News Flash: The Caribbean member-states are not as advanced as other North American locations (US & Canada) or many Western European countries.
Duh! Obvious, right?!
We (the Caribbean) have not all fully embraced all that is modern, like the internet in its many modes … broadband, Wi-Fi, satellite and mobile utilities. Some countries are worse than others in this regards. In some places, there may be no internet access at all.
The assertion in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, is that any plan to reboot Caribbean economics, security and governance must include promotion and regulation of Internet and Communications Technologies (ICT) as well. This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to facilitate the growth, stewardship and oversight of ICT and electronic commerce in a regional Single Market.
This ad-supported news VIDEO here reports on one of our worst cases, Cuba:
Posted on October 12, 2015 – Cuba has announced plans to expand internet access by adding Wi-Fi capacity to dozens of state-run internet centers and more than halving the cost that users pay for an hour online.
(Press || PAUSE || to STOP the continuous VIDEO).
Cuba’s lack of ICT infrastructure is understandable, considering the historicity of that island nation. (Though change is imminent!)
What’s frightening though is that ALL of the Caribbean is just a natural disaster away from also “going dark” on the internet. Imagine a hurricane, or an earthquake, or even a volcano! And yet different Caribbean member-states have been affected by these disasters … just recently.
This commentary is therefore a melding of ICT, economics, security and governance. This is a big deal for the Caribbean, as the internet is being pitched in the Go Lean roadmap as an equalizing element for the Caribbean region in competition with the rest of the world. So the internet is slated to deliver more than just email messages, but rather, to deliver the Caribbean’s future.
With the internet as the delivery vehicle, there must now be oversight and promotion for this information super-highway. Too much – as in the future for our children – is at stake.
This Go Lean roadmap calls for the heavy-lifting of building Caribbean communities, of shepherding important aspects of Caribbean life, including telecommunication policies across member-state borders. In fact, the roadmap has these 3 prime directives:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus – including an emergency management apparatus – to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, utilizing a separation-of-powers with member-states.
These prime directives will elevate Caribbean society, above and beyond what any one member-state can do alone. This is the prospect of a unified effort, a leveraged Single Market. This reality was identified early in the Go Lean book (Pages 13 & 14) in the in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:
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. … [The] accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.
So what exactly can be promoted here and now to elevate the Caribbean region’s ICT infrastructure above and beyond what the member-states can do themselves, independently? Or more so, what can be accomplished for ICT infrastructure during times of distress?
This following news article identifies an effort by the social media giant Facebook, to employ internet access by satellite when land-lines are unavailable, or not even installed. See the story here, considering that this solution would be perfect for the Caribbean:
Title: Facebook to launch satellite to expand Internet access in Africa
(Reuters) – Facebook Inc said it would launch a satellite in partnership with France’s Eutelsat Communications to bring Internet access to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
The satellite, part of Facebook’s Internet.org platform to expand internet access mainly via mobile phones, is under construction and will be launched in 2016, the companies said on Monday. (http://on.fb.me/1JPiTZC)
The satellite, called AMOS-6, will cover large parts of West, East and Southern Africa, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.
“To connect people living in remote regions, traditional connectivity infrastructure is often difficult and inefficient, so we need to invent new technologies,” Zuckerberg said.
The Internet.org platform offers free access to pared-down web services, focused on job listings, agricultural information, healthcare and education, as well as Facebook’s own social network and messaging services.
Growth in the number of people with access to the Internet is slowing, and more than half the world’s population is still offline, the United Nations Broadband Commission said last month.
Facebook has nearly 20 million users in major African markets Nigeria and Kenya, statistics released by it showed last month, with a majority using mobile devices to access their profiles.
The company opened its first African office in Johannesburg in June.
Tech news website The Information reported in June that Facebook had abandoned plans to build a satellite to provide Internet service to continents such as Africa. (http://bit.ly/1JPiVkn)
(Reporting by Sai Sachin R in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)
This issue of internet deployment and governance has been a frequent topic for Go Lean commentaries. Other blog-commentaries on this subject have detailed the full width-and-breath of preparing Caribbean society for the diverse economic, security and governing issues of managing ICT as a utility in this new century. See sample blogs here:
Caribbean Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) urges greater innovation and protection.
These commentaries demonstrate that there is the need for a technocratic governing body to better facilitate and promote the internet in the Caribbean, for commerce, security and government applications. The CU is designed to provide that governance and promotion. Successful execution of the CU/Go Lean roadmap will result a surge in internet/online activity and transactions; as there is the plan to deploy schemes for e-Commerce (Central Bank adoption of Electronic Payment systems) and a Facebook-style social media network www.myCaribbean.gov; (administered by the regional Caribbean Postal Union).
The Go Lean book details the community ethos, plus the execution of related strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to facilitate this ICT vision. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius
Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property
Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development
Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide
Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States into a Single Market
Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Embrace the Advances of Technology
Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change
Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Caribbean Central Bank
Page 73
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Caribbean Postal Union
Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Communications and Media Authority
Page 79
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change
Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver
Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean
Page 118
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – Cyber-Caribbean
Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
Page 136
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed
Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – Promotion of e-Learning
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street – Wifi & Mobile Apps: Time and Place
Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Monopolies – Utilities to Oversee ICT/New Media
Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Youth – Foster Work Ethic for ICT
Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Broadband for Work-at-Home
Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living – Ideal for Satellite Deployment
Page 235
While the Go Lean book focuses primarily on economic issues, it also recognizes that technology is paramount.
We must nurture growth in this industry space – Cyber Space – for the Caribbean’s present and future dispositions.
The returns on our investments will be garnered by our children.
For example:
Imagine no need to go abroad to college because access is enabled for any college/university of choice by logging on to the internet.
We must welcome this change!
The Go Lean book describes the effort to create this reality as heavy-lifting, and then urges all to lean-in to this roadmap.
This urging is repeated here again. All Caribbean stakeholders (people, organizations and governments) are urged to lean-in to this roadmap. This is conceivable, believable and achievable. We can do this … and make the region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
There are so many lessons the Caribbean region can learn from the island Republic of Iceland.
First, it’s an island, Duh!!!
Just like with the Caribbean, logistics of trade is more difficult as it must be based on naval and aeronautical solutions.
They have natural disasters … volcanoes as opposed to hurricanes or earthquakes.
The population is 320,000 … the range of many Caribbean countries; (i.e. Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guadeloupe (Fr.), Martinique (Fr.) and Suriname). Yet, it is not grouped with the formal Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as is all the sovereign Caribbean territories. The following defines the common traits:
Small Island Developing States are low-lying coastal [sovereign] countries that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges, including small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, excessive dependence on international trade, and fragile environments. Their growth and development is also held back by high communication, energy and transportation costs, irregular international transport volumes, disproportionately expensive public administration and infrastructure due to their small size, and little to no opportunity to create economies-of-scale. – Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Island_Developing_States
Iceland has done many things well so that everyone in the Caribbean, all SIDS countries for that matter, need to take notice.
During the bad days of the Great Recession – at the precipice of disaster – the country deviated from other troubled regions …
Iceland let its banks fail in 2008 because they proved too big to save.
How does it relate to the Caribbean? The Caribbean is at the precipice … now; many of the member-states are near Failed-State status, while others are still hoping to recover from the devastating Great Recession of 2008. Turn-around should not take this long – 7 years. Strategies, tactics and implementations of best-practices to effect a turn-around must be pursued now.
Iceland has now recovered, and complaining about a 2% unemployment rate. What did they do that was so radically different than other locations? For one, they changed course regarding economics, security and governing policies. An ultra-capitalist movement had taken hold of the country and business communities; they pursued an aggressive “boom-or-bust” strategy, that ultimately “busted”, rather than continue on that road, the country – all aspects of society – altered course and returned to a path of sound fundamentals.
They rebooted and turned-around! Iceland embraced all aspects of turn-around strategies, mandating bankruptcies and “wind-downs” so that the economy – and society in general – could start anew.
This article is in consideration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to provide better stewardship, to ensure that the economic/currency failures of the past, in the Caribbean and other regions, do not re-occur here in the homeland.
We can learn so much from this episode in Icelandic history, the good, the bad and the ugly. See the encyclopedic details here:
Reference Title: Iceland’s Economy and Recovery In 2007, Iceland was the seventh most productive country in the world per capita (US$54,858), and the fifth most productive by GDP at purchasing power parity ($40,112). About 85 percent of total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domestically produced renewable energy sources.[93] Utilization of abundant hydroelectric and geothermal power has made Iceland the world’s largest electricity producer per capita.[94] … Historically, Iceland’s economy depended heavily on fishing, which still provides 40% of export earnings and employs 7% of the work force.[49] The economy is vulnerable to declining fish stocks and drops in world prices for its main material exports: fish and fish products, aluminum, and ferrosilicon.
Iceland had been hit especially hard by the Great Recession that began in December 2007, because of the failure of its banking system and a subsequent economic crisis. Before the crash of the country’s three largest banks, Glitnir, Landsbanki and Kaupthing, their combined debt exceeded approximately six times the nation’s gross domestic product of €14 billion ($19 billion).[116][117] In October 2008, the Icelandic parliament passed emergency legislation to minimize the impact of the Financial crisis. The Financial Supervisory Authority of Iceland used permission granted by the emergency legislation to take over the domestic operations of the three largest banks.[118] Icelandic officials, including central bank governor Davíð Oddsson, stated that the state did not intend to take over any of the banks’ foreign debts or assets. Instead, new banks were established to take on the domestic operations of the banks, and the old banks will be run into bankruptcy.
On 28 October 2008, the Icelandic government raised interest rates to 18% (as of August 2010, it was 7%), a move which was forced in part by the terms of acquiring a loan from International Monetary Fund (IMF). After the rate hike, trading on the Icelandic króna finally resumed on the open market, with valuation at around 250 ISK per Euro, less than one-third the value of the 1:70 exchange rate during most of 2008, and a significant drop from the 1:150 exchange ratio of the week before.
On 20 November 2008, in an effort to stabilize the situation, the Icelandic government stated that all domestic deposits in Icelandic banks would be guaranteed, imposed strict capital controls to stabilize the value of the Icelandic króna, and secured a US$5.1bn sovereign debt package from the IMF and the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden agreed to lend $2.5 billion. [119] – in order to finance a budget deficit and the restoration of the banking system. (The international bailout support program led by IMF officially ended on August 31, 2011, while the capital controls which were imposed in November 2008 are still in place only recently ended in the last few weeks).
On 26 January 2009, the coalition government collapsed due to the public dissent over the handling of the financial crisis. A new left-wing government was formed a week later and immediately set about removing Central Bank governor Davíð Oddsson and his aides from the bank through changes in law. Davíð was removed on 26 February 2009 in the wake of protests outside the Central Bank.[120]
The financial crisis had a serious negative impact on the Icelandic economy. The national currency fell sharply in value, foreign currency transactions were virtually suspended for weeks, and the market capitalization of the Icelandic stock exchange fell by more than 90%. As a result of the crisis, Iceland underwent a severe economic depression; the country’s gross domestic product dropped by 10% in real terms between the third quarter of 2007 and the third quarter of 2010.[6] A new era with positive GDP growth started in 2011, and has helped foster a gradually declining trend for the unemployment rate. The government budget deficit has declined from 9.7% of GDP in 2009 and 2010 to 0.2% of GDP in 2014;[7] the central government gross debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to decline to less than 60% in 2018 from a maximum of 85% in 2011.[8]
[A post-mortem analysis helped to put the blame for Iceland’s crisis on a bad community ethos that had encapsulated the whole country related to debt]:
[Disregarding their] small domestic market, Iceland’s banks had financed their expansion with loans on the interbank lending market and, more recently, by deposits from outside Iceland (which are also a form of external debt). Households also took on a large amount of debt, equivalent to 213% of disposable income, which led to inflation.[117] This inflation was exacerbated by the practice of the Central Bank of Iceland issuing liquidity loans to banks on the basis of newly issued, uncovered bonds[118] – effectively, printing money on demand.
[Then the turn-around took hold …]
By mid-2012 Iceland was regarded as one of Europe’s recovery success stories. It has had two years of economic growth. Unemployment was down to 6.3% and Iceland was attracting immigrants to fill jobs. Currency devaluation effectively reduced wages by 50% making exports more competitive and imports more expensive. Ten-year government bonds were issued below 6%, lower than some of the PIIGS nations in the EU (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain). Tryggvi Thor Herbertsson, a member of parliament, noted that adjustments via currency devaluations are less painful than government labor policies and negotiations.
By June 2012, Landsbanki managed to repay about half of the Icesave debt.[124]
According to Bloomberg, Iceland was on the trajectory of 2% unemployment as a result of crisis-management decisions made back in 2008, including allowing the banks to fail.[125]. [Here are the highlighted bullets of this story posted January 27, 2014:]
Iceland let its banks fail in 2008 because they proved too big to save.
Now, the island is finding crisis-management decisions made half a decade ago have put it on a trajectory that’s turned 2 percent unemployment into a realistic goal.
While the Euro area grapples with record joblessness, led by more than 25 percent in Greece and Spain …
Published on Aug 28, 2015 – Central Bank of Iceland Governor Mar Gudmundsson talks with Brendan Greeley about Iceland’s capital controls and what Greece can learn from Iceland in handling its credit crisis. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets.”
The lessons from Iceland really magnify in reflection of the Caribbean considering the community ethos or attitudes regarding “debt”. The book described community ethos as:
“the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period; practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period” – Go Lean…Caribbean Page 20.
While Iceland featured a negative community ethos in this case, their model demonstrates that the spirit-beliefs-customs-practices of a community can be altered.
Yes, Iceland fixed their heart … first; then the recovery of the community’s economic, security and governing engines took root. It is very important that the Caribbean learn this lesson and apply the corrections to our community ethos, and then to our systems of commerce and governance. The Go Lean book opened with this pronouncement (Page 10), gleaning insight from the US Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
The Go Lean roadmap calls for instituting the CU Trade Federation and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to take the lead in forging the needed changes to the region’s economic and financial eco-systems. Firstly, there is the need to foster the best practices in the region regarding debt. The roadmap calls for a cooperative among Central Banks to form the CCB to foster interdependence, sharing, economies-of-scale and collaboration across the region despite the divergent politics, culture and languages. The premise is simple: while we are all different, we are all “in the same boat”. So the underlying principle of this motivation is the regional Greater Good.
The realities of the Great Recession, and Iceland’s troubles in the foregoing reference source, prove the interconnectivity of the financial systems; bank/currency troubles in one country easily become trouble for another country. A larger Single Market (42 million people in 30 member-states) for the Caribbean would provide less elasticity and more shock-absorption here from eruptions in the global financial markets. The Caribbean is never spared; in fact we are directly affected as tourism – our primary economic driver – depends on the disposable income from our trading partners, mostly North American and Western European countries. This is why our region was so devastated with the events, repercussions and consequences of 2008.
Considering the past, the Caribbean has had to learn hard lessons on economic booms … and busts. Any attempt to reboot Caribbean economic landscape must first start with a strenuous oversight of regional currencies. Thusly, the strategy is to integrate to the single currency, the Caribbean Dollar (C$). The tactical approach is to provide technocratic oversight with the CCB pursuing only the Greater Good, and no special group’s special interest.
Also in the opening of the Go Lean book, this need for regional stewardship of Caribbean currencies was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence(Page 12 & 13) with these statements:
xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.
xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation 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.
xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.
xxv. Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.
The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to appoint new stewards for the regional financial eco-system. These points are detailed in the book as follows:
Community Assessment – Puerto – The Greece of the Caribbean
Page 18
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs
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 – Economic Principles – Money Multiplier
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 – Count on the Greedy to be Greedy
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds – Bankruptcy Processing
Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate the region into a Single Market
Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the Stability of the Securities Markets
Page 45
Strategy – Provide Proper Oversight and Support for the Depository Institutions
Page 46
Strategy – e-Payments and Card-based Transactions
Page 49
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union
Page 63
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Minimizing Bubbles
Anecdote – Turning Around CARICOM – Effects of 2008 Financial Crisis
Page 92
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank as a Cooperative
Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt
Page 114
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Single Market / Currency Union
Page 127
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008
Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from New York City – Wall Street
Page 137
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress
Page 147
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies
Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Control Inflation
Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange
Page 154
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance
Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract
Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives
Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Electronic Commerce
Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations
Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street
Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street
Page 201
Appendix – Tool-kits for Capital Controls
Page 315
There is a lot to learn from the analysis of economic stewardship of other communities. The successes and failures of banking/economic stewardship were further elaborated upon in these previous blog-commentaries:
Analyzing the Data – What Banks learn about financial risks
According to the foregoing article, and VIDEO, the origin of Iceland’s crisis was greed; the banks assuming more risk, to garner more profit, and consumers borrowing more credit so as to … consume more.
Greed – it is what it is.
The Go Lean book declares to “count on greedy people to be greedy” (Page 26). This situation is manifested time and again, all over the world. The Go Lean book provides the roadmap to anticipate greed, monitor and mitigate it. The book declares (Page 23):
… “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent. A Bible verse declares: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” – Ecclesiastes 1:9 New International Version.
We have so many lessons to learn from the Great Recession, and the disposition of Iceland.
The Caribbean is hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean confederation roadmap. Everyone – people, businesses, banks and governments – can benefit from the consideration of this roadmap. As this roadmap is the “turn-by-turn directions”, the heavy-lifting, to move the region to its new destination: a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂
“Exigent circumstances” call for extraordinary measures.
The textbook definition is a situation that demands prompt action or remedy; an emergency. On the other hand, the actual legal definition:
An exigent circumstance, in the criminal procedurelaw of the United States, allows law enforcement, under certain circumstances, to enter a structure without a search warrant or, if they have a “knock and announce” warrant, without knocking and waiting for refusal. It must be a situation where people are in imminent danger, evidence faces imminent destruction, or a suspect’s imminent escape. (Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exigent_circumstance)
What would constitute an “exigent circumstance” requiring national attention?
War (or any threat to national defense), of course …
… high-crime incidents and natural disasters.
These are all physicals circumstances. In American jurisprudence, physical threats are categorized as a ‘Clear and Present Danger’ where a potential danger must be assuaged otherwise it will likely cause a catastrophe. (This point was detailed in a previous blog-commentary).
But as for economic exigent circumstances, these can also be catastrophic!
The prominent economic exigent circumstance of recent history is the Great Recession of 2008 – see VIDEO here. (The whole world has been shaped by the events of 2008).
The US Secretary of the Treasury at that time, Henry Paulson, recognized the urgency and emergency of the financial crisis early in 2008 and asked the President (George W. Bush) for a War Powers Declaration; (Appendix A). This refers to the federal law intended to allow the US Congress to declare war, while the President executes the war as Commander-in-Chief.
In 2008 historicity, Congress did approve legislation to declare and fund a defense against the financial crisis; and the President did command a Bail-out strategy to restore the integrity of the economy.
This was economic war! Not just some normal market correction.
Were the radical steps taken by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to avert the financial crisis legal? When and why did political elites and the general public question the legitimacy of the government’s responses to the crisis?
In [the book] To The Edge: Legality, Legitimacy, and the Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis, Philip Wallach chronicles and examines the legal and political controversies surrounding the government’s responses to the recent financial crisis. The economic devastation left behind is well-known, but some allege that even more lasting harm was inflicted on America’s rule of law tradition and government legitimacy by the ambitious attempts to limit the fallout. In probing these claims, Wallach offers a searching inquiry into the meaning of the rule of law during crises.
The book provides a detailed analysis of the policies undertaken – from the rescue of Bear Stearns in March 2008 through the tumultuous events of September 2008, the passage of the TARP and its broad usage, the alphabet soup of emergency Federal Reserve programs, the bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM, and the extended public ownership of AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Throughout, Wallach probes the legal bases of the government’s actions and explores why concerns about the legitimacy of government actions were only sporadically grounded in concerns about legality – and sometimes ran directly against them.
The public’s sense that government officials operated through ad hoc responses that favored powerful interests has helped bring the legitimacy of American governmental institutions to historic lows. Wallach’s book recommends constructive and sensible reforms policymakers should take to ensure accountability and legitimacy before the government faces another crisis.
The book Go Lean…Caribbean was written in the wake of this same 2008 Financial Crisis, but for the limited perspective for the Caribbean. Many lessons-learned from 2008 are considered and applied in appropriate strategies, tactics and implementations to re-boot the Caribbean region from the catastrophe of this crisis; many member-states of the region are still suffering; i.e. Puerto Rico. The foregoing Book Review highlights a publication that is a study of the depth-and-width of the legal maneuvering for the 2008 crisis; now the same writer, Philip Wallach, has composed a supplemental essay asserting a new label to the crisis “lawfare”; see Appendix B for definition and the essay in Appendix C below.
This lawfare consideration is presented in conjunction to mitigations and remediation for protecting the Caribbean homeland. The assertion in the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 23) is that with the emergence of new economic engines, “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent. But the book warns against more than just people, rather “bad or exigent circumstances”; thusly referring to corporate entities, natural disasters and other cross-border threats; 2008 would have fit this definition. The book relates that “bad actors” is a historical fact that will be repeated again and again.
This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:
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.
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…
xxv. Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.
The Caribbean appointing “new guards” (security pact) to ensure public safety must include many strategies, tactics and implementations considered “best-practices” for economic crimes and systemic threats. We must be on a constant vigil against “exigence”, man-made, natural and economic. This indicates being pro-active in monitoring, mitigating and managing risks. Then when “crap” happens – economic crises – the “new guards” will be prepared for “exigent circumstances”.
The Go Lean book is a petition for change, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, and also homeland security in the region, since these are inextricably linked to this same endeavor.
Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and the Caribbean homeland.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
This is not just academic, as in the case of the foregoing Book Review and supplemental essay in Appendix C. Principals among Go Lean planners were there in 2008, engaged with major stakeholders of the Global Financial crisis: Lehman Brothers, BearStearns, JPMorganChase, CitiGroup, etc. This is real experience from the real crisis; see documentary VIDEO here:
This 1st of 4 parts documentary elapses 2 and half hours in total. It is recommended that this be consumed at some point as extra-credit to this discussion. Uploaded on Oct 13, 2011-In the first episode of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne.
The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929. But how did it all go so wrong?
Lack of government regulation; easy lending in the US housing market meant anyone could qualify for a home loan with no government regulations in place.
Also, London was competing with New York as the banking capital of the world. Gordon Brown, the British finance minister at the time, introduced ‘light touch regulation’ – giving bankers a free hand in the marketplace.
All this, and with key players making the wrong financial decisions, saw the world’s biggest financial collapse.
Planners of the Go Lean movement were there, on the inside looking out, not the outside looking in. They were among the movers-and-shakers of the macro economy, not just armchair “Monday-morning” quarterbacks.
Thusly the CU Trade Federation is set to be “on guard”, on alert for real or perceived economic threats. The legal concept is one of being deputized by the sovereign authority for a role/responsibility in the member-state. As a security apparatus, the CU must always be a sentinel to monitor known threats; this includes man-made, natural and economic threats. Many of these exigent circumstances would be designated as primarily assigned to the CU to assuage. And then the related CU agencies will be expected to aid, assist, and support local resources in the member-states.
This is more and better than the region’s prior response in 2008. “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap is to assume this stewardship of the regional economy. The CU organizational structure must be empowered for proactive and reactive management of economic threats and exigent circumstances. The Go Lean book details this series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide this better stewardship of the economic engines of the Caribbean region:
Who We Are – SFE Foundation – 2008 History
Page 8
Assessment – Puerto Rico – ‘The Greece of the Caribbean’
Page 18
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Money Multiplier
Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-arounds
Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the Stability of the Banking Institutions
Page 45
Strategy – Provide Proper Oversight and Support for the Depository Institutions
Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization
Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a permanent union
Page 63
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Minimizing Bubbles
Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Caribbean Central Bank
Anecdote – Turning Around CARICOM – Effects of 2008 Financial Crisis
Page 92
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank as a Cooperative
Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change
Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt
Page 114
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization
Page 119
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #1: Single Market / Currency Union
Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade
Page 128
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008
Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Control Inflation
Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage ForEx
Page 154
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations
Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street
Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street
Page 201
Advocacy – Battles in the War on Poverty
Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Help the Middle Class
Page 223
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One Percent
Page 224
This commentary has frequently focused on the lessons-learned from 2008. Some other blogs related to the challenge to Caribbean economic security and governance as a result of 2008 are listed here:
10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – #3: Americanized World Economy
According to the foregoing blog references, the Caribbean parasitic regional economy has not being gracious to its citizens, and other stakeholders (visitors, lenders, Direct Foreign Investors). We need the empowerments of the Go Lean roadmap for so many reasons; one strong motivation is to turn-around this status quo; another reason is to diversify our economy. All of this will fortify our economic security and improve our governance. Considering the history of these North American and Western European powers, we do not want to be their parasites, rather their protégé.
This is the purpose of the Go Lean roadmap, to provide a turn-by-turn direction to move the region to that destination. The advocacy here is to adopt the structure of an economic technocracy. The term technocracy is used to designate the application of the scientific method to solving social and economic problems. The CU must start off as such a technocracy, not grow into being a technocracy – too much is at stake.
All of the Caribbean is hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap for a technocracy, to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
Download the book Go Lean…Caribbean now!
———
Appendix A: War Powers Declaration
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution, sometimes referred to as the War Powers Clause, vests in the Congress the power to declare war, in the following wording:
[The Congress shall have Power…] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
A number of wars have been declared under the United States Constitution, although there is some controversy as to the exact number, as the Constitution does not specify the form of such a declaration.
(Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Clause; retrieved September 22, 2015)
This name Lawfare refers both to the use of law as a weapon of conflict and, perhaps more importantly, to the depressing reality that America remains at war with itself over the law governing its warfare with others. (It could apply equally to any other country). This blog by Benjamin Wittes, Robert Chesney, and Jack Goldsmith is devoted to that nebulous zone in which actions taken or contemplated to protect a nation interact with the nation’s laws and legal institutions. In addition, this term refers to a nation’s use of legalized international institutions to achieve strategic ends, so in effect the “use of law as a weapon of war”. – Source: https://www.lawfareblog.com/about-lawfare-brief-history-term-and-site
According to Wikipedia, Lawfare is asserted by some to be the illegitimate use of domestic or international law with the intention of damaging an opponent, winning a public relations victory, financially crippling an opponent, or tying up the opponent’s time so that they cannot pursue other ventures such as running for public office,[1][2] similar to a SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) lawsuit.
———
Appendix C – Essay Title: Hard Financial Crisis Choices
Providing physical security to its citizens is undoubtedly the core function of the state. As readers of Lawfare well know, it is hard work to figure out how that security function should be reconciled with sometimes-conflicting imperatives of legal process, constitutional separation of powers, and transparent and accountable government. Especially challenging is the question of how much, and for how long, exigent circumstances should expand the sphere of legitimate government activities.
Not far behind physical security as a core function of the state is providing some baseline of financial stability and economic security, especially through the protection of a functional banking system and financial markets. Once again, it is hard to discern the appropriate relationship between this financial stability function and other mission-critical governmental activities. Because financial stability in a dynamic market economy includes the expectation that downturns are a healthy part of the process, it is often difficult to distinguish between a developing crisis and normal market corrections, making the balancing act between expedient action and a commitment to act through deliberate processes all the more difficult.
But while there are volumes enough on the question of why economies experience financial crises, and torrid debates on which responses are most effective, there is a striking absence of commentary about “hard financial crisis choices,” and especially their legal aspects. Applicable judicial precedents are few and far between, the Federal Reserve’s emergency decision-making processes are shrouded in mystery (in contrast to its monetary policy decisions), and the Treasury Department is accustomed to extraordinary deference. This vacuum has had some very unfortunate practical consequences for those who fashioned the responses to our financial crisis response, which I explain in my new book, To the Edge: Legality, Legitimacy, and the Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis (Brookings Institution Press, 2015).
Why on earth should Lawfare readers care?
Treating national security as sui generis, while obviously appropriate in some contexts, unhelpfully narrows thinking in many others. If the question is how emergencies change the scope for government action, how legitimacy is achieved by crisis responders, or what the rule of law means in times of crisis, then adding financial crises to national security crises expands the material available for analysis. Doing so may also help clarify exactly what makes national security distinctive.
Some of my book’s analysis was directly inspired by Jack Goldsmith’s Power and Constraint. The latter explains how the government is actually empowered by various watchdogs and legal requirements that seem to constrain it, because they give it credibility and validation in a way that it could not otherwise produce. In the language of my book, such things provide legitimacy, which is often a necessary precondition for effective government action. If citizens had profound trust in their government (or a quasi-religious reverence for their leaders), legitimation might require very little other than some modicum of competence. But in the world of Snowden and Enron, Abu Ghraib and revolving doors, that trust is missing. Like Jack, I argue that accountability mechanisms provide at least a partial substitute by making citizens feel confident that leaders will be held to standards of reasonableness and propriety, if not immediately in the heat of a crisis response then at least afterwards, once the dust has settled.
American leaders once took this principle to its logical conclusion by openly acting extralegally and then seeking retroactive validation, either through a congressional indemnity or by appealing to a jury. The classic examples are antiques: Thomas Jefferson’s spending without appropriations in response to the HMS Leopard naval incident; General Andrew Jackson’s maintenance of martial law in New Orleans (vividly described in a classic article all Lawfare readers would enjoy); or Abraham Lincoln’s famous resort to constitutional dictatorship from March to July of 1861.
From the beginning of the twentieth century onward, Presidents and other crisis responders have unfailingly offered legal hooks for their emergency actions. Some academic theorists’ ambitions notwithstanding, openly extralegal declarations of prerogatives seem to have no place in our thoroughly legalized modern world (as Jack argues in a rather trenchant essay in this edited volume).
Instead of asking whether law will be the tool of legitimation, the question now becomes: just how reliable a check and a legitimator is the now-universally-obligatory exercise of legal justification? If justification is based on law that itself possesses no legitimacy, or if it misuses existing law, then it cannot provide much legitimacy. On the other hand, even in the era of ubiquitous legal justification, actions with poor legal pedigrees can be accepted as legitimate if they are acceptable to the public on other grounds. We can draw some useful analogies between national security and financial crises for both of these situations in which legality and legitimacy diverge.
Woodrow Wilson’s leadership during World War I provides an interesting instance in which poor legal justifications led to legitimacy problems. Congress gave Wilson’s administration unprecedented delegated powers through a number of enabling acts (the National Defense Act, Army Appropriations Act, Lever Act, and Overman Act), thus furnishing an easy way to legally justify most of his policies. But even in that context Wilson managed to push the envelope quite aggressively, both by using the vaguely defined powers as justifications for decisions that Congress refused to support (e.g., arming merchantmen, creating the Committee on Public Information—which was effectively a propaganda ministry—and censoring telegraphs) and by sustaining his wartime institutions past the end of the war against the desires of Congress. This willingness to aggressively wield emergency powers contributed to the public’s desire for a “return to normalcy” and Democrats’ resounding defeat in 1920.
Similarly, having the backing of an expansive enabling act—namely the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, better known as TARP—proved no guarantee of legitimacy in recent years. The Act itself was bitterly contested, with bipartisan congressional leaders failing to persuade populist backbenchers of either party. (This made TARP different from most enabling acts; the September 2001 AUMF, passed nearly unanimously, is far more typical.) There was also a sense that TARP was dangerously free of actual guidance for the executive branch, providing only a panicked sanction for whatever the Treasury Department found necessary. Such criticisms were well-founded: TARP was used in ways that wildly diverged from its original stated purpose of purchasing troubled assets, eventually including loans to GM and Chrysler when Congress failed to provide a separate pot of money for them in December 2008. Of course bank bailouts will tend to be unpopular in ways that defending the homeland will not, but even so the sense that the executive branch was doing as it pleased—even after Congress had belatedly acted—contributed to the crisis responses’ legitimacy problems. Neither in Wilson’s case nor in TARP’s were qualms about improper legal justifications the driving force behind dissatisfaction, but they served to intensify existing concerns. (Coincidentally, TARP’s most fervent opponents also yearned for a return to the normalcy of federal government circa 1921…)
Conversely, legal flaws don’t always entail legitimacy problems. Franklin Roosevelt’s Destroyer Deal in 1940 was supported by an at-best tendentious memorandum from Attorney General Robert Jackson, but it was widely popular and never caused Roosevelt any real political problems. In the boldest maneuver of the 2008 Financial Crisis, the Treasury Department used the Exchange Stabilization Fund to guarantee money market funds in September of that year—with only a paper-thin legal justification and absolutely no precedent to support such a strange use of an authority nominally dedicated to stabilizing international currency markets. But it was a striking success, so much so that the program it supported actually brought fees into the Treasury without ever paying any money out. The weakness of its legal justification is already nearly forgotten, of interest only to the very small handful of people interested Lawfare-like subjects.
A similarity between the Destroyer Deal and the money market rescue is worth noting: both involved the federal government giving rather than taking, which limits popular opposition and also the pool of potential litigants who might have standing to challenge the action. Acting so as to only cost taxpayers generally, rather than rights-holders specifically, offers a way to avoid the determined pryings of lawyers and the unpredictable rulings of judges—harder to pull off in the national security realm, but not impossible. It is worth considering how this desire to push policymaking into less heavily lawyered areas might shape the evolution of security policy in years to come.
One last musing here (if you’re eager for more, please get yourself the book!) in the form of a question, which I’d be eager to get the Lawfare community’s thoughts on. Early on during the crisis, the well-known economist and blogger Mark Thoma suggested that economists thinking about the balance between facilitating timely responses to emergencies and the need to honor the democratic process should learn from the compromise embedded in the War Powers Resolution, in which expedient action is allowed but time-limited. Sounds like a good idea…except for the whole history of the War Powers Resolution, which as I understand it is none too encouraging.
Financial crisis responders also sometimes figured out ways to circumvent rather clear time limits. Support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was supposed to be cut off at the end of 2009, but the Treasury interpreted that to mean nothing more than that its maximum level of support had to be specified by that time. As they understood them, the commitments put in place by then were effectively unlimited and indefinite guarantees of the two firms.
What is it that makes putting hard time limits on executive branch unilateral actions so difficult? The obvious generic answer is enforceability. An enforcer must be both willing and able to meet violations with serious consequences, and it is hard to find institutional actors who are both. Courts may sometimes be willing—their tendency to defer to the executive in troubled times has limits, as Lawfare’s contributors have explored many times—but with neither purse nor sword judges’ ability to stand in the way of a determined executive branch is quite modest. With its power to withdraw funding, Congress is potent enough to enforce the limits put in force by its previous incarnations, but it seems generally unwilling to exercise that power, as doing so offers no political gain and considerable political risks. Are there other possible enforcers for time limits built into grants of extraordinary executive power? Are there ways to make limits genuinely self-enforcing, such that inaction will not render the limits nugatory? Thoughts about the War Powers Resolution or about the problem more generally would be greatly appreciated, as these questions are not rhetorical. Phil Wallach is a Fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program. Source:LawFare Legal Analysis Online Community; posted May 21, 2015; retrieved September 22, 2015 from: https://www.lawfareblog.com/hard-financial-crisis-choices
Now this new article reports how the governmental administrations of this territory are willing to short-change investors and renege on financial promises that were made to previous bondholders. This is bad for the island’s credit rating and country risk assessments. This gross disregard for the “Full Faith and Credit” is egregious; rather the credit image of any state government should be jealously protected. This story – see here – fully describes the urgent need to reboot the economic, security and governing engines of this island:
Title: Puerto Rico bondholders coalition launches ad campaign
WASHINGTON, DC — Main Street Bondholders Coalition, a project of the 60 Plus Association, America’s largest center-right seniors organization representing more than 7.2 million older Americans, has launched a paid advertising campaign in Washington and Puerto Rico to highlight what it describes as Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla’s plan to violate Puerto Rico’s constitution at the expense of small bondholders.
“Governor Garcia Padilla’s plan – to declare debts un-payable and then attack bondholders by calling them ‘vultures’ – is both unjust and unconstitutional. Our coalition includes Puerto Rican residents and mainland seniors living on fixed incomes, who staked their retirement in bonds backed by Puerto Rico’s full faith and credit. Congress must oppose the governor and his team’s reckless plan that disregards the rule of law and devastates the lives of these small investors,” said Matthew Kandrach, vice-president for 60 Plus.
Padilla’s plan is so radical and unprecedented that members of his own political party are speaking out against it:
Nadal Power, chairman of Puerto Rican Senate Committee on Treasury and Public Finance: “We have to respect what the Constitution says and to do otherwise would take away a lot of credibility, not only the word of Puerto Rico, but compliance with the supreme law.”
Eduardo Bhatia, president of the Senate of Puerto Rico: “Puerto Rico has not been disciplined. We must restore confidence. We have to reduce government spending.”
Added Kandrach, “Puerto Rico can fix its financial problems, but any solution must be built on the cornerstone of genuine fiscal reform, not empty rhetoric and punishing investors. The governor and his circle of advisors, who are the same bunch representing deadbeat sovereigns like Argentina, have chosen to manufacture a crisis in order to get Washington’s help in their plan to stiff creditors. Congress must not allow that to happen.
“Puerto Rico would benefit from a fiscal control board, just like the District of Columbia had in the 1990s when it faced financial crisis. Congress must also oppose the governor’s plan to restructure Puerto Rico’s constitutional bonds. Allowing him to do so would set a terrible precedent, and open a Pandora’s Box of other state defaults. No retirement account in America would be safe.”
Main Street Bondholders Coalition is a project of the 60 Plus Association that is made up of small bondholders from across America who are committed to a policy process that returns Puerto Rico to sound financial management, respects the rule of law, and protects their retirement savings. Source: Caribbean News Now – Regional Online News Source – Retrieved 09-09-2015 http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Puerto-Rico-bondholders-coalition-launches-ad-campaign-27533.html
The summary of this news article is that it looks like Puerto Rico is “cruising for a bruising”, flirting with Bankruptcy. They resemble a Failed-State in some Banana Republic, rather than an American sovereign territory in the southern shadows of its bigger-richer mainland. This reflects a broken eco-system.
The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap to re-boot the island’s economic engines. The focus of the roadmap is the introduction and implementation of the region-wide professionally-managed, deputized technocracy of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap asserts that the problems of Puerto Rico (by extension, the entire Caribbean) are too big for any one member-state to solve alone. There is the need to leverage the problems and solutions across the remaining of the Caribbean region; all 30 member-states.
The CU roadmap is a request for Puerto Rico to confederate with the rest of the Caribbean, their English-speaking, Dutch-speaking, French-speaking Caribbean neighbors; despite their political status. Puerto Rico needs the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that would emerge from such integration. As reported in the previous April 2014 blog:
Puerto Rico needs the CU!
The CU needs Puerto Rico!
For the roadmap to be successful there is interdependence among these Caribbean member-states, since they are all too small. There is an overbearing need for leverage and economies-of-scale. This point was declared early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11 – 14), with these statements:
viii. Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.
xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.
xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.
xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent Overseas Territory of imperial powers, the systems of governance can be instituted on a regional and local basis, rather than requiring oversight or accountability from distant masters far removed from their subjects of administration. The Federation must facilitate success in autonomous rule by sharing tools, systems and teamwork within the geographical region.
xxv. Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.
xxix. Whereas all Caribbean democracies depend of the free flow of capital for municipal, public and private financing, the institutions of capital markets can be better organized around a regional monetary union. The Federation must institute the controls to insure transparency, accounting integrity and analysis independence of the securities markets, thereby shifting the primary source of capital away from foreign lenders to domestic investors, comprising institutions and individuals.
The CU requires the full participation of all 30 member-states in the region. A careful assessment of government finances, performed for the Go Lean book, shows that the finances for all Caribbean member-state governments are curtailed – the region is in crisis. One state after another feature deficits or excessive high Debt-to-GDP rates. (The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank have monitors permanently stationed in the region). For many states, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis still lingers.
To assuage the economic crisis for Puerto Rico and the other Caribbean member-states, the Go Lean roadmap focuses on both increasing revenues, lowering operational expenses, and refinancing previous high-interest debt instruments (bonds). The roadmap is a complete re-boot! Imagine new revenue streams and a separation-of-powers to off-load some of the operational burdens to the CU Trade Federation. These are the prime directives of the Go Lean roadmap, pronounced as these 3 statements:
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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The book Go Lean … Caribbean introduces the CU so as to assume much of the Caribbean economic, security and governing functionality. The roadmap makes Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play. How? By the adoption of a series of community ethos, plus the execution of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to elevate the societal engines of the region and to stop any downward spiral into Failed-State status. See the lists here:
Assessment – French Caribbean – Organization & Discord
Page 17
Assessment – Puerto Rico – The Greece of the Caribbean
Page 18
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 – Governing Principles – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness
Page 36
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 – Build and foster local economic engines
Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion GDP
Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance
Page 71
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities
Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change
Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt
Page 114
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid
Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Forging the Single Market for the whole region
Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade
Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce
Page 129
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008
Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Egypt – Dysfunction in a Tourism Mecca
Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Credit Ratings
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance
Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract
Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice
Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security
Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street
Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories
Page 244
The Go Lean roadmap alerts the Caribbean – the 42 million people, 10 million Diaspora and 80 million visitors – that the effort to elevate the societal engines is heavy-lifting. This is no easy task, serious-minded leadership is necessary. There can be no reneging of commitments and repayments of previous bond obligations, as related in the foregoing news article and this VIDEO here:
Published on Aug 3, 2015 – Envision Capital Management CEO Marilyn Cohen explains how Puerto Rico got into poor fiscal shape. Category: News & Politics License: Standard YouTube License
There must be new solutions that considers the pasts, accepts the present and fosters the future.
Change has come to the Caribbean. Puerto Rico and all neighboring member-states are admonished to lean-in to the empowerments and elevation described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are needed urgently now! We need the emergence of a $800 Billion regional economy, 2.2 million new jobs. We need the Caribbean homelands to become better places to live, work and play. 🙂
Though this policy is not codified in law, this seems to be the de facto standard for handling other people’s property.
But the issue in this commentary is not property, it is people.
The people of the Failed-State countries of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are desperate and fleeing for their lives to get out of those war-torn countries to find relief. These ones risk their lives, and the lives of their children, to turn “sure defeat” into a fighting chance for life. It’s a bet – a gamble – and many times, these ones lose.
The name of a young toddler is now surfacing to give a name (and face) to his tragedy. Young Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee, drowned in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, trying to make it to shore with his parents. See the images here:
Posted September 3, 2015 – Hundreds of thousands of refugees are risking their lives to reach Europe this year, 20,000 overwhelming a small Greek island in just the last week, with thousands drowning and dying in what’s become the biggest mass migration since WWII. NBC’s Bill Neely reports for TODAY.
“There but for the Grace of God go I” – Old Expression
The toddler – Aylan Kurdi – in the foregoing photo deserves better. It is hoped that these images that were published Wednesday with his soaked red shirt, blue bottoms and tiny velcro-strap shoes that washed up on the beach in the Turkish resort of Bodrum, would ricochet across traditional and social media and be hailed as emblematic of the desperate and deadly refugee struggle to reach Europe.
These were plastered on international front pages on Thursday. This boy’s tragic life and death will not be in vain. The situation in these Failed-State countries (Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan) must be addressed. See Appendix below.
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for elevating the 30 member-states of the Caribbean, a few near Failed-State status. The book does not target Middle-East countries in its mitigation and remediation plans – Caribbean only – but we seek to learn lessons from the handling of this crisis.
The 5-Step leading-learning curve is normally:
1. Look, 2. Listen, 3. Learn, 4. Lend-a-hand and then 5. Lead.
We cannot lead in this case, but we can lend-a-hand, (contribute to any international relief campaign). We can also learn how to minimize Failed-State risks within our region.
So who should take the lead for fixing the Middle East Failed-State dysfunctions or the refugee crisis into Europe?
According to the opening quotation of this commentary: those who broke it. (Notice, in the foregoing VIDEO, that the refugees are targeting NATO countries).
The US and Western Europe are perhaps more directly responsible. They are the ones, in multi-national coalitions, that toppled the strong governments of Afghanistan and Iraq, then sat aside and allowed ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) to form with the hope of overthrowing the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. (So far, ISIS, has become its own “Frankenstein Monster”, to say the least, creating more distress and becoming its own threat). See Appendix below.
The Middle East is not easy!
In 2008 the newly elected US President, Barack Obama, vowed to exit US forces from Afghanistan and Iraq. He succeeded. The “laws of unintended consequences” may now have taken reign.
As for the Caribbean, we are on the periphery of this issue. Yes, we are allied to the United States and their enemies do tend to lash out at American allies. So we do have the “Sum of All Fears” that Al-Qaeda, ISIS or some other terrorist group would secure a “dirty bomb” nuclear device and detonate it in the Caribbean. But the biggest concern must be the slow creep of Failed-State status. This point was pronounced early in the Go Lean book as a motivation and a basis for confederation among Caribbean neighbors; there are the applicable statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12):
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.
xiii. Whereas the legacy of dissensions in many member-states (for example: Haiti and Cuba) will require a concerted effort to integrate the exile community’s repatriation, the Federation must arrange for Reconciliation Commissions to satiate a demand for justice.
xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). With a branding name like Trade Federation, obviously the scope of elevating Caribbean society starts with economics. But the CU must seek to optimize the security dynamics in addition to economic empowerments. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has these 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 protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate challenges/threats to ensure public safety for the region’s stakeholders.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The book contends that though terrorism may not be a scourge on Caribbean life presently, new “bad actors” will eventually emerge to exploit the new economic successes envisioned in the Go Lean roadmap. The CU/Go Lean Strategy statement is quoted as follows (Page 46):
Fix the broken systems of governance in our region and deter against movements towards Failed-States, and any preying upon our people. We must protect the most vulnerable among us and guarantee the human/civil rights of our women and minorities.
The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize the societal engines of the region, to stop any downward spiral into Failed-State status. See the lists here:
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation
Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future – Focus on Youth & Progress
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations
Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate region into a Single Market Economy
Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change – Increase in Droughts and Floods
Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security
Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Federal Courts – Truth & Reconciliation Commissions
Page 75
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid
Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas … in the Caribbean Region – Haiti & Cuba
Page 127
Planning – Ways to Model the EU – From Worst to First
Page 130
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed – Germany Reconciliation Model
Page 132
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Cuba & Haiti on the List
Page 134
Planning – Lessons from East Germany – European post-war rebuilding
Page 139
Planning – Lessons from Egypt – Arab Spring
Page 143
Planning – Lessons from the US Constitution – Gradual Optimization
Page 145
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History – Reconciliations with Indigenous Peoples
Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice
Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora
Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights
Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Help Women
Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth
Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Dominican Republic – Need for Reconciliations
All of the Caribbean needs to pay more-than-the-usual attention to the crisis with these Middle East Failed-States and the resultant refugee influx into Europe.
“There but for the Grace of God go I”
The remediation and mitigations in the Go Lean book are best-practices to minimize the push-pull factors for our own societal abandonment, and downward spirals into Failed-States. Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to lean-in this roadmap. Let’s show the world how to re-boot Failed-States and how to forge better conditions in a homeland. Let’s truly make the Caribbean better places to live, work, and play. 🙂
… and R.I.P. little Aylan Kurdi. We will not soon forget you. 🙁
A landlocked country, with a population of approximately 32 million people; it is located within South Asia and Central Asia between Iran and Pakistan. The recent history features a series of coups in the 1970s and was followed by a Soviet invasion and a series of civil wars that devastated much of Afghanistan.
The September 11 attacks on the United States were perpetrated by known terrorist Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement. The US demanded that the then-Taliban government hand him over.[122] After refusing to comply, the October 2001 Operation Enduring Freedom was launched by the US to topple the Taliban government. During the initial invasion, US and UK forces bombed al-Qaeda training camps. The United States began working with the Northern Alliance to remove the Taliban from power.[123] American forces remained until the official end of the war on December 28, 2014. However, thousands of US-led NATO troops have remained in the country to train and advise Afghan government forces.[138] The 2001-present war has resulted in between 185,000 and 249,000 deaths, which includes civilians, insurgents and government forces. A Taliban insurgency remains, to this day.
As of this moment (August 28 – 29, 2015), there is a Tropical Storm – Erika – barreling through the Caribbean. So far, it has been deadly, with reports of fatalities in the islands of Dominica and Puerto Rico. See story/VIDEO here:
VIDEO 1:Tropical storm Erika nears US, destruction in its wake
The effects of tropical storm Erika are already being felt in Puerto Rico, after the storm left four people dead and more missing on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Janet Shamlian reports and TODAY’s Al Roker takes us through the storm’s projected path.
This storm is not done yet, more damage to persons and property is expected – it is expected to elevate to hurricane status by Sunday.
Welcome to the Caribbean 2015 …
… 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 and underlying Foundation 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. See story/VIDEO here:
VIDEO 2: Both Progress and Stumbling Blocks Linger a Decade After Katrina
Ten years later, after Hurricane Katrina many of those who left have returned and while tourist sections of the city have been rebuilt, recovery in areas like the Lower Ninth ward is slow.
There is a lesson for the Caribbean in considering the history of ‘Katrina’: There is a parallel cause-and-effect to Tropical Storm Erika and all subsequent storms: Climate Change.
In the last few decades, major devastating storms have proliferated every year … somewhere … in the Northern Hemisphere. This commentary has detailed other cases; see sample here:
Caribbean grapples with intense new cycles of flooding & drought
These commentaries, and the Go Lean book, all assert that Climate Change cannot be ignored. Even though there be deniers of any man-made causes, the reality of these storms challenge the realities of Caribbean life.
It is what it is!
The region has been warned: Prepare!
The book Go Lean … Caribbean delved into details of the Katrina lessons in application to the Caribbean. This is an excerpt from Page 184:
The Bottom Line on Hurricane Katrina Katrina was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the US. At least 1,833 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods; total property damage was estimated at $81 billion. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. The most significant number of deaths occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed, 53 different breaches, in the hours after the storm had moved inland. Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded, and the floodwaters lingered for weeks.
The economic effects of the storm were far-reaching. The Administration of President George W. Bush sought $105 billion for repairs and reconstruction in the region, which did not account for damage to the economy caused by interruption of the oil & natural gas supply, destruction of the GulfCoast’s highway infrastructure, and exports of commodities such as forestry and grain. Plus, hundreds of thousands of local residents were left unemployed, Before the hurricane, the region supported over one million non-farm jobs, with 600,000 of them in New Orleans. It is estimated that the total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi exceeded $150 billion, as Katrina redistributed over one million people from the central Gulf coast elsewhere across the United States, which became the largest Diaspora in the history of the US.
Within days of Katrina’s August 29, 2005 landfall, public debate arose about the local, state and federal governments’ role in the preparations for and response to the hurricane. Criticism was initially prompted by televised images of visibly shaken and frustrated political leaders, and of residents who remained stranded by flood waters without water, food or shelter. Deaths from thirst, exhaustion, and violence, days after the storm had passed, fueled the criticism, as did the dilemma of the evacuees at ill-prepared shelter facilities (i.e. the Super Dome, LouisArmstrongInternationalAirport). Some alleged that race, class, and other factors could have contributed to delays in response. President Bush later called the criticism, directed towards him, (particularly by Hip-Hop recording artist Kanye West), the worst moment in his presidency, being unjustly accused of racism.
The Super Dome in New Orleans – The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
This is the purpose of the Go Lean roadmap. It introduces the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to prepare Caribbean society for the eventual devastation of these Climate-Change-induced weather systems, such as Katrina was for New Orleans, Louisiana. We do not have the luxury of “sticking our head in the sand” and pretending that these problems will simply go away – the conclusion of many observers of the Katrina Crisis on NOLA. This point is pronounced early in the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11), with this opening statement:
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 CU will implement optimized Emergency Management schemes to provide better stewardship for the region’s preparation and response to natural disasters; (in addition to hurricanes, there is the need to monitor 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. The 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 protect the resultant economic engines, including the Emergency Management apparatus.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The Go Lean book details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to impact the homeland in this age of Climate Change. Consider the list as follows:
Profile – Who We Are: SFE Foundation
Page 8
Economic Principles – People Choose because Resources are Limited
Page 21
Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs
Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives
Page 21
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices
Page 21
Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier
Page 22
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens
Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Anecdote – Pipeline Transport – Strategies, Tactics & Implementations
Page 43
Strategy – Vision – Confederating 30 Member-states in a Union
Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change
Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy – Quicker Recoveries; Less Economic Bubbles
Page 69
Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Department – Emergency Management Agency
Page 76
Separation of Powers – Interior Department – Exclusive Economic Zone
Advocacy – Ways to Ways to Improve Monopolies – Foster Cooperatives for Better Recoveries
Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation – Pipeline Options
Page 205
It is time for change in the Caribbean! It is time to change our preparations and our responses to these natural disasters. The strategies, tactics and implementations proposed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean are conceivable, believable and achievable. We must do these! We must do better.
Everyone in the Caribbean are hereby urged to lean-in for this Go Lean roadmap. 🙂
There are people out there that would like to kill us, and destroy our way of life.
Doubtful? Consider ISIS, Al Qaeda or Boko Haram!
These groups are Terrorist organizations, and they are committed, even at the risk of their own lives to carry out what they consider “a sacred service to their God”. (This aligns with the Bible at John 16:2 – “the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” – KJV).
From the Caribbean perspective, this is a scary proposition. This also considers that the people, institutions of the Caribbean may not be the Terrorists’ target; they are really at enmity with the United States, not the Caribbean.
The US has a massive security apparatus, with huge budgets, systems, hardware (ships, submarines, fighter jets, satellites, etc.) and military personnel; the largest in the world. These enemies may not be able to get to their ideal target, the American homeland, but will settle with successful attacks against its bordering neighbors, allies and defenseless island territories (Puerto Rico, and/or the US Virgin Islands).
God forbid, they may get their hands on nuclear materials and detonate a “dirty bomb” on our Caribbean homeland.
This is the sum of all our fears!
This title, “Sum of All Fears”, comes from a quote by the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, quoted as follows:
Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together – what do you get? The sum of their fears.
In the modern lexicon however, the title draws reference to the movie based on the novel of the same name. These works of fiction portray a scenario where a nuclear bomb is exploded on US soil at a celebrated American football game. The movie truly depicted an ominous scenario. See the movie trailer here:
Published on Feb 22, 2013 – CIA analyst Jack Ryan must thwart the plans of a terrorist faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and Russia’s newly elected president by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game in Baltimore. Alternate Synopsis:When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.
Life imitating art; art imitating life.
Atomic bombs have been detonated before … twice, in World War II against Japan on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Today, August 6, is the exact 70th Anniversary of the Hiroshima detonation).
No one can therefore claim that this fear of an atomic, hydrogen or nuclear bomb is far-fetched.
This consideration is presented in conjunction to mitigations and remediation for protecting the Caribbean homeland. The assertion in the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 23) is that with the emergence of new economic engines, “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent. The book warns that this “bad actor” emergence is a historical fact; it is not inconceivable that it can be repeated, even on the Caribbean homeland.
This is the sum of our fears!
This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:
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.
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.
xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The branding Trade connotes economics, but the roadmap also addresses Homeland Security. Thusly, ascending the CU treaty would also enact a Defense Pact for the region’s security interest. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy and create 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.
This structure heeds the pleas of the foregoing Declaration of Interdependence. The Caribbean appointing “new guards”, or a security pact to ensure public safety includes many strategies, tactics and implementations considered “best-practices”. We must be on a constant vigil against the eventual emergence of a “bad actor” that would be the “sum of our fears”. This indicates being pro-active in monitoring, mitigating and managing risks. The Go Lean book describes an organization structure with Intelligence Gathering and Analysis, a robust Emergency Management functionality, plus the Unified Command and Control for Caribbean Disaster Response, anti-crime and military preparedness.
This type of initiative was attempted before. Some Caribbean region member-states came together, starting in 1982, to establish the Regional Security System (RSS); it is an international accord for the defense and security of the eastern Caribbean region. The CU/Go Lean roadmap “stands on the shoulders” of that nascent beginning and extends the vision further with a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) embedded in the treaty to create the CU Trade Federation. It is past time now for some real assurances. The world has become a scarier place. The threat of an unknown, non-state-sponsored enemy, terrorism is real. The World Trade Center/Pentagon attack on September 11, 2001 was an undeniable game-changer. But in a recent blog/commentary, it was reported that 17 recent terrorist attacks against the American homeland was cited for this decade alone, since 2010.
The CU Homeland Security Pact would roll the charters of the RSS and other regional efforts, such as:
… into one consolidated apparatus, the SOFA, thusly creating one entity, under a Commander-in-Chief would be “on guard” 24-7-365 for real or perceived threats.
The CU‘s requirement for the SOFAis “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap. The Go Lean book details the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide the proactive and reactive public safety/security in the Caribbean region:
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices
Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection
Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering
Page 23
Community Ethos – Whistleblower Protection
Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens
Page 23
Community Ethos – Cooperatives
Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations
Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness
Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederating a non-sovereign permanent union
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Improved Public Safety
Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Escalation Role
Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Needed Law & Order
Page 142
Planning – Lessons from Egypt – Law & Order to not undermine Tourism
Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy – Quick Disaster Recovery
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance
Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract
Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice – Policing the Security Forces
Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime – Regional Security Intelligence
Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Gun Control
Page 179
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security
Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism
Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis
Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Emergency Management
Page 196
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights
Page 220
Other subjects related to security and governing empowerments for the region’s defense have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:
The Caribbean is arguably the best address of the planet. The people are kind, and hospitable. History shows that kindness is often disregarded as weakness. So we must project strength, underlying the regional smiles and touristic “welcome mat”.
Unfortunately, there are those out in the “mad-mad” world that will kill … with no qualms. What’s worst, they will overkill.
Overkill? See this Photo here:
Nuclear/Hydrogen/Atomic weapons are overkill.
This is the formation of human society; any opening for exploitation will be explored. Someone must be “on guard” for these risks, threats and abuses.
Help is on the way; here comes the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, to help make the region a better, safer homeland to live, work and play.
Everyone in the Caribbean – citizens, institutions and governments – are hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. 🙂
In the Caribbean, this time of the year, it is “hot, hot, hot”.
While that is a hit song by “The Merrymen” of Barbados (see Appendix below), unfortunately, it is also the weather report.
“I just flew back from the Caribbean and boy are my arms tired…from fanning … for relief from the heat” – Old joke-new twist
This is not good! In fact, the hot weather, and the lack of infrastructure to mitigate and remediate the discomfort, is identified as one of the reasons for the brain drain/societal abandonment. (This commentary is an appeal for cooperative refrigeration).
The issue of Caribbean citizens abandoning their homelands is one of the more dire threats to societal life in the region. Why do they do it?
“Push and Pull” reasons!
Push Conditions at home drive Caribbean citizens to take flight and find refuge elsewhere. Many times these conditions are economic (jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities), security and governance related, but there are other reasons too; consider discriminations due to ethnic diversity or other lifestyle choices.
Lastly, there is the new threat of Climate Change. While this is a threat for the whole world, the Caribbean is on the frontline. Though there is some debate as to the causes of climate change, there is no question as to its outcome: temperatures are rising, droughts prevail, and most devastating, hurricanes are now more threatening. A Caribbean elevation plan must address the causes of climate change and most assuredly its consequences.
Early in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, a roadmap to elevate the Caribbean region, the pressing need to be “on guard” 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 Go Lean…Caribbean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU must advocate for systems and schemes for a lower carbon footprint so as not to contribute further to green-house gases. Plus, the CU must implement recovery measures to respond, and react to the ever-threatening climatic conditions. While this means hurricanes at the extreme, it also includes daily factors that must be dealt with, like excessive heat and frequent power black-outs … during summer months. (The elderly are more susceptible to heat stroke and other ailments).
“Growing up in the Caribbean, summer extended from Easter Monday to Columbus Day” – Recollection of a Caribbean/Bahamas Diaspora Member.
Now, the anecdotal experience is that there is a need to mitigate excessive heat in the region for an even longer season. How do we mitigate excessive heat?
Air conditioning!
But this cure may at times be worse than the disease.
Air conditioning requires even greater energy consumption, (the Caribbean has among the highest energy costs in the Western Hemisphere); the Go Lean book posits that the average costs of energy can be decreased from an average of US$0.35/kWh to US$0.088/kWh in the course of the 5-year term of this roadmap; (Page 100).
In addition, the release of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) in the air-conditioning process is a contributor of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The status quo needs remediation!
Pull In addition to these climatic “push” factors, there are also climatic pull considerations.
These factors, as related in the Go Lean roadmap, posit that North American and European destinations have been more inviting to Caribbean citizens. Weather-wise, everywhere has “mean seasons”, but it is easier to stay warm during a wintry “mean season” in the North, than it is to stay cool in the “mean season” in the South. Plus with pronounced Climate Change effects on northern communities, the “mean seasons” in the north have been shorter and easier to endure.
This issue refers to an environment – the weather – that maybe outside of human control. But when humans do grab some control – climate control – the northern communities (US, Canada and Europe) do a better job of mitigating and remediating the new acute effects of climate change.
Consider again, the location for the composition for the Go Lean book, Omaha, Nebraska. That community in the American Midwest is notorious as a “land of 4 seasons” and all of them extreme. In May 2013, it snowed on May 1st then the temperature hit 100 degrees (Fahrenheit) on May 15th. Omaha is provided in the Go Lean book (Page 138) as a model for Caribbean communities to emulate. How does Omaha mitigate the extreme climate conditions they have to contend with?
Infrastructure
Economies-of-Scale
Consider this one example of how a cooling/heating scheme provides the needed air-conditioning for the entire Downtown District:
NRG Energy Center Omaha provides energy-efficient and environmentally sound district heating and cooling for the business district of downtown Omaha, including Woodman Tower, Creighton University, the Joslyn Art Museum, Creighton University Medical Center and more than 70 percent of all other public and commercial buildings in the downtown area.
NRG Energy Center Omaha has established a reliability history of “Six-Nines” (99.9999%) for its chilled-water service. Our steam service reliability history is equally impressive.
NRG Energy Center Omaha leverages a variety of conventional fuels, depending on which is most cost-competitive at a given time, and it has also incorporated cogeneration technology – a highly efficient combination of heat and mechanical power –to reduce the amount of energy lost up the smokestack. This kind of technology and fuel flexibility keeps costs down, preserves valuable natural resources and reduces emissions. We also provide the buildings we serve with free energy audits, budget assistance and historical use and cost data on request.
Recent developments linked to NRG Energy Center Omaha include the Hruska Federal Courthouse, First National Bank of Omaha Technology Center, Creighton University expansion, the First National Bank Office Tower, World Herald’s Freedom Center, Qwest Arena and Convention Center, the Omaha Performing Arts Center, and the Lasting Hope and MidCity Centers.
System Profile Area served: Downtown Omaha Services Provided: Steam heating and chilled water cooling Total system capacity: 29,250 tons of chilled water and 735,000 lbs/hr of steam Buildings on system: Woodman Tower, Creighton University, the Joslyn Art Museum, Creighton University Medical Center and more than 70 percent of all other public and commercial buildings in the downtown area.
Consider the photos above; (the building with the mural is a refrigerated warehouse). Imagine this Omaha Downtown model deployed in Caribbean communities. This “District Heating and Cooling” scheme provides economies-of-scale, efficiency and lower costs. The design is a “plant” to produce steam, hot water and/or chilled water at a central location and then pipe the steam and water underground to individual buildings within a specific district. This process is energy efficient and reliable, typically requiring less capital investment, risk and operational costs than systems where each building must maintain its own boiler or air conditioner. The destinations/buildings only need air handlers – much cheaper than full air-conditioning – to blow and control preferred temperature settings.
This is a model of a technocracy. Without these types of infrastructure the Caribbean is just … ‘Third World’.
The Go Lean/CU roadmap recognizes that modern life has expanded the definition of basic needs to now include food, clothing, shelter and energy. And thusly the book proposes many solutions for the region to optimize energy generation, distribution and consumption. There are many lessons to learn from other more-efficient communities. This is the prime directive of the Go Lean roadmap, to apply these lessons and best-practices so as to impact the Caribbean in these 3 ways:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion GDP and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, including Self-Governing Entities, to support these engines.
As for energy, the Go Lean book posits that the average costs of energy can be decreased from an average of US$0.35/kWh to US$0.088/kWh in the course of the 5-year term of this roadmap. (Page 100). This is a 75% savings! Cooperative refrigeration allows for even more savings!
These initiatives will take some effort on the part of the community and governmental institutions. This is heavy-lifting! The Go Lean roadmap details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the progress in the wide fields of energy optimization and cooperative refrigeration. The following list applies:
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices/Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments
Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives
Page 25
Community Ethos – Model: Regional Taxi Commissions
Page 25
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations
Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations
Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing – Economies of Scale
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Anecdote – Pipeline Transport – Strategies, Tactics & Implementations
Page 43
Strategy – Harness the power of the sun/winds
Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change
Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Public Works and Infrastructure
Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Energy Commission
Page 82
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government – Energy Permits
Page 93
Anecdote – Caribbean Energy Grid Implementation
Page 100
Implementation – Ways to Develop Pipeline Industry
Page 107
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage
Page 113
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean – Gerontology Initiatives
Page 118
Planning – Lessons Learned from Omaha
Page 138
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works – Air Chillers Utilities
Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives – Refrigerated Warehouses Model
Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Monopolies – Empower Municipal Authorities
Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Develop a Frozen Foods Industry – Need for Refrigerated Warehouses
Page 208
Advocacy – Ways to Battle Poverty – Third World Realities
Page 222
The phrase “Hotter than July” should only be a song, not a way of life in the Caribbean.
Energy needs are undeniable. Air-conditioning needs to be readily available and affordable during the “mean season”. This should not be open to any compromise.
Fulfilling these needs is a great target for lean, agile operations, perfect for the CU technocracy. Any failure in this regards results in heightened abandonment.
Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people, businesses, institutions and governments, to lean-in for the optimizations and opportunities described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean.
Uploaded on Dec 21, 2011 – The Merrymen recorded this song in 1983 originally on thier album “No Big Ting”, however this version was recorded in 1988 on their album “Hot Hot Soca”. http://www.facebook.com/themerrymenfr…
This purpose of the book Go Lean … Caribbean is to elevate the economic engines in the region. However, these commentaries have focused, numerous times on social and socio-economic issues; in this case, focus is given to the threat of suicides.
This seems out-of-scope!
The book and accompanying blogs posit that socio- economic factors must be accounted for in the roadmap to optimize and improve this society. In fact, the book lists 144 missions for the imminent Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), but one of them is an advocacy against suicides. This is identified on Page 36 under the title:
10 Ways to Promote Happiness … in the Caribbean Region
This does not compute! Such a crisis amidst such beauty! The conclusion in the book is that the deficiency – contributing to suicides – is economic, jobs in particular. As the book declares that a man/woman needs three things to be happy:
something to do,
someone to love, and
something to hope for.
The Go Lean roadmap does feature – in its scope – the societal deficiencies that could propel an increase in suicides. This is highlighted by the CU’s prime directives, as described by these 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 mitigate challenges/threats to ensure public safety for the region’s stakeholders.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, including a separation-of-powers with member-states, to support these engines.
This commentary is not a re-harsh of the same suicide-driving issues as previously addressed, but rather an exploration of the socio-economic issues associated with the elderly in society. This commentary is the 2nd in a 3-part series on the art-and-science of analyzing socio-economic changes; other commentaries depict …
Within this series, the field of socio-economics is defined as the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of the local, regional or global economy. This commentary though, considers an academic study that examined the demographic population of the elderly and summarized that the logical conclusions of the root causes of suicide are different for this population. Consider the Abstract, here, of the Research Paper from the University of Nairobi (Kenya):
Title:Towards a Socio-Economic and Demographic Theory of Elderly Suicide: A Comparison of 49 Countries at various stages of development By: Kiemo, Karatu
(Source: University of Nairobi (Kenya) Academic Research; Posted (2004; Retrieved 10-15-2014 from: http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/55260)
Abstract: D. Cowgill found out that the role and status of the elderly declined with modernization, but in contradiction G. Hammarström found out that what actually affected the role and status of the elderly during modernization was the rate at which modernization occurred.
From current studies, it can be insinuated that the transformation from socialist to market economies has too affected the role and status of the elderly adversely. In all, the social condition following on the above changes in productive, organizational and demographic structures connects with what E. Durkheim found to cause imbalance in social integration, and therefore could aggravate elders’ rate of suicide.
Using data from 49 developing and developed countries for the period around 1995, elderly suicide rates and elderly/non-elderly suicide ratio are examined in light of the extent and direction of socio-economic development; and in light of the extent of demographic transition and elderly population’s gender structure. Results show that the direction of socioeconomic change impacts differentially on elderly suicide rates, the rates in regressing economies being appreciably higher than in progressing economies. However, the impact of socio-economic trends on the elderly/non-elderly suicide ratio was not clear-cut.
The extent of socio-economic change impacts differentially on elderly suicide rates, the distribution being curvilinear (inverted-U functional) rather than Cowgill’s linear hypothesis. The extent of socioeconomic change also impacts differentially on elderly/non-elderly suicide ratio in an inverse correlation rather than Cowgill’s hypothesized positive correlation. Whereas the results failed to conform to the structuration of Cowgill’s modernisation theory, the theory is deemed substantively relevant especially in explaining the extent to which the status of being elderly aggravates suicide in the context of contemporary developing countries.
In this regard, Riley’s concept of age-integration seems more appropriate than Durkheim’s social integration in explaining how older age aggravates suicide in an especial manner. The thesis in this study is that elderly suicide is a function of age-related role and status and regulated by dynamics of socio-economic and demographic structures. Culture too seems to play some role that is yet to be determined.
The Go Lean roadmap does not ignore the needs of the elderly, nor any mental health needs of the Caribbean community. Rather, the roadmap calls for the establishment of a regional sentinel, a federal Health Department, to monitor, manage and mitigate public health issues in the region, including mental health with the same prioritization (cancer, trauma, virus, immunizations).
The University of Nairobi study hypothesizes that the elderly tend to be more affected when society experiences rapid change! This is an acute alarm for the CU/Go Lean planners, as the roadmap does call for near-hyper-growth in a short period of 5 years. Therefore, this foregoing article calls for the region to double-down on its efforts to ensure the health mitigations are in place for this vulnerable group. The need for this awareness was identified early in the Go Lean book, in the opening pronouncement in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11), as follows:
ix. Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for health plans to consolidate premiums of both healthy and sickly people across the wider base of the entire Caribbean population. The mitigation should extend further to disease management, wellness, mental health, obesity and smoking cessation programs.
The University of Nairobi study is a classic exercise in this field of socio-economics. The goal of a socio-economic study is generally to bring about socio-economic development, usually by improvements in metrics such as GDP, life expectancy, literacy, levels of employment, etc. In many cases, socio-economists focus on the social impact of some sort of economic change. Examples of causes of socio-economic impacts include new technologies such as cars or mobile phones, changes in laws, changes in the physical environment (such as increasing crowding within cities), and ecological changes (such as prolonged drought or declining fish stocks). These may affect patterns of consumption, the distribution of incomes and wealth, the way in which people behave (both in terms of purchase decisions and the way in which they choose to spend their time), and their overall quality of life.
The Go Lean … Caribbean roadmap constitutes a change for the region, a plan to consolidate 30 member-states into a Trade Federation with the tools/techniques to bring immediate change to the region to benefit one and all member-states. The roadmap calls for the coordination of the region’s (mental) healthcare needs at a CU federal agency. Though there is a separation-of-powers mandate between the member-states and federal agencies, the CU can still wield influence in this area due to funding accountabilities, (strings attached). The Go Lean roadmap details a monitoring and metering responsibility between the CU and the member-states; so there will be some federal compliance and regulatory oversight. This empowerment would also allow for better coordination with international stakeholders – like the World Health Organization (WHO) – and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – there are many that cater to the needs of the elderly, just consider the VIDEO in the Appendix below.
For the Caribbean, we will not want our elderly population “checking out” from society! We love them too much and they have endured far more that they should have; see VIDEO below. The “happiness mandate” identified at the start, is presented in the book as a “community ethos” (Page 20), the definition of which follows here:
… the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; the dominant assumptions of a people or period.
The book details that there must first be adoption of such a community ethos plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the region’s public health:
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economics Influence Choices
Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy versus Public Protection
Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens
Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives
Page 24
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations
Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness
Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States
Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Reform our Health Care Response
Page 47
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora
Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Separation of Powers – Department of Health
Page 86
Implementation – Ways to Deliver
Page 109
Planning – Ways to Model the EU
Page 130
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
Page 131
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress
Page 148
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare
Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cancer
Page 157
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract
Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives
Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management
Page 196
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care
Page 225
Appendix – Disease Management – Healthways Model
Page 300
Appendix – Trauma Center Definitions
Page 336
This Go Lean book asserts that there is a direct correlation of physical/mental health issue with the economy. This viewpoint has been previously detailed in Go Lean blog/commentaries, as sampled here:
There is a place in the new Caribbean for the elderly populations. Granted, they may not be candidates for the highly-sought, high-multiplier STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) jobs, but nonetheless they are stakeholders in the Go Lean mission. Love of neighbor – the Greater Good – is why we do what we do!
This issue of suicide among the elderly, as discussed in the foregoing article is indicative of the need for better stewardship of the economy, security and governing engines in the Caribbean. This makes the region a better place to live, work, and play – for all: young and old.
Uploaded on Nov 5, 2009 – We must honor the elderly! We must treat the elderly with dignity, love and respect. How we treat the elderly is a reflection of who we are. We should treat them the way we would want to be treated when we grow old and feeble. Many elderly are full of wisdom and we can learn valuable lessons from them.
Music: “On The Other Side Of Jordan” by Rabbit Easter Band (Google Play • eMusic • AmazonMP3)
“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” – Classic Murphy’s Law!
The age of technology has overcome us; computerized systems are impacting every aspect of modern life.
This is good!
This is bad!
The famous criminal Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks, and his response was simple, eloquent, and humorous:
Because that’s where the money is.
The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that wherever and whenever there is economic prosperity, “bad actors” will always emerge. This fact should be no surprise; it should be expected forthright. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU would function as a facilitator for the 30 member-states of the Caribbean, charged to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the region. There will be the need to facilitate the full breadth and depth of Information & Communications Technologies (ICT).
The “bad actors” or threats to societal engines could be intentional or accidental, man-made or natural. This is duly documented in the current news story of heightened computer glitches that have disrupted major players in the American business eco-system … on the same day.
This has disrupted the business as usual. Is it chance or is it choice?
This is yet to be ascertained; see the news article here:
Title: NYSE re-opens after trading stopped amid United Airlines, WSJ.com tech issues Reporting by: Kylie MacLellan; Editing by: Dominic Evans
Trading was halted for more than two hours on the New York Stock Exchange floor Wednesday after an internal technical issue was detected – which then set off speculation that a cyber-glitch at United Airlines and a temporary online outage at the Wall Street Journal newspaper were connected.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama had been briefed on the glitch that took out trading on the floor of the NYSE by White House counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco and chief of staff Denis McDonough.
He also said despite indications that it was not a cyber-breach, the administration was “keenly aware of the risk that exists in cyber space right now.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson tried to allay fears, saying, “It appears from what we know at this stage that the malfunctions at United and at the stock exchange were not the result of any nefarious actor.”
He added, “We know less about the Wall Street Journal at this point except that their system is back up again as is the United Airline system.”
The CU/Go Lean roadmap provides for comprehensive oversight in this arena of ICT; to protect against bad actors and bad happenstance.
The overriding theme of the foregoing news article is that cyber-security is not automatic, and not easy; it takes heavy-lifting on behalf of skilled stakeholders to ensure the appropriate protections are in place. The Go Lean roadmap asserts that some empowerments for the Caribbean may be too big for any one member-state alone; that there will be the need for a deputized technocracy like the CU to provide the remediation and mitigations for regional progress. The roadmap calls for vesting the CU with the authority to establish and execute a comprehensive security apparatus that also covers cyber-threats and computer glitches.
The Go Lean book relates (Page 127) how ICT can be a great equalizer in competition with the rest of the world. This embrace of ICT must include e-Government (outsourcing and in-sourcing for member-states systems) and e-Delivery, Mobile, Social Media, Postal/Electronic Mail, e-Learning and wireline/wireless/satellite initiatives.
In fact, this the Go Lean book posits that mastery of these technology endeavors are necessary to fulfill the CU prime directives, defined by these 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, authorized by a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, including a separation-of-powers between CU federal agencies and member-states governments, to support these engines.
The book contends, and this foregoing news report confirms, that bad actors and/or bad happenstance will always emerge to disrupt business as usual in the region. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:
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.
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.
xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
So while the CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, with a heavy emphasis of technology, the Go Lean roadmap posits that the security dynamics (and cyber-security) of the region must also be embedded with federal oversight.
The Go Lean strategy of confederating a unified entity made up of the Caribbean to provide homeland security and intelligence gathering-and-analysis for the Caribbean, allows for a one-stop solution for regional assurances. Homeland Security for our Caribbean homeland has a different scope than for our American counterparts. Though we must be on defense against military intrusions like terrorism & piracy, we mostly have had to contend with natural and man-made concerns like hurricanes, earthquakes, oil/chemical spills and narco-terrorism. But now we must also add these cyber-threats that may imperil the region’s economic engines, like tourism. These cyber-attacks and breaches can undermine the integrity of our institutions and establishments, as previously reported in this prior blog/commentary:
… imagine a “hack” that harvests credit card account numbers used at area hotels; if those fall into the wrong hands, the experience could tarnish the goodwill of the Caribbean brand.
Considering this threatening “what if” scenario described here or the actual incidences in the foregoing news article, there is the need to be on alert against this ‘Clear and Present Danger’.
The Caribbean appointing “new guards” – a security pact or Homeland Security Department – to ensure public safety includes many strategies, tactics and implementations considered “best-practices”. The Homeland Security Department must be on a constant vigil against “bad actors”, man-made or natural. This necessitate being pro-active in monitoring, mitigating and managing risks. Then when “crap” does happen, the “new guards” will be prepared for any “Clear and Present Danger“. The Go Lean book describes an organization structure with Emergency Management functionality, including Unified Command-and-Control for Caribbean Disaster Response, Anti-crime, enterprise corruption, corporate governance and military preparedness.
These incidences create the need for intelligence gathering and analysis to manage the right resource for the right time and right place. (The same as buildings with elevators must get and maintain appropriate “permits”, the Go Lean‘s corporate governance vision calls for IT and Data Center Best-Practice compliance). The Go Lean roadmap thusly calls for a permanent professional security force plus a robust intelligence (including cyber-security) agency. The CU Trade Federation will lead, fund and facilitate this security effort from “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap, with the full facilitation and accountability.
This security effort is defined in the Go Lean book and blog commentaries as Unified Command-and-Control (UCC). The book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to establish and succeed with Unified Command-and-Control in the Caribbean region:
Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices and Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection
Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering
Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens
Page 23
Community Ethos – Cooperatives
Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius
Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Tactical – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union
Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Treasury Department – Publicly Traded Corporate Governance
Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security – Unified Command & Control
Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Emergency Management
Implementation – 10 Trends in Implementing Data Centers
Page 106
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – www.myCaribbean.gov
Page 111
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid – Aid to Security Apparatus
Page 115
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization
Page 119
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #3: Homeland Security Pact
Page 127
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #8: Cyber Caribbean Equalization
Page 127
Planning – Ways to Model the EU – Sharing
Page 130
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Intelligence
Page 134
Planning – Lessons from East Germany – Regional Security
Page 139
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Law & Order Mitigated Wild-West
Page 142
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy – Better Corporate Governance
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance
Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract
Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership
Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice
Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime
Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Gun Control
Page 179
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security
Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism
Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering/Analysis
Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters
Page 184
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Ensure Better Corporate Governance
Page 200
Appendix – Model of Cutting-edge Data Center
Page 285
Appendix – Emergency Management for Information Technology Continuity
Page 338
Other subjects related to ICT, security empowerments and UCC for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:
10 Things We Want from the US: #5 – Intelligence Gathering
Cyber-security is now a constant threat globally – see Appendix* below – with headlines emerging almost daily. There are also film and TV shows with plot-lines that parallel this commentary; “art is now imitating life”.
Since the threat of computer glitches can disrupt everyday life, this subject area must now be assumed in the Social Contract between Caribbean citizens and their governments. Cyber-security is too big for any one Caribbean member-state to tackle alone, so rather, shifting the responsibility to the region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy of the CU will result in greater production and greater accountability. This mission aligns with the quest to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play.
The Caribbean region cannot allow a few “bad actors”, high-tech or low-tech, to disrupt the peace and integrity of Caribbean institutions. Everyone – residents, Diaspora, visitors, businesses and governments – are hereby urged to lean-in to this plan for confederacy, collaboration and convention, the Go Lean roadmap. 🙂
The New York Stock Exchange came to a standstill for nearly four hours Wednesday and hours earlier, the computer system for United Airlines also froze. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports.
The satellite, part of Facebook’s Internet.org platform to expand internet access mainly via mobile phones, is under construction and will be launched in 2016, the companies said on Monday. (http://on.fb.me/1JPiTZC)
The situation in these Failed-State countries (Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan) must be addressed. See Appendix below.
