August 2017 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Month: August 2017

ENCORE: The Logistics of Disaster Relief

Posted on August 31, 2017 in Government, Implementation

There has been a major natural disaster – Hurricane Harvey and subsequent flooding – in the US State of Texas this week. Many individuals and institutions are now scrambling to provide relief to the victims in the area.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” – The Golden Rule

This is very neighborly. Those of you who can give, please give of your “time, talent and treasuries”.

But please be logical in your giving. Certain items would really be inappropriate at this time; think: clothes, toys, etc.. In fact, this previous Go Lean commentary detailed the entire discussion of inappropriate disaster relief gifts. Consider here-now, this Encore of that previous commentary:

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Go Lean Commentary – The Logistics of Disaster Relief

It is during the worst of times that we see the best in people.

This statement needs to be coupled with the age old proverb: “The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions“…

… especially when it comes to disaster relief.

In previous blog-commentaries promoting the book Go Lean…Caribbean, it was established that “bad things happen to good people”; (i.e. ‘Crap Happens’ – So What Now?, Managing a ‘Clear and Present Danger’). Yes, disasters are a reality for modern life. The Go Lean book posits that with the emergence of Climate Change that natural disasters are more common place.

In addition there are earthquakes …

… these natural phenomena may not be associated with Climate Change, but alas, they too are more common and more destructive nowadays. (People with a Christian religious leanings assert that “an increase of earthquakes is a tell-tale sign that we are living in what the Bible calls the “Last Days” – Matthew 24: 7).

The motives of the Go Lean book, and accompanying blogs is not to proselytize, but rather to prepare the Caribbean region for “bad actors”, natural or man-made. The book was written in response to the aftermath and deficient regional response following the great earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. Many Non-Government Organizations (NGO) embarked on campaigns to shoulder a response, a relief and rebuilding of Haiti. Many people hold the view that those efforts did a lot of harm, along with some good.

In a previous blog-commentary, it was reported how the fundraising campaign by one group, the American Red Cross, raised almost US$500 million and yet only a “piddling” was spent on the victims and communities themselves.

Now we learn too that many good-intentioned people donated tons of relief supplies that many times turned out to be “more harm than help”. See the story here in this news VIDEO; (and/or the Narration Transcript/photos in the Appendix below):

VIDEO – When disaster relief brings anything but relief – http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/disaster-relief-donations-that-dont-bring-relief

Posted April 24, 2016 – Many of the well-meaning articles Americans donate in times of disaster turn out to be of no use to those in need. Sometimes, they even get in the way. That’s a message relief organizations very much want “us” to heed. This story is reported by Scott Simon, [on loan from] NPR. (VIDEO plays best in Internet Explorer).

This commentary asserts that more is needed in the Caribbean to facilitate good disaster relief, in particular a technocratic administration. This consideration is the focus of the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies of the Go Lean…Caribbean book. The declaration is that the Caribbean itself must be agile, lean, and optimized in providing its own solutions for disaster recovery. The alternative, from past experiences like in this foregoing VIDEO, is that others taking the lead for our solution seem to fall short in some way … almost every time!

The Caribbean must now stand up and be counted!

The Go Lean book declares (Page 115) that the “Caribbean should not be perennial beggars, [even though] we do need capital/money to get started”, we need technocratic executions even more.

What is a technocracy?

This is the quest of the Go Lean movement. The movement calls for a treaty to form a technocratic confederation of all the 30 member-states in the Caribbean region. This will form a Single Market of 42 million. The consolidation and integration allows for economies-of-scale and leverage that would not be possible otherwise. “Many hands make a big job … small”. But it is not just size that will define the Caribbean technocracy but quality, efficiency and optimization as well.

According to the Go Lean book (Page 64), the …

“… term technocracy was originally used to designate the application of the scientific method to solving social and economic problems, in counter distinction to the traditional political or philosophic approaches. The CU must start as a technocratic confederation – a Trade Federation – rather than evolving to this eventuality due to some failed-state status or insolvency.”

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to provide better stewardship for the Caribbean homeland. The foregoing VIDEO describes the efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGO) in shepherding disaster reliefs. These NGO’s are stakeholders in this Caribbean elevation roadmap. Even though many of the 30 member-states are independent nations, the premise of the Go Lean book is that there must be a resolve for interdependence among the governmental and non-governmental entities. This all relates to governance, the need for this new technocratic stewardship of regional Caribbean society. The need for this resolve was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 & 14) with these acknowledgements and statements:

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.

ii.    Whereas the natural formation of the landmass for our lands constitutes some extreme seismic activity, it is our responsibility and ours alone to provide, protect and promote our society to coexist, prepare and recover from the realities of nature’s occurrences.

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

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

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

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 [other] communities.

This is the quest of CU/Go Lean roadmap: to provide new guards for a more competent Caribbean administration … by governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. (NGO would also be promoted, audited and overseen by CU administrators). The Caribbean must do better!

Our quest must start “in the calm”, before any storm (or earthquake). We must elevate the societal engines the Caribbean region through economic, security and governance empowerments. In general, the CU will employ better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its 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 the resultant economic engines and the Caribbean homeland.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Former US President George W. Bush shares this advocacy!

He narrated this VIDEO here describing the efficiencies of the American logistics company, UPS, in delivering disaster relief:

VIDEO – Report Logistics and Haiti: Points of Light and President Bush – https://youtu.be/8-gmh1QyWTU

Uploaded on Mar 30, 2011 – [In 2009], Transportation Manager Chip Chappelle volunteered to help The UPS Foundation coordinate an ocean shipment of emergency tents from Indiana to Honduras. Since then, he has managed the logistics of humanitarian aid from every corner of the world to help the victims of floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and cyclones.

The Go Lean book stresses our own community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary for the Caribbean to deliver, to provide the proactive and reactive public safety/security provisions in the region. See sample list here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Intelligence Gathering	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing – Emergency Response	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states/ 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Prepare for the eventuality of natural disasters	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change	Page 57
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Post WW II European Marshall Plan/Recovery Model	Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Homeland Security – Emergency Management	Page 76
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – State Department – Liaison/Oversight for NGO’s	Page 80
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Homeland Security Pact	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Governance and the Social Contract	Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Housing – Hurricane Risk Reinsurance Fund	Page 161
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters	Page 184
Advocacy – Ways to Develop a Pre-Fab Housing Industry – One solution ideal for Haiti	Page 207
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti	Page 238

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to empower and elevate Caribbean societal engines to be better prepared for the eventual natural disasters. The good intentions of Americans, as depicted in the foregoing VIDEO, is encouraging … but good intentions alone is not enough. We need good management! We need a technocracy! While it is out-of-scope for this roadmap to impact America, we can – and must – exercise good management in our Caribbean region. So what do we want from Americans in our time of need? See VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Donate Responsibly – https://youtu.be/14h9_9sopRA

Published on Nov 2, 2012 – A series of PSAs released by the Ad Council explain why cash is the best way to help. The campaign was launched on November 5, 2012 by the Ad Council and supported by the coalition — which includes CIDI, the U.S. Agency for International Development, InterAction, the UPS Foundation and National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

The Go Lean book calls on the Caribbean region to be more technocratic: collectively self-reliant, both proactively and reactively. Because of Climate Change or the Last Days, natural disasters (i.e. hurricanes and earthquakes) will occur again and again. Considering that our American neighbors may Pave our Road to Hell with Good Intentions, we need to prepare the right strategies, tactics and implementations ourselves, to make our region a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix Transcript – When disaster relief brings anything but relief

When Nature grows savage and angry, Americans get generous and kind. That’s admirable. It might also be a problem.

“Generally after a disaster, people with loving intentions donate things that cannot be used in a disaster response, and in fact may actually be harmful,” said Juanita Rilling, director of the Center for International Disaster Information in Washington, D.C. “And they have no idea that they’re doing it.”

Rilling has spent more than a decade trying to tell well-meaning people to think before they give.

In 1998 Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras. More than 11,000 people died. More than a million and a half were left homeless.

And Rilling got a wake-up call: “Got a call from one of our logistics experts who said that a plane full of supplies could not land, because there was clothing on the runway. It’s in boxes and bales. It takes up yards of space. It can’t be moved.’ ‘Whose clothing is it?’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t know whose it is, but there’s a high-heeled shoe, just one, and a bale of winter coats.’ And I thought, winter coats? It’s summer in Honduras.”

Humanitarian workers call the crush of useless, often incomprehensible contributions “the second disaster.”

In 2004, following the Indian Ocean tsunami, a beach in Indonesia was piled with used clothing.

There was no time for disaster workers to sort and clean old clothes. So the contributions just sat and rotted.

“This very quickly went toxic and had to be destroyed,” said Rilling. “And local officials poured gasoline on it and set it on fire. And then it was out to sea.”

“So, rather than clothing somebody, it went up in flames?” asked Simon.

“Correct. The thinking is that these people have lost everything, so they must NEED everything. So people SEND everything. You know, any donation is crazy if it’s not needed. People have donated prom gowns and wigs and tiger costumes and pumpkins, and frostbite cream to Rwanda, and used teabags, ’cause you can always get another cup of tea.”

You may not think that sending bottles of water to devastated people seems crazy. But Rilling points out, “This water, it’s about 100,000 liters, will provide drinking water for 40,000 people for one day. This amount of water to send from the United States, say, to West Africa — and people did this — costs about $300,000. But relief organizations with portable water purification units can produce the same amount, a 100,000 liters of water, for about $300.”

And then there were warm-hearted American women who wanted to send their breast milk to nursing mothers in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

“It sounds wonderful, but in the midst of a crisis it’s actually one of the most challenging things,” said Rebecca Gustafson, a humanitarian aid expert who has worked on the ground after many disasters.

“Breast milk doesn’t stay fresh for very long. And the challenge is, what happens if you do give it to an infant who then gets sick?”

December 2012, Newtown, Connecticut: A gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Almost instantaneously, stuff start arriving.

Chris Kelsey, who worked for Newtown at the time, said they had to get a warehouse to hold all the teddy bears.

Simon asked, “Was there a need for teddy bears?”

“I think it was a nice gesture,” Kelsey replied. “There was a need to do something for the kids. There was a need to make people feel better. I think the wave of stuff we got was a little overwhelming in the end.”

And how many teddy bear came to Newtown? “I think it was about 67,000,” Kelsey said. “Wasn’t limited to teddy bears. There was also thousands of boxes of school supplies, and thousands of boxes of toys, bicycles, sleds, clothes.”

Newtown had been struck by mass murder, not a tsunami. As Kelsey said, “I think a lot of the stuff that came into the warehouse was more for the people that sent it, than it was for the people in Newtown. At least, that’s the way it felt at the end.”

Every child in Newtown got a few bears. The rest had to be sent away, along with the bikes and blankets.

There are times when giving things works. More than 650,000 homes were destroyed or damaged in Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Thousands of people lost everything.

Tammy Shapiro is one of the organizers of Occupy Sandy, which grew out of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

“We were able to respond in a way that the big, bureaucratic agencies can’t,” Shapiro said.

When the hurricane struck, they had a network of activists, connected and waiting.

“Very quickly, we just stopped taking clothes,” Shapiro said. Instead, they created a “relief supply wedding registry.”

“We put the items that we needed donated on that registry,” said Shapiro. “And then people who wanted to donate could buy the items that were needed. I mean, a lot of what we had on the wedding registry was diapers. They needed flashlights.”

Simon asked, “How transportable is your experience here, following Hurricane Sandy?”

“For me, the network is key. Who has the knowledge? Where are spaces that goods can live if there’s a disaster? Who’s really well-connected on their blocks?”

Juanita Rilling’s album of disaster images shows shot after shot of good intentions just spoiling in warehouses, or rotting on the landscape.

“It is heartbreaking,” Rilling said. “It’s heartbreaking for the donor, it’s heartbreaking for the relief organizations, and it’s heartbreaking for survivors. This is why cash donations are so much more effective. They buy exactly what people need, when they need it.

“And cash donations enable relief organizations to purchase supplies locally, which ensures that they’re fresh and familiar to survivors, purchased in just the right quantities, and delivered quickly. And those local purchases support the local merchants, which strengthens the local economy for the long run.”

Disaster response worker Rebecca Gustafson says that most people want to donate something that is theirs: “Money sometimes doesn’t feel personal enough for people. They don’t feel enough of their heart and soul is in that donation, that check that they would send.

“The reality is, it’s one of the most compassionate things that people can do.”

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Disaster, Haiti, History, Model, Power

Disaster Preparation: ‘Rinse and Repeat’

Posted on August 30, 2017 in Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The reality of Caribbean life: we must contend with natural disasters, not of our making, “again and again”. The situation can be described as “Rinse and Repeat“.

Climate Change is not of our making, but it is our problem. Truth be told, it is not just our problem alone; the whole planet is affected. Right now this moment, the Greater Metropolitan area of Houston, Texas USA is suffering “pangs of distress”; see the VIDEO in the Appendix below.

It is what it is!

Some communities have done a better job than others in preparing for the unavoidable:

“Some communities”? “Better job“? That is not us … in the Caribbean!

As related in a previous Go Lean commentary, our Caribbean region has failed … in our managing this Agent-of-Change:

… we do not have the luxury of “sticking our head in the sand” and pretending that these problems will simply go away. The region has been devastated with this dysfunction and mis-management. Some 70% of Caribbean college-educated citizens have already fled their homelands in an undisputed brain drain. It’s time now to manage change differently than the Caribbean has done as of late. It’s time now to “Go Lean”.

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs. This includes an efficient Emergency Management apparatus to ensure business continuity.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies. We can “move” member-state governments simply through funding, rankings and ratings.

The book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

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.

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.

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

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

10 Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters

1	Emergence of the Caribbean Union Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy initiative as the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. This allows for the unification of the 30 member-states into one market, thereby spreading the risk and premium base across a market of 42 million people. The Caribbean member-states have Hurricane Katrina styled disasters (relatively speaking) every year.
2	Caribbean Emergency Management Agency – Federal Disaster Declarations Modeled after FEMA in the US, this agency will be charged with the preparation, response and reconstruction for the regions for the eventual manifestations of hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding and other declared disasters, natural and man-made like medical epidemic, drought, pollution, oil spills, terrorism, etc.
3	Support Services for First Responders Training, licensing and standards for Emergency Managers, Paramedics, Firefighters, Search and Rescue resources. For major disasters, some of these resources will come from international origins; they will need the support services (language translation, guides, maps, etc.) and coordination to maximize their results.
4	Animal Partner Training and Development Maintain plantations for the training, development and boarding of “search & rescue” dogs, cadavers dogs and other service animals (horses, mules, pigs, etc.) so that there will be local resources within the region. (We cannot always depend on international responses in light of other regions experiencing their own disasters). These animals need not be owned by any one member-state, they can be on loan from CU resources.
5	Siren Warnings & Notifications The CU will install tornado-style alarms/sirens in all major municipalities. In addition, the CU will implement tsunami warning messaging (emails/text) in coastal areas & seismic meters throughout the region in the affected “fault-line” areas.
6	Airlift & Sealift Authorizations The CU Emergency Management Agency can license, regulate and authorize (air & sea) vessels and vehicles for emergency deployment in a disaster zone, before during and after the disastrous event.
7	JUA-style Insurance Fund The fiduciary management of premiums and claims to allow the immediate response for reconstruction after disasters. These financial services, sidecars traded in markets can be direct or indirect as in reinsurance or insurer-of-last-resort.
8	Economic Crime Enforcement During and After Disasters The CU will police, investigate and prosecute price gouging, insurance red lining and other economic crimes of both the “white collar” and “blue collar” variety. Once a CU-member-state declares a Disaster Emergency, new rules (quasi-Marshall Law) goes into effect. The CU will review and prosecute the actions of civilians and institutions alike.
9	Disaster Declaration Loans Once there’s a Federal Disaster Declaration, the CU will make funds available for low-interest loans for communities to fund reconstructions. With tourism as a major “cash crop” the goal will be to restore the locality as a tourist destination as soon as possible, as even the perception of prolonged disaster damage can affect future bookings and travel plans.
10	Building Codes and Standards Through peer review, the CU will regionalize the standards of building codes to assuage the threat of hurricanes and earthquakes, ensuring a higher survivability rate in the Caribbean islands. Due to economic pressures, when buildings and homes cannot be retrofitted, they will be rated for evacuation during hurricane warnings, or earthquake after-shocks.

The Caribbean must foster a better disaster preparation and response apparatus. We must do it now! Lives are at stake.

Just look at our American neighbors – they are suffering right now in the Greater Metropolitan area of Houston, Texas.

While Climate Change is the underlying Agent-of-Change, it is outside of our control. This does not imply that there is no remediation for Climate Change; there is. In fact …

Fix ‘Climate Change’ – Yes, We Can

We do not have the resources (time, talent and treasuries) to fix Climate Change for the planet ourselves, but we can fix it in our Caribbean region. This is a “Lesson in History” that our community has learned … from back in 1863:

There is an important lesson to learn in considering the history of the American Civil War. The war was fought over the issue of slavery. This was an ugly institution for those condemned as slaves. In the United States, that ugly disposition extended beyond the slaves themselves to the entire Black race. Though individuals could be set free, laws in the country could push them back into slavery without any due process. This was the case with the “Fugitive Slave Act of 1850″. Any Black person could be detained as a runaway slave and returned to any alleged Slave Master in the South; no matter any proof or the truth, or lack there-of. In many jurisdictions, a Black man could not even testify against white people. (This was the basis for the autobiographical book – by Solomon Northup – and movie “12 Years A Slave”).

To be Black in the America of those days, one “could not win, could not break-even and could not get out of the game”. There was no neutral destination in America. The optimal option was the only option, to work towards the end of slavery.

For this reason many Blacks joined the war effort, at great sacrifice to themselves and their community. This was a matter of principle! There is an important lesson for the Caribbean from this history^[1] :

The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was one of the first official African-American units in the United States during the Civil War.

Remediating and mitigating Climate Change will be a battle. We need our own “Voluntary Infantry“ in this fight.

“We have a dog in this fight” – English language slang.

In the Caribbean, we must confederate and implement the institutions to work to remediate and mitigate Climate Change. We must “join in this fight”; we must Go Green and we must Go Blue. We have to be prepared for natural disasters – they will come … assuredly every season, some Caribbean destination will be impacted. We must be prepared to:

Rinse and Repeat.

If we are ready, to quickly respond, offer relief and rebuild – so as to guarantee the business continuity – we would then do a better job in our quest to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix VIDEO – Historic flooding inundates Texas, hampering rescue efforts – https://youtu.be/Da-VS39gdfQ

PBS NewsHour

Published on Aug 27, 2017 – Houston’s mayor on Sunday urged his constituents in the nation’s fourth-largest city to stay off roadways as the state of Texas continues to contend with unprecedented flooding from Hurricane Harvey, now classified as a tropical storm. Officials said rising waters would reach catastrophic proportions, with more than 2,500 emergency calls made overnight in Houston alone. Hari Sreenivasan has more.

Category: People & Blogs
License: Standard YouTube License

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Disaster, Green Energy, History, Model, Power

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Hurricane Flooding – ‘Who Knew?’

Posted on August 29, 2017 in Ethos, Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

“Just keep living” – Old Wives’ Tale by “my late Mother-in-law”

Those 3 words reflected the wisdom of an 80 year-old woman. It simply meant:

If you do not see the logic, common sense or best-practice of some advice, just keep living and life will eventually convince you.

This sage advice is presented in contrast to the new President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, who in the first 100 days of his administration encountered a failure with trying to introduce new Health Care legislation. His response was:

Who knew “Health Care” was so complicated. – CNN

This is not a commentary about Health Care, but rather Hurricane Flooding preparation, response and mitigation. Once again, the American President has proven that he has not learned that wisdom exhibited by my now-deceased Mother-in-Law. On this occasion of a Category 4 storm – see photos and VIDEO’s of Hurricane Harvey in the Appendix below – drowning Southeast Texas with volumes and volumes of water (surge, rain and river flooding) – he exclaimed that this flooding was “unexpected”:

He told rescue organizers: “This was of epic proportion, nobody has ever seen anything like this.” – Sky News 29AUG17 19:23 GMT

With all due respect Mr. President, it is the same with “Hurricane Flooding” as it was with Health Care:

Who Knew? Everybody – paying attention – knew!

Yes, this is “throwing shade” at President Trump, but this is a fair judgement as he made a cardinal mistake when assessing the seriousness of hurricanes and tropical storms; he is a Climate Change denier. This commentary previously related how this President declared – on June 1: the start of Hurricane Season – that he is withdrawing the US from the one international effort designed to abate Climate Change: the Paris Accord. That blog-commentary warned:

This is a matter of security; perhaps we [(Caribbean)] should not look to the US to take the lead for our own fate. This is so familiar … and a Hot Topic today as European member-states are contemplating how much they can look to the US for leadership for their security needs.

This was the assertion of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; available to download for free. It serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. The quest is that the Caribbean region convenes, collaborates and confederates to take their own lead – collectively – for their own fate. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

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

The book stresses that American self-interest is not necessarily the Caribbean’s best interest, even though there are two American territories (Puerto Rico & the Virgin Islands) in the Caribbean region. No, we must reform and transform our societal engines on our own. But this charter is too big for any one Caribbean member-state alone; there must be a regional effort. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence(Pages 12 – 13):

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.

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.

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

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

That previous blog-commentary declared:

The issue of Hurricane Season 2017 is bigger than initial appearances – there are BIG issues afoot. …

The Caribbean status quo is unsustainable under the real threats of Climate Change. The region must reboot, reform and transform. We must do the heavy-lifting ourselves; we cannot expect relief and refuge from others, like the American Super-Power. We must find and “sail” under our own power.

The Go Lean book – and this commentary – calls on the region to master the art and science of water management.

We are saddened by all the death and destruction in Houston today; see Appendix. (Flooding is familiar in Houston, though more disastrous as of late). But believe it or not, there is a thesis that flooding could be prevented. Yes, indeed! This is the experience and historicity of the Dutch people, the European country of the Netherlands or Holland. See how their mitigations are portrayed in the news magazine here – an American news magazine:

VIDEO – Sea change: How the Dutch confront the rise of the oceans – https://youtu.be/3J5ZoPFhSGM

Posted August 27, 2017 – Windmills are more than just a traditional part of the Dutch landscape; they have played a key role in the war the Dutch have been waging against the ocean for the past thousand years. Our Cover Story is reported by Martha Teichner. (This story was previously broadcast on May 21, 2017.)

The VIDEO’s transcript could be reviewed here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sea-change-how-the-dutch-confront-the-rise-of-the-oceans-2/

In addition, this commentary has visited the subject of water-flood management on many occasions; consider this sample of previous blogs:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12834	Hurricane Andrew – 25 Years of Hoopla in Water Management
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12724	Lessons from Colorado: Water Management Arts & Sciences
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12230	Managing Beach Erosion and Flooding Realities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7235	Flint, Michigan – A Cautionary Tale in Water Management
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1656	Blue – Water Management – is the New Green
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?

The United States of America provides so many examples for the Caribbean: good, bad and ugly.

But we must make a separation between American power and American people.

To those of the American people languishing in the communities of Houston, Texas we send you our prayers and compassion and urge you to hold-on; it gets better.

To those American power brokers who continue to deny the obvious, we urge you to just keep living. You will soon realize the undeniable consequences of Climate Change:

Those who fail to plan; plan to fail!

In the Caribbean, we must be better and do better. This is our quest, to better serve the needs of our Caribbean people. Reforming and transforming America is out-of-scope for our efforts; we have our own storms to prepare and respond to. May we never “stick our head in the sand” and deny the obvious. No, rather, let’s always do the heavy-lifting to make our homelands better places to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

———–

Appendix VIDEO – Houston’s Flooding Crisis – https://youtu.be/uKAv_8lfjUw

Posted August 29, 2017 – Emergency responders in Houston have now rescued more than 6,000 people from Hurricane Harvey’s flooding. Harvey is still a tropical storm spinning off the Gulf Coast. It could make a second landfall Wednesday east of Houston. Mark Strassmann reports on rescue efforts.

Subscribe to the “CBS This Morning” Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/1Q0v2hE
Watch “CBS This Morning – hosted by Charlie Rose, Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King” HERE: http://bit.ly/1T88yAR

———–

Hurricane Harvey – Houston August 2017 Photos

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Hurricane Andrew – 25 Years of Hoopla

Posted on August 24, 2017 in Ethos, Government, Implementation, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

Want to rumble? Want a piece of this?

Surely anyone vying for a leadership role in the Caribbean must be prepared for a fight. A fight with “Mother Nature”.

Expect to lose!

This was the contention from this previous blog-commentary on August 28, 2015, on the 10^th anniversary commemorating 2005’s Hurricane Katrina:

Title: A Lesson in History – ‘Katrina’ is helping today’s crises
Welcome to the Caribbean …

… the greatest address on the planet?!?!

Why would anyone campaign to assume the stewardship of this archipelago of islands?

This is the “siren song” of the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The publishers … are petitioning for a leadership role in the economic, security and governing engines of the region. Why?

There is no insanity! This is an expression of love for the homeland. The 30 member-states of the Caribbean are home to 42 million people, and a Diaspora of 10 million; plus 80 million visitors annually.

This is the greatest address on the planet!

Plus, everywhere has natural disasters to contend with. This fact relates to rich countries and poor alike. For example, take the United States; they are the richest Single Market economy in the world and yet their coastal city of New Orleans Louisiana (NOLA) was devastated by Hurricane Katrina 10 years ago … to the day (August 29, 2005). Their riches did not spare their devastation, nor did the riches facilitate best-practices in terms of response, relief and rebuilding. New Orleans is marking the anniversary of Katrina’s devastation and the lessons learned from the aftermath.

Remembering Hurricane Andrew

Now it is the time to remember a different, earlier storm, as it is the 25^th anniversary of August 24, 1992 when Hurricane Andrew devastated the Caribbean region and the Greater Miami area; think almost $30 Billion in damages after 65 fatalities in the region. (This writer endured Andrew as a Miami resident). There are even more lessons to consider, contemplate and correlate to Caribbean stakeholders. As previously detailed, Miami has a pivotal connection with the Caribbean; as our member-states fail more and more, Miami becomes the beneficiary of our human and capital flight:

Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure

The “hoopla“ – historicity and actuality – of storms like Hurricane Andrew and Katrina reminds us …

… that Climate Change cannot be ignored. Even though there are deniers of any man-made causes, the reality of these storms challenge the realities of Caribbean life.

See this theme portrayed here in this current news article from USA Today, an American daily newspaper:

Title: In booming South Florida, another Hurricane Andrew could be a $300 billion catastrophe

MIAMI — Twenty-five years ago this month, Hurricane Andrew unleashed its Category 5 wrath on South Florida, sending a catastrophic reminder about the dangers of living in the heart of “hurricane alley.”

But drive along any coastline in Florida today and you’ll find construction cranes as plentiful as palm trees as developers rush to build high-rises in the most beautiful, and vulnerable, corners of the state.

Florida has improved standards for new construction to prevent the level of damage wrought by hurricanes, but an Andrew-like storm hitting downtown Miami and its ever-growing collection of sparkling skyscrapers could exact a hefty price: $300 billion, according to one insurance underwriter.

“And that number doesn’t include loss of taxes or tourism,” said Monica Ningen, chief property underwriter for the U.S. and Canada for Swiss Re, one of the largest reinsurance companies in the world.

In the 25 years since Andrew made landfall on Aug. 24, 1992, nearly 1 in 10 homes built in the United States were built in Florida, according to an analysis of building permits conducted for USA TODAY by the real estate web site Trulia. That’s second only to Texas.

The trend is even more pronounced for larger condo buildings. Florida accounts for 11.5% of new residential buildings with at least five residences over the past 25 years, trailing only Texas’ 12.7%, according to the Trulia analysis.

“We’re like lemmings going to the sea, except that we build condos, hotels, and houses,” said Richard Olson, director of the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University.

The dangers of Florida’s post-Andrew growth is clearly illustrated in a report from Swiss Re that examined Florida’s vulnerability to hurricanes.

Andrew caused $24.5 billion in insured property damage when it hit the working class suburb of Homestead about 20 miles south of downtown Miami, becoming the most expensive catastrophe in U.S. history. Since then, Miami-Dade County’s population has increased by more than a third. Now, if a similar storm hit the same spot, Swiss Re estimates it would cause closer to $60 billion in insured damage.

High-rise condos could be Florida’s weak spot

Part of the reason for those massive numbers is the explosion of high-rise condos throughout the state.

Florida toughened up its building codes after Andrew and saw good results with the spate of four hurricanes that struck the state in 2004. But in 2005, Hurricane Wilma revealed a glaring weakness.

Wilma, as a Category 2 hurricane, was far weaker than Andrew when it crossed over Miami, but its 100 mph winds shattered windows throughout downtown. One reason: Wind speeds grow drastically the higher you go.

Wilma’s 75 mph winds on the ground grew to 115 mph on the 30th floor, according to a hurricane wind model created by Florida International University in Miami. No condos collapsed, but the window failures caused massive damage.

“The structure looks great from the outside, and yet, the building has to be gutted because of the water damage inside,” said Shahid Hamid, director of the Laboratory for Insurance, Financial and Economic Research at FIU.

Price of paradise

So with a catastrophic risk looming, why do Floridians continue to build such high structures right on the coast?

For developers, the answer is simple.

“Anybody that owns a piece of property should be able to do what they like with it, as long as they’re complying with the laws,” said Jeremy Stewart, a Crestview, Fla., developer and chairman of the Florida Home Builders Association.

But developers aren’t just interested in the principles of individual freedom or property rights, says Craig Fugate, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It comes down to money, Fugate says.

With each new glass-covered skyscraper that goes up along Florida’s coasts, developers reap a windfall of profits. The money drives businesses and puts taxes into government coffers.

Real estate attorneys, realtors, agents, architects, and contractors all get a piece. Every new condo that goes up in Pensacola or Tampa or Jacksonville means more tax revenues for those city governments. Florida is one of seven states that doesn’t collect personal income tax, so real estate taxes and fees included in every home purchase are critical to keep the state’s finances afloat.

Fugate said that has created a “vicious cycle” of transactions that the state has grown to rely on.

“Our economy is building houses, apparently,” said Fugate, who lives in northern Florida and used to run the state’s emergency management division before heading up FEMA. “Our bias now seems to be to the benefit of the transaction, not the homeowner.”

Some city leaders say it’s not that nefarious. In Miami Beach, the tourist mecca that is at the front line of Florida’s battles against climate change, leaders say the tax revenues from new developments are the only way they can afford to make the long-term improvements to gird the barrier island from rising water.

The city is in the midst of a $500 million project to raise roads, raise seawalls and install 80 pumps to push out floods that occur even on sunny days.

New York and New Jersey received billions in federal funding following Superstorm Sandy, just as New Orleans did following Hurricane Katrina. But since a hurricane hasn’t hit Miami and Miami Beach directly in decades, they are left to improve their infrastructure mostly on their own.

“On the one hand, we have to be responsible with our development,” said Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales. “But on the other hand, we need that revenue. We’ve got to figure out how to pay for all that.”

Then there’s the way residents ponder the question. Ask Floridians why they’re willing to endure the threat of hurricanes and they’ll usually give some version of the same answer: They raise their arms and say, “Look around.”

Maria Lopez, 38, moved out of her home in Little Havana just outside downtown Miami 10 years ago as the rent increased and the neighborhood endured more and more flooding. Lopez said she never even considered leaving the city or the state, opting instead to find a home in nearby Liberty City that was elevated to avoid flooding and built to hurricane-proof building codes.

Lopez, a customs broker with two young sons, loves “the food, the culture, the climate.” But, she says, “You just have to know that a hurricane can hit.”

James Murley, the chief resilience officer for Miami-Dade County, agreed, saying the dangers of hurricanes and sea level rise are simply the price of living in paradise, just as Californians are willing to deal with the occasional earthquake.

“You have to live with the risk,” he said. “Why are they still building in San Francisco? Why are they still building in Los Angeles? They’re on established fault lines. Communities that have a history, they’re going to grow one way or the other.”

Grow smarter or inland?

With no slowdown in sight, experts say Florida has two remaining choices: grow farther from the coast or grow smarter.

Jean-Pierre Bardet, dean of the college of engineering at the University of Miami, said the only way that developers will stop building skyscrapers right along the water will come down to money.

Florida’s building codes have made construction more expensive over the years. And some developers have gone beyond those codes to create safer, and costlier, buildings.

For example, many new high-rises in Florida don’t have a street-level entrance for pedestrians. They begin with several floors of parking on the ground floors, then a lobby higher up, topped off by apartments or offices. That means only cars parked at those levels will be damaged if a hurricane pushes in storm surge or rising sea levels create more regular flooding.

Those kinds of measures are expensive, though, and Bardet said their prices will only increase as the projects become harder to engineer.

“The economic consideration will be what puts the brakes on this expansion,” he said.

Some cities and counties, including St. Petersburg, Palm Beach County and Miami, are taking a “smart growth” approach by hiring “resilience officers” or “sustainability managers” who devise growth plans that account for the potential environmental impacts of climate change.

James Cloar, an urban development consultant and former chairman of the Urban Land Institute Tampa Bay, said the people in those positions need broad power to control how a city grows.

“These offices are being created with good intentions, but I don’t think universally they’re at the level that they need to be,” he said.

Jane Gilbert, who became the city of Miami’s first chief resilience officer in 2015, said it’s been tough to persuade everyone of the value of such planning, but some government officials and private developers do see a long-term benefit.

“Luckily we have some progressively-minded developers, architects and land-use attorneys that get it,” she said. “(They understand) that if we don’t start building with a long term view, their investments are at risk.”

More: As Hurricane Andrew memories fade, Florida weakens building codes

More: ‘Extremely active’ hurricane season now likely, federal forecasters say

Source: Retrieved August 24, 2017 from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/08/22/hurricane-cost-florida/560846001/

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VIDEO – Hurricane Season is getting more intense – https://usat.ly/2utG8JA

Posted August 22, 2017 – Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have upped their predictions of the number of and severity of upcoming storms during hurricane season. Newslook.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society, to better respond, relieve and rebuild from devastating hurricanes in all the 30 member-states in the region.

Remember? We cannot win in a battle with “Mother Nature”; we can only respond, relieve and rebuild.

This CU/Go Lean roadmap therefore has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The book stresses that the problems of the Caribbean are too big for any one member-state alone to contend with, that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines – to mitigate the risks of disasters – must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

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.

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.

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

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

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. The book details that the CU will implement an optimized Emergency Management scheme to provide better stewardship for the region’s preparation and response to natural disasters; (in addition to hurricanes, there is the need to monitor and manage earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and droughts in the regions). In addition, the CU will assume jurisdiction for the Caribbean Sea, the 1,063,000 square-mile international waters, as an Exclusive Economic Zone. These preparations and mitigations will allow for better cooperation, collaboration and equalization in the region.

This commentary has previously detailed other discussions related to managing Caribbean society’s preparation and response to hurricanes; see sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12068	Trump Denies ‘Climate Change’ and Ends Federal Abatements
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11442	Caribbean Roots: Al Roker – ‘Climate Change’ Defender
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9455	Fix ‘Climate Change’ – Yes, We Can
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9334	Hurricane Categories – The Science
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7896	The Logistics of Disaster Relief
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7449	‘Crap Happens’ – So What Now?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4741	Vanuatu and Tuvalu – Inadequate response to post-storm suffering
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2465	Book Review: ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1817	Caribbean grapples with intense new cycles of flooding & drought

Hurricane Andrew was not the first, nor the last hurricane to devastate the tropical region. Truth be told, this is a product of Climate Change. Though there are deniers of any man-made causes, the actuality of these storms is the new Caribbean reality.

It is what it is!

Yet still, with better stewardship and shepherding, our communities can be better and do better. We urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Slave Trade – International Day of Rememberance – ENCORE

Posted on August 23, 2017 in Ethos, Planning

Today – August 23 – is a BIG day in Caribbean history; it is the “International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition“.

Yes, that is a real thing!

Not only was the Slave Trade a real thing, but so too this Remembrance. In fact the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had actually commissioned an artist – Rodney Leon, an American architect of Haitian descent – to erect a monument, at the UN’s New York Headquarters, to highlight these 3 elements:

FIRST ELEMENT: “Acknowledge the tragedy” is a three dimensional map inscribed on the interior of the memorial. This map highlights the African continent at the centre of the slave trade and illustrates the global scale, complexity and impact of the triangular slave trade.
SECOND ELEMENT: “Consider the legacy” features a full-scale human replica carved out of black Zimbabwean granite. This element illustrates the extreme conditions under which millions of African people were transported during the middle passage. The sculpture represents the spirit of the men, women and children who lost their lives in the transatlantic slave trade.
THIRD ELEMENT: “Lest we forget” is a triangular reflecting pool where visitors can honour the memory of the millions of souls that were lost.

Source retrieved August 23, 2017 from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/slave-trade-and-its-abolition-2017/the-ark-of-return-memorial/

The Memorial can be visited at:

United Nations Visitors Plaza

1st Avenue and 46th Street

New York, NY 10017

———

VIDEO – The Ark of Return – https://youtu.be/sqeMLnxHmy4

Published on Jul 20, 2015 – United Nations – After winning a design competition sponsored by UNESCO in 2013, Rodney Leon’s masterpiece, the Ark of Return, which is the Permanent Memorial in honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, was officially unveiled in New York on 25th March 2015.

Category: News & Politics

License: Standard YouTube License

This commemoration is presented with an Encore of the blog-commentary from this day last year (2016) which detailed: “A Lesson in History – Haiti 1804“. This day in 1791 – when Haiti’s slave rebellion began – turns out to be a BIG day in that country’s history as well. See the Encore here:

—————————–

Go Lean Commentary – A Lesson in History – Haiti 1804

There are important lessons to learn from history. This commentary considers one particular lesson: the repercussions and consequences from Slavery and the Slave Trade.

Today – August 23 – is the official commemoration of the Slave Trade, as declared by UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization). It measures the date that the 1791 Slave Rebellion in Haiti commenced.

“All of humanity is part of this story, in its transgressions and good deeds” – Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General

This is a very important lesson that we glean from this history, no matter our race or homeland. Let’s consider this lesson from the perspective of the Caribbean and for the benefit of Caribbean elevation.

In jurisprudence, there is the concept of felony murder.

… if a perpetrator robs a liquor store and the clerk has a heart-attack and dies, that perpetrator, once caught is tried for felony murder. The definition is the consequence of death in the act of committing a felony. What’s ironic is this charge would also apply if its a co-perpetrator that dies of the heart-attack rather than a victim-clerk.

This justice standard also applies with family discipline. If/when a child is being naughty and accordingly a sibling is unintentionally hurt, the naughty behavior will almost always be punished for the injury, because it was linked to the bad behavior.

A lesson learned from family discipline; and a lesson learned from criminal law. All of these scenarios present consequences to bad, abusive behavior. This sets the stage for better understanding of this important lesson from the international history of the year 1804. After 200 years of the Slave Trade, repercussions and consequences were bound to strike. This happened in the Caribbean country of Haiti. The following catastrophic events transpired in the decade leading up to 1804:

1791 Slave Rebellion – See Appendix A below – A direct spinoff from the French Revolution’s demand for equality
Leadership of Louverture – As Governor-General, Toussaint Louverture sought to return Haiti to France without Slavery.
Resistance to Slavery – The French planned and attempted to re-instate Slavery
Free Republic – The first Black State in the New World
1804 Massacre of the French – See Appendix B below – An illogical solution that killing Whites would prevent future enslavement.

Make no mistake, the Massacre of 1804 – where 3,000 to 5,000 White men, women and children were killed – was a direct consequence of Slavery and the Slave Trade.

See VIDEO here of a comprehensive TED story:

VIDEO – The Atlantic Slave Trade: What too few textbooks told you – https://youtu.be/3NXC4Q_4JVg

Published on Dec 22, 2014 – Slavery has occurred in many forms throughout the world, but the Atlantic slave trade — which forcibly brought more than 10 million Africans to the Americas — stands out for both its global scale and its lasting legacy. Anthony Hazard discusses the historical, economic and personal impact of this massive historical injustice.
Lesson by Anthony Hazard, animation by NEIGHBOR.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlanti…

Category – Education

License – Standard YouTube License

The review of the historic events is more than just an academic discussion, the book Go Lean…Caribbean aspires to economic principles that dictate that “consequences of choices lie in the future”. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). Haiti – the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere – is one of the 30 member-states for this Caribbean confederacy.

The people of the Caribbean need to understand the cause of this country’s decline and dysfunction; and by extension, the cause of dysfunction for the rest of the Caribbean. It is tied to the events of 1804. How will this lesson help us today?

Reality of the Legacy – The new Black State of Haiti was censored, sanctioned and scorned upon by all European powers (White people). According to a previous blog-commentary, to finally be recognized, France required the new country of Haiti to offset the income that would be lost by French settlers and slave owners; they demanded compensation amounting to 150 million gold francs. After a new deal was struck in 1838, Haiti agreed to pay France 90 million gold francs (the equivalent of €17 billion today). It was not until 1952 that Haiti made the final payment on what became known as its “Independence Debt”. Many analysts posit that the compensation Haiti paid to France throughout the 19th century “strangled development” and hindered the “evolution of the country”. The CU/Go Lean book assessed the near-Failed-State status of Haiti – “it is what it is”; Haiti is as bad as advertised – and then strategized solutions to reboot the economic-security-governing engines of this Republic.
Security assurances must be enabled to complement economics objectives – Slavery was introduced to the New World as an economic empowerment strategy, though it was flawed in its premise of oppressing the human rights of a whole class of humans. The only way to succeed for the centuries that it survived was with a strong military backing – fear of immediate death and destruction. The CU/Go Lean premise is that economics engines and security apparatus must work hand-in-hand. This is weaved throughout the roadmap.
Minority Equalization – The lessons of slavery is that race divides societies; and when there is this division, there is always the tendency for one group to put themselves above other groups. Many times the divisions are for majority population groups versus minorities. If the planners of the new Caribbean want to apply lessons from Slavery’s history, we must allow for justice institutions to consider the realities of minorities. The CU security pact must defend against regional threats, including domestic terrorism. This includes gangs and their junior counterparts, bullies. The CU plans for community messaging in the campaign for anti-bullying and mitigations.
Reconciliation of issues are not optional, more conflict will emerge otherwise – The issues that caused division in Haiti where not dealt with between 1791 and 1803. A “Great Day of Reckoning” could not be avoided. The Natural Law instinct was to avenge for past atrocities – “an eye for an eye”. The CU/Go Lean roadmap accepts that an “eye for an eye” justice stance would result in a lot of “blindness”; so instead of revenge, the strategy is justice by means of Truth & Reconciliation Commissions – a lesson learned from South Africa – to deal with a lot of the latent issues from the last Caribbean century (i.e. Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc).

The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is to turn-around the downward trends in the Caribbean today, to reverse course and elevate Caribbean society. The CU, applying lessons from best-practices, has prime directives proclaimed as follows:

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

The Go Lean book details a series of assessments, community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to empower all the factions in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate region for Economics & Security	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Justice	Page 77
Implementation – Assemble Existing Super-national Institutions	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence	Page 120
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the US Constitution	Page 145
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Battles in the War on Poverty	Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti	Page 238

Why bother with all this dark talk about Slavery and the Slave Trade?

UNESCO has provided a clear answer for this question with this declarative statement:

Ignorance or concealment of major historical events constitutes an obstacle to mutual understanding, reconciliation and cooperation among peoples. UNESCO has thus decided to break the silence surrounding the Slave Trade and Slavery that have concerned all continents and caused the great upheavals that have shaped our modern societies.

The subject of Slavery and the Slave Trade relates to economic, security and governing functioning in a society. The repercussions and consequences of 1804 lingers down to this day. There have been a number of blog-commentaries by the Go Lean promoters that have developed related topics. See a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	Remembering African Nationalist Marcus Garvey: Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	Frederick Douglass – Pioneer & Role Model for Single Cause: Abolition
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221	Street naming for Martin Luther King reveals continued racial animosity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past Bad Deeds
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5123	A Lesson in History – Royal Charters: Zimbabwe -vs- South Africa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971	A Lesson in History – Royal Charters: Truth & Consequence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451	CariCom position on Slavery/Colonization Reparations

This commentary purports that there have been watershed events in history since the emergence of the slave economy. They include:

1804 – Haiti’s Massacre of White Slave Advocates
1861 – US Civil War – A Demonstration of the Resolve of the “Pro” and “Anti” Slavery Camps
1914 – World War I: “Line in the Sand”
1948 – United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

No doubt the Massacre of 1804 was a crisis. It was not wasted; it was used in a good way to escalate the abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807. It was also used in a bad way to justify further oppression of the African Diaspora in the New World.

A pivotal year.

Let’s learn from this year of 1804; and from the repercussions and consequences from that year. In many ways, the world has not moved! Racism and the suppression of the African race lingers … even today … in Europe and in the Americas.

Our goal is to reform and transform the Caribbean, not Europe or America. We hereby urge everyone in the Caribbean – people, institutions and governments – to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. It is time now to move. We must get the Caribbean region to a new destination, one where opportunity meets preparation. This is the destination where the Caribbean is a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

—————

Appendix A Title: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition 2016

— Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO —

In the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, men and women, torn from Africa and sold into slavery, revolted against the slave system to obtain freedom and independence for Haiti, gained in 1804. The uprising was a turning point in human history, greatly impacting the establishment of universal human rights, for which we are all indebted.

The courage of these men and women has created obligations for us. UNESCO is marking International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition to pay tribute to all those who fought for freedom, and, in their name, to continue teaching about their story and the values therein. The success of this rebellion, led by the slaves themselves, is a deep source of inspiration today for the fight against all forms of servitude, racism, prejudice, racial discrimination and social injustice that are a legacy of slavery.

The history of the slave trade and slavery created a storm of rage, cruelty and bitterness that has not yet abated. It is also a story of courage, freedom and pride in newfound freedom. All of humanity is part of this story, in its transgressions and good deeds. It would be a mistake and a crime to cover it up and forget. Through its project The Slave Route, UNESCO intends to find in this collective memory the strength to build a better world and to show the historical and moral connections that unite different peoples.

In this same frame of mind, the United Nations proclaimed the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). UNESCO is contributing to it through its educational, cultural and scientific programmes so as to promote the contribution of people of African descent to building modern societies and ensuring dignity and equality for all human beings, without distinction.
Source: Retrieved August 23, 2016 from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/slave-trade-and-its-abolition/

—————

Appendix B Title: 1804 Haiti Massacre

The 1804 Haiti Massacre was a massacre carried out against the remaining white population of native Frenchmen and French Creoles (or Franco-Haitians) in Haiti by Haitian soldiers by the order of Jean-Jacques Dessalines who had decreed that all those suspected of conspiring in the acts of the expelled army should be put to death.^[1] Throughout the nineteenth century, these events were well known in the United States where they were referred to as “the horrors of St. Domingo” and particularly polarized Southern public opinion on the question of the abolition of slavery.^[2][3]

The massacre, which took place in the entire territory of Haiti, was carried out from early February 1804 until 22 April 1804, and resulted in the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 people of all ages and genders.^[4]

Squads of soldiers moved from house to house, torturing and killing entire families.^[5] Even whites who had been friendly and sympathetic to the black population were imprisoned and later killed.^[6] A second wave of massacres targeted white women and children.^[6]

Writers Dirk Moses and Dan Stone wrote that it served as a form of revenge by an oppressed group that exacted out against those who had previously dominated them.^[7]

Aftermath
By the end of April 1804, some 3,000 to 5,000 people had been killed^[23] and the white Haitians were practically eradicated. Only three categories of white people, except foreigners, were selected as exceptions and spared: the Polish soldiers who deserted from the French army; the little group of German colonists invited to Nord-Ouest (North-West), Haiti before the revolution; and a group of medical doctors and professionals.^[14] Reportedly, also people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men.^[23]

Dessalines did not try to hide the massacre from the world. In an official proclamation of 8 April 1804, he stated, “We have given these true cannibals war for war, crime for crime, outrage for outrage. Yes, I have saved my country, I have avenged America”.^[14] He referred to the massacre as an act of national authority. Dessalines regarded the elimination of the white Haitians an act of political necessity, as they were regarded as a threat to the peace between the black and the colored. It was also regarded as a necessary act of vengeance.^[23]

Dessalines was eager to assure that Haiti was not a threat to other nations and that it sought to establish friendly relations also to nations where slavery was still allowed.^[26]Dessalines’ secretary Boisrond-Tonnerre stated, “For our declaration of independence, we should have the skin of a white man for parchment, his skull for an inkwell, his blood for ink, and a bayonet for a pen!”^[27]

In the 1805 constitution, all citizens were defined as “black”,^[28] and white men were banned from owning land.^[23][29]

The 1804 massacre had a long-lasting effect on the view of the Haitian Revolution and helped to create a legacy of racial hostility in Haitian society.^[28]

At the time of the civil war, a major reason for southern whites, most of whom did not own slaves, to support slave-owners (and ultimately fight for the Confederacy) was fear of a genocide similar to the Haitian Massacre of 1804. This was explicitly referred to in Confederate discourse and propaganda.^[30][31]

The torture and massacre of whites in Haiti, normally known at the time as “the horrors of St. Domingo“, was a constant and prominent theme in the discourse of southern political leaders and had influenced American public opinion since the events took place.
Source: Retrieved August 22, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1804_Haiti_massacre

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Lessons from Colorado: Black Ghost Towns – “Booker T. turning in his grave”

Posted on August 22, 2017 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

This precept is straight-forward, natural and moral:

Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. – The Bible – Galatians 6:7

Or stated otherwise:

If you sow wheat, you will reap wheat … during the harvest.

Barring any extra-natural intervention, a roadmap that is based on this natural law should indeed experience success. And yet, Booker T. Washington – one of the most influential African-American leaders in the history of the country – is probably “turning in his grave”, when considering the actuality of so many Black townships that were formed in his wake.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean makes an important point about the African experience in the US; it is one of deferred gratification, not to expect an immediate return, result and consequence; the reap-what-you-sow mantra had been irrelevant.

There is a Lesson in History that Caribbean communities must consider. One commentator, activist and comedian summarized it as the “home court advantage”:

The world is mourning the passing of this comedian, Dick Gregory at age 84 (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017). Among the many accomplishments in his full life was this one declaration – quoted in a previous Go Lean commentary – on November 27, 1963 when President Lyndon Johnson announced at a Joint-Session of Congress that he would continue with the recently assassinated John Kennedy’s Civil Rights agenda:

“Twenty million American Negroes unpacked”.

He thereby acknowledged that until that moment – in the 1960’s – the United States of America was really not home for the minority African-American populations. No, White America had the “home-court advantage”.

This “home-court advantage” is in contrast with the straight-forward, natural and moral precept … mentioned at the outset. That precept was vocalized by Booker T. Washington. He advocated an economic empowerment plan to “prosper where planted”. This was sound, if not for the actuality of White Supremacy in early 20th Century America.

The details of Booker T.’s advocacy was fully detailed in a previous Go Lean blog-commentary:

A Lesson in History – Booker T versus Du Bois

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois … were [both] very important in the history of civil rights for African-Americans. They both wanted the same elevation of their community – [the “Way Forward”] – in American society, but they both had different strategies, tactics and implementations.

Washington’s biggest legacy is the Tuskegee University (Tuskegee Institute in his day). Du Bois’s legacy stems from his co-founding the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

The conclusion … is that the journey for full citizenship for African-Americans took 100 years from the time of the Washington / Du Bois chasm. No matter the detailed approach, 100 years is still 100 years.

From the point of view of the Caribbean and the publishers of Go Lean…Caribbean, we side with both civil rights leaders in aspirations, but lean towards Booker T. Washington in strategies. Underlying to Mr. Washington’s advocacy, was for the Black Man to remain in the South, find a way to reconcile with his White neighbors and to prosper where he was planted.

…

The point from a Caribbean perspective is “the more things change, the more they remain the same”. We have problems in the Caribbean to contend with, many of which we are failing miserably. But our biggest crisis stems from the fact that so many of our citizens have fled their Caribbean homelands for foreign (including American) shores.

The purpose of this commentary is not to fix America, it is to fix the Caribbean. But the push-and-pull factors are too strong coming from the US. We must lower the glimmering light, the “pull factors”, that so many Caribbean residents perceive of the “Welcome” sign hanging at American ports-of-entry. A consideration of this commentary helps us to understand the DNA of American society: un-reconciled race relations in which Black-and-Brown are still not respected.

The logical conclusion: stay home in the Caribbean and work toward improving the homeland. The US should not be the panacea of Caribbean hopes and dreams.

Booker T. Washington advocated this strategy: prosper where you’re planted.

After 100 years, and despite an African-American President, we must say to Mr. Booker T. Washington: We concur!

The history and legacy of one of the Booker T’s inspired Black townships – Dearfield, Colorado – is commemorated in the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center in Denver, Colorado. This historicity – see encyclopedic details here – is one of the lessons learned from developments in Denver and the State of Colorado. This is the theme of this series of commentaries on lessons that have been learned by Caribbean stakeholders visiting, observing and reporting on this US State of Colorado.

Reference – Dearfield, Colorado

Dearfield is a “ghost town” and a historically black majority settlement in Weld County, Colorado, United States. It is 30 miles (48 km) east of Greeley. The town was formed by Oliver T. Jackson who desired to create a colony for African Americans; [he was inspired by the ideals set forth in Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery”; see Appendix below]. In 1910, Jackson, a successful businessman from Boulder, filed on the homestead that later became the town and began to advertise for “colonists.” The name Dearfield was suggested by one of the town’s citizens, Dr. J.H.P. Westbrook who was from Denver. The word dear was chosen as the foundation for the town’s name due to the precious value of the land and community to the town’s settlers.^[2]

The first settlers of Dearfield had great difficulty farming the surrounding pasture and endured several harsh seasons. However, by 1921, 700 people lived in Dearfield. The town’s net worth was appraised at $1,075,000. After several prosperous years, the Great Depression arrived and the town’s agricultural success significantly declined. Settlers began to leave Dearfield in order to find better opportunities. By 1940, the town population had decreased to 12, only 2% of the town’s 1921 population. Jackson desperately attempted to spur interest in the town, even offering it for sale. However, there was little interest in Dearfield. Jackson died on February 18, 1948.

A few deserted buildings remain in Dearfield: a gas station, a diner, and the founder’s home. In 1998, the Black American West Museum in Denver began to make attempts to preserve the town’s site. It is a Colorado Registered Historic Landmark. A 2010 monument next to one of the remaining buildings contains information about the history of the site.

A 2001 state historical marker ^[3] at U.S. Route 85 mile marker 264 near Evans, Colorado, includes a panel with the history of Dearfield.
Source: Retrieved August 20, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dearfield,_Colorado

There were other Black townships as well; consider: Allensworth, California, Boley, Oklahoma, and Nicodemus, Kansas.

What befell these towns?

Agents of Change

This is a strong point of contention in the Go Lean book (Page 45). It asserts that the modern world does NOT stand-still; change is ever-present. The Agents of Change that befell the Black townships of that era were mostly:

Geo-political – An early round of globalization where focus, investments and jobs shifted away from the farms to the factories in the cities.
Technology – Agricultural science and methods changed; i.e. fertilizers, seeds, etc.
Climate Change – In the early 1930’s, a pervasive drought afflicted the High Plains of the Mid-West United States, creating the Dust Bowl; this was exacerbated by bad farming practices, that cause the disaster to linger longer than best-practices dictated.
Racism and White Supremacy could have been considered among these Agents of Change, though this societal defect remained unresolved and un-reconciled in American society, no matter the location, North-South or Urban-Rural. Whenever Black townships made progress, malicious acts from the White Majority curtailed any advances. See here:
VIDEO – How Black Communities Were Destroyed | Sincere History – https://youtu.be/jRZ6o0W_pHI
Published on Dec 21, 2015 – A hundred years ago, in communities across the U.S., white residents forced thousands of black families to flee their homes. Even a century later, these towns remain almost entirely white. BANISHED tells the story of three of these communities and their black descendants, who return to learn their shocking histories.”
Reason TV: Urban Renewal – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWGws…
For more, go to http://sincereignorance.com/2014/08/0…
Sincere Ignorance Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sincereignor…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sincereignorant

In the Caribbean, we have so much in common and so much in contrast with this community of Dearfield, and the other towns who suffered the same Ghost Town fate. For starters, we have our own Ghost Towns. We also have Agents of Change (Globalization, Technology, Climate Change and the Aging Diaspora) to contend with. So we have to build-up our Caribbean homeland so that our people can “prosper where planted”. But we do have a home-court advantage that Dearfield et al never enjoyed; we have a majority Black population.

This commentary completes the 5-part series on the subject of Lessons from Colorado. There are so many lessons that we have considered from this land-locked US State; good ones and bad ones. In fact, the full list of 5 entries are detailed as follows:

Lessons from Colorado – Common Sense of Eco-Tourism
Lessons from Colorado – Legalized Marijuana: Heavy-lifting!
Lessons from Colorado – How the West Was Won
Lessons from Colorado – Water Management Art and Science
Lessons from Colorado – Black Ghost Towns

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

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance – including best practices in town planning and agricultture – to support these engines.

The Go Lean roadmap provides turn-by-turn directions on how to forge this change in the region for a reboot of the Caribbean societal engines: economy, security and governance. This roadmap is presented as a planning tool, pronouncing this point early in the Declaration of Interdependence with these statements: (Pages 12 – 13):

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.

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

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

The Go Lean book calls for the elevation of Caribbean society, to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the societal engines so as to make the 30 member-states of the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. Thank you Colorado for these lessons from your past, present and future on how we can better shepherd our society.

Your land is a great place to visit, but it is not our home. But still, you have shown us that nation-building is heavy-lifting and that we need good role models to follow.

There have been other Go Lean blog-commentaries that presented good role models for nation-building, especially in the light of societal defects; see this sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12369	Happy Canada Day 150 to a Pluralistic Democracy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11386	Building Better Cities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10513	Transforming ‘Money’ Countrywide
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6563	Lessons from Iceland – Model of Recovery

If we do not learn from history, we are forced to repeat it.

This also applies to other people’s history. There are so many lessons that the Caribbean can learn from other communities: best practices and bad practices. Let’s pay more than the usual attention to these lessons.

We need all the help we can get. The bad old days of Caribbean dysfunction must end. We must work to do better, to be better.

These lands are our home! (Unlike our African-American brothers and sisters of olden times, we have the home-court advantage):

This is my island in the sun
Where my people have toiled since time begun
I may sail on many a sea
Her shores will always be home to me

Song: Island in the Sun by Harry Belafonte

Yes, we can! We can make our homelands better places to live, work and play. 🙂

… and RIP Dick Gregory.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

———–

Book Review: Up from Slavery

Up from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington sharing his personal experience of having to work to rise up from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton Institute, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama—to help black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps. He reflects on the generosity of both teachers and philanthropists who helped in educating blacks and Native Americans. He describes his efforts to instill manners, breeding, health and a feeling of dignity to students. His educational philosophy stresses combining academic subjects with learning a trade (something which is reminiscent of the educational theories of John Ruskin). Washington explained that the integration of practical subjects is partly designed to reassure the white community as to the usefulness of educating black people.

This book was first released as a serialized work in 1900 through The Outlook, a Christian newspaper of New York. This work was serialized because this meant that during the writing process, Washington was able to hear critiques and requests from his audience and could more easily adapt his paper to his diverse audience.^[1]

Washington was a controversial figure in his own lifetime, and W. E. B. Du Bois, among others, criticized some of his views. The book was, however, a best-seller, and remained the most popular African American autobiography until that of Malcolm X.^[2] In 1998, the Modern Librarylisted the book at No. 3 on its list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century, and in 1999 it was also listed by the conservative Intercollegiate Review as one of the “50 Best Books of the Twentieth Century”.^[3]

Plot summary

Up from Slavery chronicles more than forty years of Washington’s life: from slave to schoolmaster to the face of southern race relations. In this text, Washington climbs the social ladder through hard, manual labor, a decent education, and relationships with great people. Throughout the text, he stresses the importance of education for the black population as a reasonable tactic to ease race relations in the South (particularly in the context of Reconstruction).

Source: Retrieved August 21, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_from_Slavery

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Lessons from Colorado: Water Management Arts & Sciences

Posted on August 21, 2017 in Government, Implementation

Go Lean Commentary

Water is vital for the sustenance of life. So if you’re surrounded by water, then the assumption would be that you have an abundance of life?

Assumption?! The reality in the Caribbean … is just the opposite.

While it should be so easy – 27 of the 30 member-states are islands and the other 3 coastal states are embedded with rainforests – the actuality is the water management in the Caribbean is deficient and dysfunctional.

Jun 06, 2017 – Bahamas island of Eleuthera signs with G.E. to remedy water needs
Nov 18, 2016 – Pan-American Health Organizations answer claims of polluted water in Barbados
Dec 10, 2015 – Jamaica’s Water Sector Not a Runaway Success
Sep 03, 2014 – Curacao has huge water pollution problem, says minister

Say it ain’t so!

There are lessons to be learned by visiting, observing and reporting on other communities that do water management better. This commentary reflects that activity; some Caribbean stakeholders explored the US State of Colorado and discovered that we have so much to learn about how to facilitate the infrastructure of an optimized society. We have seen how water management is an art and a science. (All non-encyclopedic photos in this commentary were snapped in Colorado by Bahamian student Camille Lorraine).

As reported previously, the Caribbean has so much in common and so much in contrast with Colorado. One contrast to consider is how Colorado’s lakes, rivers and waterways are structured to sustain the lives and systems of commerce of that State and … 6 other States plus 2 States in the foreign country of Mexico.

The 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean visited Colorado’s water management. It detailed the strategies, tactics and implementation of the Colorado River Interstate Compact (an agreement between two or more states). This is reported on Page 278 of the book:

The Colorado River Compact is a 1922 agreement among seven US states (upper division: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming; lower division: (Nevada, Arizona and California) in the basin of the Colorado River in the American Southwest governing the allocation of the water rights to the river’s water among the parties of the interstate compact. The agreement was signed at a meeting at Bishop’s Lodge, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, by representatives of the seven states the Colorado river and its tributaries pass through on the way to Mexico.

The compact requires the UpperBasin states not to deplete the flow of the river below 7,500,000 acre feet during any period of ten consecutive years. Based on rainfall patterns observed in the years before the treaty’s signing in 1922, the amount specified in the compact was assumed to allow a roughly equal division of water between the two regions. The states within each basin were required to divide their 7,500,000-acre foot per year share allotment among themselves. In addition to this, 1,500,000-acre-foot per year of Colorado River water is allocated to Mexico, pursuant to the treaty relating to the use of waters of the Colorado and Tijuana rivers and of the Rio Grande, signed February 3, 1944, and its supplementary protocol signed November 14, 1944.

The compact enabled the widespread irrigation of the Southwest, as well as the subsequent development of state and federal water works projects under the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Such projects included the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the 1st and 2nd largest man-made reservoirs in the US.

The headwaters of the Colorado River originate … in Colorado. This is the source.

This commentary continues the 5-part series – this is 4 of 5 – on the subject of Lessons from Colorado. There are so many lessons that we must consider from this land-locked US State; good ones and bad ones. In fact, the full list of 5 entries are detailed as follows:

Lessons from Colorado – Common Sense of Eco-Tourism
Lessons from Colorado – Legalized Marijuana – Heavy-lifting!
Lessons from Colorado – How the West Was Won
Lessons from Colorado – Water Management Art & Science
Lessons from Colorado – Black Ghost Towns – “Booker T. turning in his grave”

The book Go Lean…Caribbean calls for the elevation of Caribbean society, to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the societal engines (economics, security and governance) so as to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. Water is connected to each of these facets of society. The purpose of Water Management is to ensure that the supply of fresh, clean water is steady and inexpensive.

This is an art and a science.

There is even a designating color that is used to brand this science: Blue. This point was identified and qualified in a previous Go Lean commentary, entitled “Blue is the new Green“. There, it stated:

First we said to “Go Green!” Now we are saying to “Go Blue”, because Blue is the new Green. While ‘Green’ is motivated for all-things-environmental, ‘Blue’ refers specifically to Water Conservation.

There is money in Green; there is money in Blue too! The references to Blue waters apply equally to fresh water and seawater. When we consider all the waterscapes in the Caribbean, (1,063,000 square-miles of the Caribbean seas and thousands of islands in the archipelago – The Bahamas has over 700 alone), we realize how much opportunity exists.

There is the chance to get lucky; where luck is defined as the intersection of preparation and opportunity.

Considering all the opportunities, how can the Caribbean prepare its economic engines to harvest all the fruitage from these Blue market conditions? This is the theme of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, that the world is struggling to contend with monumental changes related to technology, globalization and most importantly Climate Change.

Early in the book, the pressing need to be aware of climate change is pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11), with these words, (the first of many “causes of complaints”):

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 Caribbean needs Blue Technology solutions to sustain our own lives, liberties and systems of commerce. But the Go Lean book posits that we cannot just consume, we must also create, produce, and foster. So we must foster industrial solutions for the rest of the world. This foregoing [embedded] magazine article summary highlighted the progression in this new Blue Technology industry-space in these areas:

Sourcing

Treating

Storing

Conserving

Keeping it Clean

So a study of Colorado allows us, in the Caribbean, the opportunity to see Blue Technology solutions at work, in motion and at success in sustaining millions of lives and their dependent systems of commerce. A specific lesson from Colorado is that the responsible parties for the mastery of this “art and science” in Colorado is not Colorado, but rather the US Federal government agency referred to as the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). This agency …

… oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and storage projects that it has built throughout the western United States for irrigation, water supply, and attendant hydroelectric power generation. Currently the USBR is the largest wholesaler of water in the country, bringing water to more than 31 million people, and providing one in five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland, which produce 60% of the nation’s vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts. The USBR is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States.^[4] – Source: Wikipedia.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. The CU would serve the Caribbean role of the USBR, the “new guards” of Caribbean Common Pool Resources; it would be staffed with water management professionals and scientists with the authority – vested by the CU treaty – to execute a master plan that facilitates water efficiencies in the region.

There are lives involved, as water is essential for life. There are also jobs involved, and societal efficiency. The lack of efficiency in the Caribbean status quo – “push” and “pull” factors – is what is responsible for so much abandonment. (In fact, it has been reported that the professional classes of people in the region have abandoned their communities at a rate of 70 percent). So this CU/Go Lean roadmap seeks to reform and transform this bad trending; it has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit, at a federal level; (CU Federation = federal). This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

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

v. Whereas the natural formation of our landmass and coastlines entail a large portion of waterscapes, the reality of management of our interior calls for extended oversight of the waterways between the islands. The internationally accepted 12-mile limits for national borders must be extended by International Tribunals to encompass the areas in between islands. The individual states must maintain their 12-mile borders while the sovereignty of this expanded area, the Exclusive Economic Zone, must be vested in the accedence of this Federation.

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

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.

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

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

Water management is not just vital for basic needs – quenching thirsts – it is also needed to advance the economy. Resorts (tourism) and factories alike, all depend on good water management. Imagine:

As previously detailed, water resources are not cheap. It is only free when it rains. The effort to source, treat, store, conserve and keep water clean takes a big investment on the part of community and governmental institutions.

Thank you Colorado – and your management of this principal river of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico (the other one is the Rio Grande). This 1,450-mile-long river is the hardest working river in North America, as it sustains an arid watershed – (the western US states are considered desert wilderness) – that encompasses parts of 7 US States and 2 Mexican States (Sonora and Baja California). This great river gets its start in the central Rocky Mountains, in the heart of Colorado. See this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Colorado River – I Am Red – https://youtu.be/mqYcC7jEe44

Published on Apr 16, 2013 – The Colorado River is a lifeline in the desert, its water sustaining tens of millions of people in seven states, as well as endangered fish and wildlife. However, demand on the river’s water now exceeds its supply, leaving the river so over-tapped that it no longer flows to the sea. (Video by Pete McBride. Flights by Lighthawk, Ecoflight.)

Learn more and be part of the solution: www.AmericanRivers.org/Colorado

Category: Nonprofits & Activism

License: Standard YouTube License

Colorado is showing us in the Caribbean how hard work pays off; (all photos in this commentary here are from Colorado, and not the Caribbean, despite any leanings). We now know where we can find “best practices” to model effective and efficient water management. The successful application of this lesson from Colorado can help us to make our Caribbean homelands and waterways better places to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Lessons from Colorado: How the West Was Won

Posted on August 20, 2017 in Ethos, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

America – a large country that spans from sea to shiny sea – is the richest, most powerful country in the world. That is today; but this was not always the case. In fact, when the country started in 1776, it only featured 13 colonies (States today) on the mid-coast of the Atlantic Ocean, from Georgia up to New Hampshire. There were no territories on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico nor near the western extremities of the Pacific Ocean.

Question: How and why did the expansion happen from East to West?

Answer: Its complicated!

It was a philosophy embedded in all societal engines of early America (economics, security and governance), branded Manifest Destiny – see the encyclopedic definition in the Appendix below.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean makes an important point about US history and its quest to expand across the North American continent. The book asserts that there are lessons for the Caribbean to glean and learn about nation-building. This is how the subject is addressed in the book: How the West Was Won. This declarative statement is presented as a question and an answer (Page 142) under this title:

10 Lessons from the American West

The Bottom Line on How the West Was Won

The concept of Cowboys (and Indians), riding off in the sunset is embedded into every American child’s DNA. The Old West has been a constant feature and inspiration in American literature, film and TV shows; the concept is enamored by readers and movie-goers around the world. In 1997 the film: How the West Was Won (1962) was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. In addition to the film, this title is featured in a number of American media productions:

How the West Was Won (TV series), a 1970s television series loosely based on the film

How the West Was Won (Bing Crosby album) (1959)

How the West Was Won (Led Zeppelin album), a 2003 live album featuring the band live in 1972

How the West Was Won, a 2002 album by rapper Luni Coleone

How the West Was Won, a song by Laibach on the 1987 album Opus Dei

Despite the projected image, the America of Old was always a pluralistic democracy; there were Africans (slaves and their descendants), Native Americans, Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Pacific Islanders, etc.) and Eastern Europeans. Those that worked so hard to build America were men, women and children of many races and ethnicities. So the “concept of Cowboys riding off in the sunset [that] is embedded into every American child’s DNA” was inaccurately portrayed as only those of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) persuasion.

Question: How the West Was Won?

Answer: With the contributions of many different people. See VIDEO here:

VIDEO: African-American Cowboy – PART 1 – https://youtu.be/JAr2UzErToA

Published on Jun 9, 2010 – Documentary: “African-American Cowboy: The Forgotten Man of the West”. Had to break it into two parts due to YouTube requirements at the time. You can find the complete 14-minute documentary at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jwlM….

PART II: https://youtu.be/kvgh7Pr8s-E

Category: Education

License: Standard YouTube License

Yes, there were Black Cowboys … the image and brand of those who “Won the West” needs to be pluralistic, not just WASP.

… this is the charter of the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center in Denver, Colorado. This site “preserves the history and culture of those African American men and women who helped settle and develop the American West. Located in the former home of Dr. Justina Ford, the first Black woman doctor in Denver. Exhibits on African American cowboys including Bill Pickett“.

African-American cowboys made up approximately 25% of the 35,000 cowboys in the Western Frontier during the 1870s and 1880s.

This is truly How the West Was Won.

This museum presents a unique collection of artifacts and profiles of people, things and equipment of Black Cowboys and their stories of contributions to the great American Western experience.

The emphasis of the museum’s collection is the contribution of black cowboys, ranchers, farmers, miners and buffalo soldiers on the development of the West . The artifacts are available to scholars with advance reservation.

Field Trips and Guided Tours
The museum offers students an educational and entertaining experience through guided tours or a self-directed outing. The museum tour meets the Colorado Model Content Standards and can be customized to your students’ educational needs. – Source: BAWMHC.org

There are many lessons that Caribbean stakeholders can learn from developments in Denver and the State of Colorado. This is the theme of this series of commentaries on lessons that have been learned by Caribbean stakeholders visiting, observing and reporting on the US State of Colorado. (All non-encyclopedic photos in this commentary were snapped in Colorado by Bahamian student Camille Lorraine).

We have so much in common with this community. We have also built our Caribbean homelands with the blood, sweat and tears of many different contributors. In particular, Caribbean member-states have demographic compositions of Africans (29 of 30 territories have this majority), European, Amerindians and Asians (Indian, Chinese, etc.).

This commentary continues the 5-part series – this is entry 3 of 5 – on the subject of Lessons from Colorado. There are so many lessons that we must consider from this land-locked US State; good ones and bad ones. In fact, the full list of 5 entries are detailed as follows:

Lessons from Colorado – Common Sense of Eco-Tourism
Lessons from Colorado – Legalized Marijuana: Heavy-lifting!
Lessons from Colorado – How the West Was Won
Lessons from Colorado – Water Management Art & Science
Lessons from Colorado – Black Ghost Towns – “Booker T. turning in his grave”

The book Go Lean…Caribbean calls for the elevation of Caribbean society, to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the societal engines so as to make the 30 member-states of the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. Thank you Colorado for this lesson from the past on how museums can play a vital role in disseminating truth and fostering reconciliation; these are necessary ingredients for nation-building of a multicultural society.

In a previous blog-commentary commemorating the opening of the new museum in Washington, DC – National Museum of African American History and Culture – it was highlighted how America featured some dark episodes in its history, but that the historic sacrifices of the African sons and daughters contributed greatly to the great society that America became:

This discussion of museums and reconciliations align with the objections of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, in that it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The purpose of this roadmap is to elevate the economy in our Caribbean region, while harnessing the individual genius abilities – as in the arts. This Go Lean/CU roadmap employs strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its 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 the resultant economic engines.

Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

While the Go Lean book is primarily an economic elevation roadmap for the Caribbean, it also details the eco-systems surrounding the business of the arts; there is consideration for jobs and entrepreneurship. The book declares (Page 230) that “art can be a business enabler, [while also serving as an] expression for civic pride and national identity”.

There is even a plan to foster museums that commemorate Caribbean history and culture in a new Caribbean Capital District. (The roadmap calls for a neutral location, among the 30 member-states, to host leaders of the Federation’s Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government). See the quotation here from the book (Page 230):

CU Administered Museums

Modeled after the Smithsonian, the CU “mother” (first-tier) museums will be placed in the Capital District. There will also be “child” museums scattered through out the regions with touring exhibitions.

The Go Lean book identified this vision of reconciliations-museums-art early in the book (Page 10 – 14), as implied in the following pronouncements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence:

Preamble: As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny.

As the colonial history of our region was initiated to create economic expansion opportunities for our previous imperial masters, the structures of government instituted in their wake have not fostered the best systems for prosperity of the indigenous people.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

In addition, there were other commentaries that also addressed the wisdom of museums-monuments and the business of the arts; see this sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9897	Wynward’s Art Walk – The Energy of the Arts
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4145	The African Monument in Dakar, Senegal, Africa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3292	Art Basel Miami – a Testament to the Spread of Art & Culture

There are lessons that the Caribbean today can learn from Colorado’s past. There are economic benefits – imagine art and monument tourism – to many stakeholders; the Go Lean roadmap calls for a federal museum in the CU‘s Capital District.

Most importantly, there are benefits from reconciling the past with the present; to tell the truth of How the West Was Won:

The Good Old Days weren’t always good and tomorrow isn’t as bad as it seems – Song Lyrics: “Keeping the Faith” by Billie Joel.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people (Cowboys & Indians) and societal leaders (business, security and government), to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. Caribbean causes can also be won! We can all work to make our homelands better places to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————

Appendix – Manifest Destiny

In the 19th century, manifest destiny was a widely held belief in the United States that its settlers were destined to expand across North America. There are three basic themes to manifest destiny:

The special virtues of the American people and their institutions
The mission of the United States to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America
An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty^[3]

Historian Frederick Merk says this concept was born out of “a sense of mission to redeem the Old World by high example … generated by the potentialities of a new earth for building a new heaven”.^[4]

Historians have emphasized that “manifest destiny” was a contested concept—pre-civil war Democrats endorsed the idea but many prominent Americans (such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and most Whigs) rejected it. Historian Daniel Walker Howe writes, “American imperialism did not represent an American consensus; it provoked bitter dissent within the national polity … Whigs saw America’s moral mission as one of democratic example rather than one of conquest.”^[5]

Newspaper editor John O’Sullivan is generally credited with coining the term manifest destiny in 1845 to describe the essence of this mindset, which was a rhetorical tone;^[6] however, the unsigned editorial titled “Annexation” in which it first appeared was arguably written by journalist and annexation advocate Jane Cazneau.^[7] The term was used by Democrats in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico and it was also used to divide half of Oregon with the United Kingdom. But manifest destiny always limped along because of its internal limitations and the issue of slavery, says Merk. It never became a national priority. By 1843 John Quincy Adams, originally a major supporter of the concept underlying manifest destiny, had changed his mind and repudiated expansionism because it meant the expansion of slavery in Texas.^[8]

Merk concluded:

From the outset Manifest Destiny—vast in program, in its sense of continentalism—was slight in support. It lacked national, sectional, or party following commensurate with its magnitude. The reason was it did not reflect the national spirit. The thesis that it embodied nationalism, found in much historical writing, is backed by little real supporting evidence.^[9]

The day before finalizing the wording of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail “I am apt to believe that [Independence Day] will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”^[10]

Source: Retrieved August 19, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_destiny

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Lessons from Colorado: Legalized Marijuana – Heavy-lifting!

Posted on August 17, 2017 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Implementation

Go Lean Commentary

“Rocky Mountain High … Colorado” – Song verbiage from John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High – see Appendix A

This is a familiar refrain from a familiar song; a folk rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor about Colorado, and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado;^[1] recorded by Denver in 1972, it went to #9 on the US Hot 100 in 1973; (source: Wikipedia). The song also made #3 on the Easy Listening chart …

But in 2017, the phrase “Rocky Mountain High” has a total different meaning, because the State of Colorado has since legalized recreational use of marijuana.

This is not an easy topic; this is heavy …

There are so many lessons we can learn from the debate, legalization, implementation, regulation and societal repercussions of this product in this State. All in all, it is heavy-lifting. This is the theme of this series of commentaries of lessons that have been learned by Caribbean stakeholders visiting, observing and reporting on the US State of Colorado. (All non-encyclopedic photos in this commentary were snapped in Colorado by Bahamian student Camille Lorraine).

We have so much in common and so much in contrast. One commonality to consider is how Colorado is now associated with marijuana consumption. See Appendix B VIDEO below.

“Welcome to our club”! This has always been the image of Caribbean people and culture – think: Rasta Man smoking Ganja; (marijuana is called ganja in Sanskrit and other modern Indo-Aryan languages.^[173]).

Don’t like the imagery, reputation or sullied practice? Then welcome to societal development 2017; welcome to heavy-lifting.

This commentary continues the 5-part series on the subject of Lessons from Colorado. There are so many lessons that we must consider from this land-locked US State; good ones and bad ones. In fact, the full list of 5 entries are detailed as follows:

Lessons from Colorado – Common Sense of Eco-Tourism
Lessons from Colorado – Legalized Marijuana: Heavy-lifting!
Lessons from Colorado – How the West Was Won
Lessons from Colorado – Water Management Art & Science
Lessons from Colorado – Black Ghost Towns – “Booker T. turning in his grave”

The book Go Lean…Caribbean calls for the elevation of Caribbean society, to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the societal engines so as to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The movement behind this book wants to do the heavy-lifting to reform and transform Caribbean society. So we must tackle these “heavy” issues that others may just want to brush aside. As goes Colorado, soon the rest of the US – 4 states currently support recreational use of marijuana; many others support medical marijuana; in total 28 states will have some kind of legalization on the books).

“Marijuana legalization is now the norm for 40 percent of the American population.”

It is only a matter of time – considering American tourism, trade and Caribbean students matriculating in the US – when this debate comes to our door in the Caribbean.

Oops, too late!

According to social media sites, there is already an outcry for regional leaders to consider some form of legalization or decriminalization in the Caribbean.

This issue has previously been addressed by planners of a new Caribbean stewardship – see here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9646	‘Time to Go’ – American Vices, i.e. Marijuana. Don’t Follow!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1386	Puff Peace – The Debate for Marijuana in Jamaica

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

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.

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

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

There are moral, religious, legal and psychological (treatment) issues associated with this topic; and there is history – good and bad. Any jurisdiction decriminalizing the use of marijuana has to contend with the previous messaging to the community of: “Just say no to drugs”.

The [Go Lean] book asserts that before the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies of a roadmap to elevate a society can be deployed, the affected society must first embrace a progressive community ethos. The book defines this “community ethos” as the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of society; dominant assumptions of a people or period. Think of the derivative term: “work ethic”.

Marijuana is a mood-altering drug; it has negative effects, one being preponderance for apathy, to tune out of any active engagement. In the US, even in the states where marijuana is legal, most firms/governments still screen staffers (new hires and veterans) and ban consumption of the drug. The reason is simple: Apathy does not make for industriousness. So this issue/drug presents a conundrum for the CU. The mission to grow the economy, promote industriousness, foster new jobs and new industries is pronounced early in the roadmap, detailed in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) with this statement:

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries … In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries … impacting the region with more jobs.

So to all you Caribbean stakeholders clamoring to follow Colorado’s lead … into the heavy-lifting of legalized marijuana use, we ask this one question:

Are you ready for this?

Thank you Colorado, for your fine role model. You have provided guidelines and learned-lessons that we can apply in our own jurisdictions. We learn that there are “pros” and “cons” to this controversial issue. Colorado authorities report that for 2016, they transacted over $1.1 Billion in marijuana sales for recreational and medicinal purposes; the State have collected $141 million in taxes, licenses and fees. The repercussions and consequences of legalized marijuana have not just been economic benefits, there have been public safety (security) incidents as well. Consider these headlines:

August 14, 2017 – Police ID man who died in crash south of Kremmling; criminal DUI charges follow for driver
August 03, 2017 – Woman arrested after fleeing rollover crash facing multiple drug charges
June 21, 2017 – Study: Legal Pot Behind Rise In Car Crashes

The Go Lean movement, as stewards of a new Caribbean, must answer the same question:

Are we ready?

No, our communities and societal engines (economics, security and governance) are NOT ready!

Yes, we accept the challenge; we hereby urge all Caribbean stakeholders – governments, law enforcement agencies, social and civic agencies – to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap for how to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play.

Our judgment now is that the Caribbean is not ready to sanction recreational marijuana use, but still …

… it is what it is.

We must be prepared and “on guard” for “bad actors” (and foreigners) to exploit the demand for this activity in our community. We are not trying to be Colorado, or to be America; no, we are trying to be better. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————–

Appendix A – John Denver – Rocky Mountain High – https://youtu.be/eOB4VdlkzO4

Published on Apr 5, 2013 – John Denver’s official audio for ‘Rocky Mountain High’. Click to listen to John Denver on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/JohnDenverSpotify?…

As featured on The Essential John Denver. Click to buy the track or album via iTunes: http://smarturl.it/EssentialJD?IQid=J…
Google Play: http://smarturl.it/RMHGPlay?IQid=John…
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/EJDAmazon?IQid=Joh…

More from John Denver
Take Me Home, Country Roads: https://youtu.be/1vrEljMfXYo
Leaving On A Jet Plane: https://youtu.be/SneCkM0bJq0
Sunshine On My Shoulders: https://youtu.be/diwuu_r6GJE

More great 70s videos here: http://smarturl.it/Ultimate70?IQid=Jo…

Follow John Denver
Website: http://johndenver.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnDenver
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johndenvermusic
Subscribe to John Denver on YouTube: http://smarturl.it/JohnDenverSub?IQid…
———
Lyrics:
He was born in the summer of his 27^th year, coming home to a place he’d never been before.
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again,
you might say he found a key for every door.
When he first came to the mountains, his life was far away on the road and hanging by a song.
But the string’s already broken and he doesn’t really care,
it keeps changing fast, and it don’t last for long.

And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high, I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky.
The shadows from the starlight are softer than a lullaby.
Rocky Mountain high, Colorado. Rocky Mountain high.

Category: Music
License: Standard YouTube License

—————–

Appendix B – Legalized: A Year In The Life Of Colorado’s Legal Weed Experiment | NBC News – https://youtu.be/B1cyfObqehI

Published on Nov 9, 2016 – Election night 2016 was a big night for the marijuana legalization movement as multiple states passed measures including recreations initiatives in California and Massachusetts. This piece documented the first year of Colorado’s legal weed experiment.

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Legalized: A Year In The Life Of Colorado’s Legal Weed Experiment | NBC News

Category: News & Politics
License: Standard YouTube License

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Model, Power, Transform

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Lessons from Colorado: Common Sense of Eco-Tourism

Posted on August 16, 2017 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Tourism is both give and take!

To visually depict this, imagine a “well of water”. In the Caribbean we take from that well with our voluminous tourism activities – many guests partake of our hospitality with stay-overs and cruises. And then, periodically, our Caribbean stakeholders “give back” by visiting other destinations.

This is the theme of this series of commentaries. There are lessons that have been learned from visiting a tourist destination that is foreign to the Caribbean. That destination is the US State of Colorado.

We have so much in common and so much in contrast. One commonality to consider is how Colorado structures its tourism around the natural terrain of its mountains: the Rocky Mountains range; see Appendix VIDEO. This is also true in the Caribbean, where we structure our tourism around our natural terrain: sun, sand and sea.

This commentary opens a 5-part series on the subject of Lessons from Colorado. There are so many lessons that we must consider from this land-locked US State; good ones and bad ones. In fact, the full list of 5 entries are detailed as follows:

Lessons from Colorado – Common Sense of Eco-Tourism
Lessons from Colorado – Legalized Marijuana: Heavy-lifting!
Lessons from Colorado – How the West Was Won
Lessons from Colorado – Water Management Art & Science
Lessons from Colorado – Black Ghost Towns – “Booker T. turning in his grave”

The book Go Lean…Caribbean calls for the elevation of Caribbean society, to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the engines of commerce so as to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The category of “play” covers the full scope of tourism, which is the primary economic driver for our Caribbean region – and a lot of American communities; see Appendix below – the book estimates 80 million visitors among the Caribbean member-states. (Since that number includes cruise passengers that may visit multiple Caribbean islands on one itinerary, each port is counted separately; without cruise passengers, a figure of 68 – 69 million is perhaps more accurate).

There are a number of specific categories of tourism. In the course of time, this commentary have considered these globally –accepted definitions:

Resort Tourism – Hospitality tied to destinations and attractions; think Disney World, Beaches.
Cruise Tourism – The destination is the ship (luxuries & amenities) and the ports-of-call.
Event Tourism – The focus is to attend cultural events; the capacity for accommodation can determine success.
Sports Tourism – Participants and spectators for sports tournaments.
Medical Tourism – Patients traveling for standard, alternative and experimental treatments.
Eco-Tourism – Structured around natural terrain and/or monuments, with minimal infrastructural enhancements (i.e. roads, docks, lifts, zip lines, etc.).

Our focus here is on eco-tourism.

ec·o·tour·ism
noun
1. tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, especially to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife. – Oxford.

2. a form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, intended as a low-impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial mass tourism. – Wikipedia

In terms of give-and-take, this category is all “take”. Visitors consume the territory and take nothing away but memories. This business model is masterfully administered in the State of Colorado; they feature two “crown jewels”: Rocky Mountain National Park and the Garden of the Gods:

Rocky Mountain National Park is a United States national park located approximately 76 mi (122 km) northwest of Denver International Airport^[4] in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and Grand Lake to the west. The eastern and westerns slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park with the headwaters of the Colorado River located in the park’s northwestern region.^[5] The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra.

The Rocky Mountain National Park Act was signed by then–President Woodrow Wilson on January 26, 1915, establishing the park boundaries and protecting the area for future generations.^[2] The Civilian Conservation Corps built the main automobile route, named Trail Ridge Road, in the 1930s.^[2] In 1976, UNESCO designated the park as one of the first World Biosphere Reserves.^[6] In 2016, more than four and a half million recreational visitors entered the park, which is an increase of about nine percent from the prior year.^[7] [The actual number is 4,517,585 (in 2016)^[3]]

(Photo Credit: Camille Lorraine, vacationing Bahamian student)

The park has a total of five visitor centers^[8] with park headquarters… – Source: Wikipedia

To allow for the full consumption of this Rocky Mountain National Park, the authorities only had to invest in infrastructure for these visitor centers and roads. Ditto for the “Garden of the Gods” attraction; see details of this example here:

Garden of the Gods is a public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, US. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971.^[1]

(Photo Credit: Camille Lorraine, vacationing Bahamian student)

The Garden of the Gods Park is popular for hiking, technical rock climbing, road and mountain biking and horseback riding. It attracts more than two million visitors a year, making it the city’s most visited park. There are more than 15 miles of trails with a 1.5-mile trail running through the heart of the park that is paved and wheelchair accessible. Annual events including two summer running races, recreational bike rides and Pro Cycling Challenge Prologue also take place in this park.^[9]

The main trail in the park, Perkins Central Garden Trail, is a paved, wheelchair-accessible 1.1-mile trail, “through the heart of the park’s largest and most scenic red rocks”. The trail begins at the North Parking lot, the main parking lot off of Juniper Way Loop.^[10]

Because of the unusual and steep rock formations in the park, it is an attractive destination for rock climbers. Rock climbing is permitted, with annual permits obtained at the City of Colorado Springs’ website.

The Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center is located at 1805 N. 30th Street and offers a view of the park. The center’s information center and 30 educational exhibits are staffed by Parks, Recreation and Culture employees of the City of Colorado Springs. – Source: Wikipedia

The common sense of it all!

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

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

iv. Whereas the natural formation of the landmass is in a tropical region, the flora and fauna allows for an inherent beauty that is enviable to peoples near and far. The structures must be strenuously guarded to protect and promote sustainable systems of commerce paramount to this reality.

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.

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

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

Eco-tourism is just common sense. We should not miss out on these benefits.

Yes, there is the need for some investment (roads, trails, lifts and visitor centers), but the returns are quantifiable, undeniable and irresistible. This is how Caribbean communities can grow their economic engines. This is the quest of the Go Lean movement. This was anticipated from the beginning of the Go Lean movement with the focus on UNESCO World Heritage Sites for the Caribbean region. See this Page (248) from the book:

Click on Photo to Enlarge

The Go Lean details that 1,000 additional jobs can be created by fostering the promotion and development of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the region. This is just common sense.

Thank you Colorado, for your fine role model.

We can do the same; we can make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix VIDEO – Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA in 4K (Ultra HD) – https://youtu.be/tdWV2xEyOfE

Published on Sep 23, 2016 –

Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is one of the most popular and scenic National Parks in the United States, famous for its high mountain peaks, alpine lakes, abundant wildlife. The main sightseeing road in the park, and some of the hiking trails cross over the 12,000 feet/3,600 m altitude line;

Locations in the video:
Sprague Lake (0:01), Nymph Lake (0:17), Dream Lake (0:38), Emerald Lake (0:59), Lake Haiyaha (1:12), The Loch (1:26), Timberline Falls (1:51), Sky Pond (2:24), Mills Lake (2:57), Alberta Falls (3:05), Multiple viewpoints along the Trail Ridge Road (3:10, 8:12), Chasm Lake Trail (4:03), Chasm Lake (4:54), Mt Ida Hike (6:39), Horseshoe Falls (8:58), Chasm Falls (9:26), Old Fall River Road (9:31).

Recorded August 2016 in 4K (Ultra HD) with Sony AX100.

Music:
Mystic Crock – Difference – The Difference (Part II)
http://mysticcrock.bandcamp.com
Licensed via ilicensemusic.com

If you enjoyed this video please like, share, comment, favorite, subscribe!
Visit my channel for more Amazing Places on Our Planet:
https://www.youtube.com/milosh9k

Music: Mystic Crock (official)
Category: Travel & Events
License: Standard YouTube License

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APPENDIX – American Tourism Statistics

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