October 2016 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Month: October 2016

10 Things We Want from India and 10 Things We Do Not Want

Posted on October 31, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean truly believe that the Caribbean is the “greatest address in the world”. But where there is a reference to “greatest or greater”, there must be “lesser” too. The unfortunate reality is that Caribbean people have fled their homeland with all the greater attributes to relocate to lesser destinations.

🙁

Why? While the beauty is here in the Caribbean region, so much more is missing and/or defective in our homeland.

Where are these lesser destinations that have teased the Caribbean citizens away? As previously depicted in a full series of blog-commentaries, the following locales were detailed as follows:

There are other “lesser” destinations, that despite this status are doing better than the Caribbean at progressing their societal engines (economics and security). We can benefit by considering these other countries, take the examples of India and China. These ones are doing so much better at economic growth and homeland security. Already, we have considered …

What Things We Want from China and What Things We Do Not Want.

Now we need to examine:

What Things We Want from India and What Things We Do Not Want

The Caribbean has a unique relationship with India. While Caribbean people are not fleeing their homeland to relocate to India, there is a historic Diaspora issue associated with Caribbean-India relations: Indentured Servitude. At the end of the era of Caribbean slavery (1830’s to 1840’s), the plantation system required a replacement labor source; many Indian nationals were thusly “recruited” as Indentured Servants to the region (British, Dutch, and French colonies). This history is detailed in the Go Lean book as relating to one British colony, Guyana; see the reference here:

The Bottom Line on Guyana’s Indentured Indians
The British Empire abolished slavery effective August 1, 1834. But to appease the plantation/slave owners’ need for labor in the Caribbean colonies, Parliament allowed them to continue extracting more labor from these victims for 4 more years. As 1838 approached, there was a need for a new source of cheap labor. The solution was the introduction of indentured servants from India – the first 396 arrived on May 5, 1838 – thus starting a flow of immigrants to the British West Indies that resulted in such large numbers that the populations of Guyana and Trinidad are near 50% for those countries today.

The majority of Indian immigrants were drawn from North India with smaller batches coming from the Tamil and Telugu districts of South India. They were recruited, very often on spurious promises, by professional recruiters, largely assisted by paid local agents. Intimidation, coercion and deception were very often used to recruit Indian laborers. Women, in particular, were very vulnerable. When laborers were difficult to enlist, the recruiters resorted to such illegal practices as kidnapping and forced detention. This program continued from 1838 until 1917 with over 500 ship voyages for 238,909 indentured Indian immigrants coming to Guyana; while 75,898 of them or their children returned to India.

Today, the population of Guyana is over 772,000, of which 90% reside on the narrow coastal strip of approximately 10% of the total land area of Guyana. The largest ethnic group is the Indo-Guyanese (known as East Indians), descendants of the indentured laborers from India; they now make up 43.5% of the population, according to the 2002 census. They are followed by the Afro-Guyanese, the descendants of slaves from Africa, who constitute 30.2%. Guyanese of mixed heritage make up 16.7%, while the indigenous peoples (Amerindians) make up 9.1%.

The descendants of this Indian Diaspora have grown in numbers and power (economic and political) in the region; they form a large demographic in Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Suriname and other islands; see Appendix. They are part of the fabric of our society. They are home in the Caribbean; and we are at home with them. These ones, as a Indian Diaspora, want a connection with their Indian ancestral homeland. They have to remain conscious of the Good, Bad and Ugly from India. They desire the Good and want to be on alert for the Bad – influences that they do not want.

We can truly benefit from a place like India … if we apply these 5 L’s in this competitive analysis:

Look
Listen
Learn
Lend-a-hand
Lead

After centuries of sub-standard living, India is on the move – on the rise – even emerging as an Economic Power. We can look, listen and learn from the Indian eco-system; their mainland (the Republic of India) and Diaspora. We can lend-a-hand in reforming and transforming our own Caribbean region – as India has had to do – and we can eventually lead a reboot and turn-around of Caribbean society; again as India has done.

So here is a laundry list of the Good and the Bad and how (in italics) the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society, the book Go Lean…Caribbean, describes how the lessons should be applied in the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU):

Indian Imports

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from India**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from India**
1	Market of 1.2 billion “Size does matter” and India is the 2nd largest in the world, with their 1.2 billion people; China is the largest population with 1.3 Billion. This massive consumer market has basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, energy, telecommunication and media) to satisfy, so profit and jobs are at stake in these needs fulfillment. But more jobs are needed, so export of services is vital for India. The Go Lean roadmap directs solutions to satiate the needs of the 42 million people of a Caribbean Single Market; it then assumes that once we fulfill our own basic needs, more profit is to be gained in exporting the excess provisions to the rest of the world.	Hordes of Immigrants India’s colonial heritage allows for English language proficiency throughout the country. With telecom advances, call centers and technology developments are perfect fits for export services and job creation. Many of the technological savvy personnel are able to emigrate to foreign markets to provide these services. Now throughout the English world, Indians are omnipresent in STEM fields. The Go Lean roadmap incubates Call Centers and STEM careers, starting early in the education process. Following the Indian model, there are call center opportunities in 4 languages: English, Dutch, French and Spanish. The roadmap anticipates 12,000 new jobs for Call Centers.
2	Trade in Services India executes a model of Business Process Outsourcing that allows their residents to live in India and work for foreign companies. They get to export their talents without abandoning their homeland. This is win-win for globalism. The Go Lean roadmap calls for strenuous oversight for the region’s industrial policies, especially with the structure of Self-Governing Entities, creating 2.2 million jobs.	Illicit Trade Many times Indian factories manufacture and export products (pharmaceuticals & chemicals) that are illegal in other countries, due to environmentally harmful. Being a Global Citizen should accept the precept that what is bad in one country should be respected as bad every where. The Go Lean* plan stresses environmental protection & the policies to solicit adherence from foreign partners.*
3	Trade in Media – Bollywood India’s 1.2 Billion people make a great media market. Their production industry – Bollywood – fully exploit their domestic, regional and Diaspora markets. The CU/Go Lean roadmap seeks to model Bollywood in the Caribbean region. We have the full Caribbean market (42 million) plus the Diaspora (20 million) and tourists (80 million/year) to cater to.	Vengeful Labor Laws Whenever India conflicts with Pakistan (often occurrence), they impose restrictions on Bollywood stakeholders of Pakistan/Muslim descent. This vengeful-ness undermines the film industry. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for labor policies to be embedded in the CU treaty – bilaterally ratified – so no political episodes would undermine industrial labor commitments.*
4	Infrastructure Build India is embarking on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. This is a ribbon of development that traverses 6 states along a route from the city of Delhi to Mumbai. This infrastructure will allow for new industrial implementations (ports, highways, bridges, etc) to create jobs and startups. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for new strategies to facilitate infrastructure projects. This will result in attracting Direct Foreign Investors, entrepreneurial startups; so more jobs.*	Rural Abandonment India industrial development had previously focused on the urban areas, abandoning the rural areas to pervasive poverty. The new Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is designed to integrate rural, suburban and urban areas but it will be costly and may endanger public finances. The CU structure calls for autonomous Self-Governing Entities that do not depend on member-states finances. The SGE’s themselves are responsible for their finances.
5	Multi-Language India has 22 languages to contend with, plus English, from their colonial legacy. Their society has been successful with integrating multi-languages and still maintain social cohesion. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap strategizes confederating 30 member-states of 4 languages and 5 colonial heritage. There is the need for social cohesion in this Single Market.*	Religious Orthodoxy – Caste While Hindu is the most popular religion in India, there are winners and losers of this faith, especially with their concept of the Caste system – though now legally outlawed. This is an orthodoxy for class oppression. Despite separation of Church and State, the CU/Go Lean* roadmap features minority equalization and protections despite any religious orthodoxy; human rights supersedes.*

Indian Imports (cont’d)

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from India**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from India**
6	Security Assurance – International Respect India has Nuclear Capability, so their enemies must respect their borders and treaties. They are not treated inconsequentially on the world scene. The CU does not desire Nuclear Capability, but we do want international respect and regard for the rule of our laws. The planned security apparatus uses alliances with Nuclear Powers (US, Britain & France) plus our own strong Standby Force for defense of our homeland.	Disunity => Secession The country (Photo) that sought independence from the UK constitutes 8 countries today. The disunity amongst 19th century India resulted in many secessions. If these states had formed a Single Market, more prosperity would have resulted. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap strategizes a Single Market despite different sovereignties. The leverage of 30 member-states into 1 confederation is win-win for all.*
7	Settled History India has recorded history for at least 5000 years; during this millennia, many (domestic and foreign) groups have been victims and victimizers. India has settled this history finally, in that there is no manifested “Revenge-Seeking” threats – a Failed-State attribute. The CU/Go Lean roadmap measures Failed-State metrics for encroachments that may jeopardize public safety and justice assurance. There is also a plan for Truth and Reconciliation Commissions to settle unresolved issues.	Hatred of Neighbors The entrench differences between Hindus and Muslims could not be settled within the same borders, so therefore India’s independence from the British Empire mandated Pakistan as a separate (Muslim) state. The animosity of these two states have not been settled – there is no status of “live and let live”. The Go Lean* roadmap stresses the need for strong defenses so as to demand respect of sworn enemies, but first seeks reconciliation and diplomacy to settle conflicts.*
8	Diaspora Outreach Emigration has been a practice of Indian society for centuries, so they have a far-flung Diaspora. Indian business and government officials work hard in reaching out to this Diaspora for trade and tourism. The Go Lean roadmap includes a comprehensive trade strategy to better engage the Caribbean Diaspora. They should be able to acquire products, services and media from the Caribbean and repatriate funds and people more readily.	Encouraging Emigration Indian seems to encourage their STEM professionals emigrating to foreign shores and then repatriating funds to the home country. While not de jure, this encouragement seem “de facto”. This constant brain drain cannot be good for Indian society and economy., short or long term. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for official government policies to dissuade emigration. We need the STEM resources in our homeland and will thusly foster their development and maturation.*
9	Religious Toleration India is a medley of ethnic societies; despite Hindi being the primary language, there are many other language (22) and religious groups. They co-exist. The CU/Go Lean roadmap recognizes the significance of religion, but favors no one religion over another. So European religions are on par with Eastern religions (Hindu, Buddha, etc.) and Animist sects (Voodoo, Santeria, Amerindian spiritualism).	Patriarchy All religions on the Indian Sub-Continent feature a patriarchy, where men not only headed their households, but exerted a suppression of women folk; they were treated as property. For example, Hindu widows were not allowed to remarry, because their legacies were “owned” by their now-dead husbands. The Go Lean* roadmap promotes human rights despite any religious orthodoxy.*
10	Family Unity Back in the homeland, it is common for many generations of Indian families to live together; this allows for automatic elder care and childcare arrangements. This status quo continues despite rural-to-urban migrations. The Go Lean roadmap encourages family unity, with the emphasis on repatriation; keeping families together in the Caribbean is a win-win. An additional benefit is the encouragement to the youth to plan for a future at home.	Family Planning – Size / Infanticide 1.2 Billion is over-population; ; India thusly started a small family initiative. So infanticide threats are high as couples may not get the sex they want with 1/2 children. This low respect for infant life, brings a disrespect for human rights. The Caribbean has no threat of excessive population, our population is declining because of the excessive brain drain/societal abandonment. Our region is able to allow individual family planning: large or small families.

Like it or not, the Caribbean has to be constantly aware of our competitive analysis with the rest of the world; we are currently losing in any “race to the top”; this is the peril of globalization. Economically we are Third World; many of our people live a sub-standard life. Then we lose even more when our people flee to go to more prosperous countries – brain drain – at the expense of societal abandonment to our communities. This abandonment rate is 70% for our college-educated classes. Communities cannot thrive with such a disposition; the “race to the top” becomes even more imperiled.

The premise of the Go Lean book is that the Caribbean does have a fighting chance for the globalization “race to the top”. We have one huge advantage:

We have the “greatest address in the world” in terms of terrain, fauna/flora, hospitality, culture, food, drink (rum) and tobacco (cigars).

This is the quest of the Go Lean movement, to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. It urges us to study the good, bad and ugly of our society and that of other places and then to apply lessons-learned in our efforts to transform the Caribbean. India has been a frequent topic for considerations from the Go Lean movement (book and blogs). The opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) recognized that there is value in considering the Good and Bad examples of places like India, with this statement:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities…. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/communities….

In addition, the book specifically addresses the disposition of India – and other similar emerging economies – with these direct references of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: People Choose because Resources are Limited	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate and Consolidate into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Facilitating Currency Union, Caribbean Dollar	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Collaborate for the Caribbean Central Bank	Page 45
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 64
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – Trade	Page 67
Tactical – Recovering from Economic Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Caribbean Central Bank	Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the EEZ	Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 117
Implementation – Ways to Benefit Globalization	Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living	Page 235

In addition, this subject of India and our Caribbean trade empowerment has been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8602	Build It and They Will Come – India’s $90 Billion Investment
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3028	India is doing better than many Emerging Market countries.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. India is out-of-scope for the CU/Go Lean roadmap. Our scope is to impact the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines, not Indian society.

All in all, there are Good lessons and Bad lessons that we can learned from India. As a region, we can also be an emerging economy as India is designated. Yes, we can!

So let’s pay more than the usual attention to the developments of India. Everyone is urged to lean-in to this Go Lean/CU roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix VIDEO – The Caribbean East Indians (Part 1 of 2) – https://youtu.be/oxFrQd6lVzA

Published on Apr 29, 2015 – The “East Indians” of the Caribbean and Caribbean rim countries are the descendants of immigrants from the Indian sub-continent. Despite their name they are no relation to the indigenous aboriginal “Indians” who inhabit or formerly inhabited the area. The East Indians are, along with Black Afro-Caribbeans (“West Indians”), one of the two major ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname. There are also East Indian communities in Jamaica (one estimate for 1980 gives the East Indian population as 50,000), Grenada and the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Indians were first brought to the Caribbean from the mid-1840s to work on white-owned sugar plantations as indentured labour to replace newly freed African slaves. The majority of immigrants were young men; later disturbances on the plantations forced the authorities to try and correct the imbalance. Indenture was usually for five years and the labourer was subject to restricting and paternalistic regulations which were sometimes described as “a new system of slavery”. After an initial number of years it was possible for the labourer to return to India but since many were offered land in order to entice them to stay near the estates, most stayed in their new country.

The racial tensions and stereotypes of later years were formed during the colonial period. Indians worked for less than Africans and were regarded as cheap and malleable labour. There were differences of culture between the Hindu and Muslim Indians and the Christian Africans. While the Africans, who were more likely to be literate in English, filled the jobs in the urban and commercial sectors, Indians were most likely to remain labourers and small farmers.

See Part 2 of 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qeM2BecjNI

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India, Model

10 Things We Want from China and 10 Things We Do Not Want

Posted on October 30, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Like it or not, the Caribbean is in competition with the rest of the world – and we are losing!

Economically we are Third World. So we lose even more when our people flee to go to more prosperous countries, at the expense of societal abandonment to our communities.

It is what it is – we lose 70% of our college-educated to the brain drain – no community can thrive with such a disposition. So we are losing in the modern battles of trade and globalization. It is a crisis.

Alas, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste!

This is the premise of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it posits (Page 3) that the Caribbean has a fighting chance for survival in the modern world because we have one huge advantage:

We have the “greatest address in the world”…

… this is in terms of terrain, fauna/flora, hospitality, culture, food, drink (rum) and tobacco (cigars).

It seems so illogical, to have this advantage and yet to lose in the global war for prosperity.

Again, it is what it is! People leave … a large number of Caribbean people have fled and now live abroad. They live in places like the US, Canada, the UK and Europe. There is so much for us to learn from these foreign destinations, as this commentary has considered. We have asked (and answered) the questions, poised as follows:

Why do our Diaspora leave – this greatest address in the world – and what can we learn from their experiences?
What can we gather for the Pros and Cons of life in those foreign abodes?

This consideration was completed in a series detailing the destinations for our fleeing countrymen. The full series was detailed as follows:

Now we must consider other countries, not ones that our Diaspora has fled to, but rather ones that compete with us and are doing MUCH BETTER jobs of contending in this competitive environment. We must consider China and India:

What Things Do We Want from China and Things We Do Not Want

What Things Do We Want from India and Things We Do Not Want

The stakeholders of this Go Lean…Caribbean movement truly believe that the Caribbean is the “greatest address in the world”. Yet so much is missing and/or defective in our region. We can truly benefit from places like China and India if we apply these 5 L’s in this competitive analysis:

Look
Listen
Learn
Lend-a-hand
Lead

Let’s start with China. They went from “zero to hero”, emerging as an economic Super Power in short order. We can look, listen and learn from the Chinese eco-system; their mainland (the Peoples Republic of China), the special territories of Hong Kong and Taiwan (the Republic of China). We can lend-a-hand in reforming and transforming our own Caribbean region – as China has had to do – and we can eventually lead a reboot and turn-around of Caribbean society; again as China has done.

This is the quest of the Go Lean movement, to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. Previously, these Go Lean blog-commentaries have considered the competitive analysis of the US, Canada, the UK and Europe to discern how we compete with these foreign locales. The competition is for our young people; we want them to set their sights – their hopes and dreams – on a viable future, right here in the Caribbean homeland and not to have to consider fleeing – like so many of their previous generations – to have the measures of success that the modern world conveys.

This Go Lean book makes an honest assessment of the Caribbean, our failing and our advantages. It urges us to study the good, bad and ugly of our society and that of other places and then to apply lessons-learned in our efforts to transform the Caribbean. China has been a frequent topic for considerations from the Go Lean movement (book and blogs). The opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) recognized that there is value in considering the Good and Bad examples of places like China, with this statement:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities…. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/communities….

So there are things that the Caribbean want and things that we do not want from places like China. Here is a laundry list of the Good and the Bad and how the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society, the book Go Lean…Caribbean, describes how the lessons should be applied in the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU):

Chinese Imports

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from China**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from China**
1	Market of 1.3 billion If “size does matter” then China is ‘King of Kings’; their 1.3 billion population cannot be ignored for trade. Considering modernity, this massive consumer market have basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, energy, telecommunication and media) that must be satisfied. So much profit (jobs) is to be gained by trying to provide for these needs. The Go Lean roadmap is based on the premise that Caribbean member-states need a bigger population, and so seeks the leverage of 42 million people in the region. The roadmap also seeks to explore all profit-seeking opportunities to first satiate the basic needs of those 42 million people. Profit-seeking – not greed – is not a bad ethos; there must be growth in a community, otherwise people leave to seek profit elsewhere. The CU seeks to grow the regional GDP to US$800 Billion over 5 years, by facilitating the regional market and also trade with China.	Bullying China realizes that “size does matter” and with its 1.3 billion population, they can “throw their weight around”. The current conflict in the South China Sea is a manifestation of that bullying ethos. China can be a “bad actor” at times; and they are a nuclear power. Though China has not displayed any military aggression towards the Caribbean, our security apparatus must be “on guard”. The Go Lean roadmap anticipates the emergence of “bad actors”, so mitigations need to be proactive and reactive. The roadmap therefore stresses economics and security measures equally. We are not in the “nuclear club” and do not seek that status, so we must continue our alliance with nuclear powers. Our current alliance are based on proximity and colonial status, as the United States, the United Kingdom and France are all nuclear capable and have active Caribbean territories.
2	Capital China is now starting to exert its economic muscles in the Caribbean – they bring the wallets of their State-run entities, i.e. Export-Import Bank (China Exim Bank). The Caribbean region needs these foreign investments. They put the “money where the mouth is” as many China funded infrastructure projects in the Caribbean are managed by State-run engineering and construction firms. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap calls for strenuous oversight for the regions monetary policy (Caribbean Dollar), thereby fostering better accountability and transparency.*	Exploitation of Environment Chinese cities are notoriously bad for pollution; many residents wear surgical masks daily. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, many foreign athletes had to mitigate by going to venues only on participation days. The government’s “anything goes” ethos also apply in the rural areas, with an overall lack of environmental protection. The CU/Go Lean stresses environmental protection in the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Self-Governing Entities, plus the ratings-&-rankings of the member-states delivery for the Social Contract forces adherence and compliance.
3	Trade & Economic Growth China has grown tremendously in the past few decades by “opening up” and adopting the tenants of this one economic principle: “Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth”. The lesson for the Caribbean is that even with a much smaller 42 million population base, we can still grow our economy and trade outreach – plus we have the destination and culture the world wants. So we have a lot to trade on. The CU is a Trade federation so the emphasis is on all aspects of trade. See the book’s Trade SHIELD* principles.*	Trade Barrier China imposes restrictions on its trade imports to block too much foreign imports, even for intellectual property. But this is a product of negotiation. China could be better exposed to the beauty of Caribbean culture and related products, but first there must be effective messaging to correct their fallacies about Afro-Caribbean image. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for a Sentinel for Caribbean image. A lot of the fallacies in China stem from false white supremacy precepts. The CU will “message this out”.*
4	Infrastructure Build China has been active in the Caribbean region regarding infrastructure projects; they have built stadia, hotels, airports, bridges and other projects. The engineering skills are greatly appreciated, especially when accompanied with Chinese funding options. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for new strategies to facilitate infrastructure projects. We need partners like China’s State-run engineering and construction firms.*	Shoddy Workmanship Even China itself questions the workmanship of its State-run engineering and construction firms. For the 2008 Beijing Olympics the primary stadium – Bird Nest – was engineered by a German firm. Also, the recent Baha Mar project in the Bahamas, is plagued with quality concerns. The CU structure calls for advancing the engineering competence in the region, over time, so that Caribbean stakeholders can facilitate these projects ourselves.
5	Progressive Technocracy The Chinese government is headed mostly by technocrats as opposed to lawyers and politicians; (Go Lean book Page 64). Their steady societal growth of the recent decades is reflective of a technocratic ethos. The Go Lean* roadmap details community ethos that reflect technocratic principles, like: Lean Operations, Return on Investments, Cooperatives, Incubators, NGO’s and R&D.*	Religious Orthodoxy While atheistic communism is the official principle of China’s government, religious institutions are still thriving, along with many negative orthodoxy: human rights abuses for minority groups, superstitions of ingredients from endangered animals (elephant & rhino tusks, shark fins, etc.). The CU/Go Lean* roadmap features minority equalization and protections despite any religious orthodoxy.*

Chinese Imports (cont’d)

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from China**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from China**
6	Protected economy China is a good example of economic stewards protecting their economy for domestic stakeholders first. Consider the mandate for movies; only a minimum is allowed from foreign producers, thereby fostering a domestic industry. The CU, while encouraging foreign participation, sees the value of incentivizing (subsidies) domestic participants for greater colloquialism; this will create more local jobs.	Restricted economy China’s protective motives go too far; it is now considered restrictive; consider the blocking of outside internet and e-commerce. A bilateral approach should allow for more give-and-take. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap calls for negotiated bilateral trade permissiveness. We must give-and-take; this is the only way to “win” with globalization.*
7	Justice Principles China has multi-layers of governance: national, provincial and municipal. Yet, still there are justice accords that the country ensures. In addition, there are treaties that China has ratified. This compliance ensures some accountability. The CU/Go Lean roadmap prioritizes justice among its community values. Even though local and national governance exist, there is accountability to regional justice institutions; with the deployment of the CariPol and Caribbean Court.	International Justice Adherence China often plays the role of “bad actor” for enforcement of international accords. Take the case of “Legal High” for example. This drama involves legal drugs used to mix narcotics for sale in Black Markets, think “Meth”. In most cases, the drugs come from factories in China; see this BBC story and the Appendix VIDEO. The Go Lean* roadmap prepares the region for mitigations against “bad actors”, domestic and foreign. The security apparatus will work lock-step with CU Trade efforts.*
8	Commitment to Sports The Chinese legacies for soccer/football , basketball and even their Olympic models (Track & Field) inspire athletes that they can earn a living based on their talents, disciplines and abilities. The governments attempt to identify those with genius qualifiers as early as possible and then foster the skills progressively as they mature. The Go Lean roadmap includes a comprehensive sport promotion and administration apparatus to facilitate amateur, collegiate and professional sports careers.	Unsportsmanlike Competition Chinese athletes push themselves to the full limits, many times beyond unreasonableness. During recent Olympics, many Chinese female gymnasts were much younger than required for their psychological development. Plus with the threat of performance enhancing drugs, many bad sportsmanship have been expressed. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for rebooting sports eco-system to include an Anti-Doping agency within the CU Trade Federation to elevate regulation and enforcement.*
9	Commitment to Progressive Healthcare With 1.3 Billion people, there will be classes of rich, poor and middle class. But with the communistic structure, a safety net is supposed to be there for all; but with that market size, the “least common denominator” will be low. Ancient Chinese medicine is fully supported by the government, but, the best example of the country’s health progression is available to Armed Forces personnel. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap prioritizes advances in health care for all citizens in the region. There are deliverables for cancer treatments, mental health and universal plans.*	Organ Transplants According to a previous blog, China has a lot of mileage in the medical history of organ transplantation and the impact on social values. This is a recent history anywhere, as the medical capability only became viable since the 1970′s. With the billions of people living in the rural areas, it is not inconceivable that “bad actors” view the masses as prime harvesting grounds for organ transplantation. The Go Lean* roadmap allows for a regional registry and protections for organ transplantation across the 42 million population, as bad actors will appear here too.*
10	Family Cohesion It is common for multiple generations of Chinese families to live in the same house; this allows for automatic elder care and childcare arrangements. The Go Lean* roadmap encourages repatriation; family reunification is one additional benefit. This will also encourage the Caribbean youth to plan for a future at home.*	Family Planning – Size Decades ago, China started its One Child policy to mitigate population explosion. The threat of infanticide is high as couples may not get the One Child sex they want. Rather than excessive population, the Caribbean population is declining because of the excessive brain drain/societal abandonment. We can encourage any family planning preference for our region.

In addition, the book specifically addresses China and Taiwan with these direct references of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates:

Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – CU Vision and Mission	Page 45
Strategy – Customers – Foreign Direct Investors	Page 48
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – Trade	Page 67
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How? Example of WWII Rebuild in China/Taiwan	Page 69
Tactical – Growth Approach – Trade and Globalization	Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Cari-Pol – Marshalls & Investigations	Page 77
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Caribbean Court of Justice	Page 90
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 117
Implementation – Ways to Benefit Globalization	Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce	Page 129
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Appendix – Trade S.H.I.E.L.D. Principles	Page 264

In addition, this subject of China and our Caribbean trade empowerment has been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8823	Lessons from China – WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8819	Lessons from China – South China Seas: Exclusive Economic Zones
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8817	Lessons from China – Mobile Games Apps: The new Playground
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8815	Lessons from China – Organ Transplantation: Facts and Fiction
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8813	Lessons from China – Why China will soon be Hollywood’s #1 market
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8799	Lessons from China – Too Big To Ignore
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6231	China’s Caribbean Playbook: America’s Script
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5435	China Internet Policing – Model for Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	Role Model Jack Ma brings Trade Marketplace Alibaba to America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=294	Bahamas and China’s New Visa Agreement

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. Our scope is to impact the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines, not Chinese society. While Caribbean people are not fleeing their homeland to relocate to China. there is a Diaspora issue associated with Caribbean-China relations: Indentured Servitude. At the end of the era of Caribbean slavery (1830’s to 1840’s), the plantation system required a replacement labor source; many Chinese nationals were thusly “recruited” as Indentured Servants to the region – British, French and Spanish lands – see here:

There were two main waves of Chinese migration to the Caribbean region. The first wave of Chinese consisted of indentured labourers who were brought to the Caribbean predominantly Trinidad, British Guiana and Cuba, to work on sugar plantations during the post-Emancipation period. The second wave was comprised of free voluntary migrants, consisting of either small groups (usually relatives) to British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad from the 1890’s to the 1940’s. In fact the most modern Caribbean Chinese are descended from this second group. – Caribbean-Atlas.com

Derivatives of the 18,000-plus Chinese immigrants are still here in the Caribbean today. These descendents have grown in numbers and power (economic and political) in the region. They are part of the fabric of our society. They are home in the Caribbean; and we are at home with them; see the profile of the Lee-Chen families in this previous blog-commentary. This is our Chino-Caribbean heritage. These ones, as a Chinese Diaspora, desire these imports from China and are on alert for influences they do not want.

All in all, there are Good lessons and Bad lessons that we can learned from China. We can also advance “from zero to hero”, as China has done. Yes, we can!

So let’s pay more than the usual attention to the developments of China, to China and from China. Everyone is urged to lean-in to this Go Lean/CU roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix VIDEO – What goes on inside a Chinese ‘legal high’ factory? BBC News – https://youtu.be/BnhgWG-cp5w

Published on Sep 6, 2016 – The BBC has been shown footage filmed inside a laboratory in China that makes so-called “legal highs”. The sale, distribution and manufacture of the drugs was banned in the UK in 2016 as many of them were found to have lethal side effects.

But Radio 4’s File on Four programme managed to order a small sample of a legal high from an online supplier in China.
The drug was posted to the UK concealed inside a plastic container designed to hold a water softener.
Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

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10 Things We Want from Europe and 10 Things We Do Not Want

Posted on October 19, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The phrase “New World” assumes that there was an “Old World“.

The Old World would refer to Europe. The New World on the other hand, refers to the lands in the Western Hemisphere – North, Central and South America, plus the Caribbean – that was first opened up with the 1492 Discovery by Christopher Columbus. After the first 100 years of legal and papal wrangling, the settlement of the New World by diverse European powers commenced in earnest in the 1600’s. This started a period of colonization by Imperial powers from Europe grappling for dominance and/or some presence in the Americas.

This colonization historicity was detailed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it summarized the European history of ebb-and-flow of the colonial power struggle in the Americas in general and in the Caribbean region in particular; see these samples:

The Bottom Line on European Colonialism – (Page 241)
The European colonial period was the era from the 1500s to the mid-1900s when several European powers (Spain, Britain, the Netherlands, France and Portugal) established colonies in the Americas, in a “Space Race” to dominate the New World. The Northern Coast of South America became a typical New World battleground for conflict and pushing between these powers, and many military campaigns and diplomatic initiatives (treaties) ensued. … When did this European Colonial “push-shove-match” end? Not until almost 500 years later, after World War II, after the effects of that war left all these European powers drained – of finances and the will to continue.

***********

Appendix – US Virgin Islands – Economy Past, Present & Future – (Page 305)
The Virgin Islands were held by many European powers, including Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Denmark-Norway. The Danish West India Company settled on Saint Thomas in 1672, on Saint John in 1694, and purchased Saint Croix from France in 1733. The islands became royal Danish colonies in 1754, named the Danish-West Indian Islands. Like other Caribbean islands, sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands’ economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries, until the abolition of slavery by Danish Governor Peter von Scholten on July 3, 1848.
…
During the submarine warfare phases of the First World War, the United States, fearing that the islands might be seized by Germany as a submarine base, … approached Denmark with a view to buying them. After a few months of negotiations, a selling price of $25 million in United States gold coin was agreed. (This is equivalent to $2.2 Billion in 2012 dollars @ $1770 per ounce)…. The United States took possession of the islands on March 31, 1917.

To recap, here are the European countries that have shown “interest” in the Caribbean:

Britain
Denmark
Germany
The Netherlands
Norway
France
Portugal
Spain

The Old World powers came to the New World, liked what they saw and fought over it. As referenced above, these Caribbean territories featured an economy based on African slavery. In the end, the European colonizers left the island and coastal territories, mostly in the hands of the descendants of former slaves. These mature empires and advanced democracies left these shores without the needed governance to lead their own affairs efficiently or effectively. Today, all of these European countries (listed above) function as better societies than their former colonies here in the Caribbean.

This is a sad but true reality. The Caribbean could be argued to be the “greatest address in the world”, in terms of terrain, fauna/flora, hospitality, culture, food, drink (rum) and tobacco (cigars). Yet, a large number of Caribbean people have fled and now live abroad. They live in places like the US, Canada, the UK and the European countries listed above.

This seems illogical, considering all the blood, sweat and tears for domination here in the Caribbean over the years, decades and centuries. But it is what it is! People leave … in droves. They do not only leave to go somewhere else (the destinations), but rather they leave just to get away from “here”.

So for Europe – not considering the UK-Britain-England this time – we must ask the questions of our Diaspora there:

Why do they now live in Europe and what can we learn from that experience?
What can we gather for the Pros and Cons of European life?

This commentary is Part 4 of 4 in a series examining the destinations of the Caribbean Diaspora. The full series is as follows:

10 Things We Want from the US and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Canada and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from the UK and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Europe and 10 Things We Do Not Want

The stakeholders of this Go Lean … Caribbean movement truly believe that the Caribbean is the “greatest address in the world”. Yet still, we have an atrocious record of societal abandonment. This disposition is so acute that we report 70% of the region’s college-educated classes have fled the region for refuge elsewhere.

Refuge? An appropriate word, as there are “push and pull” reasons why Caribbean citizens leave such beauty to relocate to the cold and unknown places like Europe. Our societal defects – in the economic, security and governing engines – are that bad.

This is a crisis! Alas, the Go Lean book also asserts that a “crisis is a terrible thing to waste” (Page 8). Let’s look, listen and learn from the European mainland, and then let’s lend-a-hand and then eventually lead a reboot and turn-around of Caribbean society. We can do better than our recent past. We must do better!

This is the quest of the Go Lean book and subsequent movement, to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. Previously, these Go Lean blog-commentaries have looked inward and identified the many facets of our societal defects. Now, this commentary looks at these refuge countries that our people flee to, and glean the Good and Bad of those destinations. We want our people back … and to not lose anymore; so consider this review a competitive analysis to discern how we compete with these foreign locales. We want our young people to set their sights – their hopes and dreams – on a viable future, right here in the Caribbean homeland.

This honest assessment requires that we study the things that we, in the Caribbean, want and things that we do not want from places like Europe ; (the UK was previously considered separatedly). Here is a laundry list of the Good and the Bad and how the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society, the book Go Lean…Caribbean, describes how the lessons should be applied in the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU):

European Imports

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from Europe**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from Europe**
1	Profit-Seeking Many people frame the motivation for New World expansion as the quest to expand sovereign empires, or a quest for religious missions; but many historians put the motivation accurately at “profit”. First there was the gold and other precious metals extracted from the Americas, then after exhaustion, then came slavery to exploit the agricultural opportunities for crops not grown in Europe: cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, etc. The Go Lean roadmap accepts that profit-seeking – not greed – is not a bad ethos; there must be growth in a community, otherwise people leave to seek profit elsewhere. The CU seeks to grow the regional GDP to US$800 Billion over 5 years.	History of Aggression To protect the Empire expansion goals, countries were willing to be aggressive militarily; as a result there where many scrimmages in the Caribbean, and many islands changed hands from one power to another. That aggression continued for the hundreds of years since the start of colonization of the New World, leading to World War I and World War II. Though there has not been any global conflicts in the 70 years since WW II, the community ethos is there, to become aggressive easily. The Go Lean* roadmap anticipates the emergence of “bad actors”, so mitigations need to be proactive and reactive. The roadmap therefore stresses economics and security measures equally.*
2	Tourists Tourism is still the primary economic driver for the Caribbean region. While there is a lot of competition for European tourists, the Caribbean continues to make the case that its region is the best tourist destination in the world. The region wants to continue to appeal to Europeans of all demographic persuasions to come visit the islands for stay-overs (land-based hotels) and/or cruise ships. We want to forge vacation options and traffic for the upper, middle and lower classes of European society. See VIDEO in the Appendix below. The CU forges plans, advocacies and re-boots to further enhance the Caribbean tourism product array.	Latent Racism For societies to promote the exploitation of slaves, there must have been an underlying creed of racism, or racial supremacy. This emerges from time to time, as reflected recently with the Middle East Refugee crisis. People with this mindset may not have a problem with coming to a Black majority Caribbean destination for leisure travel; it may be fun for them to be pampered by “servants”, but not so much for those facilitating the service. The Go Lean roadmap promotes racial equality in a free market. But accepting that the past was tainted, the roadmap also invites Truth and Reconciliation Commissions to settle many prior conflicts.
3	Capital There are many Financial Centers around the world and in Europe (Zurich, Paris, London, etc.). They have the capital the Caribbean needs for Direct Foreign Investments. To be attractive for these opportunities, we have to facilitate the corporate governance to allow for full transparency and accountability. The Go Lean roadmap calls for the emergence of a new financial eco-system around the Caribbean Dollar (C$) managed by a regional technocratic Caribbean Central Bank. This structure will allow for more liquidity in the existing regional stock exchanges.	Austerity The European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2009 – 2012) is mostly over now. But the remediation required more taxes and spending cuts, austerity. But economists assert that economic growth is the best way to counteract recession. So austerity measures may be a flawed strategy. The Go Lean roadmap presents strategies, tactics and implementation to grow the economy … sharply. The plan is to create 2.2 million new jobs and the incubation of many entrepreneurial endeavors. There is also the plan to streamline municipal operations and finances. This execution will eliminate the need for austerity measures.
4	Education System Germany provides tuition-free colleges (see Photo). Many other European states feature progressive education systems that foster more STEM careers. This commitment starts at kindergarten school and follows suit all the way up to college. Rather than incurring mounds of debt, the European model is a state investment in its youth. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to reboot the education eco-system and invest in STEM fields. One strategy is to deploy more e-Learning schemes. This will benefit people in urban and rural addresses of the Caribbean.	Study Abroad Going off to school is one of the most exciting times in a young student’s life, but for the CaribbeanEuropeanOverseasTerritories, it is also a rite of “passage” to the Diaspora. Places like Aruba, Curacao, Guadeloupe and Martinique have the experience of hosting graduations one week and final emigration-trips the next week. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap seek to turn-around the tertiary education environment in the Caribbean, so that local students do not have to leave. They are encouraged to study in-country.*
5	Health Care/Dental CareMany European member-states feature a Universal Health scheme. These programs provide examples of successful healthcare for all of its citizens. They ensure that everyone has access and quality delivery, including dental care. They have coverage for indigents, alleviating price shocks.The Go Lean roadmap calls for schemes to mandate healthcare insurance for every adult. With the leverage across the 30 member-states and 42 million people, the wholesale costs of products/services would be reduced.	GMO’sThere are Crony-Capitalists in most European powers, especially in the agricultural sectors. Leave unchecked, GMO’s could easily become the standard and deployed to the general public. (This is the American experience).The European Medicines Agency is a model for the corresponding Caribbean Medicine-Food-Nutrition regulatory agency. The Go Lean roadmap calls for strict food labeling, resembling the EU more so than the deceit/ American bad example. Life is more important than profit.

European Imports (cont’d)

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from Europe**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from Europe**
6	Human Rights Ideals The Nobel Prize is awarded by a committee in Stockholm, Sweden. Plus the United Nations Human Rights Commission is based in The Hague in the Netherlands. European are the most active in watching human/civil rights abuses around the world. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap features monitoring for human rights in the Caribbean region. There is the need, we have a pattern of hatred towards certain minority groups.*	Same Sex Marriage While there is a need for human rights and civil rights, many consider Same Sex Marriage to be “a bridge too far” too fast. For those communities with orthodox religious traditions, they balk at Same Sex Marriage being shoved on them. The CU advocates for human rights and civil rights. There must be a compromise to extend property and privacy rights without insulting religious standards.
7	Social Safety Nets The Western European nations all feature Democratic Socialism as the form of government, even with monarchs in some countries. This structure allows for more social “Safety Nets”, like unemployment benefits, welfare and disability. The people are still “covered” even if their plans for their life and career do not succeed. This incentivizes people to stay “home” for the “good, bad and the ugly”. To benefit the “Greater Good”, the CU plans a lot of “Safety Nets” for when Crap Happens, financed through insurance schemes: premiums and claims, spread across a wide region for more leverage (42 million people).	Taxes on Poor People The European states featuring Democratic Socialism feature a high tax structure – (see Photo/Chart below). This means poor people have the same tax burden as rich people. The preference is now to consider a progressive tax scheme where the rich bear a heavier burden than the poor, through either consumption or sliding scale. The CU/Go Lean roadmap proposes new balanced tax schemes that mostly “skim off the top”. The CU will deploy systems to help member-state governments do better at collecting their tax revenues. Overall the Caribbean tax burden will increase, but only marginally.
8	Police Training Security concerns are equally important in nation-building. With economic prosperity comes “bad actors”, so good law-enforcement is vital for social cohesion. In Europe, the incidences of police-civil-rights abuses is lower than say the Americans, one reason is good police training. The CU does not want a repeat of Cop-on-Black violence that the Americans experience. We want to follow the European models more for best-practices.	War on Terror Considering the historic past with former colonized people, the European mainland has to be “on guard” for bad actors and terrorism attacks; there have been recent attacks in France, Belgium and Germany. The EU is now cooperating with security intelligence globally to mitigate these threats. The CU seeks to implement a comprehensive security apparatus with robust intelligence gathering and analysis.
9	Media Arts – Film, TV, Music & e-Games While prospects for many traditional 20^th Century jobs and industries (factories, auto, steel, mining) have declined in Europe due to the competitive imbalance of globalization and technology, electronic media-related industries now flourish. The challenge of language translation has been mitigated with technology – a global market has emerged. The CU roadmap posits that art and music can drive big economic returns. The only way to win in the global marketplace is to ensure that “we” produce/contribute and not just consume. The CU will ensure the complete eco-system is there to identify, foster & compensate stakeholders for this new world of electronic media..	Cultural Neutralizations – Domination of Euro-centric There are other cultures other than just White-Europeans. European (White) media brings European values, and these may not always advocate what’s best for Caribbean life. If not abated, the world gets the impression that Black-and-Brown only “takes”, rather than “give” to the world’s cultural landscape. Afro-Caribbean culture must be preserved and promoted to the rest of the world. The Go Lean book compares cultural protectionism as employed in France versus the free market approach. While France doesn’t lead many of the world’s media output, they maintain and promote their unique culture. This propels their tourism: 25 million to Paris alone.
10	Sports Professionalism The European legacies for Soccer/Football and even their Olympic models (Track & Field) inspire athletes that they can earn a living based on their talents, disciplines and abilities. The Go Lean* roadmap includes a comprehensive sport promotion and administration apparatus to facilitate amateur, collegiate and professional sports careers.*	Win at all costs ethic There is a worldwide movement to curb the sports world of performance enhancing drugs. Many European stakeholders have been identified and censured for bad sportsmanship in this area. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for rebooting sports eco-system to include an Anti-Doping agency within the CU Trade Federation to elevate regulation and enforcement.*

Europe has been a frequent topic for considerations from the Go Lean movement (book and blogs). The opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) recognized that there is value in considering the Good and Bad examples of Europe, with this statement:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany …. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/communities like … Germany….

Not just life in Europe is addressed by the Go Lean book, but also life in the remaining European Overseas Territories in the Caribbean (Dutch & French). The CU treaty includes the DutchTerritories (Netherland Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius) and also these FrenchTerritories (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, and French Guiana eventually).

Though France and the Netherlands are among the most prosperous economies in the world, that prosperity has not always extended to these islands.

In addition, the book specifically addresses Europe, Dutch/French Territories and the Caribbean Diaspora in Europe with these direct references of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalizations – 4 Languages; One People	Page 24
Strategy – Invite empowering immigrants – Like STEM stakeholders from Europe	Page 46
Tactical – Confederation Models – i.e. Denmark, Sweden, Norway	Page 63
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security – Model of NATO	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Health Department – Medicine-Food-Nutrition Administration	Page 87
Implementation – Assemble Dutch and FrenchTerritories into the Caribbean Union	Page 96
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives – Trade Mission Offices: Paris, Amsterdam, Spain	Page 117
Implementation – Reason to Repatriate – From Europe	Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence – Autonomous Rule for Territories	Page 120
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade – Trade to Diaspora in Europe	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Model the European Union	Page 130
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy – Encourage More Foreign Investment from Europe	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives – Models from French Origins	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Large Pockets in Holland and France	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to ImpactDutchTerritories	Page 246
Advocacy – Ways to ImpactFrenchTerritories	Page 247
Appendix – The Guianas Historic Timeline – Sample European Grappling	Page 307

In addition, previous Go Lean blog/commentaries addressed many issues in regards to Europe, the Dutch/French Overseas Territories and the interactions of Caribbean people that live there in Europe; see sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7834	French Caribbean ready for the Martinique Surf Pro
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6247	Tragic images show refugee crisis at a tipping point in Europe
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5818	European Country of Greece: From Bad to Worse
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971	The Legacy of Royal Charters in Europe: Good & Bad
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090	Introduction to Europe – All Grown Up
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2809	A Lesson in History – Economics of East Berlin, Germany
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1364	Uber Demonstrations Snarl Traffic from London to Berlin
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1193	EU willing to fund study on cost of not having CARICOM
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020	Revolutionary Changes needed in European Soccer
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	The Euro – One currency, Divergent Economies

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. Our scope is to impact the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines, not European society. But we do hope to engage the Caribbean Diaspora living there. Perhaps even entice them to consider a Caribbean repatriation. 🙂

There are Good lessons and Bad lessons that we can learned from Europe. The Old World can now teach the New World important new lessons.

So let’s pay more than the usual attention to the lessons from “over there”. Everyone is urged to lean-in to this Go Lean/CU roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix VIDEO – Cayman looks to boost tourism from Europe – https://youtu.be/s6rQ5lsRp-Y

Uploaded on Jan 21, 2008 – Charles Clifford, Minister of Tourism for the Cayman Islands. The islands in the Caribbean are looking to boost tourism from the European region. The Mandarin Oriental is also planning to open a property in the islands. The interview was conducted by Breaking Travel News at Caribbean Marketplace.

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10 Things We Want from the UK and 10 Things We Do Not Want

Posted on October 17, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

There is a “give and take” relationship between the Caribbean and the United Kingdom (a reference to Britain or England).

18 of the current Caribbean 30 member-states have a British heritage. They (the UK) have given a lot to the Caribbean over the centuries: systems of commerce, systems of governance, education, language, art and culture. The UK was more than just a country, it was an Empire, with colonialism exploited to the maximum; Mother England.

In addition to giving, they have taken a lot as well; consider the centuries of British mercantilism. Plus, during the World Wars, the UK drafted this population to staff their Armed Forces; see the drama depicted in the classic cultural song in the Appendix B VIDEO below. After the Second World War, with their economy in tatters, the UK, took from the Caribbean again, this time the human capital of so many Caribbean territories; see the Caribbean experience related musically in the Appendix A VIDEO below.

This historicity was detailed in this previous blog-commentary …

“There was plenty of work in post-war Britain and industries such as British Rail, the National Health Service and public transport recruited almost exclusively from Jamaica and Barbados”. Retrieved July 10, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_people#The_.22Windrush_generation.22

This point is in consideration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it posits (Page 3) that “the Caribbean is the greatest address in the world”, but yet the region could not compete with the economic opportunities extended by England and the rest of Europe after World War II. The hope was always to glean some of the economic returns by venturing to England – for a short while – and then come back home. There was the definite plan to discourage any subsequent emigration by future generations of Caribbean citizens.

To our chagrin, that is not what happened. The situation went from bad to worse in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The Caribbean British territories created a pipeline to England for a cheap, low-skilled, labor force. As more and more residents left, the society declined more and more in their wake. Today, a large number of Caribbean people live abroad; in places like the UK, Europe, Canada and the US. This commentary is Part 3 of 4 in a series examining the destinations of the Caribbean Diaspora. The full series is as follows:

10 Things We Want from the US and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Canada and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from the UK and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Europe and 10 Things We Do Not Want

So for the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), we must ask the questions of our Diaspora there:

Why do they live in the UK and what can we learn from that experience?
What can we gather for the Pros and Cons of British life?

Overall, there continues to be “push and pull” reasons why Caribbean citizens have emigrated in the past – and continue to do so now. The extent of that societal abandonment is so acute that it is now at an atrocious 70% rate among the region’s college-educated classes. The Go Lean book makes the frank and earnest admission that the Caribbean has blatant societal defects … in the economic, security and governing engines of the communities.

The Go Lean movement (book and blog-commentaries) have looked inward and identified the defects of Caribbean life. Now we look at these refuge countries so as to glean the Good and Bad lessons of those destinations. This is also a competitive analysis, as the Caribbean region is competing with these foreign locales for the hearts and minds of the Caribbean youth. Like other submissions in this series, here is the laundry list of the Good and the Bad from the UK and the Go Lean roadmap describes the applications or mitigations of these lessons in the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU):

CU Blog – UK Imports

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from the UK**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from the UK**
1	Leadership in International Commerce Up until 1876, the United Kingdom was the richest nation on earth. (After the California Gold Rush, the US took that mantle). The key to Britain riches was mercantilism in which they exploited the resources from their colonies, imported raw materials to England, engaged factories processes for finished goods, and exported goods back to the colonies (and the rest of the world) for huge profits. Despite decline over the past century, the UK is still the 5th strongest economy in the world (by GDP) and a permanent member of the United Nation Security Council. The Go Lean roadmap recognizes the strategic advantages for expanded trade; the book quotes the Economic Principle that “Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth”. The CU is branded a “Trade” Federation.	Brexit Mentality The UK is still one of the major economic and political powers. But the public approved a referendum on June 23, 2016 to exit the European Union within 2 years. The Brexit proponents want more autonomy and less subjection to EU authorities. The freedom of movement mandate in the EU made the “Brexiters” uncomfortable with recent Middle Eastern refugees. The UK can lose the “world leader” statue they current enjoy. The Go Lean roadmap advocates for interdependence more so that independence. The CU is modeled after the EU, so we want all that the UK is now trying to “throw away”. Our strategy for free movement of labor is more conditional than our EU counterparts. For jobs, priority go first to locals, then other CU members, then foreigners.
2	National Healthcare The UK’s National Health System is a great example of successful healthcare for all of its citizens. They ensure that everyone has access and quality delivery. They have coverage for indigent care, so there are no price shocks. The Go Lean roadmap calls for schemes to mandate healthcare insurance for every adult. With the leverage across the 30 member-states and 42 million people, the wholesale costs of products/services would be reduced.	Healthcare Egalitarianism The British Health delivery is a Single Payer and not an insurance program. So everyone gets the same level of treatment. The realities of personal healthcare is that there is no universality, “one size does not fit all”. Many times patients may have had to wait for specialized procedures.The Go Lean roadmap advocates for a mandated insurance solution. The key is that every adult will be required to select some insurance plan, of their choosing.
3	Tourists Tourism is still the primary economic driver for the Caribbean region. While there is a lot of competition for British tourists, the Caribbean continues to make the case that its region is the best tourism destination in the world. The region wants to continue to appeal to Britons of all demographic persuasions to come visit the islands for stay-overs (land-based hotels) and/or cruise ships. We want to forge vacation options and traffic for the upper, middle and lower classes of British society. The CU forges plans, advocacies and re-boots to further enhance the Caribbean tourism product array.	British Diaspora During the early days of nation-building, many British workers came to the English-speaking Caribbean to work jobs that many locals could have done. As many Caribbean states obtained independence, many Britons still remain. This practice led to the false ethos that White Britons were “better” capable than local personnel. The Go Lean roadmap dictates a labor standard where local workers get priority for jobs, then regional citizens, then and only then foreign workers (like Britons).The Single Market would have freedom of movement but with this labor-qualifying caveat.
4	Capital There are many FinancialCenters around the world (London, New York, Zurich, Hong Kong, etc.); London has huge liquidity, second only to New York’s Wall Street. So they have the capital the Caribbean wants and needs for Direct Foreign Investments. The Go Lean roadmap calls for the emergence of the Caribbean Dollar (C$) managed by a regional technocratic Caribbean Central Bank. This structure allows for more liquidity in the existing stock exchanges in the regions.	Re-valued Currency The British Pound is stronger than the US dollar and the Euro, so British products are more costly. When a UK- Caribbean financial transaction is executed in US dollars, a British trading partner have to endure higher prices. The C$ is not designed to be pegged to the US dollar, but rather a basket of currencies including the British Pound, Euro, and Japanese Yen. So Britons doing business in the Caribbean will not be vulnerable to US$ fluctuations. The C$ is modeled on the Euro dollar in that regards.
5	British Navy Great Britain has been a military powerhouse, with a rich history of naval dominance. The British Navy enforced the abolition of the Slave Trade in support of international treaties and accords. We are forever grateful. The CU roadmap provide for a complete Homeland Security apparatus to defend the Caribbean region and the Caribbean Sea. In addition, there is a comprehensive Intelligence Gathering and Analysis functionality.	Deportees The UK repatriates Caribbean citizens guilty of criminality on British soil. So these one become the concern for Caribbean authorities once deported. The Go Lean roadmap calls for proactive mitigations for “bad actors” that might bring a lawless ethos to the homeland. We seek a treaty with the UK for full intelligence sharing for those affiliated with organized crime (gangs) and low-level felons.

UK Imports (cont’d)

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from the US**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from the US**
6	Foreign Aid The UK designed the defunct West Indies Federation, with independence and societal elevation in mind. The regional construct was intended as mature democratic entity. Despite the rejection of this scheme, the British still do help out in the “time of our need” after natural disasters (earthquakes and hurricanes). But they prefer to help as a regional bloc rather than country by country. The CU is designed to be a new regional construct. The Go Lean roadmap corrects many of the defects from the original UK designed. We can finally get regionalism right! Then we can better manage foreign aid (financial and technical assistance) from the UK and other donors.	Condition for Philanthropic Support Many times foreign aid comes from NGO’s who skim too much for their administrative overhead – think Red Cross. The CU wants the aid, funding and philanthropy from the UK, but not the “bad actors” raising money on our behalf with little follow-up to the Caribbean / West Indies region. The Go Lean roadmap asserts that the region must “grow up” and handle its own development, philanthropic fund- raising, collection and distribution, with full accountability. The CU thusly features the regulatory oversight for governmental and NGO accountability. This is the maturity envisioned at the start of the West Indies regional construct and all subsequent integration movements.
7	Reconciliation after Colonialism The UK has a history of repression of the native colonized peoples in their homeland and those in the Diaspora in the UK; but this country has reconciled that bad history with positive empowerments; and human rights mandates. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for formal reconciliation commissions to settle a lot of bad treatment in the past.*	Virtual Segregation The UK has a bad history of racial divide in many cities (Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, etc). While not a legal segregation, there was a de facto segregation with many ethnic migrants living in urban pockets. The CU proposes repatriation back to the Caribbean homeland. There is nothing like being home.
8	Co-existence of the Diverse The UK has become a diverse society, with the immigration of so many people from so many corners of world, most representing the former the British Empire. These diverse groups co-exist well in the urban areas. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for Minority Equalization for different language groups; this includes multilingual media and government communications.*	Right-Wing Extremism The UK has been negatively impacted by the global Agents of Change: Globalization, Technology, etc.. Many Britons – on the “Right” – wrongly feel that declines in the economics of their society are due to the emergence of immigrants. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap calls for managing the country of Canada as a competitor for our hearts of our youth.*
9	Media Arts – Film, TV, Stage, Music The British Film, Television and Music industries thrive. They produce and distribute many movies (i.e. James Bond), television shows (i.e. Downton Abbey) and music artists (i.e. Beatles, Adele) to international markets. (Shakespeare is still “King”). Their quality contributes to a media trade surplus with the rest of the world. The CU roadmap posits that art and music can drive big economic returns as long as the complete eco-system is there to identify, foster & compensate stakeholders.	Cultural Neutralizations – Domination of airwaves If not abated, the English-speaking Caribbean media can be dominated by British programming. There is the need to promote local and regional media for both the cultural and economic expressions. The CU makes it a priority to foster a local-regional industry in the arts. Success in this area would increase trade in media and also tourism, as the performing arts make the cultural exchange better. One of the missing ingredients is the payment systems.
10	Sports Professionalism The English Premier League (Soccer/Football) is a great example for monetizing the interest in sports. This British league is appreciated and celebrated globally; consider that Manchester United is one of the most valuable sports franchises internationally. In addition, national teams (Cricket, Rugby, Field Hockey, etc.) foster professional occupations for participants. The Go Lean* roadmap places high priority on the business of sports; it includes a comprehensive promotion and administration apparatus within the CU Cabinet level State Department.*	Recruitment of Caribbean Athletes Due to a lack of professional opportunities in the Caribbean region, the British sports eco-system recruits Caribbean talent. Unfortunately, these athletes then “make a life” in the UK, exacerbating our “brain drain”. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to reboot the Caribbean societal engines, lowering the “push and pull” factors that cause citizens to flee to other countries, like the UK. For athletes with the “genius qualifiers”, there must be adequate opportunities in the Caribbean. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to implement a regional sports eco-system for amateur, collegiate and professional participation.

The UK has been a frequent topic for considerations from the Go Lean movement (book and blogs). The opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) recognized that there is value in considering the Good and Bad examples of Canada, with this statement:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities … On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities …

Not just life in Britain is addressed by the Go Lean book, but also life in the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean. The CU treaty includes the British Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks & Caicos and the Virgin Islands. Though the UK is one of the biggest/richest economies (#5 by GDP), British economic prosperity has not always extended to these islands; so many chose to just emigrate to the British mainland.

In addition, the book specifically addresses Britain, British Territories and the Caribbean Diaspora in Britain with these direct references of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalizations – Westminster Parliamentary Model of 2 Chambers	Page 24
Strategy – Invite empowering immigrants – Like British Intellectuals & Snowbirds	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy – Case Study of British Invasions for Sovereign Debt Issues	Page 66
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security – Alliance for Defending British Territories	Page 75
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives – Trade Mission Office: London	Page 117
Implementation – Reason to Repatriate – From the UK	Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence – Autonomous Rule for Territories	Page 120
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade – Trade to Diaspora in the UK	Page 128
Planning – Lessons from the previous West Indies Federation – Designed for UK Independence	Page 135
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy – Encourage More Foreign Investment from the UK	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Entitlements – UK Model of Bad Austerity Policies	Page 158
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives – Models from British Origins	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – England‘s Large Pockets	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact British Territories	Page 245
Appendix – Transportation Infrastructure Model: English Channel Tunnel	Page 281
Appendix – The Guianas Historic Timeline	Page 307

In addition, previous Go Lean blog/commentaries addressed many issues in regards to the UK, the British Overseas Territories and the interactions of Caribbean people that live there in the UK; see sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8351	‘Brexit’ Lesson in Economic Fallacies: No Such Independence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	American Abolitionist Frederick Douglass Success in the UK
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5123	The Legacy of Royal Charters from the UK: Good & Bad
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4840	Jamaican Poll: ‘Bring back the British!’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1933	Britain’s Neglected Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1683	British Public Sector Workers / Diaspora Strike Over Pay
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=732	UK’s Turks and Caicos Islands Drama with Autonomous Rule
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451	CariCom Address Issue of Reparations from the UK
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=353	Nine Economic Policy Disasters: #1 British Mercantilism

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. Our scope is to impact the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines, not British society. But we do hope to engage the Caribbean Diaspora living there. Perhaps even entice them to consider a Caribbean repatriation. 🙂

There are Good lessons and Bad lessons that we can learned from the UK. So let’s pay more than the usual attention to the lessons from “over there”. Everyone is urged to lean-in to this Go Lean/CU roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix A VIDEO – Prince Malachi – Great Welcome [Official Video 2015] – https://youtu.be/6lr6VnE0AQM

Published on Sep 24, 2015 – http://www.REGGAEVILLE.com
Commenters: 1. “No Blacks, No Irish & No Dogs in England”
2. “Really big tune with meaningful lyrics. ‘The troubles we face are still not yet done but we’ll have to keep on pushing through’.

———–

Appendix B VIDEO – The Last Farewell ~ Roger Whittaker – https://youtu.be/sGWs1HK8iDU

Uploaded on Feb 13, 10 – Song Lyrics; a cultural phenomenon depicting the “love” of a British Expatriate in the Caribbean.

There’s a ship lies rigged and ready in the harbor
Tomorrow for old England she sails
Far away from your land of endless sunshine
To my land full of rainy skies and gales
And I shall be aboard that ship tomorrow
Though my heart is full of tears at this farewell

For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell

I’ve heard there’s a wicked war a-blazing
And the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising
Their guns on fire as we sail into hell
I have no fear of death, it brings no sorrow
But how bitter will be this last farewell

For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell

Though death and darkness gather all about me
My ship be torn apart upon the seas
I shall smell again the fragrance of these islands
And the heaving waves that brought me once to thee
And should I return home safe again to England
I shall watch the English mist roll through the dell

For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell

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10 Things We Want from Canada and 10 Things We Do Not Want

Posted on October 14, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

“The Caribbean is the greatest address in the world”…

… so argues the book Go Lean…Caribbean in it’s opening (Page 3). Yet, a large number of Caribbean people live abroad. They live in places like the US, Canada, the UK and Europe. This commentary is Part 2 of 4 in a series examining the destinations of the Caribbean Diaspora. The full series is as follows:

10 Things We Want from the US and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Canada and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from the UK and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Europe and 10 Things We Do Not Want

So for Canada, we must ask the questions of our Diaspora there:

Why do they live in Canada and what can we learn from that experience?
What can we gather for the Pros and Cons of Canadian life?

There are “push and pull” reasons why Caribbean citizens have emigrated in the past – and continue to do so now – to places like Canada.

“In the 2006 census, 578,695 Canadians reported that they originated from the Caribbean, and the overwhelming majority of these people have immigrated to Canada since the 1970s. … the largest populations of Canadians of Caribbean origin were from Jamaica (231,110), followed by those from Haiti (102,430), Guyana (61,085) and Trinidad and Tobago (58,415).” – Historica Canada

To our chagrin, the extent of that societal abandonment is so acute that it is now at an atrocious 70% rate among the region’s college-educated classes. Yes, this is bad! The frank admission, in the Go Lean book, is that the Caribbean has societal defects … in the economic, security and governing engines of society.

In the course of these Go Lean blog-commentaries, we have looked inward and identified the defects of our society. Now we need to look at these refuge countries and glean the Good and Bad of those destinations. This can be considered a “competitive analysis” as the Caribbean region is competing with these foreign locales for the hopes and dreams of our young people. (See the full immersion of Caribbean culture in Toronto in the Appendix-VIDEO below).

Here is a laundry list of the Good and the Bad of Canada; and how the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society, the Go Lean book, describes how the lessons should be applied in the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU):

Canadian Imports

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from Canada**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from Canada**
1	Free Market Economy Canada has always embraced Free Market capitalism; today, their brand is more Liberal Socialism than Conservative Republicanism. Many social programs are offered to Canadian residents as a result, so the government plays a BIG role in the lives of most citizens. The Go Lean roadmap promotes Free Market principles for the region’s industrial development. The structure of Self-Governing Entities allows for further Free Market expressions without local government constraints.	Massive Tax Burdens Many Canadians complain of high taxes. The governments defend the policy as necessary to support the many social programs (healthcare, subsidized college education, advanced infrastructure, etc). The Go Lean roadmap advocates deploying balanced tax schemes that mostly “skim off the top”. The CU will deploy systems to help member-state governments do better at collecting their tax revenues. Overall the Caribbean tax burden will increase, but only marginally.
2	Universal Healthcare Canada is a great example of successful healthcare for all of its citizens. They ensure that everyone has access and quality delivery. This minimizes the expensive repercussions of indigent care. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for schemes to mandate healthcare insurance for every adult. With the leverage across the 30 member-states and 42 million people, the wholesale cost could be reduced.*	Healthcare Egalitarianism The Canadian Health delivery is a Single Payer and not an insurance program. So everyone gets the same level of treatment. The realities of healthcare is that different people have different needs, so a “one size fits all” approach is not preferred. The Go Lean* roadmap advocates for a mandated insurance solution. The key is that every adult will be required to select some insurance plan, of their choosing.*
3	Weather – Cool Summers Climate Change is a reality. So the warm seasons in Canada now last longer, 8 months instead of 6 months. Summertime in Canadian cities is pleasant, without air-conditioning. The Go Lean* roadmap promotes better infrastructure for Caribbean cities, developing refrigeration utilities for urban areas. This will leverage energy costs for cooling.*	Weather – Cold Winters Canadian winters are not preferred, especially the months of January and February. The Caribbean Diaspora dread life there for those months. The Go Lean* roadmap details the invitation to Canadian senior citizens to be Snowbirds in the Caribbean for the whole season. The economic returns of this strategy are too appealing to ignore.*
4	Tourists There is a lot of competition for Canadian tourists; the Caribbean continues to make the case that its region is the best tourist destination in the world. The region wants to continue to appeal to Canadians of all demographic persuasions to come visit the islands for stay-overs (land-based hotels) and/or cruise ships. We want to forge vacation options and traffic for the upper, middle and lower classes of Canadian society.The CU forges plans, advocacies and re-boots to further enhance the Caribbean tourism product array.	Expatriate Workers During the early days of nation-building, many Canadians workers came to the English-speaking Caribbean to work jobs (teachers, nurses, bankers, etc.) that many locals could have done. This practice led to the ethos that “White” Canadians were “better” than local personnel. The Go Lean roadmap dictates a labor standard where local workers get priority for jobs, then regional citizens, then and only then foreign workers (like Canadians).The Single Market would have freedom of movement but with this labor-qualifying caveat.
5	Capital There is a long history of Canadian banks in the Caribbean region. (Think Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, and the First Caribbean-CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce)). Despite recent losses for Canadian banks in the Caribbean region, there is still the need for these banks’ active participation in the region. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for strenuous oversight for the Caribbean Dollar (C$) and regional banks participating in transactions using this currency.*	Devalued Currency The Canadian dollar was 1-to-1 with the US dollar in the 1970’s. The currency has since been devalued, but only a little; between $.95 and $1.08. When a Caribbean financial transaction is executed in US dollars, a Canadian customer has to endure higher prices. The C$ is not designed to be pegged to the US dollar, rather a basket of foreign currencies including the Euro, British Pounds and Japanese Yen. So Canadians doing business in the Caribbean will not be as vulnerable to US$ fluctuations.

Canadian Imports (cont’d)

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from Canada**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from Canada**
6	Supportive Defense Canada is not a militarized state like their American neighbor, but they do feature a robust internationally respected Army, Navy, and Air Force in support of their homeland.The CU roadmap provide for a complete Homeland Security apparatus to defend the Caribbean region. In addition, there is a comprehensive Intelligence Gathering and Analysis functionality.	Deportees Canada repatriates Caribbean citizens guilty of criminality on Canadian soil. So these one become the concern for Caribbean authorities once deported.The Go Lean roadmap calls for proactive mitigations for “bad actors” that might bring a lawless ethos to the homeland. We seek a treaty with Canada for full intelligence sharing for those affiliated with organized crime (gangs) and low-level felons.
7	Foreign Aid Canada was one of the only foreign supporters for the defunct West Indies Federation; they have always shown our region “love”. Plus they always step up to aid the Caribbean in their “time of need” after natural disasters (earthquakes and hurricanes). But they prefer to help as a regional bloc rather than country by country.The CU/Go Lean roadmap is designed to process all foreign aid from Canada; from both the Canadian government and NGO’s.	Condition for Philanthropic Support Many Giving Organizations attach strings to their gifts. The burdens of compliance is so difficult that many times, public-private entities – think Red Cross – attach themselves to the gifts to ensure accountability. This adds an additional layer in administrative costs, and less funding goes to the beneficiaries.The CU envisions a federal agency for oversight of the NGO’s in the region. We must do the heavy-lifting ourselves, rather than submitting perils of “bad actors”.
8	‘First Nation’ Reconciliation Like other European settlers in the New World, Canada had a history of repression of the indigenous peoples, but this country has reconciled that bad history with many positive empowerments. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for formal reconciliation commissions to settle a lot of bad treatment in the past.*	Virtual Segregation Canada has the same history of racial divide as many other American Northern cities. While not a legal segregation, there is a de facto segregation with many ethnic migrants living in pockets. The CU proposes repatriation back to the Caribbean homeland. There is nothing like being home.
9	Bilingual Co-existence Canada is a bilingual society, with the majority French culture in Quebec Province. The English and French co-exist well and insist on bilingual media expressions. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for multilingual media and government communications. There is also the need for Minority Equalization for different language groups.*	Quebec Pull for French Caribbean Migrants Many French-speaking Caribbean people target Quebec as the destination for their emigration. In the 2006 Census, there were 102,430 people of Haitian descent living in Canada. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap calls for managing the country of Canada as a competitor for the hearts of our youth.*
10	Professional Sports Role Model Despite the regional domination of continental sports (baseball, football, basketball) by Americans, Canadians still dominate in their own rite – they are usually among the best hockey players in the world. They nurture the skills from youth participation up to the professional levels. The Go Lean roadmap calls for empowering the sports eco-system in the region, allowing for more opportunities for amateur, collegiate and professional participation. Other benefits of the regional focus will include better oversight of sports academies, agents and leagues.	Recruitment of Caribbean Athletes During the 2016 Rio Olympics, there were many Track and Field athletes representing Canada that were of Caribbean heritage. Canada extends a “welcome mat” to these ones, therefore encouraging more to naturalize and discouraging loyalty to the Caribbean homeland. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to reboot the Caribbean societal engines. This will lower the “push and pull” factors that cause citizens to flee to other countries and switch their allegiances. This will allow athletes to fully engage their professions without leaving home.

Canada has been a frequent topic for considerations from the Go Lean movement (book and blogs). The opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) recognized that there is value in considering the Good and Bad examples of Canada, with this statement:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities … On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities like … Canada….

The book specifically addresses Canada with these direct references of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification – Cold Weather Residents Must Wait Until Spring	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalizations – Model of Canada’s Territories	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Strategy – Invite empowering immigrants – Like Canadians Snowbirds	Page 46
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Secretary of State – Trade Mission Offices	Page 80
Implementation – Reason to Repatriate – From Canada	Page 118
Planning – Lessons Learned from the previous West Indies Federation –Canada’s Support	Page 135
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Toronto‘s Large Pocket	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations – Many Canadians NGO’s	Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care – Snowbirds Invitations	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Empower Women – Canada‘s great example	Page 226

In addition, previous Go Lean blog/commentaries addressed many issues in regards to Canada and the interactions of Caribbean people and Canada; see sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9179	First Day of Autumn – Time for Canadians to Head South
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6937	Canada’s Great Example of Women in Politics
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3694	Economic Help: Jamaica-Canada Employment Program
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3582	For Canadian Banks: Caribbean is a ‘Bad Bet’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	A Canadian’s View: ‘All is not well in the sunny Caribbean’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=732	Turks and Caicos Drama with Canadian Healthcare Contract
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=214	Canada: The Best Address/Destination … per this Bahamian

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. Our scope is to impact the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines, not Canada’s. But we do hope to engage the Caribbean Diaspora living there.

There are Good lessons and Bad lessons that we can learned from Canada. So let’s pay more than the usual attention to these insights. Everyone is urged to lean-in to this Go Lean/CU roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, to make our region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———

Appendix VIDEO – Caribbean West Indian Street Food｜Toronto – https://youtu.be/8ECKojESpOs

Published on Jun 18, 2016 – If you never had West Indian/Trini/Caribbean food, you are seriously missing out. They might not be the healthiest foods out there but it is definitely hot and delicious. Their foods are pretty much like their people, warm and welcoming. I’ve had doubles once before and it made me realize what I have been missing out my entire life. The aloo pie with tamarind sauce gave me the exact same shiver. No fancy complexity, just simple west Indian food.

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Fix ‘Climate Change’ – Yes, We Can

Posted on October 13, 2016 in Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

“Here I am, send me*“.

This is the declaration of Advocates wanting to abate the global problem of Climate Change. They have examined the science and are confident that they can make a difference. They are thereby further declaring that:

“We can fix Climate Change. Yes, we can…”

This is conceivable, believable and achievable.

Why is this so important? Climate Change is causing more and more severe hurricanes in the Caribbean region. We have just had to “batten down the hatches” and endure the passage of Hurricane Matthew.

Endure?

Not all survived! The death toll in Haiti in the wake of this tumultuous storm has counted 473 (with 75 people missing) .. so far.

The advocacy to arrest greenhouse gases (GHG) is therefore a matter of life-and-death; it has a successful track record to consider and provide encouragement and hope:

Remember Acid Rain?

That was a big deal in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It was a big environmental problem; the stakeholders came together – many kicking and screaming – to put in the remediation and mitigation and now the problem is greatly abated. See the encyclopedia details of the problem in the Appendix A below, where it is reported that Acid Rain levels have dropped 65% since 1976.

Climate Change is another area of atmospheric pollution that can also be abated with a lot of the same strategies, tactics and implementations as was employed to abate Acid Rain. But instead of the smoke stacks of factories and power plants, the problematic culprit this time is fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels and carbon emission = Climate Change!

Unlike Acid Rain, the “bad actors” for Climate Change are not just industrial installations; this time it is “almost everybody”. Cars are one of the biggest contributors. There is no denying this cause-effect any more. The problem is now globally acknowledged! There are new international agreements – Paris Conference of the Parties (COP) or COP21 – to curb fossil fuels / carbon dioxide emissions. 195 countries have signed on to these accords, including big polluters China (#1) and the US (#2).

The overall goal of these international accords is to achieve significant environmental benefits through reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, the primary causes of Climate Change. The remediation and mitigations employ regulatory and market based approaches for controlling GHG elements. It should be noted that the COP21 accord is a non-binding agreement, but the biggest contribution is that the community will is now entrenched.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean uses an alternate technical term for “community will”; it identifies “community ethos”, as “the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a society” (Page 20). So, in everyday practical terms, it will now be politically incorrect to pursue policies in denial of Climate Change.

The Go Lean book presents a 370-page roadmap for re-booting, re-organizing and restructuring the economic, security and governmental institutions of the 30 member-states in the Caribbean region, especially in light of the realities of Climate Change. Though this is a global battle, the Caribbean is on the front lines. As related in a previous blog-commentary, no Caribbean member-state appears high of the list of greenhouse gases emitters and yet we must still participate in the mitigations. We must “Go Green” to arrest our own carbon footprint, so that we may be less hypocritical – have moral authority – in calling for reform from the big polluting nations.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The roadmap depicts how this CU federal government will take the lead in ensuring the Climate Change mitigation efforts are incentivized, executed and accounted for. There are economic (BIG dollar issues), security and governing implications to a lot of these measures. The CU/Go Lean roadmap allows for the leverage of a regional Single Market that would spread the burden across the 42 million people of the 30 member-states. Other Climate Change benefits were embedded in the motivation of the book, the opening Declaration of Interdependence stated these points (Pages 12-14):

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.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany, Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations, Egypt and the previous West Indies Federation. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments / communities like New York City, Germany, Japan, Canada, the old American West and tenants of the US Constitution.

The Go Lean book posits that the “whole is worth more than the sum of its parts”, that from this roadmap Caribbean economies will grow individually and even more collectively as a Single Market. The 3 CU prime directives of the roadmap include:

Optimization of the economic engines of the Caribbean to elevate the regional economy to grow to $800 Billion and 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 Go Lean roadmap calls for the CU to serve as the regional administration to optimize the societal engines for the Caribbean, especially in light of our Climate Change battleground frontline status. This is the first pronouncement (Page 11) of the same opening Declaration of Interdependence:

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

The following details from the Go Lean…Caribbean book highlights the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies necessary to elevate the regions stance in this global battle consequences on Climate Change:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices / Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 24
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederating 30 Member-States into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Vision – Foster Local Economic Engines for Basic Needs	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Prepare for Natural Disasters	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Separation of Powers – Emergency Management	Page 76
Separation of Powers – Interstate Commerce Administration	Page 79
Separation of Powers – Meteorological & Geological Service	Page 79
Separation of Powers – Fisheries Department – Regulator	Page 88
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government	Page 93
Implementation – Assemble Regional Organs into a Single Market Economy	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Unified Command & Control	Page 103
Implementation – Industrial Policy for CU Self Governing Entities	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters	Page 184
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management	Page 196
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry	Page 206

The quest to Go Green has frequently been detailed in previous blog-commentaries since the publication of the Go Lean book:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7449	Due to Climate Change, ‘Crap Happens’ – So What Now?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7103	COP21 – ‘Climate Change’ Acknowledged
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7056	Electric Cars: ‘Necessity – Climate Change – is the Mother of Invention’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6893	A Meteorologist’s View On Climate Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016	‘Hotter than July’ – Reality in the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4673	‘Climate Change‘ Merchants of Doubt … to Preserve Profits!!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2465	Book Review: ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2276	Climate Change May Affect Food Supply Within a Decade
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2119	Cooling Effect – Oceans and the Climate
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1883	Climate Change May Bring More Kidney Stones
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1817	Caribbean grapples with intense new cycles of flooding & drought
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1516	Floods in Minnesota, Drought in California – Why Not Share?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=926	Conservative heavyweights have solar industry in their sights
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=915	Go ‘Green’ … Caribbean

The quest of the CU/Go Lean roadmap is to make the Caribbean region a more self-reliant society; to act more proactively and reactively for our own emergencies and natural disaster events; and to be more efficient in our governance. Hurricane Matthew was a natural disaster; a Climate Change-induced hurricane, that was a Category 5 at one point … for 6 hours. No technocracy can dissuade such an event.

Climate Change causes the temperature of the oceans to be a little warmer, even 1 or 2 degrees can intensify storms: from Category 1 to Category 2, or from Category 2 to Category 3, or Category 3 to Category 4, or Category 4 to Category 5.

The solution for Climate Change-induced storms is a “long game”. Lowering the GHG in the atmosphere will reverse the previous bad trend: increasing GHG has raised the ocean temperatures.

To fix Climate Change, we need to support the mandates of COP21 … and other accords; (see Appendix – VIDEO). We also need to use peer pressure to convince other nations to comply with the accords. We can get them to capitulate by appealing to their “better nature”.

If Climate Change is not arrested, then even more devastating storms will come – more Category 5 storms. There is the need for the Caribbean region to establish a permanent union to provide efficient stewardship for our economic, security and governing engines; and to champion the region’s participation and fulfillment of COP21 mandates.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in to the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is the course we must pursue, how we can fix Climate Change; and how we make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———

Appendix VIDEO – Can We Fix Climate Change? – https://youtu.be/sIpr0SwJncs

Published on Oct 29, 2015 – Bill Nye [the Science Guy] speaks on the ways in which we can mitigate Climate Change – National Geographic.
➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe
➡ Get More Explorer: http://bit.ly/MoreExplorer

———–

Appendix A – Reference Title: Acid Rain

Acid Rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. Some governments have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere with positive results. Nitrogen oxides can also be produced naturally by lightning strikes, and sulfur dioxide is produced by volcanic eruptions. The chemicals in acid rain can cause paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and weathering of stone buildings and statues.

Definition

Acid Rain is a popular term referring to the deposition of a mixture from wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloudwater, and dew) and dry (acidifying particles and gases) acidic components. Distilled water, once carbon dioxide is removed, has a neutral pH of 7. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and those with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline. “Clean” or unpolluted rain has an acidic pH, but usually no lower than 5.7, because carbon dioxide and water in the air react together to form the weak carbonic acid.

Carbonic acid then can ionize in water forming low concentrations of hydronium and carbonate ions.

[Water is H₂O ; Acid Rain is represented as H₂C O₃.] Acid deposition as an environmental issue would include additional acids to H₂C O₃

Adverse effects

Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters and soils, killing insect and aquatic life-forms as well as causing damage to buildings and having impacts on human health.

Other adverse effects
Acid rain can damage buildings, historic monuments, and statues, especially those made of rocks, such as limestone and marble, that contain large amounts of calcium carbonate. Acids in the rain react with the calcium compounds in the stones to create gypsum, which then flakes off.

History

Since the Industrial Revolution, emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere have increased.^[3][4] In 1852, Robert Angus Smith was the first to show the relationship between acid rain and atmospheric pollution in Manchester, England.^[5]

Though acidic rain was discovered in 1853, it was not until the late 1960s that scientists began widely observing and studying the phenomenon.^[6] The term “acid rain” was coined in 1872 by Robert Angus Smith.^[7] Canadian Harold Harvey was among the first to research a “dead” lake. Public awareness of acid rain in the U.S increased in the 1970s after The New York Times published reports from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire of the myriad deleterious environmental effects shown to result from it.^[8][9]

Occasional pH readings in rain and fog water of well below 2.4 have been reported in industrialized areas.^[3] Industrial acid rain is a substantial problem in China and Russia^[10][11]and areas downwind from them. These areas all burn sulfur-containing coal to generate heat and electricity.^[12]

The problem of acid rain has not only increased with population and industrial growth, but has become more widespread. The use of tall smokestacks to reduce local pollution has contributed to the spread of acid rain by releasing gases into regional atmospheric circulation.^[13][14] Often deposition occurs a considerable distance downwind of the emissions, with mountainous regions tending to receive the greatest deposition (simply because of their higher rainfall). An example of this effect is the low pH of rain which falls in Scandinavia.

History of acid rain in the United States
In 1980, the U.S. Congress passed an Acid Deposition Act.^[16] This Act established an 18-year assessment and research program under the direction of the National Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP). NAPAP looked at the entire problem from a scientific perspective. It enlarged a network of monitoring sites to determine how acidic the precipitation actually was, and to determine long-term trends, and established a network for dry deposition. It looked at the effects of acid rain and funded research on the effects of acid precipitation on freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, historical buildings, monuments, and building materials. It also funded extensive studies on atmospheric processes and potential control programs.

From the start, policy advocates from all sides attempted to influence NAPAP activities to support their particular policy advocacy efforts, or to disparage those of their opponents.^[16] For the U.S. Government’s scientific enterprise, a significant impact of NAPAP were lessons learned in the assessment process and in environmental research management to a relatively large group of scientists, program managers and the public.^[17]

In 1991, DENR provided its first assessment of acid rain in the United States. It reported that 5% of New EnglandLakes were acidic, with sulfates being the most common problem. They noted that 2% of the lakes could no longer support Brook Trout, and 6% of the lakes were unsuitable for the survival of many species of minnow. Subsequent Reports to Congress have documented chemical changes in soil and freshwater ecosystems, nitrogen saturation, decreases in amounts of nutrients in soil, episodic acidification, regional haze, and damage to historical monuments.

Meanwhile, in 1989, the U.S. Congress passed a series of amendments to the Clean Air Act. Title IV of these amendments established the Acid Rain Program, a cap and trade system designed to control emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Title IV called for a total reduction of about 10 million tons of SO₂ emissions from power plants. It was implemented in two phases. Phase I began in 1995, and limited sulfur dioxide emissions from 110 of the largest power plants to a combined total of 8.7 million tons of sulfur dioxide. One power plant in New England (Merrimack) was in Phase I. Four other plants (Newington, MountTom, Brayton Point, and SalemHarbor) were added under other provisions of the program. Phase II began in 2000, and affects most of the power plants in the country.

During the 1990s, research continued. On March 10, 2005, EPA issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). This rule provides states with a solution to the problem of power plant pollution that drifts from one state to another. CAIR will permanently cap emissions of SO₂ and NO_x in the eastern United States. When fully implemented, CAIR will reduce SO₂ emissions in 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia by over 70% and NO_x emissions by over 60% from 2003 levels.^[18]

Overall, the program’s cap and trade program has been successful in achieving its goals. Since the 1990s, SO₂ emissions have dropped 40%, and according to the Pacific Research Institute, Acid Rain levels have dropped 65% since 1976.^[19][20] Conventional regulation was used in the European Union, which saw a decrease of over 70% in SO₂emissions during the same time period.^[21]

In 2007, total SO₂ emissions were 8.9 million tons, achieving the program’s long-term goal ahead of the 2010 statutory deadline.^[22]

Prevention methods
The overall goal of the Acid Rain [reduction] program is to achieve significant environmental and public health benefits through reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x), the primary causes of acid rain^[39]. To achieve this goal at the lowest cost to society, the program employs both regulatory and market based approaches for controlling air pollution.

Technical solutions

1. Many coal-firing power stations use flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) to remove sulfur-containing gases from their stack gases. For a typical coal-fired power station, FGD will remove 95% or more of the SO₂ in the flue gases. An example of FGD is the wet scrubber which is commonly used. A wet scrubber is basically a reaction tower equipped with a fan that extracts hot smoke stack gases from a power plant into the tower. Lime or limestone in slurry form is also injected into the tower to mix with the stack gases and combine with the sulfur dioxide present. The calcium carbonate of the limestone produces pH-neutral calcium sulfate that is physically removed from the scrubber.

2. Fluidized bed combustion also reduces the amount of sulfur emitted by power production.

3. Vehicle emissions control reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides from motor vehicles.

International treaties

A number of international treaties on the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants have been agreed for example, the 1985 Helsinki Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. Canada and the US signed the Air Quality Agreement in 1991. Most European countries and Canada have signed the treaties.

Emissions trading
This refers to a regulatory scheme where polluting facilities can purchase on an open market an emissions allowance for each unit of a designated pollutant it emits. Operators can then install pollution control equipment, and sell portions of their emissions allowances they no longer need for their own operations, thereby recovering some of the capital cost of their investment in such equipment. The intention is to give operators economic incentives to install pollution controls.
…

Source: Wikipedia.com Online Encyclopedia; retrieved October 12, 2016: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain

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Forging Change: Herd Mentality

Posted on October 11, 2016 in Ethos, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

This is an accepted fact about communities, taken from the science of Anthropology and Sociology: in any grouping, there are only a few leaders but a large number of followers. This is the principle of the Alpha Male or Female; see Appendix. It turns out that this fact is a key strategy for forging change:

“Everyone knows that we are sheep. It takes only the strong to break out from the herd mentality” – Published YouTube comment on the below VIDEO.

The movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean wants to forge change in the Caribbean. We have consider many different strategies, tactics and tools for forging change. Here’s another: skip the Alpha Male-Female and target the herd.

So is it that easy? We simply need to exploit the herd mentality and we can get hordes of people to conform, reform and transform. That is an exciting prospect, especially considering the positive value when leaders in a community want to pursue the Greater Good.

See as this is portrayed in this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Social experiment – most people are sheep – https://youtu.be/MEhSk71gUCQ

Published on Aug 31, 2016 – Hidden camera…

This experiment is very thought-provoking. Sheep, goats and other animals follow a herd mentality. Apparently, humans too!

The motives of the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean is to forge change in the Caribbean. Plain and simple! The strategies, tactics and implementations from the book is designed to elevate the Caribbean for all stakeholders, to make the homeland a better place to live, work and play. This is conceivable, believable and achievable if we bypass the Alpha Males and target the rest of the herd. These ones can be led and influenced to adopt new community ethos. This is defined as:

“the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society”.

The Go Lean book asserts that with strenuous efforts, new community ethos can be adopted. The book cites samples, examples and Role Models:

Smoking Cessation – Page 20 – At one point in the 1960’s, 67 percent of American adults smoked cigarettes. Today, smokers are a fringed segment of society, almost as “outlaws”. The cessation efforts are identified as an approach to forge change for an individual, “starting in the head (thoughts, visions), penetrating the heart (feelings, motivations) and then finally manifesting in the hands (actions). Role Model – Alpha Male-Female: Surgeon General.
Civil Rights – Page 122 – Even though the slaves were emancipated in America in 1865, the African-American population did not enjoy the freedom, justice and equality of full citizenship. The effort to bring Civil Rights to the Southern US succeeded only with millions of people protesting in a non-violent movement. Eventually the government leaders complied and made changes to laws guaranteeing equal protection. Role Model – Alpha Male: Martin Luther King.
Farm Migrant Labor – Page 122 – The Latino American farm workers’ struggle was presented as a moral cause with nationwide support by Labor and Civil Rights leaders. By the 1970’s, the strategies and tactics of this movement had forced agricultural businesses and growers to grant respect to migrant workers, which helped to improve conditions for 50,000 field workers in California & Florida. Role Model – Alpha Male: Cesar Chavez.
Drunk Driving – Page 122 – The values and attitudes of drunk-driving needed to change in America. Families endured heartache and pain because of the tragic loss of innocents due to negligence by inebriated drivers. Change was forged in this advocacy by challenging acceptance, laws and enforcement. Eventually the general attitudes – bars, passengers and drivers – changed for the good. Role Model – Alpha Female: Candice Lightner, Mothers Against Drunk Driving or MADD.

The Go Lean book presents a plan to reboot economic engines (jobs, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities), optimize the security apparatus (anti-crime and public safety) and accountable governance (regional alliances) for all citizens … including many minority factions. The majority of the population must acquiesce and accept the new ethos in order to allow the societal empowerments to take hold.

Caribbean society have traditionally featured a parasite disposition – to their European colonial masters, or the American SuperPower, in effect an Alpha Male. As a region, we have been drawn to the “shadows”, gleaning opportunities from the leftovers from the host countries, think tourism-hospitality, off-shore banking, and the business of vices: cigar and rum production. The quest now is a turn-around, to be a protégé, rather than just a parasite.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to make the region a better place to live, work and play. This is a roadmap to forge a Single Market of the 30 member-states of 4 language groups and 42 million people. If the region is to “herd”, they should be led to this elevated destination.

The challenge and alternate strategies for forging change have been identified in a series; see these previous Go Lean blog-commentaries, published over the past 2 years:

Forging Change – The Fun Theory (September 9, 2014)
Forging Change – The Sales Process (December 22, 2014)
Forging Change – Music Moves People (December 30, 2014)
Forging Change – ‘Food’ for Thought (April 29, 2015)
Forging Change – ‘Something To Lose’ (November 18, 2015)
Forging Change – Herd Mentality (Today)

This commentary – Number 6 – is urging the herding the people of the Caribbean to a new protégé destination – that sounds unnerving. But there is nothing nefarious or malevolent about this Go Lean roadmap. As detailed in this previous blogs, the efforts to forge change in the region are not intended for any one person or organization to wrestle power or the elevation of any one leader. The roadmap features only one objective: the Greater Good. This is defined in the book (Page 37) by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer as …

… “the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”.

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs all accept that forging this change in the Caribbean will be hard, heavy-lifting. There may not be just one strategy; we may have to employ all 6. This would be worth it in the end, with these sought-after prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines, creating 2.2 million new jobs and growing the regional economy to $800 Billion GDP.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and ensure better public safety for stakeholders of the Caribbean.
Improvement of Caribbean governance – with a separation-of-powers between member-states and the CU federal agencies – to support these engines.

As depicted in the foregoing VIDEO, “most people are sheep”; they can be cajoled and persuaded to change, to improve their habits and practices. The act of cajoling and persuading implies messaging campaigns. With campaigns from the technocratic leadership of the CU, the Caribbean as a region can be reformed and transformed to becoming a new destination: a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book presented the roadmap for reach the people, to herd them effectively and efficiently. The roadmap details the new community ethos to adopt, plus the execution of strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to forge 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 – 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 – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development – Social Experiments	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds	Page 33
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
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	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
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 136
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed	Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Community Messaging	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries	Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood – Mastery of Visual Arts & Storytelling	Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Impressionable Age for New Work Ethic	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230

The quest to change the Caribbean will require convincing people through messaging campaigns. We have seen the effectiveness of this strategy with movies; we have influential actor – of Caribbean heritage (Bahamas) – Sidney Poitier as a fitting Role Model:

Movies are an amazing business model. People give money to spend a couple of hours watching someone else’s creation and then leave the theater with nothing to show for the investment; except perhaps a different perspective. That is all!

But no one wants to live in a world without this art-form, without movies. Those few hours can entertain, engage and transform; sometimes even “break new ground” and change the world. So movies and movie stars can be extremely influential in modern society. This is the power of the arts, and this art-form in particular. – Blog: How Sidney Poitier changed cinema by demanding and deserving a difference

The empowerments in the Go Lean book calls for permanent change. This is possible. The people of the Caribbean only want opportunities; they want to be able to provide for their families, and offer a future of modernity to their children. It is an “easy sell” to convince people that the best-practices in the roadmap will bring benefits. Especially with reporting of the success of the same best practices in other locations. This point was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) in the book with this statement:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany, Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations, Egypt and the previous West Indies Federation. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/communities like New York City, Germany, Japan, Canada, the old American West and tenants of the US Constitution.

In general, being called sheep is not “derisive”. It is a complement when the comparison is made to goats – (The Bible; Matthew 25: 31–46). While this is a reference to a grouping of benevolence versus malevolence, for this commentary, there is similarity in sheep and goats as they both display a herd mentality; they follow the lead and assimilate the habits, practices and ethos of the Alpha Male-Female.

The CU/Go Lean seeks to assume the role of the Alpha Male-Female. We encourage all Caribbean stakeholders – residents, institutions and governments – to lean-in now, to the Go Lean roadmap. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix – Alpha Males-Females

In studies of social animals, the highest ranking individual is sometimes designated as the alpha. Males, females, or both, can be alphas, depending on the species. Where one male and one female fulfill this role together, they are sometimes referred to as the alpha pair. Other animals in the same social group may exhibit deference or other species-specific subordinate behaviours towards the alpha or alphas.

Alpha animals usually gain preferential access to food and other desirable items or activities, though the extent of this varies widely between species. Male or female alphas may gain preferential access to sex or mates; in some species, only alphas or an alpha pair reproduce.

Alphas may achieve their status by superior physical strength and aggression, or through social efforts and building alliances within the group.^[1]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_(ethology) retrieved October 10, 2016.

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Courting Caribbean Votes – Cuban-Americans

Posted on October 10, 2016 in Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Dateline: Miami, Florida – There is a huge chasm in the Cuban-American community…

… not Black versus White … not rich versus poor … but rather old versus young.

The old wants Cuba on its knees and forced to conform, reform and transform to a model of “their” making, while the young just wants to “move on”, accept Cuba for “what it is” now and then just move forward together. This chasm is expressed in the numbers and the anecdotes.

For the Florida Presidential Primary this past March, the observation was made that supporters at a rally at a popular Cuban restaurant, Versailles, ranged in age from 49 and 93; they were both Cuban-born and U.S.-born. But none younger than 40 supporting any Republican candidate. According to the Pew Research Group, this is evidence of a ‘growing partisan gap’ between younger and older Cubans.

So in effect, the partisan gap for Cuban-Americans is a choice between the past versus the future; embargo versus re-approachment. The leader of this Cuba re-approachment movement?

The President of the United States: Barack Obama.

Passions run “hot” on both sides. Obama, a Democrat, has 4 more months left on his administration. His successor is being selected now:

Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

This is the question being debated. The election is November 8, 2016. Of the 22 million that compose the Caribbean Diaspora, (including foreign born and 1st generation US-born), Cuban-Americans are one of the largest sub-groups with 1,173,000 persons born in Cuba. These are being courted right now for their support and their vote.

Who will they vote for? Who should they vote for?
What if the criterion for the vote is benevolence to Caribbean causes?

This commentary is 3 of 3 of a series from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean, in consideration of Courting the Caribbean Votes for the American federal elections – President, Vice-President and Congress (Senate & US House of Representatives). This and the other commentaries detail different ethnic communities within the Caribbean Diaspora and their voting trends; the series is as follows:

Courting the Caribbean Votes – Puerto Ricans
Courting the Caribbean Votes – ‘Jamericans’
Courting the Caribbean Votes – Cuban-Americans

The quest of the Go Lean book is to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines – economics, security and governance. All of the commentaries in this series relate to governance, the election of the leaders of the American federal government. The Go Lean movement (book and blog-commentaries) asserts that Caribbean stakeholders need to take their own lead for the Caribbean destiny, but it does acknowledge that we have a dependency to the economic, security and governing eco-systems of the American SuperPower. This dependency is derisively called a parasite status, with the US as the host.

Cuban-Americans love Cuba … and America. For those Cuban-born, but living in exile, their quest is to impact the island nation to be better, one way or another. This year they are looking to impact their homeland with their vote. So they seek to support American candidates for federal offices that can help to transform the island of Cuba. See a related news article and VIDEO here:

Article Title: Millennial Cuban-Americans abandoning GOP to support Clinton, poll shows
By: Serafin Gómez and Mary Beth Loretta of Fox News Latino
Rafael Sanchez is a Cuban-American who lives in the predominately Cuban neighborhood of Westchester in Miami-DadeCounty. He works at a local health center and has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in previous elections.

But this November, for the first time, the 29-year-old plans to switch his political affiliation.

“I’m voting for Hillary Clinton,” Sanchez told Fox News Latino. “As much as I like to vote Republican as often as I can, the party itself has changed dramatically – to the point where I just vote Democrat.”

Sanchez is not alone.

According to a new poll by Florida International University, for the first time in decades the majority of South Florida’s Cuban-American voters – a dominant voting bloc in the region – are not supporting Republican nominee Donald J. Trump, despite him being a part-time local.

According to FIU, Trump is now in a dead heat with Clinton among Cuban-Americans in the area.

“As Trump struggles to garner the support of Latinos across the U.S., he may have lost the one group every Republican candidate has been able to count on for more than 30 years,” FIU spokeswoman Dianne Fernandez said in a statement.

She described the trend as GOP “voter erosion.”

Another new poll, conducted by Benixen & Amandi International with the Tarrance Group, shows Clinton with a 53 to 29 percent lead over Trump among all Hispanics in Florida.

Clinton’s 24-point lead, the Miami Herald points out, is still lower than the 60 percent support Barack Obama enjoyed among Florida Latinos when he won the state in 2012.

With the overall race for the SunshineState so close – the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls shows Clinton and Trump deadlocked at 44 percent – Latinos, especially Cuban-Americans who formerly backed GOP presidential candidates, could tip the state – along with its 29 Electoral College votes – to the former secretary of state.

Leading the trend toward Clinton among Cuban-American voters are younger millennials who are breaking away from their parents’ and grandparents’ voting habits.

“There is definitely a difference, generationally,” Melissa Pomares, a 25-year-old Cuban-American law student from Miami, told FNL in an interview.

Pomares voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 but is leaning toward Clinton this year. She says social issues are a big part of why.

“I was very pro-gay marriage,” she said. “I think that there is definitely a disconnect between me and [previous generations in her family] as far as social issues go. They’re definitely more traditionally conservative, and I think I’m more liberal.”
Serafin Gomez covers Special Events and Politics for FOX News Channel and is also a contributor to FOX News Latino. Fin formerly worked as the Miami Bureau Producer for Fox News Channel where he covered Latin America.
Source: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2016/09/14/millennial-cuban-americans-abandoning-gop-to-support-clinton-poll-shows/ Posted September 14, 2016; retrieved October 9, 2016
————–
VIDEO – Donald Trump’s town hall with South Florida Hispanics – http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/donald-trump/article104515586.html

Posted Sep 27, 2016 – Following the night of the first 2016 presidential debate, Donald Trump visited Miami Dade College to hear testimonials from South Florida Hispanics, who shared life experiences and their admiration for Trump. He was given a linen Cuban guayabera [(a shirt)] by Rep. Carlos Trujillo (R-FL 105th District), who served as the moderator at the meeting. – CBS Miami/ Alexa Ard/ McClatchy. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/donald-trump/article104515586.html#storylink=cpy

As related in the previous blog-commentaries in this series, the experience in the US is that the politicians do not always represent the majority of the people, but rather the majority of the passionate ones in their constituency – those who turn out to vote. According to the foregoing story, it is obvious that passion for Cuba is resulting in passion for the voting booth. Therefore, there is a jockeying to win these votes for the different parties this election year. The Cuban numbers are so impactful that they can swing the vote in this swing state of Florida.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). It advocates optimizing the societal engines of economics, security and governance in the Caribbean; This is not an elevation plan for Florida or any other jurisdiction in the US. Though the roadmap features strategies, tactics and implementations to better engage the Diaspora’s time, talent and treasuries, our focus is first and foremost the homeland.

We are not encouraging the Diaspora how to vote for the best American destiny; rather we are presenting the Diaspora with the urgency to chose candidates that can, by extension, impact the Caribbean for the better.

Better? That is the goal; to make the Caribbean – Cuba included – a better place to live, work and play.

Considering all 30 Caribbean member-states, the acknowledgement is that Cuba is different. It is what it is.

Cuba has suffered from censure and sanctions from the US and many Western Powers for more than 56 years. They have had a debilitating Trade Embargo since 1962. Only now is the abatement of some of those sanctions. Under Obama, he has re-instated diplomatic relations – by Executive action – with Havana and pleaded with the US Congress to lift the Trade Embargo. Change is taking place, in the US and in Cuba. What will be the next steps?

The next President will determine.

The Caribbean Diaspora, and Cuban exiles, can have an impact now. They can lend voice and vote to the cause for Cuba: entrenchment or re-approachment.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap seeks to reboot the Caribbean societal engines, the economics, security and governance. To be successful we need all-hands-on-deck: residents and Diaspora. To start, we need to lower the trend for expanding the Diaspora, we want to dissuade further migration and hopefully to facilitate a subsequent repatriation. Countries need to grow their populations in order to grow their economies.

People who leave their beloved homelands do so for a reason; the Go Lean movement (book and blogs) identified these reasons as “push and pull” factors. We must do better in lowering these factors than we have in the past. By doing so, we become an American protégé, rather than just an American parasite. This is the quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap, to elevate the Caribbean’s economic-security-governing engines. The roadmap recognizes that the changes the region needs must start first with convening, collaborating, confederating the regional neighborhood, no matter the ethnicity, language or colonial legacy of the member-states. This means including Cuba, not censuring them; (if the US Congress refuses to end the Trade Embargo, that only affects Caribbean territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, we can still support interstate commerce with the remaining 28 member-states).

The need to confederate the region in a Single Market, including a reconciled Cuba, was pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 13) with these statements:

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 … 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.

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.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies necessary to effect change in the region for all member-states – including Cuba – to improve the oversight of the governing process. They are detailed as follows:

Anecdote – Caribbean Single Market & Economy	Page 15
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – new Security Principles	Page 22
Community Ethos – new Governing Principles	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future – Give the Youth a Voice & Vote	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations – TRC Cuba	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Integrated Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Strategic – Vision – Core Competence – Specialty Agriculture like Cigars	Page 58
Tactical – Confederating a Non-sovereign Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing to $800 Billion Regional Economy – Marshall Plan Models	Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers	Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Elections	Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – Marshall Plan for Cuba	Page 127
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed – Lessons from Unifying Germany	Page 132
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 139
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Cuba	Page 236

The points of effective, technocratic oversight and stewardship for Cuba were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7689	Obama – Bad For Caribbean Status Quo
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7412	The Road to Restoring Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6664	Cuba to Expand Internet Access
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4551	US Territories – Between a ‘rock and a hard place’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4506	Colorism in Cuba … and Beyond
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3662	Migrant flow into US from Caribbean spikes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3455	Restoration of Diplomatic Relations with Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3354	CariCom Chairman calls for an end to US embargo on Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2330	‘Raul Castro reforms not enough’, Cuba’s bishops say
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1609	Cuba mulls economy in Parliament session
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=554	Cuban cancer medication registered in 28 countries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=436	Cuba Approves New “Law on Foreign Investment”

We want to make Cuba and other places in our Caribbean homeland, better places to live, work and play. So we must engage the political process in Washington, DC as the Trade Embargo is a major obstacle for Cuba. There is the need to put the island’s communism history “to bed”. Cuba had to adapt the strategy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” when they previously aligned with communist Russia (the Soviet Union). But this is now 2016; the Soviet Union is “no more”. The Trade Embargo should also be “no more”.

(There is still the need for formal reconciliations).

The only way to impact Washington is through voting. This is why the Cuban-American vote is being courted. Which presidential candidate best extols the vision and values for a new Caribbean? This is the question being debated in places like Miami.

The Go Lean movement urges Cuban-Americans to decide based on one criterion, one Single Cause: a unified, forward-moving Caribbean, with Cuba included.

The Go Lean roadmap advocates being a protégé, not just a parasite. This is a turn-around plan for Cuba and all the Caribbean. We must now seek out solutions that encourage participation of all Caribbean member-states in nation-building. The goal is to stop any future societal abandonment. Rather than life abroad, like the Cubans living in exile, the Go Lean roadmap calls for the empowerments so that Caribbean people can prosper where planted in their homeland.

Its election time in America; and the candidates are courting voters … of Caribbean heritage. The Go Lean movement urges participation in this process, but not to change America; our only focus is to change/elevate the Caribbean; all of it. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Courting Caribbean Votes – ‘Jamericans’

Posted on October 9, 2016 in Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

What is Jamerican?

In a previous blog-commentary, the term was defined as the Jamaican – American sub-culture that now thrives in many American urban communities; think Brooklyn’s Flatbush in New York City, or Kingston Hill in the Broward County (Florida) community of Lauderhill. These communities feature a thriving Jamaican Diaspora with empowered business leaders, elected politicians and cultural expressions. That previous blog even introduced the musical artists-duo ‘Born Jamericans’; (see them here at http://youtu.be/t4iRnETnmtw). It concluded with the analogy of a “genie leaving a bottle”, that there is no returning. Now we see the ‘Jamericans’ doubling-down on this legacy, even trying to influence US federal elections for more liberal immigration policies – to bring in more Jamaicans and grow the Jamerican population even more.

This commentary from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean differs in strategies, tactics and implementation from the Jamerican movement. We want to build up Jamaica – in conjunction with the other Caribbean member-states – not some American population group.

Our motives are simple: we think the Caribbean is the greatest address on the planet!

We recognize and accept that there are many defects in the region – in the economic, security and governing engines – but assert that it is easier to remediate Caribbean defects than trying to fix America. Therefore, the Go Lean book posits that Jamaicans in particular, and Caribbean people in general, need to engage the democratic process to appoint leaders that will be more benevolent towards the Caribbean.

This commentary is 2 of 3 of a series from the Go Lean movement, in consideration of Courting the Caribbean Votes for the American federal elections – President (Donald Trump -vs- Hillary Clinton), Vice-President and Congress (Senate & US House of Representatives). This and the other commentaries detail different ethnic communities within the Caribbean Diaspora and their voting trends; the series is as follows:

Courting the Caribbean Votes – Puerto Ricans
Courting the Caribbean Votes – ‘Jamericans’
Courting the Caribbean Votes – Cuban-Americans

All of these commentaries relate to governance, the election of the leaders of the American federal government. The Go Lean movement (book and blog-commentaries) asserts that Caribbean stakeholders need to take their own lead for the Caribbean destiny, but it does acknowledge that we have a dependency to the economic, security and governing eco-systems of the American SuperPower. So the quest to elevate the Caribbean’s societal economics, governance and governing engines must consider the strategies of voting, and courting votes.

Most of the Jamaican Diaspora in the US – 61 percent – are American citizens; their tactic has always been to “naturalize” as soon as possible so that they can sponsor other family members. The number of the Jamaican Diaspora was estimated at 706,000 – an amazing statistic considering that the population in the Jamaican homeland is just 2.8 million (in 2010).

So many members of the Caribbean Diaspora living in the US are eligible to vote on November 8, 2016.

Who will they vote for? Who should they vote for?
What if the criterion for the vote is benevolence to Caribbean causes?

Hands-down, without a doubt, the Jamerican population – and other Caribbean groups (587K Haitians, 879K Dominicans & 500K Other*) – lean towards the Democratic Party – “they are with her: Hillary Clinton”. In fact, as prominent Jamerican personalities emerged in support of the opposing candidate, Donald Trump, they have received scorn and ridicule. See this drama here in these 2 VIDEO’s:

VIDEO # 1 – Etana Tells Anthony Miller – Yes, I am a Trump Supporter – https://youtu.be/I-413phYSjo

Published on Sep 24, 2016 – Reggae artist Etana is interviewed by Jamaican Media Personality Anthony Miller.

———————-

VIDEO # 2 – Dr Sexy-Ann talks about Etana – https://youtu.be/OlGKFMC7t9o

Published on Sep 24, 2016 – Reggae artist Etana says she will vote for Donald Trump, had some criticisms for Jamaican life and other things… Dr Sexy-Ann – Sex Educator and Media Personality Shelly-Ann Weeks – gives her thoughts on her comments.

These foregoing stories depict a consistent disposition for Jamaica; there are economic, security and governing defects there that are so acute that it is understandable if Jamaicans want to flee. Reference is made to Jamaica’s minimum wage of J$5000 per week; at today’s exchange rate of J$127.44 to US$1, that is less than US$40 a week; ($39.23 exactly). This menial amount is impossible to sustain life in the US, and not much better in Jamaica. Reference is also made to the lack of mitigations for crime and inadequate governing response. No wonder that many Jamaicans view a migration to the US as a measurement of success in their life – America is a refuge. These describe the “push and pull” factors contributing to Caribbean abandonment.

Fears of changes to the American “refuge” status are troubling. There have been times during this American election season when the polls showed some surging by Donald Trump, the Republican Anti-Immigration Candidate. The Jamerican community became nervous. See here in this editorial submission in a newspaper that appeals to the Jamaican Diaspora in South Florida:

Editorial Title: Fear of the unknown
Concern continues to mount in the Caribbean American community about the stance being taken on immigration by the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

Weston Immigration attorney, Caroly Pedersen believes Trump, is causing alarm within the Caribbean-American community.

“I’ve had a growing number of calls daily from immigrants in distress, scrambling to find any path to legal immigration status before a possible Trump Presidency,” she told the National Weekly.

Pedersen, who has a large Caribbean-American clientele, has urged

“those still on the fence” about voting in this presidential election to consider Trump’s words as a foreshadowing of what may occur in his administration.

“He speaks of an ideological test for admission to the U.S., admission of only those who love our country and our people and (the) extreme vetting of immigrants. These could virtually halt most legal immigration, for starters. Those of us who see the danger must vote to keep our country safe –by keeping Trump out of the Oval Office.”

Pedersen believes the Republican nominee is actually targeting innocent immigrants for political purposes by “fanning the flames of nativist ignorance and fear to turn against America’s immigrant communities.”

“His inflammatory comments go directly against American values and straight to the heart of what makes our country great –immigrants, diversity, new ideas, innovation and inspiration,” she said.

Pedersen’s sentiments have been endorsed by Florida Immigration Coalition advocate Norma Downer, who says Trump, unlike his rival Hilary Clinton, “continues to stoke fear in the Caribbean-American community”.

“Hillary Clinton has consistently assured Caribbean-American and other immigrant communities of efforts towards immigration reform if elected, she has been consistent in her support for a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US, citing,” said Downer via a posting on twitter.

He added that Clinton favors the “humane, targeted and effective” application of the nation laws against illegal immigration, but states that those who commit crimes while living in American illegally should be deported.

Throughout his presidential campaign Trump has adapted a strong anti-immigration stand especially against Mexicans and Muslims.

Clinton sees any proposals to ban Muslim immigration as offensive and counterproductive.

Clinton has been quoted as saying that “America is strongest when we all believe we have a stake in our country and our future,” adding that engaging in “inflammatory, anti-Muslim rhetoric” against immigrants made America less safe.

Since Trumps rise to relevance in the 2016 presidential elections, his anti-immigration stance has driven qualified immigrants to seek US citizenship, and increased voter registration in South Florida. “There’s a definite noticeable trend in voting Democrat by Haitian-Americans, other Caribbean-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans ever since January,” said Downer.

Gabby Fairweather, a 24 year-old Jamaican-American, is among several Caribbean-American volunteers involved in Clinton’s South Florida campaign. “My priority is to ensure young people turn out to vote. As an immigrant American I have genuine fears should Clinton not win in November.”
Source: http://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/featured/fear-of-the-unknown/ Posted September 23, 2016; retrieved October 7, 2016

The experience in the US is that the politicians do not always represent the majority of the people, but rather the majority of the passionate – those who turn out to vote. According to the foregoing stories, there is a lot of passion in the Jamerican community for the American election this year. The Go Lean movement wants “to bottle that passion” and direct it towards the Caribbean.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). It advocates optimizing the societal engines of economics, security and governance in the Caribbean, not in the US. But the Jamaican Diaspora is here-now; (and we fear that they will not seek to return). So we must succeed in this Caribbean reboot to dissuade the next generation of any further migration. And then maybe, at retirement, we can hopefully incentivize the Jamericans to consider repatriation for their “golden years”.

To succeed at this quest, we must do better than our past. We must emerge as an American protégé, rather than just an American parasite – the status our region holds now. The Go Lean roadmap starts with the recognition that first we need to convene, collaborate and confederate the regional neighborhood into a Single Market despite differences in colonial heritage. This need was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 13) in the book with these statements:

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 … 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.

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. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to optimize the eco-systems for Jamaica and the entire Caribbean. The problems for Jamaica is bigger than just Jamaica alone; it’s a regional problem, requiring a regional solution. The book stresses new community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of the regional society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future – Give the Youth a Voice & Vote	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Repatriate the Diaspora	Page 46
Strategy – CU Stakeholders to Protect – Diaspora	Page 47
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion GDP	Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal -vs- Member-state governments	Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Impact Elections	Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean	Page 118
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Confederate a Single Market of 4 language groups	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance – For All Citizens	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract – Security against “Bad Actors”	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Remediate and Mitigate Crime – Better 911 Response	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism – Consider Bullying as Junior Terrorism	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Collaborating with Foundations	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Reboot Jamaica	Page 239

The points of effective, technocratic oversight and stewardship for Jamaica were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8982	GraceKennedy: Profile of a Jamaican Transnational Corporation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	Remembering Jamaican Marcus Garvey: Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7866	Switching Allegiances: Jamaican sprinters representing other countries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784	Jamaican “Push” Factor: Archaic Buggery Values
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5055	A Lesson in History – Empowering Jamaican Families
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4840	Jamaican Poll: ‘Bring back the British!’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3694	Jamaica-Canada employment program remits millions
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2830	Jamaica’s Public Pension Under-funded
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=392	Jamaica to receive World Bank funds to help in crime fight
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=313	What’s Holding Back Jamaica’s Reforms

Jamaica has a large Diaspora…

… most of this Diaspora that has abandoned the island now lives in the US, Canada or the UK. Their new homes, feature optimization of the societal engines. We want that in Jamaica …

… we want to make Jamaica and other places in our Caribbean homeland, better places to live, work and play. We must use cutting-edge delivery of best practices to execute the strategies, tactics and implementations to impact the Go Lean prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

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 public safety and assure the economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

So we must engage the political process in Washington, DC (and Ottawa and London) as the disposition of the Diaspora – the Jamericans et al, is important for exporting progress back to the homeland. As Jamaicans in their homeland, these ones had no “voice nor vote” in Washington. Now they do. They can impact Washington through voting. This is why the Jamerican vote is being courted. Which presidential candidate best extols the vision and values to help forge a new Caribbean?

Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

This is the question being debated.

The Go Lean movement advocates this turn-around for the Caribbean, being a protégé, not just a parasite. We want to stop the abandonment – a quest of the Go Lean roadmap – we want our citizens to prosper where planted in their homelands.

This is the purpose of the Go Lean roadmap, to provide a turn-by-turn direction to accomplish the needed turn-round. Despite urging the Jamericans to vote, we are not seeking to change America; we seek to change the Caribbean. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————–

Reference Footnote * – Other Caribbean includes Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, the former country of Guadeloupe (including St. Barthélemy and Saint-Martin), Martinique, Montserrat, the former country of the Netherlands Antilles (including Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten), St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. – http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-15.pdf posted September 2011; retrieved June 12, 2016.

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Courting Caribbean Votes – Puerto Ricans

Posted on October 8, 2016 in Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Dateline: Miami, Florida – Voting is a hallmark of democracy!

Every Caribbean member-state is a democracy; (Even Cuba, but with only the one Communist Party).

So any quest to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines – economics, security and governance – must consider the strategies of voting, and courting votes.

Right now, it is election season in the United States. There are many members of the Caribbean Diaspora living in the US – some figures project up to 22 million; many of them are eligible to vote on November 8, 2016.

Who will they vote for? Who should they vote for?
What if the criterion for the vote is benevolence to Caribbean causes?

This commentary is 1 of 3 of a series from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean, in consideration of Courting the Caribbean Votes for the American federal elections – President (Donald Trump -vs- Hillary Clinton), Vice-President and Congress (Senate & US House of Representatives). This and the other commentaries detail different ethnic communities within the Caribbean Diaspora and their voting trends; the series is as follows:

Courting the Caribbean Votes – Puerto Ricans
Courting the Caribbean Votes – ‘Jamericans’
Courting the Caribbean Votes – Cuban-Americans

All of these commentaries relate to governance, the election of the leaders of the American federal government. The Go Lean movement (book and blog-commentaries) asserts that Caribbean stakeholders need to take their own lead for their Caribbean destiny, but it does acknowledge that we have a dependency to the economic, security and governing eco-systems of the American SuperPower. This dependency is derisively called a parasite status, with the US as the host.

This accurately describes Puerto Rico.

Not only is the island of Puerto Rico a parasite of the US, but a near-Failed-State as well. While this has been a consistent theme of the Go Lean movement, it is no secret. Washington and Puerto Rico readily admit to this disposition. In fact this failing condition has driven many Puerto Ricans out of Puerto Rico. This has been within that consistent Go Lean theme, that “push-and-pull” factors drive Caribbean citizens away from their beloved homeland. Greater Orlando has become a new destination.

They are gone from Puerto Rico, but have not forgotten home. This year they are looking to impact their homeland with their vote. They seek to support candidates for federal offices that can help to reform and transform the island. See the AUDIO Podcast here and related news article:

AUDIO – Puerto Ricans Could Sway Florida for Trump or Clinton – http://www.marketplace.org/2016/09/29/world/puerto-ricans-could-sway-florida-trump-or-clinton/

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News Article Title: Puerto Ricans, in Florida, could be a political catch
By: Andy Uhler

There’s a new, growing population of American citizens in Florida who might be able to vote for president for the first time – Puerto Ricans. And a lot of those leaving the island’s broken economy end up in Central Florida. Thousands of Puerto Ricans have settled over the past couple of decades in a town south of Orlando, near Disney World, called Kissimmee.

One of the main Puerto Rican hubs in the town is Melao Bakery. Wilfredo Ramirez stood outside most of the day asking people in Spanish if they’re registered to vote. It’s not normally the first thing a new acquaintance asks, but Wilfredo’s on a mission. He moved here from Puerto Rico a few months ago and has a job registering people. He said the electoral system on the mainland is tough for some new arrivals to figure out.

“It’s a bit confusing. Puerto Ricans are considered U.S. citizens, but it’s not the same as being born in the U.S.” mainland, he said. “And that is the ultimate motive, for Puerto Ricans to register and give their vote.”

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, but because of its territory status, those on the island can’t vote for president. Puerto Rico holds a presidential primary, but that’s where it ends. If they come to Florida and establish residency, though, Puerto Ricans can vote in November.

Wilfredo had been at the bakery for a couple of hours and had talked to more than 150 people. His contract will have him in Central Florida through November. The group he’s with, Hispanic Federation, isn’t affiliated with any party but has been vocal about Donald Trump’s immigration statements – calling them “misleading, demeaning and unfounded.”

But unlike in Florida, the island’s dominant parties aren’t Democrats and Republicans, and the main issue is whether Puerto Rico should stay a territory, become a state, or assert independence.

Carlos Vargas-Ramos is a researcher at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at HunterCollege. He said the Puerto Rican migration to Florida wouldn’t affect the election if groups weren’t out there explaining what’s happening.

“In general, were it anywhere else, where there’s not a mobilization effort, those Puerto Ricans would be less likely to turn out to vote,” he said. “But because, precisely, they’re going to be targets, they will be in play.”

The presidential campaigns know that. Florida is a battleground state, and apart from spending on TV, the Clinton campaign has been focused on trying to get people registered to vote. What they’re finding is that recent migrants aren’t necessarily as Democratic as once assumed.

Mark Oxner, Republican chairman in OsceolaCounty, where 60 percent of the Hispanic population identify as Puerto Rican, said he’s pleasantly surprised that they’re seeing the same thing

“The big thing is, they’re not coming all Democrats, most of them come over and sign as no party affiliation,” he said. “So they’re not, specifically tied to the Democratic party.”

That could make it a little more difficult for Democrats and Republicans to directly identify supporters. Which means it’ll probably be more expensive to get those independent voters to pick a side.

But in this part of Central Florida the community’s biggest concerns are extremely local. Newly arrived Puerto Ricans need teachers in the schools who can help their children transition to living on the mainland. That means, teachers who are bilingual.

Pablo Caceres, director of the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration, a Puerto Rican governmental arm with an office in Kissimmee, said that’s what he hears all the time.

“The issues that are most important for us, the Puerto Rican community, that we need to obviously start talking about is having good quality education for our kids,” he said. “And there are also other big issues like immigration.”

At the same time, a lot of Puerto Ricans left the island and came to Florida because things were so bad. Unemployment is twice that of the mainland, almost half the population is living under the poverty line, hospitals have to limit hours because they can’t pay for electricity and schools are closing because teachers aren’t getting paid.

Now some migrants feel like they might have an impact on what Washington does about their home’s crippling debt crisis.

Jose Rivera moved here from the island in 1994. He’s an engineer in favor of independence.

“It’s about time we own our own destiny,” he said. “We are the 32-year-old guy that still lives with mom and dad and we’re expecting mom and dad to fix all our broken plates.”

Independence would come with a complete financial break from the federal government and a complete rethinking of the economy of the island.
Source: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/09/29/world/puerto-ricans-could-sway-florida-trump-or-clinton Posted September 30, 2016; retrieved October 4, 2016

The experience in the US is that the politicians do not always represent the majority of the people, but rather the majority of the passionate ones in their constituency – those who turn out to vote. According to the foregoing story, it is obvious that passion for the Caribbean homeland is resulting in passion for the voting booth. Therefore, there is a jockeying to win these votes for the different parties this election year. The Puerto Rican numbers are so impactful that they can swing the vote in this swing state of Florida. (Legally, Puerto Ricans need only establish legal residence for 6 months in a US state – Florida in this case – and then they can vote).

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). It advocates optimizing the societal engines of economics, security and governance in the Caribbean, not in Florida or any other jurisdiction in the US. But it is what it is. The Diaspora is here-now. We must succeed in this Caribbean reboot to dissuade further migration and hopefully to facilitate a subsequent repatriation.

We must do better than our past. We must be an American protégé, rather than just an American parasite. This is the quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap, to elevate the Caribbean’s economic-security-governing engines. The roadmap recognizes that the changes the region needs must start first with convening, collaborating, confederating the regional neighborhood into a Single Market, no matter the ethnicity, language or colonial legacy of the member-states. This need was pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 13) with these statements:

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 … 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.

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, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies necessary to effect change in the region, to improve the oversight of the governing process. They are detailed as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future – Give the Youth a Voice & Vote	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 Member-states into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – CU Stakeholders to Protect – Diaspora	Page 47
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal -vs- Member-state governments	Page 71
Anecdote – Turning Around CARICOM – Regional oversight	Page 92
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Election Oversight as Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Assemble Constitutional Convention – Start of federal elections	Page 97
Implementation – Ways to Impact Elections	Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean	Page 118
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Confederate a Single Market of 4 language groups	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Election Outsourcing	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from US Constitution – Progress over generations	Page 145
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories	Page 244
Appendix – Interstate Compacts for Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands	Page 278
Appendix – Nuyorican Movement	Page 303
Appendix – Puerto Rican Population in the US (2010 Census)	Page 304

The points of effective, technocratic oversight and stewardship for Puerto Rico were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7963	‘Like a Good Neighbor’ – Being there for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6693	Ten Puerto Rico Police Accused of Criminal Network
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6260	Puerto Rico Bondholders Coalition Launches Ad Campaign
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4551	US Territories – Between a ‘rock and a hard place’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4185	Caribbean Ghost Towns: It Could Happen … in Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1325	Puerto Rico Governor Signs Bill on SME’s
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=599	Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes

We want to make Puerto Rico and other places in our Caribbean homeland, better places to live, work and play. So we must engage the political process in Washington, DC as they are a major stakeholder for Puerto Rico. The island is bankrupt, it depends on federal bailouts just to execute even the basic functions in the Social Contract. Personally, many residents on the island depend on federal subsidies to survive: benefits like veterans, social security (disability & pension) and welfare. Many Puerto Ricans have understandably abandoned the island – this is both “push” and “pull”.

The Go Lean movement advocates being a protégé of America, not just a parasite. This is a turn-around from the status quo. We must now seek out solutions that encourage participation of Puerto Ricans in the nation-building process, as a territory, a new US State or an independent nation; (as alluded to in the foregoing story). If we want to stop the abandonment – a quest of the Go Lean roadmap – then we have no other choice; we must present the opportunities for citizens to prosper where planted in the Caribbean.

The choice for president should consider these needs.

We need Washington’s help. But the only way to impact Washington is through voting. This is why the Puerto Rican vote – for those in the Diaspora – is being courted. Which presidential candidate best extols the vision and values for a new Caribbean?

Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

This is the question being considered. These two camps are the ones courting Puerto Ricans in the Diaspora.

The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is to provide the turn-by-turn directions to accomplish the needed turn-round. The Go Lean roadmap does not seek to change America; our only focus is to change the Caribbean, to make it better to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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