Month: March 2015

Big Defense: Peace is bad for business

Posted on March 12, 2015 in Economics, Ethos, Government

Go Lean Commentary

The US Government is trying to negotiate with the Republic of Iran to dissuade them from developing a nuclear bomb. This is a delicate negotiation, as the US and other world powers do not want any other countries added to the Nuclear Club. The current members are:

  • United States of America
  • Russia
  • Great Britain
  • China
  • France
  • India
  • Pakistan
  • Israel (Suspected; not confirmed nor acknowledged)
  • North Korea

This delicate negotiation is likened to a “bull in a china shop”. At stake is more than just politics; rather this involves the most destructive weapons mankind has ever known; it is life-or-death … for the planet.

No pressure!

The President of the US is spearheading the negotiations…

Alas, his political opposition, the Republicans, have now thrown a “monkey wrench” into the plans. 47 Republican US Senators wrote a letter to “the leaders of Iran”; designed to derail any international agreement governing that country’s nuclear program. The Senators intent is for their advanced concurrence on any treaty negotiations; (the constitution call for Senate ratification of any Treaty, afterwards). Numerous leading Democrats — in Congress and the media — have since condemned this action with language of criminality, sedition and even treason in denouncing that letter.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, (a member of the President’s Party, the Democrats), said:

“Republicans are undermining our Commander-in-Chief while empowering the Ayatollahs.”

The New York Daily News put mugshot-like photos of four of the GOP signatories above the headline “TRAITORS.” The Washington Monthly’s Ed Kilgore called it “sedition in the name of patriotism.” The Washington Post’s Paul Waldman said it is “appalling” because it shows Republicans “can act as though Barack Obama isn’t even the President of the United States.”

This commentary asserts that from the American perspective, there is more involved in this issue than just politics. Rather there is a nefarious Big Business agenda. Because peace is bad for business. The “Military Industrial Complex” – see Appendix below – is lobbying, cheerleading and teasing both sides here for continued hostilities. There is too much money involved, as the US Department of Defense maintains an annual budget of $526.6 billion (2014), with a lot earmarked for supplies, artillery and weapon systems. These amounts are so big that the realities of Crony-Capitalism cannot be ignored. It can be argued that this is actually the primary driver in these Republican-Iran-Nuclear developments.

It is obvious from this review that one consequence of Crony-Capitalism is that it short-changes the future for immediate gains, or profits. This paradox has been a constant concern of the commentary for the promotion of this movement, the book and blogs for Go Lean…Caribbean, the concerted effort to elevate Caribbean society by rebooting the region’s economic, security and governing engines.

There is much for our region to learn in this discussion.

For starters, both sides in the American eco-system practice these same policies; it can be argued that what is “Good for the Goose; is Good for the Gander”. During the last decade when the party in power and party in opposition were reversed, the same strategy was employed; as reported here in the this news article:

1. Title: The Parties’ Role Reversal on ‘Interfering’ with the Commander-in-Chief’s Foreign Policy

Senate Republicans, obsessed as always with carrying out the agenda of the Israeli government and leading the U.S. into more militarism and war, yesterday wrote a letter to “the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” designed to derail an international agreement governing that country’s nuclear program.
…
CU Blog - Big Defense - Peace is bad for business - Photo 2To see how thoroughly Democrats have adopted the GOP’s Bush-era authoritarian rhetoric about not “undermining the commander-in-chief,” and to see how craven is GOP behavior now on Iran, just look at what was being said in 2007 when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Syria and met with President Bashar Assad. The Bush administration was furious about that meeting because its strategy at the time was to isolate Assad as punishment for his alleged aid to Iraqi insurgents fighting against U.S. occupying forces, and the right-wing media and even mainstream media precincts attacked Pelosi in ways quite redolent of today’s attacks on the Senate Republicans over Iran.

In April, 2007, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by right-wing law professor Robert Turner, headlined “Illegal Diplomacy,” declaring that “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may well have committed a felony in traveling to Damascus this week, against the wishes of the president, to communicate on foreign-policy issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad.”

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/10/gop-2007-attacks-pelosi-interfering-bushs-syria-policy-v-todays-similar-dem-attacks-iran/

Despite the high stakes involved in the politics, the Big Business alignments are more shocking, and thus providing a lesson for the Caribbean region, aligning with the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This book asserts that America should not be looked to for leadership in Caribbean affairs. They have their own self-interest in mind, even at the disregard to threats for the whole planet; peace is bad for business.

Crony-Capitalists only focus on short-term benefits … and profits.

Just consider the “post-Letter” activities of one of the champions of the group of 47 Republican Senators, Tom Cotton of Arkansas. See the VIDEO here of his eloquent defense of this action on a daily morning TV news show:

VIDEO – Cotton on MSNBC: GOP Message to Iran About Nuclear Deal – http://youtu.be/RSbE26EPnZs

Published on Mar 10, 2015 – Sen. Tom Cotton joins MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the letter sent to the Iranian leaders.

But within the same 24 hour news cycle, Senator Cotton is an honored speaker at an industry event for the Military Industrial Complex. This article here relates the story:

2. Title: Immediately After Launching Effort to Scuttle Iran Deal, Senator Tom Cotton to Meet with Defense Contractors

(Retrieved 03-11-2015: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/09/upon-launching-effort-scuttle-iran-deal-senator-tom-cotton-meets-defense-contractors/)

CU Blog - Big Defense - Peace is bad for business - Photo 1In an open letter organized by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., 47 Senate Republicans today warned the leaders of Iran that any nuclear deal reached with President Barack Obama could expire as soon as he leaves office.

Tomorrow, 24 hours later, Cotton will appear at an “Off the Record and strictly Non-Attribution” event with the National Defense Industrial Association, a lobbying and professional group for defense contractors.

The NDIA is composed of executives from major military businesses such as Northrop Grumman, L-3 Communications, ManTech International, Boeing, Oshkosh Defense and Booz Allen Hamilton, among other firms.

Cotton strongly advocates higher defense spending and a more aggressive foreign policy. As The New Republic’s David Ramsey noted, “Pick a topic — Syria, Iran, Russia, ISIS, drones, NSA snooping — and Cotton can be found at the hawkish outer edge of the debate … During his senate campaign, he told a tele-townhall that ISIS and Mexican drug cartels joining forces to attack Arkansas was an ‘urgent problem.’”

On Iran, Cotton has issued specific calls for military intervention. In December he said Congress should consider supplying Israel with B-52s and so-called “bunker-buster” bombs — both items manufactured by NDIA member Boeing — to be used for a possible strike against Iran.

Asked if Cotton will speak about his Iran letter tomorrow, Jimmy Thomas, NDIA Director of Legislative Policy, said, “[M]ost members … talk about everything from the budget to Iran … so it’s highly likely that he may address that in his remarks.” According to Thomas, the Cotton event was scheduled in January, “but certainly we bring people to the platform that have influence directly on our issues.”

This foregoing article relates that this is more an issue of Crony-Capitalism, than it is about negotiating for peace.

Just “follow the money” is a constant refrain among conspiracy theorists.  Many sources, including this Go Lean book and accompanying blogs, have reported on the “bad intent” in the American eco-system, associated with Crony-Capitalism.

This consideration aligns with the Go Lean book, which serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This empowerment effort represents a change for the region, calling on all 30 member-state governments in the region to confederate and provide their own solutions in the areas of economics, security and governance. The book is motivated for the Greater Good, not some adherence to a profit objective; so decisions in this regards should never be based on short-term benefits or lining the pockets of any particular special interest group.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap defines these 3 prime directives as follows:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion GDP and create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines against “bad actors”.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The negative community ethos of Crony-Capitalism is an example for the Caribbean to avoid in emulating American society. The book Go Lean…Caribbean asserts that the Caribbean region must do better; we must not allow the US to take the lead for our own nation-building, for American capitalistic interests tend to hijack policies intended for the Greater Good. This assessment is logical considering the realities of so many of these Big Corporate Bullies where public policy is set to benefit private parties. The subject of Big Defense, the Military Industrial Complex, is just another example; peace is bad for their business. Consider this chart of well-documented cases of bad corporate behavior:

Big Media Cable companies conspire to keep rates high; kill net neutrality; textbook publishers practice price gouging; Hollywood insists on big tax breaks/ subsidies for on-location shooting.
Big Oil While lobbying for continuous tax subsidies, the industry have colluded to artificially keep prices high and garner sky-high profits ($38+ Billion every quarter).
Big Box Retail chains impoverish small merchants on Main Street with Antitrust-like tactics, thusly impacting community jobs.
Big Pharma Chemo-therapy cost $20,000+/month; and the War against Cancer is imperiled due to industry profit insistence.
Big Tobacco Cigarettes are not natural tobacco but rather latent with chemicals to spruce addiction.
Big Agra Agribusiness concerns bully family farmers and crowd out the market; plus fight common sense food labeling efforts.
Big Data Brokers for internet and demographic data clearly have no regards to privacy concerns.
Big Banks Wall Street’s damage to housing and student loans are incontrovertible.
Big Weather Overblown hype of “Weather Forecasts” to dictate commercial transactions.
Big Real Estate Preserving MLS for Real Estate brokers only, forcing 6% commission rates, when the buyers and sellers can meet on the internet without them.
Big Salt Despite the corrosiveness of salt on roads and the environment, it is the only tactic used to de-ice roads. Immediately after the weather warms, the roads must be re-constructed, thus ensuring a continuous economic cycle.

The Go Lean book, and accompanying blog commentaries, go even deeper and hypothesize that American economic models are dysfunctional from the Caribbean perspective. The American wheels of commerce stages the Caribbean in a “parasite” role; imperiling regional industrialization even further. The foreign policy for the Caribbean is to incentivize consumption of American products, and serve as a playground for their leisure. Considering the military eligibility for citizens of US Territories, the US defense policy is to feed its military with as many territorial young men and woman as possible. Many sources report that on the average 1% of the American population serve in the military. (While some states, like Texas, register 2 – 3% engagement, many records numbers like .50%). On the other hand, the US Territories (PR, VI, Guam, Samoa) engage 10 – 12 percent of its population to the US Armed Forces. One report relates that since 1917, more than 200,000 American citizens from Puerto Rico have served in the Armed Forces, serving in every conflict since World War I.

“We are fodder for the cannons”! – an informal, derogatory term for combatants who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire.

One reason for a high military enrollment is the lack of jobs. While the Go Lean roadmap does not discourage the National Sacrifice ethos required for military enlistments, we do plan to facilitate job creation otherwise. We do not want to just be “fodder”!

The Go Lean roadmap provides turn-by-turn directions on how to forge the elevation of the Caribbean region from a parasite role to the preferred role of protégé. We simply need our own security solutions for our own objectives. This point is made early in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 13) with these statements:

x.   Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign.

xvi.    Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent OverseasTerritory of imperial powers, the systems of governance can be instituted on a regional and local basis, rather than requiring oversight or accountability from distant masters far removed from their subjects of administration. The Federation must facilitate success in autonomous rule by sharing tools, systems and teamwork within the geographical region.

The Go Lean book purports that the Caribbean can – and must – do better than Crony-Capitalism. The vision of the CU is a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean to do the heavy-lifting of optimizing economic-security-governing engines. While the region must provide “new guards” to ensure our homeland security, there is no agenda to build up a Military Industrial Complex in the Caribbean region. The Go Lean roadmap only calls for the installations of local security forces to remediate and mitigate regional threats and ensure public safety; not create a military-industrial eco-system. The Go Lean book details the community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to elevate Caribbean society, and make our homeland a better place to live, work, play:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in   Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Unified and Integrated Single Market Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Protect the Homeland’s Natural Resources Page 45
Tactical – Confederating a non-sovereign union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Page 75
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Foreign Policy Initiatives Page 102
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence – Interdependence Page 120
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean   Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from the West Indies (WI) Federation – WI Regiment Page 135
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering and Analysis Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220

While the US is the world’s largest Single Market economy and has the largest military establishment, we want to only model some of the American example. We would rather foster a business climate and Armed Forces to benefit the Greater Good, not just some special interest group. There are many Go Lean blog commentaries that have echoed this point, addressing the subject of the Caribbean avoiding American consequences of Crony-Capitalism. See sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4476 Big Salt: Short-term Benefit; Long-term Damage
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4381 Net Neutrality: It Matters Here …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4337 American Study: Homes Marketed via the MLS Sell for More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4076 American Media Fantasies versus Weather Realities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3397 A Christmas Present for the Banks from the Omnibus Bill
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3326 Detroit’s M-1 Rail – Finally avoiding Plutocratic Auto Industry Solutions
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2522 The Cost of Cancer Drugs
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2465 Book Review: ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2259 The Criminalization of American Business
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2183 A Textbook Case of Industry Price-gouging
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1143 Health-care fraud in America; Criminals take $272 billion a year
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=709 Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – American Self-Interest Policies

The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that many problems of the region are too big for any one member-state to solve alone, that there is the need for the technocracy of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. The Go Lean roadmap calls for some integration of the regional member-states, a strategy of confederation with a tactic of separation-of-powers between CU federal agencies and member-states’ governments. This allows for a lot of autonomy … and abuse. We must therefore be on-guard – with transparency and accountability – against conspiracy or some special interest hijacking our Greater Good for private gains.

This concept of conspiracies to force some military action to support/grow the Military Industrial Complex sound more like fiction than fact. But, the details in this commentary are true and real. This is classic “life imitating art”; or is it “art imitating life”. Just consider the movies and TV shows based on the concept of shadowy conspiracy to get the US government (or European governments) to commit to military actions so as to enrich some conniving defense contractors. The following is a sample list:

Film Name    Date Description
Death of a President

2006

 Faux documentary; government officials cover up the truth of President Bush’s assassination to push an anti-terrorism agenda
Defence of the Realm

1985

 A reporter investigating an MP’s sex scandal stumbles onto a web of MI5 cover-ups involving murder and nuclear weapons
Murder at 1600

1997

 A Washington,  D.C. detective investigates the murder of a White House intern inside the West Wing, and begins to suspect that a member of the First Family is the killer
Seven Days in May

1964

 An Army colonel discovers that rogue generals are plotting a coup d’état against the President to get their war
Shadow Conspiracy

1997

 The White House Chief of Staff conspires to assassinate the President
Snake Eyes

1998

 A corrupt Atlantic City police detective investigates when the Secretary of Defense is assassinated ringside at a championship boxing event, so as to ensure the sale of a missile defense system
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

1991

 Science fiction; rogue Federation and Klingon military officials attempt to assassinate the Klingon chancellor and Federation president to prevent the end of their cold war and continued militarization
The Fourth Protocol

1987

 A rogue KGB chief bent on prolonging the Cold War sends his top spy to detonate an atomic bomb at an American nuclear airbase in Great Britain
The Man Who Knew Too Little

1997

 Comedy; an innocent American tourist in England stumbles on a plot by the heads of MI6 and the KGB to bomb a treaty signing ceremony and reignite the Cold War
The November Man

2014

 An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a   deadly game involving high level CIA officials to assassinate Russian president-elect to justify the 2nd Chechen War
The Package

1989

 An American soldier stumbles onto an assassination plot by rogue American and Soviet military officials who wish to prevent the signing of a nuclear disarmament treaty
The Tailor of Panama

2001

 A rogue MI6 operative fabricates a Panamanian revolutionary group and starts a war to line his own pockets
Wrong Is Right

1982

 Black comedy; a journalist is embroiled in plot and counterplot involving the CIA, Islamic fundamentalists, a ruthless arms trafficker, and a tight presidential election
xXx: State of the Union

2005

 The Secretary of Defense plots a coup d’état against the president to force a war
TV Show Name    Date Description
24

2006

 In the television series 24, many seasons plot involved a vast conspiracy from the government. For example in season 5, terrorist took Ontario airport terminal passenger in hostage in order to take possession of a deadly gas. CIA had put gas there in order for terrorist to take it and explode it while in transit in Middle-East, providing a reason for United States to send troops in Middle East.
Scandal

2015

 The 4th season related a season-long conspiracy by the Vice-President to kidnap the President’s Mistress and show’s star Olivia Pope to force the President to authorize war in fictitious East Angola.

These considerations are especially poignant for citizens of US Territories; though the entire region suffers from dysfunction. These “American citizens” are on the move; their Caribbean homelands is at near-Failed-State status; the abandonment factor is unbelievably high. According to one report, Florida is gaining a net 7,300 Puerto Ricans a year, far more than any other U.S. state. The Go Lean book posits that “if we leave well enough alone, things will not just get better on their own”. Much more is needed to reverse these trends; new remediation and new mitigation must be put in place. A better future must be guided, girded and navigated. This is among the heavy-lifting tasks for the Caribbean; this is the charge of the CU.

The people and governing institutions of all the Caribbean are hereby urged to take heed to the exhortations in this commentary; and also to learn more, and do more, by leaning-in to this Go Lean roadmap for Caribbean empowerment. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——

Appendix – Referenced Citations:

1. Those who serve: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/03/137536111/by-the-numbers-todays-military

2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081702175.html

3. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2005/11/who-bears-the-burden-demographic-characteristics-of-us-military-recruits-before-and-after-9-11

4. The military–industrial complex [1] comprises the policy and monetary relationships which exist between legislators, national armed forces, and the arms industry that supports them. These relationships include political contributions, political approval for military spending, lobbying to support bureaucracies, and oversight of the industry. It is a type of iron triangle. The term is most often used in reference to the system behind the military of the United States, where it gained popularity after its use in the farewell address of President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 17, 1961,[2] though the term is applicable to any country with a similarly developed infrastructure.[3][4] The term is sometimes used more broadly to include the entire network of contracts and flows of money and resources among individuals as well as corporations and institutions of the defense contractors, The Pentagon, the Congress and executive branch.[5] A similar thesis was originally expressed by Daniel Guérin, in his 1936 book Fascism and Big Business, about the fascist government support to heavy industry. It can be defined as, “an informal and changing coalition of groups with vested psychological, moral, and material interests in the continuous development and maintenance of high levels of weaponry, in preservation of colonial markets and in military-strategic conceptions of internal affairs.”[6]

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Colorism in Cuba … and Beyond

Posted on March 10, 2015 in Ethos, Government, Locations

Go Lean Commentary

Image is a problem for Cuba. Most people in the Western Hemisphere may only know of one Cuban, perhaps Fidel Castro. What’s more, most people only knew of one Cuban before the Castro era, that was “Rickie Ricardo” of I Love Lucy fame. Unfortunately this demographic is not fully representative of Cuba’s population. Cuba has always had a large Black population; (though as a minority group during the Rickie Ricardo era). After the Cuban Communist Revolution, and the wholesale abandonment of most of the White community, today, Cuba is a majority Black nation … by far.

… and yet Majority Rule has eluded them.
… economic power has also eluded this population.

Change is now afoot!

This subject of managing change has been a familiar theme in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. Also the theme of preparing for and rebooting Cuba has been frequently detailed in previous blog commentaries. Now, the consideration is the unavoidable clashes regarding race that will surely take place in a post-Castro Cuba.

Many other societies have had these clashes. Whether violent or just political; change in the area of race has been hard-fought. Consider the upheavals for the US during the 1960’s. (See Photo below). Cuba did not benefit from this American civil rights movement; they did not sow, so they have not reaped. They were fresh into their own political revolution with the embrace of communism, alienation of American society and mass exodus of so many citizens.

This is the assertion of a prominent Cuban-American politician in Miami, Florida – a strong-bed for the Cuban Diaspora and Cuban-American communities. See his editorial here:

Title: Blacks in Cuba are poised to make gains
By: Ricardo Gonzalez

CU Blog - Colorism in Cuba ... and Beyond - Photo 1For the first time in more than a century, black Cubans might have a real opportunity to gain the enfranchisement and equality for which our ancestors fought so hard — and were on the verge of winning — only to see their hopes and aspirations frustrated when a U.S. naval ship was blown to pieces in the port of Havana in 1898.

The blood and sweat of our forefathers in the overwhelmingly Black Mambi army was shed for naught as our nation and the 20th century were born. Since Cuba’s inception in 1902, its black citizens never truly gained equal footing in that troubled country. Despite their decisive role in the struggle for independence from colonialism, blacks were almost totally excluded from all levels of power and denied full participation in the everyday life in the fledgling nation.

Unhappy with their exclusion and seeking a better compact, black Cubans were once again prevented from gaining the equality they thought they had earned in the battlefield when their nascent racial movement seeking social justice was violently decapitated — literally, in some cases — a decade later. What followed was a long, hard procession of years of drudgery — sprinkled with a few, incremental gains — under the suffocating hardships of Cuba’s tropical version of Jim Crow.

In 1959, the Cuban Revolution artfully gained control of every aspect of Cuban life and promised to eradicate all vestiges of racial injustice in the island. Shortly thereafter, la Revolución, loudly, proudly and unilaterally, proclaimed victory in its self-declared fight against racism and promptly proceeded to label anyone who dared bring up the topic of racial inequality as a counter-revolutionary and applied “revolutionary” punishment and penalties to those who dared to transgress.

More than half a century later, however, whether by government intent or simply as a result of misguided policies, black Cuba is immersed in its most difficult juncture; at a disadvantage economically (reduced access to foreign currencies), politically (little to no representation in government) and sociologically (i.e., marginalized, racially profiled, disproportionally incarcerated, etc.).

Truth be told, throughout its history, Cuba has never been kind to its darker citizens, regardless of who has been in power or his political ideology. It is time for that elephant in the room to be both acknowledged and dealt with.

Now the catastrophic dynasty that has afflicted our nation for almost 60 years finally appears to be near its end — Father Time and biology proving to be our only true and reliable friends. Add the surprising announcement of an attempt to normalize relations between Cuba and United States, and Cubans — black, mulatto and white — might soon have the opportunity to “reboot,” to recreate a new, more inclusive nation; a nation “with all and for the wellbeing of all,” as dreamed by Jose Marti.

Skeptics will say that nothing will change, that the Castro clan will never relinquish power, or that the generals and/or other parasites will cling to their perquisites by any means necessary. But the fact is that in the not-too-distant future, we can envision both brothers leaving the scene, either in a pine box or to convalesce at a well-appointed home for retired dictators.

With those two out of the picture, and with whatever new relationship that evolves from the recent rapprochement with the United   States, there is little doubt that our nation is headed to a new dawn, a different way of doing business.

Black Cubans, who by all measurable accounts have borne the brunt of the damage wreaked by the regime, are well positioned to finally savor their rightful — and so far elusive — share. By essentially heaping misery and squalor on the entire population and thus somewhat “leveling the playing field,” the Cuban Revolution has given Cubans of color, for the first time, the ability to compete academically, culturally and socially with their white compatriots. It is not an accident that a good percentage of the most prominent dissidents in the island are people of color.

And let us not forget that, contrary to the Cuban government’s official numbers, Afro-Cubans are no longer the minority. Malcolm X once said: “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” I will simply follow the advice of an old wise man who once said to me; “Stick always with the optimists, because life is hard even if they are right.”
Miami Herald Editorial – South Florida Daily Newspaper – Posted 03/07/2015; retrieved 03/10/2015:
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article12875840.html

We march with Selma!The Cuban revolution occurred in 1959 and the political intrigue (Cold War, Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs, Embargo, Pedro Pan Exodus, etc.) was heightened all during the 1960’s. While the US and many other Western countries confronted their racial past and effected change accordingly, Cuba was on the sidelines. So now that Cuba may soon be graduating from alienation to participation in the world’s economic order, a lot of the changes that their society would have to assimilate are really questions at this time:

  • Did Cuban society formally end their pre-revolution segregation policies voluntarily or were they forced into compliance by the Communists Military Might?
  • Will Cuba immediately accept the new human/civil rights standards for race and gender equality that is the best-practice in Western society (North America and Europe)?
  • Will the Cuban Diaspora still long for the days of a Cuba segregated by the races or has the transformation of Western society really taken root?
  • Will the still-present US practice of colorism (see below) in the Black community – very much prominent in the Latin world – be even more heightened in a new Cuba?

These are valid and appropriate questions. Everywhere else when Communism fell, sectarian divisions and violence erupted; many times fueled by the same prejudices that predated the Communist revolutions; (think ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia: Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia). There will truly be a need for earnest reconciliation in Cuba.

CU Blog - Colorism in Cuba ... and Beyond - Photo 3

The issues of race reconciliation and Cuban reconciliation collide in this commentary. These have been frequently detailed in these Go Lean blogs. Consider these previous entries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4487 Historical Black College most effective with Social Mobility
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4447 Probe of Ferguson-Missouri finds bias from cops, courts
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3662 Migrant flow into US from Caribbean (i.e. Cuba) spikes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3455 Restoration of Diplomatic Relations with Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3354 CARICOM Chair calls for an end to US embargo on Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547 Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1609 Cuba mulls economy in Parliament session
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2222 Sports Role Model – Playing For Racial Pride … And More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1918 Philadelphia Freedom – Community Model for Forging Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1773 Miami’s Caribbean Marketplace Re-opens as a Welcome Mat
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531 A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago Today – World War I
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020 Sports Revolutionary Issues Re: Racism against Black Athletes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789 America’s War on the Caribbean

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); an initiative to bring change and empowerment to the Caribbean region, including Cuba. Since Cuba is the largest country – land-wide and population – in the Caribbean region, any changes there will have an impact on the rest of the region. The goal of this roadmap is to anticipate the change, forge the change and guide the changes in our society for positive outcomes. We want to make the Caribbean region a better homeland to live, work and play for every island, every language group; just everyone. There is some degree of urgency and imminence to this cause as Cuba’s current President, Raul Castro has announced that he will retire in 2017. At that point, there will be no more “Castros” at the helm of Cuba.

To accomplish this audacious goal, this Go Lean roadmap has the following 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book describes the CU as a technocratic administration with many missions to elevate the Caribbean homeland. The underlying goal is stated early in the book with this pronouncement in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12):

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law…

xiii.  Whereas the legacy of dissensions in many member-states (for example: Haiti and Cuba) will require a concerted effort to integrate the exile community’s repatriation, the Federation must arrange for Reconciliation Commissions to satiate a demand for justice.

Change has come to the Caribbean. But as depicted in the subsequent VIDEO, this same change came to the US, and yet strong feelings about skin color persist. The Go Lean book declares that permanent change is possible, but to foster success, a community must first adopt new ethos, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. The community ethos of sharing, tolerance, equality and the Greater Good were missing from pre-revolution Cuba. It is a mission of the Go Lean movement to ensure these inclusions for the new Cuba. The Go Lean roadmap was constructed with these community ethos in mind, plus the execution of strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to forge the identified permanent change in the region. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing   Principles – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing   Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos –   Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Anecdote – LCD versus an Entrepreneurial Ethos Page 39
Strategy – Vision – Confederation of the 30 Caribbean   Member-States into a Single Market Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art, People and Culture of the Caribbean Page 46
Tactical –   Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical –  Separation of Powers: Federal Administration versus Member-States Governance Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image – On guard against defamations Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance in the Caribbean Region Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – To message for change Page 186
Advocacy – Ways Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Cuba Page 236

The lessons in race relations and colorism are not perfected in the rest of the Caribbean. In fact, there are many human rights and civil rights abuses in the region. There is not one regional sentinel to be on guard against bad developments in race relations and work towards mitigating the effects. This is the charge of the CU. Nor, can the Caribbean region expect the US to lead in words or action for this serious issue. This VIDEO demonstrates many negative traits that still exist in the American homeland, and by extension, the rest of the Western Hemisphere:

VIDEO: Colorism – https://youtu.be/xD2WYJTG8ig


BlkGrlOnline
December 11, 2011 – I know you all have heard of the whole “Light Skin vs. Dark Skin” debate. Tyra Banks has discussed this and associated topics on her talk show, The Tyra Show. What do you think about this subject? And more importantly, why is this still an issue TODAY?
Note: I do not own or claim rights to the featured material.

There is still clash-and-conflict in the African-American communities, dating back to the days of Booker T Washington versus the W.E.B. Du Bois. Some modern labeling may be “Old-School versus Nu School”, “Hip-Hop versus Bourgeois”, even “Thugs versus ‘Acting White'”; the underlying conflict often times is a reflection of colorism in the Black Community. While these are all informal divisions, the formal (legal) institutions in America also have hardened lines involving Black-White race relations. Despite the presence of the country’s first Black President, Barack Obama, there is hardened opposition of any efforts he tries to make; consider the reality of the Tea Party opposition to Obama’s initiatives (like his signature ObamaCare Universal Health Program) just because they are his originations. Many times, this opposition is willing to sacrifice the Greater Good with the Federal Budget and Foreign Policy just to be contrarian.

Many question whether in the deep trenches of their hearts if many Americans have not really matured from the racial mindsets of the America of 1908, or 1958 (the era before Cuba’s revolution). We have our own problems in the Caribbean to contend with, many which we are failing at. But our biggest crisis stem from the fact that so many of our citizens have fled their Caribbean homelands for foreign (including American) shores. Therefore the quest for change must come from us in the Caribbean, by us and for us. We are inconsequential to the American decision-makers, so the US should not be the panacea of Caribbean hopes and dreams.

The Go Lean movement seeks to be better than even our American counterparts. We must be vigilant. We have seen post-Communist evolution before. It’s a “familiar movie”, we know how it ends.

We welcome the imminent change in Cuba, but we are on guard for emergence of new negative community ethos … or a return to old ones. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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FAMU is No. 3 for Facilitating Economic Opportunity

Posted on March 6, 2015 in Economics, Government

Go Lean Commentary

This commentary is a big proponent of a college education for Caribbean citizens.

This commentary is a big opponent of a college education for Caribbean citizens in American colleges and universities. The reason for the ambivalence on college education is consistent: the benefit of social mobility; facilitating new economic opportunities. We need this upward mobility for Caribbean citizens but in the Caribbean.

CU Blog - FAMU is No. 3 for Facilitating Economic Opportunity - Photo 1Some institutions are better at facilitating social mobility than others. On the National List of institutions, Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University (FAMU) stands out. It is #3 on the list.

In the interest of full disclosure, this writer is a Rattler, an alumnus of FAMU. (The mascot for FAMU athletics is ‘Rattlers’).

The chief goal of the Social Mobility Index (SMI), according to their website, is to stimulate policy changes within US higher education to help arrest the dangerous and growing economic divergence between rich and poor in the country. The gap in the US between rich and poor grew since the Great Recession, reaching proportions not seen since the period leading to and contributing to the onset of the Great Depression and two world wars. The common attributes include crumbling infrastructure, destroying asset values, and forcing high taxation to pay for war efforts.

If we learned anything from the global fallout of the Great Recession (in 2008 and beyond), it was that getting economic policy right in the US may be necessary for long-term world stability. So while the much publicized student debt overhang, now in excess of $1 trillion, imposes distress and financial burden on millions of students and families, it is a symptom of the much greater problem of economic and social divergence in the country. The good news is that colleges and universities carry great potential to powerfully address this problem.

Economist Thomas Piketty stated: “the principal force for convergence [reduction of inequality] – the diffusion of knowledge – …depends in large part on educational policies, access to training and to the acquisition of appropriate skills, and associated institutions.” – Capital in the 21st Century, pp. 21-2. The SMI asserts that if colleges can begin aggressively shifting policy towards increasing access to higher education, particularly for economically disadvantaged students and families, they will establish themselves as a key force for economic and social convergence.

FAMU has accomplished this feat; placing #3 on a ranking of universities pursuing this endeavor.

The full article of the recognition of FAMU’s SMI  is provided here:

Title: Social Mobility Index Ranks FAMU as No. 3 Institution in the Nation for Facilitating Economic Opportunity for Underserved Students
(Source: FAMU News and Events Site – Official Communications – Posted 11-01-2014; retrieved 03-05-2015 from http://www.famunews.com/?p=2153)
CU Blog - FAMU is No. 3 for Facilitating Economic Opportunity - Photo 3TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Social Mobility Index (SMI) has ranked Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) the No. 3 institution in the nation for facilitating economic opportunity for underserved students. The University outpaced the nation’s leading Ivy League institutions such as Princeton, Harvard and Yale, which placed 360th, 438th and 440th, respectively, on the rankings list.

The SMI is a new, data-driven ranking system, focused on the problem of economic mobility in the United   States. Rankings are based upon an institution’s tuition rate, student economic profile, graduation rate, average early career salary, and endowment.

According to SMI data analyses, FAMU ranks high in its contributions toward narrowing  socio-economic gaps by admitting and graduating more low-income students at lower tuition rates, yet with better economic outcomes following graduation. The University is noted on the SMI as having one of the lowest annual tuition rates in the nation.

“We are excited about the SMI recognition,” said President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D. “This new ranking speaks to FAMU’s 127-year legacy of providing access and opportunity to low-wealth citizens across the nation.”

“This ranking also speaks to our strong and unwavering commitment to economic empowerment. Many of our students come to FAMU with the odds stacked against them; however, they leave our institution with a high-quality education, a promising future, and the ability to be effective contributors to society, and, more specifically, to their families,” Dr. Mangum added.

Nearly 92 percent of FAMU students are considered low-income, according to SMI data. However, graduates are leaving the University earning an average salary of nearly $45,000 a year.

CU Blog - FAMU is No. 3 for Facilitating Economic Opportunity - Photo 2

For more information on the SMI ranking, visit: www.socialmobilityindex.org.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits, along with most economists, that education elevates individuals and entire communities. The book quotes that every year of additional community education raises GDP by 1 percent. Go Lean stakes the claim further that traditional college educated career paths have been disastrous policies for the Caribbean in whole, and for each specific country in particular, for the primary reason that so many students do not return home; or expatriate after returning for a short period. In fact, the World Bank has reported that the Caribbean has a 70% abandonment rate.

In line with the SMI ranking, the Go Lean book promotes education among the strategies to elevate Caribbean society. But this commentary previously asserted that college education has been a bad investment for the Caribbean.

From a strictly micro perspective, college education is great for the individual. The Go Lean book quotes proven economic studies showing the impact that every year of college education improves an individual’s earning power (Page 258). But from the macro perspective – the community – is different for the Caribbean; the region loses out because of an incontrovertible brain drain. Previously, the proverb was introduced of “fattening frogs for snake” referring to the preponderance for Caribbean college educated citizens to abandon their tropical homelands for foreign shores in the US, Canada and Europe, and take their Caribbean-funded education and skill-sets with them.

Change has now come. The driver of this change is technology and globalization. Under the tenants of globalization, institutions like FAMU are competing globally, and can rightly provide e-Learning and Distant Learning schemes. This ties to the other agent of change of technology. The internet allows for deliveries of education services anywhere around the world. The Go Lean book posits that small institutions and big institutions can complete equally on a global basis. If the regional education administrations could invest in more technological deliveries, it would be a win-win for all stakeholders. This type of impact would be more for the Greater Good.

The Go Lean roadmap provides turn-by-turn directions on how to reform the Caribbean tertiary education systems, economy, governance and Caribbean society as a whole. The roadmap commences with a Declaration of Interdependence, pronouncing the approach of regional integration (Page 12 & 14) as a viable solution to elevate the region’s educational opportunities:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores …

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

This book Go Lean… Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This represents change for the region. The CU/Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book details how education is a vital consideration for Caribbean economic empowerment, but with lessons-learned from all the flawed decision-making in the past, both individually and community-wise. The vision of the CU is a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean to do the heavy-lifting of championing better educational policies. No more government scholarships; forgive-able loans only from now on. The book details the policies; and other ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to deploy online education in the region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI) Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Strategy – Mission –   Facilitate Education without Risk of Abandonment Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Education Department Page 85
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Labor Department – Job   Training Page 89
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Student Loans Page 160
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Managed the Social Contract – Education Optimizations Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries Page 187
Appendix – Education and Economic Growth Page 258
Appendix – Measuring Education Page 266
Appendix – Student Loan Crisis – Ripping Off America Page 286

FAMU is a model for the Caribbean tertiary educational endeavors.

FAMU has quite a reputation for other accomplishments as well – they are a great destination to live, work, learn and play. Their world famous band, the Marching 100 has been recognized as the “playingest band in the land”. They even shared the field with Prince as the Halftime performance for Super Bowl XLI in 2007 in Miami, Florida. See News–VIDEO of their renown here; and also their 2011 Florida Classic Football Game Halftime Show in Orlando, Florida in the Appendix below.

VIDEO – FAMU 2008 Segment on “CBS Evening News” – https://youtu.be/XqGvUg_rLNs


Posted November 27, 2008 – 2008 edition of the Marching 100… interview on Thanksgiving Night 2008 on CBS News… 11/27/08

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the changes described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. We welcome universities like FAMU in their desire to empower minorities in society; we only want that to be done in the Caribbean so as to mitigate societal abandonment. Suggestion: FAMU should develop a global campus presence, with satellite campuses and online matriculations.

Go Rattlers!!!

With the tune set by the Marching 100 band: “I’m so glad, I’m from FAMU”.

This is the win-win the Go Lean roadmap campaigns for. But it’s more than just talk; this is action too. The body part to focus on is not just the mouth; it is the heart – the seat of motivation. Without a doubt, the complete delivery for the Caribbean educational options would help to make the homeland a better place to live, work, learn and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Appendix VIDEO – FAMU Marching 100 Halftime Show @ Florida Classic 2011 – http://youtu.be/FrviGJ1Dvvk

Uploaded on Nov 21, 2011 – The FAMU Marching 100 Halftime Performance at The 2011 Florida Classic. Definitely the best band in the land.

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Big Salt: Short-term Benefit; Long-term Damage

Posted on March 5, 2015 in Ethos, Government, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

“What good is a birthright when I’m starving now?” – Bible Drama of Esau and Jacob; Genesis 25: 19 – 34.

A subject like snow removal should have no significance in the tropical climate of the Caribbean. Right?

Yet, this commentary is more attuned to Big Business than it is related to snow removal. The subject of impetuous governance is of extreme importance to the Caribbean. For this reason, the art and science of snow removal teaches a lot of lessons for tropical destinations.

During winter months in northern climates, snow is the reality. The snow (and ice) must be managed and removed. Roads and pavements will ice over, making them slippery and dangerous to drive and walk on. So local authorities will often remove snow/ice from major roads, by plowing and de-icing. The most common de-icer is rock salt.

Halite, the most common form of rock salt, is a brittle, isotropic sediment that can be found in evaporated piles left in lake beds, playas, seas, oceans, and mined from underground. It forms cubic crystals that can be broken up and refined for numerous purposes, though one of the most common is for its use as a de-icing agent. Rock salt is relatively inexpensive, abundant, and mostly for these reasons is used extensively by local authorities to de-ice the roads. In Detroit-USA, locally mined rock salt is Big Business.

When rock salt is placed in snow, or on top of ice, it will naturally form a bond and become brine, a mixture of water and salt. Brine has a lower freezing point than water, meaning the mixture will melt and remain unfrozen, an effect called freezing point depression, unless the temperature drops significantly.

While the freezing point for water is 32 °F (0 °C), the freezing point for salt is −6.02 °F (−21.12 °C).

Another good reason that rock salt is used to clear roads is to improve traction for road vehicles. Rock salt is grainy and therefore allows the tire tread of vehicles to get a better grip on the road surface.

These are all short-term benefits. The list of long-term damage is extensive; see the following blog/article here:

1. Title: Worries on the use of rock salt as a winter de-icer (One Blogger’s Views)
(Retrieved 03-05-2015: http://www.rocksalt-alternative.com/2014/02/my-worries-on-the-use-of-rock-salt-as-a-winter-de-icer/)

CU Blog - Big Salt - Short-term Benefit; Long-term Damage - Photo 1

The spreading of rock salt as a de-icer for our roads is something that has been undertaken every year in the UK for as long as I can remember. Local authorities up and down the country have a responsibility to keep our roads clear of ice and snow, as much as is practically possible. It was obviously decided some time ago that this was the most cost effective method of doing so.

False economy
CU Blog - Big Salt - Short-term Benefit; Long-term Damage - Photo 2As a pure costing method measured solely against the alternatives this probably was the best way to ensure value for money for tax payers but there would seem to have been no account taken of the substantive consequential costs that come with using a toxic and corrosive substance on our roads. Rock salt consists primarily of sodium chloride (salt) and it is the sodium and the chloride that cause the problems.

The real costs
The major problem in my view is the damage salt can cause to our water sources and water based eco systems. When the snow and ice melts the sodium chloride in the rock salt doesn’t just disappear, it contaminates water supplies whether by direct run-off into surface water drains or by moving through the soil and groundwater into streams and other natural water locations. To put the contamination in perspective, just one teaspoonful of rock salt will permanently contaminate five gallons of water and once it is in the water it cannot be removed unless by expensive methods. The rock salt therefore can eventually damage our drinking water and affects aquatic life and other organisms that have not adapted to living in salt water.

A problem that is close to my heart in relation to the use of rock salt is the risk to pets. Rock salt can cause severe irritation and inflammation to pets’ paws and when the natural reaction of your pet is to lick the affected area then this can cause sickness and other related problems. If the rock salt is directly ingested, and this can easily happen from a build-up of residue at the side of roads, then this is highly toxic and can lead to severe reactions and even death.

Another significant problem with rock salt is the corrosive nature of salt and the effects it has on cars and the under carriage components of cars such as brake pipes are well known to motorists. This damage also applies to road structures such concrete and metal structures such as bridges. Rock salt causes ongoing damage in these areas the cost of which can only be substantive.

If you have ever put salt down to kill weeds then you will fully understand the damage it must be doing to plants, vegetation and the soil itself of all areas adjacent to roadways. It is also harmful to insects and small animals that inhabit the roadway eco systems.

Spread the word, not the salt
If the real cost of using rock salt was to be determined I am sure it would cease immediately as the costs would far outweigh the benefits and an alternative would be used. The point is that there are alternatives to rock salt; we just need to make the authorities aware of this. If you want to check out one source for an alternative you can visit www.rocksalt-alternative.com.

——-

2. Encyclopedia Reference for Snow/Surface Treatment
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_removal)

For snow removal, roads are also treated by spreading various materials on the surface. These materials generally fall into two categories: chemical and inert. Chemical (including salt) distribution induces freezing-point depression, causing ice and snow to melt at a lower temperature. Chemical treatment can be applied as a preventive measure and/or after snowfall. Inert materials (i.e. sand, brash, slag) make the surface irregular to improve traction. Both types can be applied together, but the inert materials tend to lower traction once snow/ice has melted.

Chemical treatment materials include:

In the European Union, 98% of chemical treatment materials used in 2000 were sodium chloride in various forms. For colder temperatures, calcium chloride (CaCl2) is added to NaCl in some countries, but deployment is limited as it costs about 6 times as much as sodium chloride. Other substances were used rarely and experimentally. Alternative substances (urea, alcohols, glycols) are often used at airports.[23] In recent years, Geomelt, a combination of salt brine and beet juice that is otherwise considered a waste product has been used for pretreatment.[24]

Inert spreadings can be:

The choice of treatment may include consideration of the effect on vegetation, pets and other animals, the local watershed, and effectiveness with regard to speed and temperature. Some chemicals can degrade concrete, metals, and other materials. The resulting meltwater and slush can cause frost heaving if it re-freezes, which can also damage pavement. Inert materials can damage vehicles and create dust.

As an example, in the Czech Republic during the winter season of 2000/2001, net material expenditure for road treatment was: 168,000 tonnes of salt (mostly NaCl), 348 000 tonnes of sand and crushed stone and 91 000 tonnes of other materials like slag. In Ireland, the annual expenditure of salt was 30 000 tonnes. Switzerland reports their annual expenditure as 600 grammes of salt to every square metre of roads on average.[23]

Side effects
De-icing chemicals and inert materials need to be selected and applied with care.

Chemicals may react with infrastructure, the environment, and vehicles. Chlorides corrode steel and aluminum in reinforced concrete, structures and vehicles. Acetates can cause asphalt stripping, weakening the bond between asphalt binder and aggregate. Sand and grit can clog pavement joints and cracks, preventing pavement from expanding in the summer and increasing stress in the pavement.[25]

Salts can be toxic to plants and aquatic life. Sand can alter aquatic habitats where roads are near streams and lakes. Acetates can reduce oxygen levels in smaller water bodies, stressing aquatic animal life. Sand can be ground by tires into very fine particulate matter and become airborne, contributing to air pollution.[26][27]

While this may appear to be an issue of local roads, and subsequent damage – see VIDEO in the Appendix as it relates to damages to cars – it can be argued that actually this is an issue of Crony-Capitalism.

One consequence of Crony-Capitalism is that it short-changes the future for immediate gains, or profits. This paradox has been a constant concern of this commentary. Like Esau in the Bible drama above, many impetuously ignore their birthright – or the birthrights of their children – for immediate benefits.

CU Blog - Big Salt - Short-term Benefit; Long-term Damage - Photo 3Sometimes too, the immediate benefits are no benefit at all. Consider again the Detroit scenario. Their roads are in total disarray; (the whole State of Michigan for that matter). Use of rock salt causes direct (and almost immediate) damage to roads. Solutions are being sought to assuage the challenge, but relief must come on the backs of the everyday man: increases to gas taxes and the issuance of new bonds.

(In North Texas, the transportation officials do not use salt to de-ice their roads and highways. They use sand only.)

This consideration aligns with the book Go Lean … Caribbean; this book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This empowerment effort represents a change for the region, calling on all 30 member-state governments in the region to confederate and provide their own solutions in the areas of economics, security and governance. The book directly advocates for lean facilitation of infrastructural needs. The subject for roads and bridges fit under the category of Public Works for the Greater Good; so decisions in this regards should never be based on short-term benefits only or lining someone’s pocket.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap defines these 3 prime directives as follows:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines against “bad actors”.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The purpose of this commentary is to draw reference to the governing principles used in northern communities regarding snow removal and how best-practices are ignored just to placate some immediate need; and immediate profits. Considering the long-term effects on the environment, the next generations’ birthright is being sold for a “bowl of soup”.

This is not an issue of “snow”; this is an issue of ethos.

Just who is the influence behind the “salt” decisions? Big Mining operations and Road Construction companies. This group can collectively be referred to as Big Salt. This is just another example of Crony-Capitalism, where public-long term benefits are shortchanged for private-short-term gains. Is Big Salt a conspiracy or just a coincidental fact of modern life in colder climates? While it is only honorable to give Big Salt the benefit of any doubt, the anecdotal account is consistent in one big American, Canadian and European city after another.

Consider the issues being debated in Michigan at this time. The State (plus counties and cities) must find new monies to pay for the overdue maintenance on the roads, tunnels and bridges. The infrastructure is collapsing.

Just “follow the money” is a constant refrain among conspiracy theorists.  Besides, many sources – including this Go Lean book and accompanying blogs – have reported on the “bad intent” in the American eco-system, associated with Crony-Capitalism. (Though the use of rock salt is not just an American issue).

This negative community ethos is an example for the Caribbean to avoid in emulating American society.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean asserts that the Caribbean region must do better; we must not allow the US to take the lead for our own nation-building, that American capitalistic interest tends to hijack policies intended for the Greater Good. This assessment is logical considering the realities of so many of these “Big Corporate Bullies” where public policy is set to benefit private parties. The subject of Big Salt is just another example. Consider this chart of well-documented cases of bad corporate behavior:

Big Media Cable companies conspire to keep rates high; kill net neutrality; textbook publishers practice price gouging; Hollywood insists on big tax breaks/subsidies for on-location shooting.
Big Oil While lobbying for continuous tax subsidies, the industry have colluded to artificially keep prices high and garner rocket profits ($38+ Billion   every quarter).
Big Box Retail   chains impoverish small merchants on Main Street with Antitrust-like tactics, thusly impacting community jobs.
Big Pharma Chemo-therapy cost $20,000+/month; and the War against Cancer is imperiled due to industry profit insistence.
Big Tobacco Cigarettes are not natural tobacco but rather latent with chemicals to spruce addiction.
Big Agra Agribusiness concerns bully family farmers and crowd out the market; plus fight common sense food labeling efforts.
Big Data Brokers for internet and demographic data clearly have no regards to privacy concerns.
Big Banks Wall Street’s damage to housing and student loans are incontrovertible.
Big Weather Overblown hype of “Weather Forecasts” to dictate commercial transactions.
Big Real Estate Preserving MLS for Real Estate brokers only, forcing 6% commission rates, when the buyers and sellers can meet without them.

The Go Lean book, and accompanying blog commentaries, go even deeper and hypothesize that American economic models are dysfunctional from the Caribbean perspective. The American wheels of commerce stages the Caribbean in a “parasite” role; imperiling regional industrialization even further. The US foreign policy for the Caribbean is to incentivize consumption of American products, and serve as a playground for their leisure.

The Go Lean roadmap provides turn-by-turn directions on how to forge the elevation of the Caribbean region from parasite to the preferred role of protégé. This point is made early in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11) with these statements:

iii.    Whereas the natural formation of the landmass for our society is that of an archipelago of islands, inherent to this nature is the limitation of terrain and the natural resources there in. We must therefore provide “new guards” and protections to ensure the efficient and effective management of these resources.

vi.    Whereas the finite nature of the landmass of our lands limits the populations and markets of commerce, by extending the bonds of brotherhood to our geographic neighbors allows for extended opportunities and better execution of the kinetics of our economies through trade. This regional focus must foster and promote diverse economic stimuli.

The Go Lean book purports that the Caribbean can – and must – do better than Crony-Capitalism. The vision of the CU is a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean to do the heavy-lifting of optimizing economic-security-governing engines. We can weld more power and influence collaborating and consolidating Public Works projects. The
 Go Lean book details the community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to elevate Caribbean society, and make our homeland a better place to live, work, play:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy   versus Public Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Unified and Integrated Single Market Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Prepare for the Eventuality   of Natural Disasters Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Protect the Homeland’s Natural   Resources Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Emergency Management Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Public Works & Infrastructure Oversight Page 82
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from   Globalization – Interdependence Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters Page 184
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Finance Public Works Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living Page 234
Appendix – Caribbean (Puerto Rico) Diaspora in Northern States Page 304

The cited news article about Michigan struggles to find money to repair its salt-damaged roads is a topic of serious concern for Caribbean planners. This is another example of the benefit of observing and reporting on the turn-around of the once great City of Detroit.

While the US is the world’s largest Single Market economy, we want to only model some of the American example. We would rather foster a business climate to benefit the Greater Good, not just some special interest group. There are many Go Lean blog commentaries that have echoed this point, addressing the subject of the Caribbean avoiding American consequences. See sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4381 Net Neutrality: It Matters Here …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4337 American Study: Homes Marketed via the MLS Sell for More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4076 American Media Fantasies versus Weather Realities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3397 A Christmas Present for the Banks from the Omnibus Bill
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3326 Detroit’s M-1 Rail – Finally avoiding Plutocratic Auto Industry Solutions
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2522 The Cost of Cancer Drugs
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2465 Book Review: ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2259 The Criminalization of American Business
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2183 A Textbook Case of Industry Price-gouging
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1143 Health-care fraud in America; Criminals take $272 billion a year
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=798 Lessons Learned from the American Airlines merger
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=709 Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – American Self-Interest Policies

While the Caribbean region does not have to contend with snow removal tactics, we do have to manage the edicts associated with infrastructure (road) maintenance, industrial waste and environmental by-products. It’s important that we always consider the long view.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that many problems of the region are too big for any one member-state to solve alone, that there is the need for the technocracy of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. The purpose of this Go Lean/CU roadmap is to conquer the problems/challenges of modern day life and make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work, and play.

Climate change is one such challenge.

We know that the short-term actions we do now, have long-term consequences. So we must act right!

Though we are on the frontline of the onslaughts of climate change weather challenges – think, hurricanes – we must demonstrate best-practices to manage our environment well and send the world the right message of prudence.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for some integration of the regional member-states, a strategy of confederation with a tactic of separation-of-powers between CU federal agencies and member-states’ governments. The roadmap calls for the integrated role for infrastructure planning, financing and maintenance. Surely there will be many maintenance decision where the short-term “pro and con” will have to be weighed against the long-term “pro and con” It is hoped we will always consider the long-term and not “sell out our birthright”.

The people and governing institutions of the Caribbean are hereby urged to take heed the exhortations in this commentary; and also to learn more, and do more, by leaning-in to this Go Lean roadmap for Caribbean empowerment.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean…Caribbean now!

———

Appendix – Road salt damages car undercarriage – http://youtu.be/EBw1JhccgCU

Published on Jan 9, 2014 – A simple substance that is supposed to protect you while driving in a winter storm could actually be costing you money. Reported for Omaha’s KETV NewsWatch 7.

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Probe of Ferguson-Missouri finds bias from cops, courts

Posted on March 4, 2015 in Ethos, Government

Go Lean Commentary

“What you’re looking for, you gonna get!” – Bahamian idiom.

Yet, the thoughts conveyed by this expression are universal. Even the Bible says: “If errors was what you watch, who could stand” – Psalm 130:3 (New World Translation)

The subsequent news article is insidious. The law enforcement officials in the City of Ferguson, Missouri seem to have targeted the African-American community, more so than any other ethnic group; this classic racial profiling has only one outcome: chaos. This was their (negative) community ethos. What’s worst? They got away with it; because the justice institutions, the courts, clerks and the like, backed up these immoral police activities.

CU Blog - Probe of Ferguson-Missouri finds bias from cops, courts - Photo 1Too harsh a criticism?

Yet, the injustice was so blatant that the town burst into protest – (literally burst into flames) – when one of their citizens – an unarmed, surrendering Michael Brown – was killed by a police officer. Then the whole country burst into protest when the subsequent Grand Jury decided not to indict in that situation. The protesters decried: “No Justice; No Peace”.

(In a related story, today the US authorities decided not to pursue a federal case against the police officer in the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson).

It is one thing to study this from afar; it is another to live it every day. This was the constant complaint of residents of Ferguson, especially those of the Black-and-Brown persuasion. See news article here and VIDEOs below:

By: Eric Tucker, AP
WASHINGTON — A Justice Department investigation found sweeping patterns of racial bias within the Ferguson, Mo., police department, with officers routinely discriminating against blacks by using excessive force, issuing petty citations and making baseless traffic stops, according to law enforcement officials familiar with its findings.

The report, to be released as soon as today, marks the culmination of a months-long investigation into a police department that federal officials have described as troubled and that commanded national attention after one of its officers shot and killed an unarmed black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown, last summer.

It chronicles discriminatory practices across the city’s criminal justice system, detailing problems from initial encounters with patrol officers to treatment in the municipal court and jail. Federal law enforcement officials described its contents on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly before the report is released.

The full report could serve as a road map for significant changes by the department, if city officials accept its findings. Past federal investigations of local police departments have encouraged overhauls of fundamental police procedures such as traffic stops and the use of service weapons. The Justice Department maintains the right to sue police departments that resist making changes.

The City of Ferguson released a statement acknowledging that Justice Department officials supplied a copy of the report to the mayor, city manager, police chief and city attorney during a private meeting Tuesday in downtown St. Louis. The statement offered no details about the report, which the city said it was reviewing and would discuss today after the Justice Department makes it public.

The investigation, which began weeks after Brown’s killing last August, is being released as Attorney General Eric Holder prepares to leave his job following a six-year tenure that focused largely on civil rights. The findings are based on interviews with police leaders and residents, a review of more than 35,000 pages of police records and analysis of data on stops, searches and arrests.

Federal officials found that black motorists from 2012 to 2014 were more than twice as likely as whites to be searched during traffic stops, even though they were 26 percent less likely to be found carrying contraband, according to a summary of the findings.

The review also found that blacks were 68 percent less likely than others to have their cases dismissed by a municipal court judge. And from April to September of last year, 95 percent of people kept at the city jail for more than two days were black, it found.

Of the cases in which the police department documented the use of force, 88 percent involved blacks, and of the 14 dog bites for which racial information is available, all 14 victims were black.

Overall, African-Americans make up 67 percent of the population of Ferguson, about 10 miles north of downtown St. Louis. The police department has been criticized as racially imbalanced and not reflective of the community’s demographic makeup. At the time of the shooting, just three of 53 officers were black, though the mayor has said he’s trying to create a more diverse police force.

Brown’s killing set off weeks of protests and initiated a national dialogue about police officers’ use of force and their relations with minority communities. A separate report to be issued soon is expected to clear Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, of federal civil rights charges. A state grand jury declined to indict Wilson in November, and he resigned from the department.

Benjamin Crump, the attorney for the Brown family, said that if the reports about the findings are true, they “confirm what Michael Brown’s family has believed all along — and that is that the tragic killing of an unarmed 18-year-old black teenager was part of a systemic pattern of inappropriate policing of African-American citizens in the Ferguson community.”

The report says there is direct evidence of racial bias among police officers and court workers, and details a criminal justice system that issues citations for petty infractions such as walking in the middle of the street, putting the raising of revenue from fines ahead of public safety. The physical tussle that led to Brown’s death began after Wilson told him and a friend to move from the street to the sidewalk.

The practice hits poor people especially hard, sometimes leading to jail time when they can’t pay, the report says, and has contributed to a cynicism about the police on the part of citizens.

Among the report’s findings was a racially tinged 2008 message in a municipal email account stating that President Obama would not be president for very long because “what black man holds a steady job for four years.”

The department has conducted roughly 20 broad civil rights investigations of police departments during Holder’s tenure, including Newark, Cleveland and Albuquerque. Most such investigations end with police departments agreeing to change their practices.

Justice Department officials were meeting with Ferguson leaders on Tuesday about the findings, a city official said.

Several messages seeking comment from Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson and Mayor James Knowles III were not returned. A secretary for Jackson said he is not doing media interviews. Knowles has previously said the city is attracting a large pool of applicants to police jobs, including minority candidates seeking the position left vacant by Wilson’s resignation.

John Gaskin III, a St. Louis community activist, praised the findings, saying, “Ferguson police have to see the light in how they deal with people of color.

“It’s quite evident that change is coming down the pike. This is encouraging,” he said. “It’s so unfortunate that Michael Brown had to be killed. But in spite of that, I feel justice is coming.”
Associate Press – News Wire Service – Posted March 4, 2015
http://www.northjersey.com/news/probe-of-ferguson-mo-finds-bias-from-cops-courts-1.1281621

The events of this small Midwest American town, a suburb of St. Louis – see Appendix-Demographics below – have a huge bearing on the efforts to elevate Caribbean society. There is a direct impact: many in the Caribbean Diaspora living in the US face the same dynamics, daily. Yet, our Caribbean citizens – mostly Black-and-Brown – beat down the doors to try and expatriate to the US; then they have to contend with these same attitudes and prejudices. There are also indirect lessons for the Caribbean to learn and apply: our region struggles with a lot of the same challenges, especially with discriminations and prejudices towards immigrant “minority” groups.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean identifies these issues as among “push-and-pull” factors contributing to our excessive societal abandonment rate. While the purpose of the book is to serve as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate the region’s economic engines, the security (public safety) issues are not ignored. Even more so, governance in the Caribbean member-states is a prime focus. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The assertion of the Go Lean book is that the Caribbean region must prepare its own security apparatus for its own security needs; we must proactively and reactively address crime. But we must do it judiciously and with proper regard for human and civil rights. For this reason, we should dread any American leadership in this regards. Considering Ferguson, they (America) have their own issues to contend with. According to the book’s opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12), we must take our own lead for our own solutions; we must appoint our own “guardians” with our self-interest in mind; prioritizing the community ethos for the Greater Good. The actual declaration statements are pronounced as follows:

x.   Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The Caribbean appointing “new guards” or a security pact to ensure public safety calls for permanent justice institutions sanctioned by all 30 CU member-states. The CU Federation or federal justice’s institutions must operate differently than the US Department of Justice. While the separation-of-powers edict is the same – between the US and the CU – the Go Lean roadmap calls for more “strings attached” to security funding for community policing in the member-states. These strings include fair and equitable treatment of all citizens.

CU Blog - Probe of Ferguson-Missouri finds bias from cops, courts - Photo 2There are so many economic considerations from these issues. Consider the experience in Ferguson. The economic data reports that for White Americans there, the unemployment rate was just 6.2%; but the best figures available for the Black community shows 26% (for the entire St. Louis County in 2012). Overall, this Fortune magazine article reports: “while the Ferguson and St. Louis regional economies have been on the upswing, the gains have not been equally shared among White and African Americans. The St. Louis County 20 percentage point gap between the unemployment rate of African Americans and White Americans is the largest of any city in America, according to the Census. So, the fact that protests against the treatment of Black Americans have erupted there is not a coincidence”. [And maybe not a surprise].

The primary economic engine in Ferguson, Missouri is the company Emerson Electric. How have they fared in the midst of all this social turmoil?

As the conflict in Ferguson, Missouri intensified, this one Fortune 500 company (ranked 121) headquartered there stayed out of harm’s way. Despite the ongoing protests, the curfew implemented by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, and the arrival of the Missouri National Guard to quell acts of violence, the company said “it was business as usual”.

This is a powerful lesson for Caribbean consideration, the need for continuity in economic engines. About 1,300 Emerson employees work at the Ferguson headquarters; there is the perception of a “disconnect” between its status as a Fortune 500 corporation and the city’s dysfunctional urban realities. The company has established a Charitable Trust for its outreach into the local community, funding campaigns through local ($2.5 million) and national ($33 million) philanthropic endeavors. The local NAACP chapter has lauded Emerson’s contributions and involvement.

This type of success in Caribbean communities will require a heightened level of economic-security-government engagement. This is the prime directive of the CU. The Homeland Security requirements are mostly related to threats that may imperil the region’s economic engines, and crime remediation and mitigation: Public Safety! While there is some community responsibility for corporate stakeholders, the full burden – heavy-lifting – is not the obligation of local corporations, like Emerson in Ferguson. The Go Lean roadmap invites philanthropic participation but assumes the heavy-lifting itself to transform Caribbean society. The CU is an expression of that transformation, an entity to serve as a deputy for law enforcement agencies for each Caribbean member-state. (This is the theme of the treaty to empower the CU). The treaty – a Status of Forces Agreement in International Legal circles – calls for all Caribbean member-states to confederate – unite and empower – a security force to execute a limited scope on their sovereign territories. (This effort also includes the US Territories as well, under the legal guise of an Interstate Compact).

The Go Lean roadmap calls for a lot of proactive activities to remediate and mitigate crime. Like the data analyses, performed by the US Department of Justice in the foregoing article, trends of racial profiling and violations of civil rights become obvious from a macro computation of arrest and prosecution records. It is very important to have the intra-regional review of Caribbean justice institutions. This point was strongly urged in the same opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12), as follows:

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

The Go Lean roadmap identifies gang and organized crime-related activities – including drug trafficking accompanied by epidemic levels of gun violence – as threats to the law-and-order fabric of Caribbean society. (Between 2005 and 2008, the Caribbean Community registered 9,733 homicides, the highest rates in the world). Had Ferguson been in some Caribbean member-state during this new Caribbean regime, the CU would be active and involved. If not for the marshaling against economic crimes, then at least the oversight of the existing Justice institutions in the member-states. It is therefore apropos that we apply careful review of these troubling events from our northern neighbors (US in general and Missouri in particular); and also to be on guard against any such dysfunctions in our region. But the community ethos for the Caribbean must be based on the Greater Good. This covers both the letter and the spirit of laws to serve-and-protect the community.

The Go Lean book details additional community ethos to ensure the right attitudes to serve-and-protect Caribbean communities; plus strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide increased public safety & security in the Caribbean region:

Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Witness Security & Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering Page 23
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Tactical – Confederating a non-sovereign union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice Department – CariPol Page 77
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Federal Courts – Court of Justice Page 90
Implementation – Assemble “Organs” into a Security Apparatus Page 96
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives Page 103
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – # 10: Haiti and Cuba Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the American West Page 142
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice – No Justice; No Peace Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Gun Control Page 179
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering/Analysis Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Prison Industrial Complex Page 211
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One Percent – Philanthropic Causes Page 224
Appendix – CariCom Organs: IMPACS & Court of Justice Page 244
Appendix – Interstate Compacts Page 278
Appendix – Philanthropic Giving Pledge Signatories Page 292

Other subjects related to crime remediation and empowerments for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4360 Dreading the American ‘Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4308 911 – Emergency Response: System for First Responders in Crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881 Intelligence Agencies to Up Cyber Security Cooperation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3662 Migrant flow / Border incursions / Threats from Caribbean into US spikes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2782 Red Light Traffic Cameras, other CCTV Deployments can Impact Crime
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2684 Role Model for Justice, Anti-Crime & Security: The Pinkertons
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1674 Obama’s $3.7 Billion Immigration Crisis Funds – A Homeland Security Fix
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554 Status of Forces Agreement = Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1487 Here come the Drones … and the Concerns
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=960 NSA records all phone calls in Bahamas, according to Snowden
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=535 Remembering and learning from Boston
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=392 Jamaica to receive World Bank funds to help in crime fight
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=341 American Hypocritical Human Rights Leadership Slams the Caribbean

An underlying goal of the Go Lean movement is to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play so that our citizens are not lured to abandon their homeland for American (or Canadian or European) shores. There are many reasons people emigrate! Many times, the reasons are economic in nature. Sometimes though, security failings spur expatriation. We must address both issues with the efforts of this Go Lean movement.

America should not be considered the land of destination for the Caribbean population. Income inequality and racial inequality persists, though they don’t always go hand in hand. The fact that members of different races in America continue to receive different, unequal economic and security treatments has contributed to the rise in inequality overall in the US. We can do better in the Caribbean homeland. The issue of being Black-and-Brown is neutralized by the fact that the majority of the population is Black-and-Brown.

However, we still have minority issues to contend with.

There is a consistent problem for much of the Caribbean in contending with its illegal immigration problems, particularly from near-failed states like Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica. Their nationals tend to be unwelcomed and scorned upon in host countries; (see the experience of Haitian living in the Bahamas). In these scenarios are the best opportunities to apply the lessons learned from Ferguson and other case studies in dysfunction; (the Go Lean book details lessons from Detroit, East Germany, Egypt and Indian Reservations). We must ensure that our security personnel are just in their dealings with a minority-immigrant population. Otherwise, this undermines all the positives being pursued by this roadmap; onlookers and bystanders will simply label us as hypocrites.

“See how the world, marks the manner of your bearing” – verse from the Bahamas National Anthem.

Under this dreaded scenario, many people make plans to abandon their homelands further because of their perception of unchecked injustice.

We must do better!

We know that “bad actors” will emerge in all situations: good, bad and ugly. We must be prepared and on guard. Yet we must maintain transparency, accountability, and constant commitment to due-process and the rule-of-law. Everyone, the people, institutions and government officials are encouraged to lean-in to this roadmap; to Go Lean.

🙂

Download Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——

Appendix – Demographics:

CU Blog - Probe of Ferguson-Missouri finds bias from cops, courts - Photo 3The racial composition of Ferguson has shifted over the decades. In 1970, 99% of the population of Ferguson was White and 1% African American. In 1980, the proportion of White residents went down to 85%, whereas the proportion of African American rose to 14%. In 1990, residents of Ferguson who were identified in the U.S. Census as White comprised 73.8% of the total, while those identified as Black made up 25.1%.[23] (The remainder, 1.1%, identified with other racial categories.) In the 2000 census, 44.7% were White and 52.4% were African American.

As of the 2010 census, [3] there were 21,203 people, 8,192 households, and 5,500 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,425.4 inhabitants per square mile (1,322.6/km2). There were 9,105 housing units at an average density of 1,470.9 per square mile (567.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 67.4% African American, 29.3% White, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 0.4% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic and Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population.

There were 8,192 households of which 39.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.6% were married couples living together, 31.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.9% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.12.

The median age in the city was 33.1 years. 28.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.2% were from 25 to 44; 25.3% were from 45 to 64; and 10.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 44.8% male and 55.2% female.

——

Appendix – VIDEOs:

VIDEO 1: Attorney  General Eric Holder on the Ferguson Racial Bias –
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/holder-overwhelming-majority-force-ferguson-police-aimed-blacks-n317501

March 4, 2015 – Ferguson, Missouri. Police fostered a “highly toxic environment” of racism and misconduct that turned the city into a “powder keg” that was ready to explode after the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown last year, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday — even though the officer who shot Brown was determined to have committed no crime.

VIDEO 2: DOJ Finds Pattern of Racial Discrimination in Ferguson Police –
 http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/doj-finds-pattern-racial-discrimination-ferguson-police-n316736

March 3, 2015 – Report on Ferguson Exposes Broader Effort to Reform Municipal Courts – Ferguson officers routinely charge multiple violations for the same conduct, competing to see who can issue the most citations during a single stop. In one particularly egregious example, he cited the case of a woman For example, who received two parking tickets in 20078 that totaled $152. But so far, she has paid $550 in fines and fees, has been arrested twice for having unpaid tickets and has spent six days in jail — and “yet she still inexplicably owes Ferguson $541,” he said.

 

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Cash, Credit or iPhone …

Posted on March 3, 2015 in Economics, Government, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

Caribbean society is advancing; moving forward…

A previous blog/commentary demonstrated that the region’s banks are ready to accept electronic payments transactions, that their deployment of credit card terminals allow the introduction of the Caribbean Dollar (C$) as a regional currency. This is a good start!

But the world has already moved forward from that standard. The future of the credit card, debit card and payment card is missing … the card! Yet, still the Caribbean region must be ready.

Getting the region ready is the mission of the book Go Lean … Caribbean, a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). This Go Lean roadmap depicts these entities as hallmarks of technocratic efficiency; therefore the agility will be part of the institutions’ DNA to not just keep pace with technology and market changes but also to drive change as well. In fact, these 3 statements are identified as prime directives for the CU/CCB effort:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

So the electronic payment schemes being considered by the rest of the world, in the following article, must also be envisioned for deployment in the Caribbean region:

Title: Cash, Credit or iPhone?
By: Chris Clayton, Special Contributor

If one word summed the future of how we pay for things, it certainly wouldn’t be “plastics”. Mobile payments are emerging as the ultimate disrupter of cash and credit cards, with Apple Pay, Google Wallet and others competing in an ever crowded market.

By nearly every psychographic measure, Elliot Payne is the ideal Apple customer. He lives in a hip city (Minneapolis), has a creative job (designer as a digital ad agency), moonlights as a DJ, blogs about tech and – most importantly – is a proud early adopter. So when Apple released its new mobile payment service on iPhone 6 in October, guess who tried it out at Whole Foods on the first day it was available? At checkout, Payne placed his thumb on his phone’s touch ID sensor, waved it in front of a reader on the payment terminal, and before he could say “expensive organic groceries,” he had used his fingerprint and smartphone to buy expensive organic groceries.

Not that swiping plastic is any more time-consuming than holding up your phone, but Payne argues that convenience isn’t Apple Pay’s main selling point. “Its more about security,” he says. Apple Pay uses something called “tokenization,” which replaces the card info stored on your phone with a special number used to make payments. That number is translated only when it reaches your credit card network, meaning the merchants never sees your financial information. It is not foolproof, but it’s a lot safer than swiping plastic, which leaves your identity exposed to hackers.

Innovations such as tokenization in the mobile space are slowly but surely pushing consumers away from cash, checks and physical cards…
…

CU Blog - Cash, Credit or iPhone - Photo 1

According to a 2014 Business Insider report, in-store mobile payments in the United States (that is, using your phone to pay for goods rather than cash, check or plastic card) will grow by 153 percent from $1.8 billion in 2013 to $190 billion in 2018. Pair that with data from a 2014 Forrester Research eCommerce forecast predicting online retail sales to jump from $294 billion in 2014 to $414 billion in 2018, and its clear that our our growing love of smartphones and tablets is impacting how and where we shop. Predictably, banks, credit card networks, retailers and tech companies are clamoring to invent bells and whistles to make mobile payments easier, more secure, and – to borrow a phrase from a Square spokesperson when we asked how the merchant services outfit planned on winning at the point of sale – more “magical.”
…

Excerpt from: Delta SKY In-flight Magazine January 2015; retrieved from: http://msp.imirus.com/Mpowered/book/vds2015/i1/p70

———

Another article/VIDEO relating the Apple Pay innovation: Huntington Bank joins Key, PNC, US Bank and Chase with Apple Pay Deployment.

VIDEO – Apple Pay Demo  – http://youtu.be/4I9MbIrlEUw

Published on Sep 9, 2014 – Apple has revealed its mobile payments play, and it features NFC and Touch ID, as many expected. Essentially, with the new iPhones, a user holds their phone near a payment terminal, and the payment card they’ve set as a default is called up, prompting a Touch ID action where the user authenticates their transaction.

———

Apple Pay is not the only Mobile Payment Solution. Other options have emerged:

The Go Lean book posits that electronic payment schemes (card-based, NFC and internet) are very important in this strategy to elevating the Caribbean economy, security and governing engines.

This Go Lean/CU/CCB roadmap looks to employ electronic payments schemes to impact the growth of the regional economy in tourism and other domestic endeavors. One CU scheme is directly targeted to impact one segment of tourism eco-system: Cruise line passengers:

  • The cruise industry needs the Caribbean more than the Caribbean needs the industry. But the cruise lines have embedded rules/regulations designed to maximize their revenues at the expense of the port-side establishments. The CU solution is to deploy a scheme for smartcards (or smartphone applications) that function on the ships and at the port cities. This scheme will also employ NFC technology – (Near Field Communications; defined fully at Page 192 – so as to glean the additional security benefits of shielding private financial data of the guest and passengers.

The goal of electronic payments is to facilitate more electronic commerce (or e-Commerce). The Go Lean roadmap defines that the Caribbean Dollar (C$) will be mostly cashless, an accounting currency. So the CCB will settle all C$ electronic transactions (MasterCard-Visa style or ACH style) and charge interchange/clearance fees. Apple Pay is not a “free” service; card issuers have to pay about 15 basis points (.15%) to Apple, and merchants pay about 3% interchange fees for the e-Payment transaction (MC/Visa/AmEx) itself. Acquirers (sales and consolidation organizations) must be in place. So this scheme allows for the full emergence of the e-Commerce eco-system.

The benefits of these technologies, as related in the foregoing articles, cannot be ignored for their security benefits. Previously this commentary explored the perplexing issues associate with cyber-security in this internet age. We cannot invite millions of visitors to the Caribbean region and then show disregard for their protections; including information security.

In terms of governance, there is the urgent need for regional coordination of the Caribbean radio spectrum. This regulates mobile phones, Wifi and satellite communications. Again, we cannot invite millions of guests and then exploit them with roaming charges the moment they turned on their smartphones to complete a payment transaction. This issue was also raised and explored in a previous Go Lean blog commentary. This is why the Go Lean roadmap calls for a consolidated Communications and Media Authority, operating under the CU’s Department of Commerce, to lead the oversight of these attendant telecommunication endeavors. The consequences of mis-management in this regards are dire. Soon and very soon, we will have tourists arriving on our shores with no credit cards; armed only with their smartphones; ready to tap unquenchable sums of discretionary monies for their enjoyment of Caribbean hospitality.

Still yet, the greatest benefit of marshaling electronic payments systems is not governance, nor security, nor technology; it is economics.  These electronic payment schemes allow for more M1 in the regional economy; this is the measurement of currency/money in circulation (M0) plus overnight bank deposits. As M1 values increase, there is a dynamic to create money “from thin-air”, called the money multiplier. The more money in the system, the more liquidity for investment and industrial expansion opportunities. Lastly, there will be the additional economic benefit of mitigating Black Market “under-the-table” transactions, as all these electronic transactions must be processed through some clearing house, in the case of the Go Lean roadmap, this will be the role of the CCB, a cooperative of the region’s central banks.

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs posit that the Caribbean is in crisis, and that this crisis will only worsen without some technocratic efficiency with currency and money supply (M1). The world is moving very fast, embracing one technological advancement after another; we cannot only consume these innovations, we must produce and guide advancements for ourselves:

The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Create it - Photo 1

The book posits that to adapt and thrive in the new global marketplace there must be more strenuous management and technocratic oversight of the region’s currencies, telecommunications (information security & spectrum) and governance. This is the charge of Go Lean roadmap, opening with these pronouncements; Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

xxiv.    Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxv.    Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

xxviii. Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.

xxx. Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.

“Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap is the assembly of existing Caribbean organs under the regional administration of the CU. This includes the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and the CCB governance; as a cooperative of existing central banks. The strategy is to implement the bank and C$ currency with the appropriate regulatory framework, tools and infrastructure, to facilitates the electronic schemes identified above.

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the proper controls for electronic/mobile payments in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier Principle Page 22
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Privacy versus Public Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 25
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the monetary needs through a Currency Union Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Central Banking Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Central Bank Cooperative Page 96
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Regional Organs – like CTU Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media Page 111
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #2: Currency Union / Single Currency Page 127
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Black Markets Page 165
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cruise Tourism – Smartcard scheme Page 193
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations – Central Banking Efficiencies Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street – Downtown Wi-Fi – Time and Place Page 201
Appendix – Assembling the Caribbean Telecommunications Union Page 256

The points of effective, technocratic banking/currency stewardship and dynamic change in the mobile communications space were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4381 Net Neutrality: It Matters in the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4308 Systems for Emergency Telephone Numbers in Crisis; need for Mobile App for Emergencies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3974 Google and Mobile Phones – Here comes Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3814 Lessons from the Swiss unpegging the franc
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889 RBC EZPay – Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881 The Need for Regional Cooperation to Up Cyber-Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3617 Bahamas roll-out of VAT leading more to Black Markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3582 For Canadian Banks: Caribbean is a ‘Bad Bet’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2074 MetroCard – Model for the Caribbean Dollar
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350 PayPal expands payment services to 10 markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906 Bitcoin virtual currency needs regulatory framework to change image
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833 One currency, divergent economies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=476 CARICOM urged on ICT, e-Commerce and e-Payments

The Caribbean ought to participate in more mobile smartphone development. There are so many benefits from efficient regional oversight of this technology: more cruise tourism spending, fostering more e-Commerce, increasing regional M1, mitigation of Black Markets, growing the economy, creating jobs, enhancing security and optimizing governance. Mobile smartphones are the future, and that future is now! (We, the Caribbean, have to play catch-up).

Now is the time for all stakeholders of the Caribbean – residents, visitors, bankers and governing institutions – to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits are many; but most important, the success of the roadmap can make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.  🙂

Download Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Net Neutrality: It Matters Here …

Posted on March 1, 2015 in Government, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

The world has changed! Much of the world’s media content is now being delivered via internet protocols (IP). In 1999, the telephone company Qwest Communications* ran a television commercial depicting that soon every movie ever made would be available on the internet for easy retrieval – see VIDEO below in Appendix A. The world is not at this point … just yet. But it will be for our children.

A pro-net neutrality Internet activist attends a rally in the neighborhood where U.S. Barack Obama attended a fundraiser in Los AngelesThis commentary is a melding of ICT (Internet & Communications Technology), media, television, economics, competition and future forecasting – this is a big deal for the US … and the Caribbean. With the internet as the delivery vehicle, there must now be oversight of the information super-highway. Too much  – as in the future for our children – is at stake.

One aspect of that oversight is the principle of net neutrality, allowing all internet traffic to be managed uniformly; (see Appendix B below). This has been the standard since the emergence of the commercial internet. The possibility of abolishing net neutrality has been of great debate as of late, with the American authorities – the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – ruling on the continuation of the net neutrality policy. The ruling demonstrates that the two decades of laissez-faire policy by the FCC is now being supplanted with a more broad authority over the Internet.

Title: US Internet providers hit with tougher rules, plan challenges
By: Alina Selyukh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators on Thursday approved the strictest-ever rules on Internet providers, who in turn pledged to battle the new restrictions in the courts and Congress, saying they would discourage investment and stifle innovation.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler greets commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel at the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington The rules, which will go into effect in coming weeks, are expected to face legal challenges from multiple parties such as wireless, cable and other broadband companies and trade groups that represent them.

Experts expect the industry to seek a stay of the rules, first at the FCC and then in courts, though the chances for success of such an appeal is unclear.

The new regulations come after a year of jostling between cable and telecom companies and net neutrality advocates, which included web startups. It culminated in the FCC receiving a record 4 million comments and a call from President Barack Obama to adopt the strongest rules possible.

The agency’s new policy, approved as expected along party lines, reclassifies broadband, both fixed and mobile, as a more heavily regulated “telecommunications service,” more like a traditional telephone service.

In the past, broadband was classified as a more lightly regulated “information service,” which factored into a federal court’s rejection of the FCC’s previous set of rules in January 2014.

The shift gives the FCC more authority to police various types of deals between providers such as Comcast Corp and content companies such as Netflix Inc to ensure they are just and reasonable for consumers and competitors.

Internet providers will be banned from blocking or slowing any traffic and from striking deals with content companies, known as paid prioritization, for smoother delivery of traffic to consumers.

The FCC also expands its oversight power to so-called interconnection deals, in which content companies pay broadband providers to connect with their networks. The FCC would review complaints on a case-by-case basis.

Republican FCC commissioners, who see the new rules as a government power grab, delivered lengthy dissents. Their colleagues in Congress hope to counter the new rules with legislation. All five FCC members are expected to testify in the Senate on March 18.

Large Internet providers say they support the no-blocking and no-discrimination principles of the new rules but that the FCC’s regulatory path will discourage investment by lowering returns and limiting experimentation with services and business plans.

Some smaller telecoms, such as Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc , have argued new rules will have little impact on investments. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday agreed.

“The (Internet service providers’) revenue stream will be the same tomorrow as it was yesterday,” he said at the FCC meeting.

“I have spent a lot of time in public policy, and today is the proudest day of my public policy life,” he later told reporters.

Legal experts and industry lobbyists say corporate lawyers are waiting for the FCC to publish the specifics of the rules, a document more than 300 pages long. Lawsuits can be filed after the rules are recorded in the Federal Register, likely days later.

Wheeler sought to address in the new rules some Internet providers’ concerns, proposing no price regulations, tariffs or requirements to give competitors access to networks.

Cable and telecom shares saw muted reactions on Thursday. They had jumped earlier this month when Wheeler confirmed long-bubbling expectations that he would seek a tougher regulatory regime, with some adjustments to the network needs.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Additional reporting by Malathi Nayak and Andrew Chung; Editing by Christian Plumb and Ken Wills)
Source: Reuters News Wire Service – Retrieved February 26, 2015 from:
http://news.yahoo.com/tougher-internet-rules-hit-cable-telecoms-companies-060527764–finance.html

Related Stories

VIDEO: Net Neutrality: How Open-Internet Activists Won Big – http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/net-neutrality-how-open-internet-activists-won-big-n313406

This article aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean. We learn a lot of lessons from this discussion. It reflects the regional oversight that the book envisions for the Caribbean region. Will there be the need for net neutrality discussions and reform for the Caribbean? Will competition policy be set to cater to private or corporate special interests? The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to navigate issues like these for the Greater Good. This CU roadmap is designed to elevate Caribbean society by these three prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines; growing the regional economy to $800 Billion and creating 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, utilizing a separation-of-powers with member-states.

All 3 of these directives of the Go Lean roadmap have deliveries on the internet, as this covers telephone, cable, broadband, Wifi and satellite. Offering some of these services to a regional market would garner extended competition, better pricing and more offerings. This is why the book posits that some issues are too big for any one member-state to manage alone – especially with such close proximities – there are times when there must be a cross-border, multilateral coordination. Such an important attribute affects our youth, more so than any other stakeholders. This vision is defined early in the book (Pages 11 – 14) with these statements in the  opening Declaration of Interdependence:

viii.  Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.

xi.  Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law…

xxvi.  Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

xxvii.  Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.

xxx.   Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for the market organizations and community investments to garner economic benefits from the single market that could not be derived otherwise. The roadmap posits that having a larger market allows more leverage and more impetus to facilitate the roadmap’s quest to make the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play.

One tenant of a free market economy is the emergence of a “better mousetrap”. This idiom asserts that the world would beat a path to the door of that mousetrap. But if the cable companies get their way, they would be able to enter the “room of business opportunity”, then “lock the door behind them” to ensure no one else could enter. This paradox would be unproductive for future growth with the internet and the attendant functions of electronic commerce.

The subject of net neutrality in the US is just another example of American crony-capitalism where public policy is often hijacked to benefit private parties. Consider this chart of well-documented cases of bad corporate behavior:

Big Media Cable companies conspire to keep rates high; textbook publishers practice price gouging; Hollywood insists on big tax breaks/ subsidies for on-location shooting.
Big Oil While lobbying for continuous tax subsidies, the industry have colluded to artificially keep prices high and garner rocket profits ($38+ Billion every quarter).
Big Box Retail chains impoverish small merchants on Main Street with Antitrust-like tactics, thusly impacting community jobs.
Big Pharma Chemo-therapy cost $20,000+/month; and the War against Cancer is imperiled due to industry profit insistence.
Big Tobacco Cigarettes are not natural tobacco but rather latent with chemicals to spruce addiction.
Big Agra Agribusiness concerns bully family farmers and crowd out the market; plus fight common sense food labeling efforts.
Big Data Brokers for internet and demographic data clearly have no regards to privacy concerns.
Big Banks Wall Street’s damage to housing and student loans are incontrovertible.
Big Weather Overblown hype of “Weather Forecasts” to dictate commercial transactions.
Big Real Estate Preserving MLS for Real Estate brokers only, forcing 6% commission rates, when the buyers and sellers can meet without them.

The Go Lean roadmap places a lot of focus on ICT, electronic commerce, and the landscape to incentivize youth participation in a Caribbean future.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to lean-in to the following community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies detailed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean to deliver the solutions to elevate the Caribbean region through ICT and electronic commerce: as follows:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principle – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principle – Return on Investments Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Confederate into a Single Market Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Embrace the Advances of Technology Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Communications and Media Authority Page 79
Implementation – Foreign Policies at Start-up Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization – Technology Equalization Page 119
Planning – Big Ideas – 10 Big Ideas – #8 Cyber Caribbean Page 127
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – Promotion of e-Learning Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance – e-Government & e-Delivery Deployments Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract – Technology/Efficiencies Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Regulate Media Industrial Complex Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology – Intellectual Property Protections Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce – e-Payments & Wifi Facilitations Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street – Wifi & Mobile Apps: Time and Place Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Monopolies – Utilities to Oversee ICT/New Media Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Youth – Foster Work Ethic for ICT Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Broadband for Work-at-Home Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living – e-Learning to Mitigate Relocations Page 235
Appendix – Copyright Infringement – Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights Page 351

The book Go Lean…Caribbean, and aligning blog-commentaries assert that the region can be a better homeland, improving on economic, security and governing engines. The region can be elevated by embracing ICT and forging more industrial development in cyber-space. This is essential to project to the Caribbean youth that they can prosper where they are planted here at home, because of the regional, technocratic efforts/successes.

Previous blogs/commentaries also exclaimed societal benefits from pursuits in regional coordination; consider this sample of previous blogs:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4308 Regional Coordination for Emergency Telephone Number, like “911”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3974 Model for Regional Internet Excellence: Google
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881 Regional Coordination for Cyber Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090 Model of Regionalism: Europe – All Grown Up
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2887 Caribbean Region Must Work Together to Address Rum Subsidies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2171 Regional Sports Role Model for Broadcast Networks
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=888 e-Government: Taking the Town Square Digital to Reinvent Government
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=308 CARCIP – Regional Effort Foster Technology Innovations

The Go Lean book posits that the internet can level the playing field (Page 119), allowing small institutions to compete with larger ones; and small states to compete with larger ones. The assertion is that ICT must be regulated – as a utility- at the regional level for the Caribbean Greater Good, as there are too many instances with overlapping radio spectrum. Instead of managing this process with bilateral treaties – the status quo – the Go Lean approach is a confederation treaty with all 30 member-states; the CU would regulate internet broadband providers as public utilities in a separation-of-power structure with the federal agency versus member-states.

The region needs the delivery of this Go Lean roadmap. More innovation will emerge with the internet; and we need some of that innovation locally in the Caribbean. Without the equalizing effects of technology/ICT, we will be rendered even more inconsequential for the future. Then our youth will not be inspired to invest in their homeland. This is sad for the youth and even more sad for the homeland.

The quest of Go Lean/CU is to do the heavy-lifting to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. This is conceivable, believable and achievable!

🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

APPENDICES:

A. VIDEO: Qwest TV Commercial 1999 – http://youtu.be/xAxtxPAUcwQ

Uploaded on January 30, 2012 – Remember how absurd this seemed in 1999 before the internet really took off? When the weary traveler asked the front desk what entertainment was available, the response was: “all rooms have every movie ever made in any language anytime, day or night.”

* Qwest Communications International, Inc. is now superseded as a corporate entity; it was acquired in 2010 and continues as CenturyLink, Inc.

———–

B. Net Neutrality

This is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. The term was coined by Columbia University media law professor Tim Wu in 2003 as an extension of the longstanding concept of a common carrier.[1][2][3][4]

There has been extensive debate about whether net neutrality should be required by law, particularly in the United States. Debate over the issue of net neutrality predates the coining of the term. Advocates of net neutrality such as Lawrence Lessig have raised concerns about the ability of broadband providers to use their last mile infrastructure to block Internet applications and content (e.g. websites, services, and protocols), and even to block out competitors.[5] On the contrary, opponents claim net neutrality regulations would deter investment into improving broadband infrastructure and try to fix something that isn’t broken.[6][7]

Net neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy their otherwise noncompetitive services.[8] Many believe net neutrality to be primarily important for the preservation of current internet freedoms; a lack of net neutrality would allow Internet service providers, such as Comcast, to extract payment from content providers like Netflix, and these charges would ultimately be passed on to consumers.[9][10] Prominent supporters of net neutrality include Vinton Cerf, co-inventor of the Internet Protocol, Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the Web, law professor Tim Wu, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Tumblr founder David Karp, and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver.[11][12][13][14] (See John Oliver VIDEO in Appendix C). Organizations and companies that support net neutrality include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Greenpeace, Tumblr, Kickstarter, Vimeo, Wikia, and others.[8][15][16]

Net neutrality opponents from the likes of IBM, Intel, Juniper, Qualcomm, and Cisco claim that net neutrality would deter investment into broadband infrastructure, saying that “shifting to Title II means that instead of billions of broadband investment driving other sectors of the economy forward, any reduction in this spending will stifle growth across the entire economy. Title II is going to lead to a slowdown, if not a hold, in broadband build out, because if you don’t know that you can recover on your investment, you won’t make it.” [17][18] Prominent opponents also include Netscape founder and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, co-inventor of the Internet Protocol Bob Kahn, PayPal founder and Facebook investor Peter Thiel, Internet engineer and former Chief Technologist for the FCC David Farber, Broadcast.com founder Mark Cuban, and Nobel Prize economist Gary Becker.[19][20][21][22][23]

Examples of net neutrality violations include when the Internet service provider Comcast intentionally slowed peer-to-peer communications.[27]

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality)

————

C. VIDEO – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Net Neutrality (HBO) – http://youtu.be/fpbOEoRrHyU

Published on June 1, 2014 – Cable companies are trying to create an unequal playing field for internet speeds, but they’re doing it so boringly that most news outlets aren’t covering it.
John Oliver explains the controversy and lets viewers know how they can voice their displeasure to the FCC. (Content warning: Some profanity!)

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