economic growth are far more likely to suffer coups and civil wars.

Africa: African Politicians Imposed 'Economic Apartheid' On Africa

Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
OPINION
September 13, 2006
Posted to the web September 14, 2006
Marian L. Tupy

What a difference a decade can make. In ten years, an economy growing at an annual rate of 7 percent doubles in size. How can a country generate high rates of economic growth and the resulting improvements in standards of living? The divergent growth paths of sub-Saharan Africa and post-Communist Europe over the last decade point to the importance of economic freedom.

The eight ex-communist countries that became members of the European Union in May 2004 grew at a compounded average annual rate of 4.8 percent between 1995 and 2004. Their growth was thus a full 3 percentage points higher than that of the Eurozone, which grew at 1.8 percent per annum.

Estonia saw its per capita income adjusted for inflation and purchasing power parity rise by 95 percent during that time. Incomes in other EU8 countries rose by between 86 percent and 41 percent. Only in the Czech Republic did incomes grow by less, having instead risen by 28 percent. Yet even the Czech Republic performed better than the countries of the Eurozone, where incomes rose by a mere 17 percent over the last decade. On these trends, standards of living in the EU8 are converging with the rest of Europe.

The path from communism to capitalism was not an easy one and much work still remains. But the EU8 has seized the opportunity offered by the fall of the Berlin Wall. They have eliminated thousands of restrictions, liberalised prices and foreign trade, and privatised most state enterprises. They made doing business substantially easier. Their economic freedom increased as a result.

The Economic Freedom of the World: 2006 Annual Report, just published by the Fraser Institute in Canada, notes that economic freedom in the EU8 increased from 5.41 in 1995 to 6.99 in 2004, on a scale of 0 to 10. In the 27 countries of sub-Saharan Africa that were rated by the Fraser Institute, economic freedom rose from 5.08 in 1995 to a mere 5.57 in 2004. Concomitantly, African economic performance over the last decade was much more mixed.

Eleven out of 27 countries experienced economic contraction. Those countries that grew did so at an average rate of only 2.2 percent. If one subtracts oil-producers that experienced economic expansion over the last decade, such as Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria, the number of growing economies shrinks to 13 out of 27. No country measured by the index experienced economic growth as high as that in the EU8.

Moreover, 11 out of 27 countries saw their incomes per capita fall over the past 10 years. The biggest fall was experienced by the Democratic Republic of Congo (32 percent), Guinea-Bissau (27 percent) and Zimbabwe (27 percent). Some African countries saw their incomes rise quite substantially. Per capita incomes in oil-rich Chad, for example, rose by 122 percent. By eliminating the oil-producers, however, the number of African countries that have seen their incomes rise shrinks to 14.

The stellar pupil among the growing non-oil producing countries is Botswana, which grew at a compounded average annual rate of 4.57 percent and saw its income rise by 57 percent. With 7.1 points out of 10, Botswana was as free as South Korea. She was also Africa's freest economy.

Critics of globalisation and capitalism often describe the international economic order as a remorseless struggle between the West and the rest. Some have gone as far as to suggest that there exists a form of "economic apartheid" that separates the rich North from the poor south. But, the membership of the rich countries' club is not closed to anyone. Ex-communist countries seized the opportunity offered to them by the end of communism. They have embraced economic freedom and are on their way to becoming rich.

Unfortunately, many African countries avoided reform and wasted the last decade as a consequence. If those countries suffer from "economic apartheid," it is one that was imposed on them by African politicians who refuse to acknowledge the importance of economic freedom as a necessary precondition to economic development.

Marian L. Tupy is assistant director of the Project on Global Economic Liberty specialising in the study of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

Copyright © 2006 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material.

Tags: Africa, peace, reform, economics, happiness, well-being

Organizing Teachers: Traditional vs. Charter Public Schools

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 16:15:53 GMT

Yet another reason why I am optimistic on the future of education:

Sept. 21, 2006

David W. Kirkpatrick                  Senior Education Fellow
U.S. Freedom Foundation          www.FreedomFoundation.us

          Organizing Teachers: Traditional vs. Charter Public Schools, an Update

         Some aspects of traditional vs. charter public schools get little or no attention from either the general or the professional press. Two of them are union attempts to organize schools in each segment, and the question of teacher strikes within each.

         It hasn't gone totally unnoticed that most charter school teachers have not joined unions.   It is even rarer for them to go on strike.

The problem with organizing charter school teachers goes beyond their resistance to unions, which may exist with any group of teachers. But let's take the example of a mythical large urban district, since these are the ones most likely to be organized, and also the ones most likely to strike on occasion.

Assume a district with 250 public schools and 15,000 teachers, an average of 60 teachers per school. When either the National Education Association or the American Federation of Teachers wants to organize such a district they need to win a majority of teacher votes districtwide, not a majority at each of the 250 schools. And this is not a minor matter. In such elections it has not been uncommon for a majority of teachers at many individual schools to vote not to organize, while, districtwide, a majority votes for the union.

In short, the union has an advantage.

A second union plus is that successfully organizing 15,000 teachers in one district can be very profitable. With total annual union dues - local, state and national of, say, $500 and more, the winner can receive $7,500,000 or more in dues. This can provide a quick profit on the money spent to organize.

Now, assume the same number of teachers in charter schools, and there are already far more than 15,000 of them. The problems of organizing them are many. One is the resistance of the teachers. While that may exist in any school, charter teachers have a good reason to avoid the unions - the strong opposition the unions have to the existence of charter schools.

A second is that few charter schools are in a relatively compact area. That presents a major, and expensive, obstacle to unions. However, let's pretend that doesn't exist and consider 15,000 charter school teachers in one major urban area. Since the average charter school has fewer teachers the union may face the task of organizing 1,000 schools, rather than just 250, and 15 teachers at each school, rather than 60. While attempting to organize 15 teachers per school may not cost as much as organizing 60, it will cost more on a per-teacher basis, and thus make it more difficult to quickly recoup the funds in annual dues.

From the union viewpoint there's more bad news. Since most charter schools are standalones, autonomous in many ways, the union must win at each and every one of them. A collective vote does not apply.

         Attempts to strike present the final straw. Since charter schools are largely separate entities, any decision to strike at one school would have no effect on the other schools. However the other schools would pose a serious threat to the striking teachers whose students, being in schools of choice, could transfer to an open school.

         And they would. The 9,500-member Detroit Federation of Teachers just concluded a 16-day strike. Whatever the merits of doing so, from the union's point of view, Detroit is a district in serious financial distress and enrollment has been dropping, reportedly down 11,000 last year alone, to about 130,000 students currently.

According to U.S. News & World Report, as a result of the strike parents enrolled their children in neighboring districts. Most significantly, a school district spokesman said the strike caused "thousands of students to flee to charter schools." Whatever the actual number, it would have been even higher if the charter schools could accept more.

It can be expected that many will not return, causing a larger drop in enrollment. Fewer students. Fewer teachers. Fewer union members.

         There is growing opposition to teacher union power and strikes. Attempts are being made to counter this legislatively. The charter school movement may be more of a threat, even greater than the unions yet realize.

         And one they can't stop.
                                                  # # # # #

"There is absolutely no question that American education as it exists today will not be tolerated by the American people, by the business community, by our policy leaders for more than another few years." Albert Shanker late President, American Federation of Teachers, quoted, p. 2, Linda Morrison, "Why Conventional Education Reform Fails: The Case for Market-Based Restructuring, Harrisburg, PA: The Commonwealth Foundation, March 1991.
# # # # #

Tags: Learning, schools, education, unions

Raj Yoga and Entrepreneurial Education?

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:10:29 GMT

Dear Hari Bansh Jha,

Thank you for the blessing, and thank you for your patience as well.

Blessings on you and your friends, family, community, and nation on the occasion of Bada Dasain.

With respect to your proposal regarding Raj Yoga, if I am to understand you correctly you seek to both devote time to personal spiritual practice as well as to gather some of the teachings and translate them into English?

In order to make this a reality, you would need some funding presumably. Then the teachings would be more widely available. Have I understood your thinking on this?

With respect to the work of CETS, it seems as if hitherto your work has primarily been research. We might have contacts who could help teach business and entrepreneurship skills to Nepalese people who have access to the internet. Do you know of such people who might be interested in an American mentor in developing such skills?

May your country find lasting peace,

Michael

P.S.: Because it appears difficult and costly to transfer small amounts of funds, I will wait until I can find another way. At present it appears as if it might cost $10 to send $10.

On Sep 21, 2006, at 3:31 AM, Hari Bansh Jha wrote:

Dear Michael,

I wish for your happiness, prosperity and good health on the occasion of Bada Dasain, the greatest Hindu festival in Nepal.

With love,

Hari Bansh Jha

Tags: peace, nepal, yoga, spirituality, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship

Peace Efforts by Religious Leaders in Nepal

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:22:34 GMT

Peace Efforts by Religious Leaders in Nepal By: Hari Bansh Jha Nepal is passing through the most critical phase in its history of 238 years. Ever since the internal conflict erupted in the country in 1996, 15,000 people have been killed. Nearly 270,000 people are believed to have been displaced and 1.5 million youth have been forced to migrate to various countries for security, safety and livelihood. Besides, 1,500 Village Development Committee (VDC) buildings have been partially or completely destroyed. Several rural bridges, schools, communication installations, district level government offices, police posts and private properties were damaged. However, the country was able to restore peace, though of uneasy nature, during the people's movement of April 2006. During this movement, the Seven Party Alliance and the Nepal Communist Party (NCP-Maoist) together were able to regain most of the people's power that was lost to the monarchial institution. The Nepalese parliament was restored. It is now the people's representatives who are in charge of running the government and the country. Yet many believe that the present phase of "no war" and "no peace" in the country in which open warfare has ceased to exist is unpredictable. The internal situation of the country during this period is tense with major chances of large scale violence to erupt again. Fundamental issues like arms management is unresolved, though the United Nations (UN) has been invited to mediate. The UN representative virtually does not adequately know what it has to deliver in the absence of clear-cut mandate, which ought to have been given to it by the concerned groups. The government wants the Maoists to surrender the arms to facilitate the process of Constituent Assembly Elections for which it is committed, but the latter wants "several changes" in the political structure to take place before they surrender the arms. As the country obviously appears to be on the cross roads, lapse in ceasing the opportunity by the concerned groups might flare up violence to a still greater dimension. But careful handling of the situation could help restore peace. In such a situation, the appeal made by the Inter Religious Council (IRC) in Nepal to the Seven Party Alliance, the NCP (Maoist) and the Government of Nepal (GON) to implement in letter and spirit all the understandings/agreements developed among them, including the 12 point agreement, 5 point understanding and the 25-point code of conduct appears to be most timely and crucial. The IRC is a NGO established in Nepal two years ago by the representatives of all major religious groups like the Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and Bonn act for conflict mediation and peace building. Since the people in Nepal are mostly religious-minded, the appeal made by the religious leaders for the restoration of sustainable peace in the country should not go unnoticed. As per the 2001 Census Report, of the total population of the country of nearly 23 million, the Hindus constitute 80.6 per cent followed by Buddhists (10.7 per cent), Muslims (4.2 per cent), Kirat (3.4 per cent) and Christian (0.5 per cent). In the past, the IRC is believed to have exerted pressure on both the government and rebel sides to reach amicable settlement of the conflict, which had certain positive results. Considering the immense potentiality that the religious groups have in spreading the message of love, kindness, compassion, and brotherhood among the common mass of the population, their role in resolving the conflict cannot be undermined. Therefore, the national and international agencies need to consult and act closely with the religious bodies while they make efforts for conflict mediation and peace building in this land of Buddha.

Tags: peace, nepal, democracy

Transcend Wal-Mart, Work for Peace in Nepal

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:31:27 GMT

The flurry of attention to Wal-Mart distracted me from more important business. We need to focus on those issues that are important. I have been remiss in my communications with Hari Bansh Jha. His next missive: Blessed Michael, I took some time to reply you because we were off-electricy for two days together. Anyway, I will check the blog at Zaard today itself and go through the conversation. In regard to your query about CETS, I have attached herewith its brochure. This will give you some details about our mission, activities and resources. Over the years, this small organization has been conducting research and studies mainly on socio-economic issues. Besides, it has also been conducting workshops and seminars, apart from publishing research work. However, I am alone to handle this organization at my home, though I have additional family support in the day-to-day activities. I employ scholars and researchers as and when I find project of multi-disciplinary nature. The employees go once the work is completed. However, as I have been advancing in my age, I am getting less and less taste in my professional life as an economist. As I have no other assured source of income, I have to earn bread and butter through research activities. My CV will give you a glimpse of some of the projects that we completed. Now I wish to give a twist to my life at the age of 54. I want to devote all my time to my own spiritual development. Besides, if there is anything to share with the world, I will do it as well. For this, I am thinking of one spiritual research centre, where I could practice and work on spiritual projects along with the team of researchers, such as on Raj Yoga (Royal Yoga) or the Vedas. I have one spiritual project in my mind at the moment. We can work together on this, if you like. Or, else if I can get some support, I can go independently, as well. The project is all about the Raj Yoga (Royal Yoga) i.e. spiritual knowledge as taught by the ALMIGHTY. The knowledge on Raj Yoga was passed to the SUN by the ALMIGHTY, which was later on shared with Ishaku, the saint. Again, this knowledge passed on to King Janak of Mithila (part of the state now is in India and part in Nepal) some 10,000 years ago. Part of this information was revealed by Lord Krishna to Aryuna during the Mahabharat War after 5000 years. We have some information on the Raj Yoga as revealed by Lord Krishna to Aryuna in some of the stanzas of the Gita, the holiest of the holy scriptures of the Hindus. But there are other original texts on Raj Yoga, which is in the form of spiritual discourses between King Janak and his spiritual Guru, Yagjnyabalka. Raj Yoga is the most simple technique to get enlightened spiritually. Consulting various literature in Sanskrit and other Indian/Nepali languages, a master work in English could be prepared on Raj Yoga, which might later on be translated into other languages. The present King of Thailand has taken keen interest on King Janak's spiritual work, but that is more in story form. We need to work more seriously on this project "Raj Yoga" for the larger interest of the human beings bleeding so badly under mistrust, violence and terrorism. There are several other spiritual areas as well where we can undertake projects.The researchers trained at this centre will be able to enlighten the people in Nepal and so to say anywhere in the world. By developing web site and also through the on-line service the results of the spiritual research could be shared with all the aspiring souls on the earth irrespective of cast, creed and sex. Since I lack any assured support for some of these activities, the ideas are locked in the mind. The east is so poor that it does not understand the importance of the jwels that it has. It is merely confined with the rituals. On the other hand, the west has understood its importance, but it will take a pretty long time to train the aspiring souls in this part of the world to learn how to go inside. Is it possible to utilize some of the resources generated by the spiritual persons in America for the above spiritual project, which aims at developing love, kindless, compassion and aboveall the feeling of ONENESS among the human beings. Maybe, what I am writing to you is the flow coming from the nature mother. Who knows? I think so because you are the one with whom I have opened to this level...Or, else the money could also be utilized to address such issues through research and/or talk programme as related to conflict and inviting debate or discussion on interim constitution, constituent assembly, displaced population, human trafficking, creating pressure on government and donor agencies for raising employment opportunities through massive dose of development activities and addressing question of arms management, which are of immediate concern to the Nepalese people. In regard to transferring the small amount, I checked with the Nepalese Bank about PayPal. But these people are unaware of it. I was suggested that the normal practice, which you might know well, is the swift code. In case, the money is to be transferred to Nepal, the Swift Code would be, for example, EVBLNPKA, Account No. & Name of a person for which the correspondent Banks could be: City Bank N.A. NY 10043 New York, USA or Standard Chartered Bank NY 10048, New York, USA or American Express Bank Ltd New York, NY US May God Bless you! With devotion, Hari Bansh Jha

Tags: Wal-mart, Nepal, peace, spirituality, economic development, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, charity, donations, philanthropy

Hari Bansh Jha, Peace, Commerce, and Spirituality

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:56:13 GMT

Dear Hari Bansh Jha,

I am glad that you liked my articles, thank you.

I have begun to post our conversation at my blog at Zaadz, http://flowidealism.zaadz.com/blog, as we discussed.

Please tell me more about the mission, activities, and resources of CETS so that I can understand better how my various connections might best work with CETS. What exactly does your organization do? How many employees? How are you funded? What projects would you like to do that you are not currently able to do? What is your vision for CETS? The more I know the more I will be able to deploy my resources and relationships effectively.

With respect to the spiritual dimension of the problem, can you explain more as well? There are many people at Zaadz with a profound interest in spirituality, and many Americans have a tremendous respect for Nepalese culture and traditions. In what ways do you envision communications regarding the spiritual dimensions of the problems in Nepal, or how might Nepalese act as spiritual teachers for people here? I am completely open to considering a wide variety of suggestions, but again I need to understand more clearly what possibilities you envision.

I am very interested in wide-open brainstorming about possibilities. It is most important to find solutions that work, but those solutions are sometimes discovered by means of round about discussions.

I am also interested in sending small amounts of funding, perhaps a couple of dollars per email, to compensate you for taking the time to engage in dialogue with me; you obviously would know of people and causes there who could use some additional support and can pass it on to them if you would like. I would like to create a social norm here in which we had many Americans communicating with many Nepalese, and with each communication that could send a dollar or so. A dollar is very little here, but a great deal there, and I like the idea of creating regular habits of giving that become routine. Over time, small amounts can add up, especially if we had many people involved in sending funds. I believe all Americans should develop the habit of just sending a little bit, regularly, to good causes that support people who desperately need help. You have convinced me that Nepal is full of people in just such a situation.

Have you ever used PayPal or a similar on-line means of transmitting small amounts of funds electronically? Do such systems work with Nepalese banks?

Let me know what makes sense and what doesn't.

Peace,

Michael

Tags: peace, democracy, nepal, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, Zaadz, spirituality

The End of Violence in the Balkans?

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:24:44 GMT

How Macedonia is imitating Estonia. If they can succeed in passing the proposed reforms, this may be the beginning of the end of violence in the Balkans:

Balkan Tiger

Meelis Kitsing

The late 1990s saw some economic reforms under the center-right government, but the onslaught of violence between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians forced any type of economic reforms to the backseat, where they remained until just last month. The outcome of elections held on July 5 gives reason to believe in the rebirth. . . .

The Macedonian Internal Revolutionary Organization (VMRO-DPMNE) has learned the right lessons. The party, headed by the youthful Nikola Gruevski, a former trade minister and finance minister in the government headed by the VMRO-DPMNE in 1998-2002, emphasized economic reform in its campaign, not Macedonian nationalism. "We believe that Macedonians want to do more than just survive -- they want to succeed. And to succeed we need a stronger, healthier economy -- one that delivers jobs and growth, that frees individuals to pursue their God-given potential with a minimum of government interference and that opens up the creative spirit in people," wrote Gruevski in the Washington Times on July 4. VMRO-DPMNE's election platform was based on a comprehensive and detailed study of reforms by other countries in the Central and Eastern Europe. Radical reformers of Central and Eastern Europe are seen as examples to be followed.

The VMRO-DPMNE promises to cut public expenditure by 2 percent of the GDP by 2010. It plans to cut red-tape by 2007, thereby enabling registration of new companies to be completed within three days. The party plans to implement a flat personal tax rate of 10 percent by 2008 - a turnaround from the current progressive income tax rates of 15, 18 and 24 percent. The tax rate on corporate profits will be reduced from 15 percent to 10 percent and, following the example of Estonia, the tax on reinvested profits will be scrapped altogether. . . .

Judging from the recent history of reform in former socialist countries as well as conventional expectations, nobody would have suspected Estonia to become a wunderkind of economic reform. Comparing Estonia (a country constantly given as an example in VMRO-DPMNE's election program) with Macedonia, it becomes obvious that 20 years ago one would have expected Macedonia to do better than Estonia. The quality of life was better in socialist Macedonia than in socialist Estonia. Yugoslavia offered more economic freedom than the Soviet Union, to which Estonia had been incorporated. Macedonians were able to travel and work abroad - even the thought alone was out of the question in socialist Estonia.

In the early 1990s the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia meant uncertainty for both Estonia and Macedonia. Both were new and unknown countries on the periphery of Europe. Many Westerners confused the Baltics with the Balkans. Estonia had a sizeable Russian-speaking minority that made up 35 percent of the population. Macedonia had an Albanian minority which was 20 percent of population in 1990 and has now increased to 25 percent. The confusion was not simply due to sheer ignorance. There were as many experts predicting doom for Estonia as there were "sovietologists" failing to predict the collapse of the USSR in the 1980s. A possible ethnic conflict or even a war with Russia was seen as likely. Despite the disadvantaged starting position and ethnic mix, combined with post-socialist politicking, Estonia emerged as a phoenix.

The reasons for Estonia's success remained invisible to the casual observer for years. While Macedonia chose a gradual, stop-and-go economic reform path, Estonia chose a radical and rapid approach by relying on the invisible hand of the market instead of on government intervention. The rapid economic development of Estonia is not just economic achievement: having benefited the Russian-speaking population in Estonia - it has contributed to social peace, as well. Good economic circumstances are less likely to feed social unrest. Indeed, Estonia has not had any large-scale ethnic conflicts, even if relations between the various ethnic groups are far from perfect.

The fact that thinking along those lines has reached the Balkans is a major improvement. Economic reforms do not offer absolute guarantees against potential ethnic conflicts but they will certainly reduce the likelihood of such conflicts. . . . .

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=082406A

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Beginning the Dialogue with Hari Bansh Jha on Supporting Nepal

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:59:46 GMT

Dear Michael,

It gives me pleasure to inform you that I browsed Zaadz website with a lot of interest. Besides, I went through certain portions of the attachments that I received along with your email.

First of all, I would like to congratulate for your mastery work on "The Creation of Conscious Culture Through Educational Innovation" and "Prediction Innovation Markets and World Peace."

In my view, your proposal on "Create Peace and Support Democracy in Nepal" is innovative. Whatever that you have suggested for the American people to support the cause of sustainable peace in Nepal is pragmatic. However, I would like you to consider two root factors that led to the conflict - one was the unemployed hands and the other was the lack of spiritual feelings among the common Nepalese population.

Until recently, about 2000 people used to cross Nepal boundary for their desinations in India each day to save their lives from the government and rebel forces. Even now, approximately 500 people are leaving the country each day for employment in different countries, including in Middle East, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and the others. Over 400,000 people have been displaced from the rural to urban areast. 75,000 girls have been forced to work in the cabin restaurants, dance bars, massage parlours, etc. in the urban areas, who are mostly subject to all sorts of sexual exploitations. Simiarly, child labour problem in domestics, street children, etc. are at the peak. It is estimated that each year 12,000 girls/women are trafficked to India alone. Thousands of girls are trafficked within the country each year. The situation has aggravated to such an extent that certain groups of people have been forced to go for organ transplantation. These are hard realities, but are the bitter truth.

Such spiritual feeling as Atmabat Sarbbhuteshu (meaning the presence of the same soul in each instinct) fast decayed. As a result, one throttled or killed the other and brought the economic activities to standstill. Since the conflict is the outcome of mental state, the problem cannot be resolved if people do not feel the need of revival of this feeling of oneness, which is the very essence of spiritualism. But for this our own people are capable. The only thing that is needed is to support the institutions or individuals who aspire to bring spiritual revoluciton. Impact of such activities, however, cannot be confined to any particular boundary. As the sun knows no boundary, the ideas of spiritual person know no boundary. And the entire mankind might be benefited from this. When we speak spiritualism, it is beyonng religion.

Besides, what we need to do is to support the development activities - be it related to the tourism, carpet industry, garment industry, handicrafts or even the software industries. In this process, the Business Council for Peace can really play an important role.

I will be the happiest person to support peace initiative in Nepal and elsewhere. Our research centre, CETS, could be a liasion office between the Americans and Nepalese in facilitating the peace process - be it in matter of economic support to the Nepalese or even in the spiritual development. American people can learn from the Nepalese and make their life better if the spiritual traditions of Nepal are revived.

Dear friend, I am prepared to shake hands with you warmly in carrying out the peace and development efforts and thereby help the millions to have a better life tomorrow.

Looking forward for fruitful cooperation.

With regards,

Hari Bansh Jha

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Create Peace and Support Democracy in Nepal

http://flowidealism.gaia.com — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:40:49 GMT

“Activists demonstrated against King Gyanendra months ago, successfully bringing his absolute rule to an end. Now they’re back on the streets. But this time, they're calling for the new government and Maoist rebels to iron out their differences and hold vital elections which will shape the future of their country.”

For the past ten years, the Nepalese people have been suffering from a civil war in which more than 15,000 lives have been lost and torture, rape, and AIDS infections have been widespread. Once perceived by westerners as a romantic launching ground for Himalayan expeditions, complete with picturesque indigenous peoples living traditional lives, the tourism industry, previously the largest source of income in Nepal, has collapsed. Beyond subsistence agriculture, the Nepalese are primarily surviving by means of working the Middle East and sending back remittances.

This picturesque traditional society has remained so largely because it has been ruled by one of the last autocratic kings on the planet. In 1996 Maoist rebels, frustrated with the people’s lack of voice, began attacking the government, and thus began the civil war. After ten years of this violence, this spring the king finally conceded to pro-democracy activists within Nepal. There is at long last a fragile cease-fire between the royalists and the Maoists. The democratic activists are now demonstrating in hopes of encouraging the Maoists to respect the new democratic government and thus allow a return to normalcy for the Nepalese people.

There are specific political moments in each nation in which public political protest is a powerful force for change. Just as civil rights marchers in the U.S. successfully defeated the Jim Crow system in the American south, so too have Nepalese protesters successfully won democracy for their country – if, and only if, they can keep the Maoists from engaging in violence again.

Often Americans wish to help those in need elsewhere. More than one-third of American households voluntarily gave more than $400 million to victims of the December 2004 tsunami in the Indian ocean. But charity, while crucial in an emergency situation, is not likely to create a peaceful democratic society in Nepal. Moreover, whereas it is important for the Nepalese to protest on behalf of democracy in their country, a protest for Nepalese democracy in the U.S. has no effect.

What can we do? Well, to begin with Nepal is one of the poorest nations on earth. The civil war has largely destroyed what little economic development had taken place in Nepal. Research shows that democracies are far more stable when their economies are growing than when they are shrinking:

"Political scientist Adam Przeworski examined the experience of 139 countries over four decades . . . the probability that any individual democracy would be overthrown by a dictatorial regime was nearly four times as great if the country's per capita income was falling than if its income was rising."

In a newly democratized nation such as Nepal, this fact is crucial:

“There is no doubt that the probability that a democracy survives increases with per capita income. You can control it for everything from the kitchen sink to the grandmother’s attic. That relationship will survive anything. It’s monotonic, and it’s strong, unbelievably strong.”

If we want the infant democracy in Nepal to survive, the best thing that we can do is to help Nepal grow.

Peace entrepreneurship is a new category of social entrepreneurship, the amazing Business Council for Peace (BPeace), based in New York, is one of the pioneers in this field. They “volunteer their time to help women in regions of conflict and post-conflict start businesses.” BPeace is currently focusing their efforts on training women from Afghanistan and Rwanda, with business experts both traveling to these countries and flying women from these nations to the U.S.

As important as it is to expand the BPeace effort, few of us have the time or resources to fly to Nepal or to fly Nepalese women to the U.S. Are their on-line initiatives that could be similarly useful? There are millions of Americans who spend several hours per day on-line, in discussion groups, surfing the web, shopping, buying things.

There are three ways in which Americans can begin to work as peace entrepreneurs in Nepal without leaving their computers:

1. Create a business importing Nepalese goods.
2. Create a business selling Nepalese remote services.
3. Provide on-line entrepreneurial education for Nepalese people so that they can earn income in the global remote services industry.

It is important to realize that being an entrepreneur of any kind is not easy; nine out of ten businesses fail. If one is motivated by the desire to do good rather than to earn significant income, it is easier, but still focus, commitment, and persistence are required. But if enough socially conscious Americans developed a sustained commitment to peace entrepreneurship in Nepal, we could begin to help this one beautiful nation create a democracy that survives.

Creating a Business Importing Nepalese Goods

There are numerous challenges in creating import/export businesses, including required licenses, tariffs, and other regulatory obstacles. The best approach for beginners here would be either to begin working under someone who is already in the business of global crafts importing or to find such a person to serve as a mentor.

Creating a Business Selling Nepalese Remote Services

Vinod Khosla, a leading venture capitalist, estimates that the global remote services business will be the largest business on the planet by the year 2010. Cheap global broadband will allow a wide range of work to be done anywhere, anytime. So far the remote services business has largely been corporate call centers, accounting, and software development in India and Eastern Europe. But already small scale entrepreneurs are hiring people around the world to program, provide graphic design services, research services, secretarial services, transcription services, security monitoring services (observing security camera footage in real time and notifying the security company of crimes), etc. The possibilities for these small-scale enterprises are limited only by the boundaries of entrepreneurial imagination. Pay rates that are low in the developed world, such as $1 dollar per hour, represent generous salaries for many people in the developing world.

For background on these remote services projects, see Bruce Judson’s Go It Alone: Do What You Do Best and Let Others Do the Rest, a book on how to create a one-person entrepreneurial enterprise that relies on hiring services from others rather than hiring employees. See also Harry Beckwith, Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing for a short, brilliant book on how to sell services in inspiring ways. Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is also an important classic for those who have never before traversed the entrepreneurial process of moving from vision to reality. The “Working for Good” curriculum, available at www.workingforgood.com, continues a helpful mental framework within which to engage in such entrepreneurial activity.

Providing On-Line Entrepreneurial Education for Nepalese People

Open World, the organization that pioneered this vision of grassroots globalization, has a range of resources available on their site, http://www.openworld.com. Open World has also created simple software that allows anyone to create visual lesson plans that may be used to teach people across the world. The following is a demonstration of a lesson on energy from a high school girl in Sri Lanka:

http://presenter.openworld.com/flash/HL2/player.swf

There are, of course, numerous other on-line educational systems for those who want to teach others across the world.

Future installments of this blog will provide additional suggestions. We intend to create an on-line community of idealistic entrepreneurs who work together to stabilize democracy in Nepal and create a vibrant, healthy growing economy there that will once again support a sustainable eco-tourism business.

I am in contact with Hari Bansh Jha, who inspired this post, and will post our ongoing conversation as is relevant.

Peace,

Michael

P.S.: The photo of women and children is from "Save the Children," which includes information on child prostitution in Nepal:

http://www.savethechildren.org/one_world/nepal.asp

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