Model – Page 39 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Model

150 Years of HBCU’s – ENCORE

Posted on March 5, 2017 in Economics, Government, Strategy

This is the 150 anniversary of Howard University, one of the original Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU). This Washington, D.C. private, co-educational, non-sectarian institution was federally chartered on March 2, 1867.

Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, members of The First Congregational Society of Washington considered establishing a theological seminary for the education of African-American clergymen. Within a few weeks, the project expanded to include a provision for establishing a university. Within two years, the University consisted of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Medicine. The new institution was named for General Oliver Otis Howard, a Civil War hero, who was both the founder of the University and, at the time, Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Howard later served as President of the university from 1869–74.^[14]

U.S. Congress chartered Howard on March 2, 1867, and much of its early funding came from endowment, private benefaction, and tuition. An annual congressional appropriation administered by the U.S. Department of Education funds Howard University and Howard University Hospital.^[15] – Retrieved 03-02-2017 from Wikipedia.

Congratulations Howard!

Listen to this AUDIO-PODCAST of a news-talk show discussing this 150-year anniversary commemoration.

AUDIO-PODCAST: http://the1a.org/audio/#/shows/2017-03-02/more-than-money-building-a-new-future-for-hbcus/

This is a great opportunity to ENCORE a previous blog-commentary from March 6, 2015, regarding a different HBCU, Florida A. & M. University (in Tallahassee, FL) and the impact this and other HBCU’s have on economic opportunities. See that submission here-now:

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Go Lean Commentary – FAMU is No. 3 for Facilitating Economic Opportunity

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

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

Some institutions are better at facilitating social mobility than others. On the National List of institutions, Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University (FAMU) stands out. It is #3 on the list.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FAMU is a model for the Caribbean tertiary educational endeavors.

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

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

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

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

Go Rattlers!!!

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

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

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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

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

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

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College, History, Model

Stay Home! Remembering ‘High Noon’ and its Back-Story

Posted on March 1, 2017 in Ethos, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

When there is a ‘Climate of Hate’, conditions in society can easily go from bad to worse. We have a lot of lessons from history that supplant this assertion. Consider this lesson from America in the 1950’s.

A revealing new book High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic uncovers the back-story of the classic Western movie ‘High Noon’; it details the grim time in American history, when a bad community ethos permeated, McCarthyism and the resultant blacklist. “These events from the 1950’s have a special resonance today.”

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean has consistently related that the United States function as a Great Society but it has two societal defects: Institutional Racism and Crony-Capitalism. These societal defects can easily create a ‘Climate of Hate‘ and in the 1950’s, the US had it bad … with their stereotyping and “witch hunts” of McCarthyism.

McCarthyism include the speeches, investigations, and hearings of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy (in office 1947 –1957); the Hollywood blacklist, associated with hearings conducted by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC); and the various anti-communist activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under Director J. Edgar Hoover. McCarthyism was a widespread social and cultural phenomenon that affected all levels of society and was the source of a great deal of debate and conflict in the United States.

McCarthyism was the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.^[1] It also means “the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism.”^[2] The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1947 to 1956 and characterized by heightened political repression as well as a campaign spreading fear of influence on American institutions and of espionage by Soviet agents. …

McCarthyism soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts. The term is also now used more generally to describe reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries. During the McCarthy era, thousands of Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists. Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person’s real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated. Many people suffered loss of employment and/or destruction of their careers; some even suffered imprisonment. Most of these punishments came about through trial verdicts later overturned,^[4] laws that were later declared unconstitutional,^[5] dismissals for reasons later declared illegal^[6] or actionable,^[7] or extra-legal procedures that would come into general disrepute.
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia; retrieved February 26, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

As related in the foregoing, “many people suffered loss of employment and/or destruction of their careers”; this was definitely the case in Hollywood. Consider the experience of the screenwriter Carl Foreman, best known for the film classic Western ‘High Noon’. See the Book Review and related AUDIO-Podcast here:

Book Title: High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic
By: Glenn Frankel
From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Searchers, the revelatory story behind the classic movie High Noon and the toxic political climate in which it was created.

It’s one of the most revered movies of Hollywood’s golden era. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first significant film role, High Noon was shot on a lean budget over just thirty-two days but achieved instant box-office and critical success. It won four Academy Awards in 1953, including a best actor win for Cooper. And it became a cultural touchstone, often cited by politicians as a favorite film, celebrating moral fortitude.

Yet what has been often overlooked is that High Noon was made during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and personal betrayal. In the middle of the film shoot, screenwriter Carl Foreman was forced to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities about his former membership in the Communist Party. Refusing to name names, he was eventually blacklisted and fled the United States. (His co-authored screenplay for another classic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, went uncredited in 1957.) Examined in light of Foreman’s testimony, High Noon‘s emphasis on courage and loyalty takes on deeper meaning and importance.

In this book, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Frankel tells the story of the making of a great American Western, exploring how Carl Foreman’s concept of High Noon evolved from idea to first draft to final script, taking on allegorical weight. Both the classic film and its turbulent political times emerge newly illuminated.

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AUDIO-PODCAST – What A Classic ’50s Western Can Teach Us About The Hollywood Blacklist – http://www.npr.org/2017/02/21/516427212/what-a-classic-50s-western-can-teach-us-about-the-hollywood-blacklist

Posted on February 21, 2017 – Author Glenn Frankel tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross that the government was “looking to see or to prove that there had been communist infiltration in Hollywood, that this was part of a mass plot engineered by Moscow to take over our cultural institutions.”

Many who appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee were put on a blacklist that made it impossible for them to work in show business. Among the blacklisted was screenwriter Carl Foreman, whose 1952 classic western High Noon is seen as a parable about the toxic political climate of the time.

This history highlights the bad consequence of societal defects; they can easily be exploited and society further hijacked with blatant malice (bad motives, bad messages and bad actions). This aligns with the Go Lean book’s definition of “community ethos”:

the underlying attitude/spirit/sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society.

The bad ethos of McCarthyism became a “widespread social and cultural phenomenon that affected all levels of America”. The US would not have been a welcoming society for those on the wrong side of this targeting. This truly demonstrates how a ‘Climate of Hate’ exacerbates societal defects, conditions easily go from bad to worse.

America is not much different today … in 2017 compared to the 1950’s. Yes, the laws of the land has been updated, but the attitudes of the people are still intact towards a ‘Climate of Hate’. There is the continuous need for vigilance and truth. The truth of the matter is that America has a lot of work to do to be the Great Society they project to the world. This country should not be the panacea of Caribbean ills. This commentary has consistently asserted that it is easier for the Caribbean member-states to reform and transform its own society than to flee to find refuge in America.

According to the foregoing, the American government turned on some of its most talented and productive citizens during the bad days of McCarthyism. This turned out to be just another extension of the country’s ‘Climate of Hate’. This commentary maintains that hate is in the American DNA.

Too strong?!

Just consider the experience of the nation’s Black-and-Brown populations. This has been duly documented and lamented.

Too old?!

If it is the contention that this is an indictment of the America of old, then consider the fresh experience of Muslim immigrants.

And yet … the people in the Caribbean – mostly Black-and-Brown – are beating down the doors to get out of their Caribbean homeland, to seek refuge in places like the US; (a smaller faction emigrate to Canada and Western Europe). This really conveys the sad state of affairs for the Caribbean eco-system. While things are bad for minorities in America (Black-and-Brown, Muslim, etc.), more Black people want to come in, instead of working to remediate the problems in their own homeland.

This is the reality of the Caribbean disposition: the region suffers from a bad record of societal abandonment. The reasons why people leave have been identified as “push and pull”:

“Push” refers to people who feel compelled to leave, to seek refuge in a foreign land. “Refuge” is an appropriate word; because of societal defects, many from the Caribbean must leave as refugees – think LGBT, Disability, Domestic-abuse, Medically-challenged – for their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

“Pull”, on the other hand refers to the lure of a more prosperous life in the US (and other destinations); many times our people are emigrating for economics solely.

If only we can mitigate these “push and pull” factors, then we can dissuade our people from leaving in the first place. We CAN go from ‘good to great‘ here in the homeland. This is no easy task; and despite being necessary, it is hereby defined as heavy-lifting. This is the purpose of this commentary; this is part 1 of 3 in a series on “Why Caribbean people need to Stay Home“, positing that the “grass is not greener on the other side”. The complete series is as follows:

Stay Home! Remembering ‘High Noon’ and its Back-Story
Stay Home! Immigration Realities in the US
Stay Home! Outreach to the Diaspora – Doubling-down on Failure

The book Go Lean … Caribbean seeks to optimize the societal engines of Caribbean life; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU must employ better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate internal and external threats.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these above engines, including a separation-of-powers between member-state governments and CU federal agencies.

Early in the Go Lean book, this need for careful technocratic stewardship of the region’s societal engines was pronounced (Declaration of Interdependence – Page 12 – 13) with these acknowledgements and 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.

This is movie season … and movies are an art form that imitates life, while life also imitates movies.

… The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honored the best films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. – Wikipedia

The lesson we learn from the back-story of the movie ‘High Noon’ and the foregoing Book Review, is that we have to ‘stand our ground’ to reform and transform our communities in the Caribbean; we have our own ‘Climate of Hate’. So the Go Lean book therefore details this series of community ethos to adopt, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute to forge a permanent transformation in the homeland:

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	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
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security	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 Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons from East Germany – European Post-War Rebuilding – Attitudes	Page 139
Planning – Lessons from the US Constitution – Progressive & Evolutionary	Page 145
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration – Case Study of Indian Migrants	Page 174
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Remediate and Mitigate Crime	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Gun Control	Page 179
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism – and Bullying	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Help Women – Mitigate Gender-based Violence	Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Message new Community Ethos – Inclusion	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood – Power of Film	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Dominican Republic – Reconciling Neighboring Hate	Page 237
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti – Regional Climate of Hate against Haiti	Page 238
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Trinidad & Tobago – Indo versus Afro Climate	Page 240
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Guyana – Indo versus Afro Climate	Page 241
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Belize – Cross Border Climate with Guatemala	Page 242
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories – Interracial Climate	Page 244

Underlying the back-story in the foregoing Book Review is the classic Western film: High Noon. See the Appendix VIDEO.

That was a great movie about a man when faced with the choice of ‘fight or flight’, chose to stay and fight rather than fleeing for his own refuge. This film was thought-provoking and impactful … and celebrated. In fact, the film …

… was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and won four (Actor, Editing, Music-Score, and Music-Song)^[3] as well as four Golden Globe Awards (Actor, Supporting Actress, Score, and Cinematography-Black and White).^[4] In 1989, this movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. – Wikipedia.

Movies are important in the roadmap to impact the Caribbean; a previous blog/commentary regarding Caribbean Diaspora member and Hollywood great, Sidney Poitier, declared that …

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

The contention is that we can do better in the Caribbean. This is based on one premise: it is easier to reform and transform the Caribbean that it is to reform and transform America. Yes, we can …

The points of effective, technocratic stewardship of the Caribbean have been detailed in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10532	Learning from Stereotypes – Good and Bad
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9595	Vision and Values for a ‘New’ Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9214	Time To Go: A 6-part series for the Diaspora in the US
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8200	Respect for Minorities: Climate of Hate
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7646	Going from ‘Good to Great’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221	Street naming for Martin Luther King unveils a ‘Climate of Hate’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5527	American Defects: Racism – Is It Over?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1596	‘Prosper where Planted’ in the Caribbean

The issues addressed in this commentary are not related to America alone. We have our own ‘Climate of Hate’ in the Caribbean. While we can learn lessons from the American past and present, we still must do the required heavy-lifting ourselves.

The Go Lean book reports that the Caribbean is in crisis. Too many people leave … due to “push and pull” reasons. Thusly, the region is suffering a debilitating brain-drain estimated at 70% with some countries reporting up to 81%.

The Go Lean roadmap declares that we must, and can, do better. Truth be told, it is easier for the average person to remediate and mitigate defects in the Caribbean homeland than to prosper in foreign lands like the US. This message , while repeated here, must be loudly proclaimed and echoed throughout our Caribbean region.

Every stakeholder, everyone who live, work and play in the Caribbean are urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap to turn-around the region. The strategies, tactics and implementations proposed in the Go Lean book are conceivable, believable and achievable. 🙂

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Appendix VIDEO – High Noon (1952) Official Trailer – https://youtu.be/g9CR_tib0CA

Uploaded on Dec 12, 2011 – Classic Western movie starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.

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Arts, Civil Rights, Diaspora, Model, Play, Power

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Caribbean Roots: Cast of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’

Posted on February 25, 2017 in Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

For the generation born between 1980 and 2000 – Millennials – this TV show is an icon of their generation:

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

It was a situation comedy (sit-com) with laughter, hip-hop music, urban cool lifestyle, family values and thought-provoking drama. This show was formative for all demographics of this generation – White and the Black-and-Brown – but most people do not realize that a large number of the cast members had Caribbean roots.

We are so proud!

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean recognizes the significance of this art-form: sit-com television. On a consistent basis, audiences tuned into this show for entertainment and walked away with enlightenment as well – average ratings were 13 – 14 million viewers. They were constantly exposed to an affluent African-American household with an intact family structure: father, mother, and compliant children navigating a changing world. That was a different perspective – see Image Awards details in the Appendix below – compared to the realities of Black America and the pervasive media portrayals.

The show was not a docu-drama of “Black versus White America”, though many times, plotlines covered these dynamics. In general the storylines addressed teenage angst, but many plotlines addressed the family’s affluence versus working class families; this exposes a familiar rift in the Black community with passionate advocates for a Talented Tenth versus a ‘Power to the People’ contingent. See these encyclopedic details and VIDEO of the show here:

Title: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his wealthy aunt and uncle in their Bel Air mansion after getting into a fight on a local basketball court. In the series, his lifestyle often clashes with the lifestyle of his relatives in Bel Air. The series ran for six seasons and aired 148 episodes.^[1][2]

Starring Cast
Will Smith as Will “The Fresh Prince” Smith
James Avery as Philip Banks
Janet Hubert-Whitten as Vivian Banks (1st)
Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton Banks
Karyn Parsons as Hilary Banks
Tatyana M. Ali as Ashley Banks
Joseph Marcell as Geoffrey The Butler
Daphne Maxwell Reid as Vivian Banks (2nd)
Ross Bagley as Nicholas “Nicky” Banks (Seasons 5 & 6 only)

Development
In December 1989, NBC approached Will Smith, a popular rapper during the late 1980s.^[3] The pilot episode began taping on May 1, 1990.^[4] Season 1 aired in July 1990 and ended in March 1991. The series finale was taped on Thursday, March 21, 1996.^[5][6]

The theme song was written and performed by Smith under his rap stage name, The Fresh Prince. The music was composed by QDIII (Quincy Jones III), who is credited with Smith at the end of each episode.

The music often used to bridge scenes together during the show is based on a similar chord structure. The full version of the theme song was used unedited in the first three episodes. The full length version, which is 2:52, was included on Will Smith’s Greatest Hits album and attributed to him only, as well as DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince in 1998. A 3:23 version was released in the Netherlands in 1992, reaching #3 on the charts.

In the second season, the kitchen and living room sets were rebuilt much larger with a more contemporary style (as opposed to the much more formal style of the first season), and were connected directly by an archway, allowing scenes to be shot continuously between the sets.

Plot
The theme song and opening sequence set the premise of the show. Will Smith is a street-smart teenager, born and raised in West Philadelphia. While playing basketball, Will misses a shot and the ball hits a group of people, causing a confrontation that frightens his mother, who sends him to live with his aunt and uncle in the town of Bel Air, Los Angeles.

He flies from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket in first class. He then whistles for a taxi that has dice in the reflection screen and the word “FRESH” on its vanity plates. Will’s working class background ends up clashing in various humorous ways with the upper class, “bourgeois” world of the Banks family – Will’s uncle Phil and aunt Vivian and their children, Will’s cousins Hilary, Carlton, and Ashley.
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia – Retrieved February 24, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fresh_Prince_of_Bel-Air

————

VIDEO – The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Theme Song – https://youtu.be/1nCqRmx3Dnw

Published on Feb 3, 2013 – This was obviously the first episode.

The reference to The Fresh Prince refers to the hip-hop rapper Will Smith; the show revolved around him.

The Go Lean book identifies that music – even hip-hop – and the arts can greatly impact society; in addition to the entertainment value, there is also image and impression. People can override many false precepts with excellent deliveries and contributions from great role models.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU strives to advance Caribbean image and culture in the region and throughout the world, with these 3 prime directives:

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

This roadmap recognizes that a prerequisite for advancing society is a change in the Caribbean “community ethos”; (the underlying attitude/spirit/sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices). Early in the book, the contributions that culture (music, television, film, theater and dance) can make is pronounced as an ethos for the entire region to embrace, (opening Declaration of Interdependence – DOI – Pages 15) with this statement:

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

The Go Lean/CU asserts that change has now come to the Caribbean, collectively and for each of the 30 member-states. The people, institutions and governance of the region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. We know it is important to highlight the positive contributions of Caribbean people, even their descendants and legacies.

The great role models being considered here are the many cast members of this iconic TV show – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – who had Caribbean roots. We learn lessons from these great role models: lessons that are good, bad and ugly.

The cast members for consideration are:

Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton Banks
This American-born actor has displayed many talents, beginning his career at the age of eight but securing his first TV sit-com on the series Silver Spoons at the age of 13; he is also accomplished as a television director, dancer, and show host. He was born in New York City to Trinidadian parents Michael and Joy Ribeiro (née De Leon) of Portuguese, Spanish and Afro-Trinidadian descent from Trinidad and Tobago. His mother was the daughter of Trinidadian Calypsonian the Roaring Lion, Rafael de Leon.^[2][3]
Tatyana M. Ali as Ashley Banks
This artist has excelled in her roles as an actress, model and R&B singer. She was born in New York to a mother of Afro-Panamanian^[2][3] heritage and a father who is Indo-Trinidadian.^[3] She began her acting career at the young age of six, starting as a regular child performer on Sesame Street starting in 1985. She has not stopped working in the entertainment industry, featuring acting and singing roles right up to the present day.
Joseph Marcell as Geoffrey The Butler
This Saint Lucian-born British actor moved to the United Kingdom at the age of nine, grew up in South London, and still lives in that metropolitan area. He studied theatre and science at college, then took courses in speech and dance. As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he appeared in productions of Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He has also appeared often on British television and in feature films.^[2]

These artists have placed their signatures on the entertainment world – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air show delivered 148 episodes – notwithstanding their Caribbean heritage. This is among the ‘Good‘ lessons.

What is ‘Bad and Ugly‘ is how they have excelled in their crafts in the US and the UK as opposed to their ancestral homelands. Their parents left the islands for greater opportunities 50 – 70 years ago and despite the passage of time we still do not have any manifestations that would have allowed their artistic expressions in the Caribbean region.

What is sad is that most of the Caribbean Diaspora left their beloved homelands with some aspirations of returning some day. This is depicted in the Go Lean book with this quotation (Page 118):

The Bottom Line for the Caribbean Diaspora
The Caribbean is the best address in the world. However for over 50 years many Caribbean citizens left their island homes to find greater opportunity in foreign lands: USA, Canada and Europe. Though the “man was taken out of the island, the island was never taken out of the man”, and as such many of the Diaspora live in pockets with other Caribbean expatriates in their foreign homelands (i.e. Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York, USA). What’s more, their children, legacies, are still raised and bred with Caribbean values and culture. Many left initially with the intention of returning someday, but life, loves and livelihoods got in the way of a successful return. Worse, many tried to return and found that they were targets of crime and terrorism, mandating that they abandon all hopes and dreams of a successful repatriation. The CU therefore must allow for the repatriation of peoples of the Diaspora, in all classes of society, “the good, the bad and the ugly”.

We salute these artists from the TV show ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’. Great job; great performances and great portrayals. We accept that these artists are great Americans and Britons; they may never be grouped with Caribbean artists.

This is our loss.

May we do better with our next generation. We can and have done some good in the past; Caribbean people have impacted the art world (music and culture) right from their Caribbean homeland. Consider Caribbean musical icon, Bob Marley; he set a pathway for success for other generations of talented, inspirational and influential artists to follow. More artists of Caribbean heritage are sure to emerge to “impact the world” with their artistry. The planners for a new more opportunistic Caribbean – the Go Lean movement – are preparing for it, as specified in the same DOI – Page 13:

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

The foregoing three artists should be proud of their executions; we are proud of their heritage and thusly have an affinity for their works. We acknowledge those ones from our past who left their Caribbean homelands for better opportunities in the world of entertainment and we know that there are “new” artists who are just waiting to be fostered throughout the Caribbean member-states. We salute these ones as our future, and pledge to do better. The following list details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster future entertainment options in the Caribbean:

Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – All Artists	Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Caribbean Vision	Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration	Page 81
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media	Page 111
Advocacy – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231

These foregoing artists – all good people in their own rite – have been impactful for their communities:

Alfonso Ribeiro has been front-and-center in charitable endeavors, exerting much time and resources in helping with children’s medical needs through his Shriners Hospital association.
Tatyana Ali has been very active politically, campaigning for “hope and change” with Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.^[10][11] In 2012, she continued showing her support for the re-election campaign and other Democratic Party causes.^[12]
Joseph Marcell devotes a lot of time, talent and treasuries to educational causes within the theater community.

These examples continue the theme of the impact of good role models in their community. We need, want and deserve more of this in the Caribbean. This thought has been presented many times in this commentary; consider these previous Go Lean blogs that identified other role models, from many cultures, with these submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10114	Esther Rolle – Caribbean Roots
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9948	Sammy Davis, Jr. – Caribbean Roots
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	Remembering Marcus Garvey: A Role Model; Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8619	Clive Campbell – Jamaican Innovation for Hip Hop
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8495	NBA Greatness and Caribbean Roots: Tim Duncan Retires
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8328	YouTube Role Model with Caribbean Roots: ‘Tipsy Bartender’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	Frederick Douglass: Role Model for a Single Cause
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6593	Dr. Mobley – Role Model as a Business School Dean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726	Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297	The Black Contrast: Booker T Washington versus W.E.B. Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1037	Role Model and Humanities Advocate – Maya Angelou – R.I.P.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866	Caribbean Musical Icon and Role Model: Bob Marley

The world is a better place, arts-wise, because of Caribbean contributions. Thank you to all past, present and future artists.

Just one more thing: Let’s make these contributions at home, from home; let’s prosper where we are planted.

This helps us to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————–

Appendix Title: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s NAACP Image Awards

Outstanding Comedy Series	Nominated		1997
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Won	Alfonso Ribeiro	1996
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Will Smith	1997
Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress	Won	Tatyana M. Ali	1997
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Janet Hubert-Whitten	1991
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Nia Long	1996
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Daphne Maxwell Reid	1996

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Funding the Caribbean Security Pact

Posted on February 22, 2017 in Government, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

The Caribbean has societal problems: our economics, security and governing engines are all defective. How do we fix these?

The book Go Lean…Caribbean prescribes a detailed, complex plan for effecting change in our society. The goal is to confederate under a unified entity made up of the region’s stakeholders to empower the economics and optimize Homeland Security. But Homeland Security for the Caribbean has a different meaning than for our North American or European counterparts. Though we too must be on defense against military intrusions like terrorism & piracy, we mostly have to contend with threats that may imperil the region’s economic engines, like our tourism products. This includes concerns like narco-terrorism and enterprise corruption, plus natural and man-made disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, oil/chemical spills, etc..

So the Go Lean security goal is mostly for public safety! This goal is detailed in the book as it serves as a roadmap for the introduction of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). While the CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, we must accept the established truth that the security dynamics of the region are inextricably linked to economic endeavors. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

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

All in all, the quest of these prime directives involves heavy-lifting.

Anything described as heavy-lifting requires a full measure of devotion and commitment; it requires time, talent and treasuries. But just how much time? How much talent? How much of our treasuries?

These are all good questions and the consensus is that the answer is all qualitative and subjective, except for the last one: how much money to spend on security initiatives can be quantitative. There are existing formulas for this determination, that are universally accepted. The formula comes from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has been presented in the Go Lean book as the example/role-model for the Caribbean to emulate. NATO was formed in 1949 as a collective response to security threats in the European region; member-states came together and confederated this inter-governmental security force to enjoy economies-of-scale of “many hands making a big job a smaller effort collectively”. See the relevant Appendix VIDEO below.

(The subject of NATO is en vogue right now as the new US President – Donald Trump – has voiced reservations about the other member-states (the US is 1 of 28) paying their “fair” share of NATO’s expenses. He had falsely related that the US was supplying 73% of NATO funds.)

In the Caribbean, we have a similar quest – fostering a security apparatus for our own needs – as was Europe’s original plan. The Go Lean book asserts these CU security mandates for a unified region at Page 103:

10 Security Initiatives at Start-up
1. Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy initiative: CU Trade Federation.
The CU treaty integrates 30 member-states in the Caribbean region into a single market of 42 million people so as to reboot the economic engines of the region. The CU posits that whenever there is economic prosperity that “bad actors” would emerge to exploit the peace for their own illicit gains. This was the case with the Pirates of the Caribbean in the 17th & 18th centuries, and the Gold Rush / Outlaws of 19th century Old West. So at the outset, the CU must tie a security apparatus to its economic rebooting activities. There is a need to assuage current threats and abate crime, so the Trade Federation must implement security/defense initiatives and enhance law-and-order institutions to better “serve and protect” the region.

The Bottom Line on NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an inter-governmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up, [and remains to this day]. During the Cold War, NATO was intended to be a credible defense against a Soviet/Warsaw Pact threat. Starting with 11 member-states, there are 28 today.

2. Unified Command & Control with State Militias and Police

3. Intelligence Agencies Collaboration

4. Border Security – Immigration / Emigration Tracking; Data Capture & Big Data Analysis

5. Satellite Surveillance Contracts

6. Closed Circuit Camera Installations

7. US Aid – Air Support

8. UK/Dutch Aid – Naval Ships

9. Recruitment & Repatriation of Diaspora

10. Israeli Defense Force Modeling

The ‘T’ in the acronym for NATO means Treaty. A ratified treaty is the premise of this alliance between European and North American countries. It is also the premise for the Security Pact for the Caribbean, in which we have CU military forces and the host countries. The treaty is considered a Status of Forces Agreement; an agreement between a host country and a “foreign” stationing military force in that country. SOFA’s are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security arrangement. The SOFA does not constitute the actual security arrangement, it establishes the rights and privileges of foreign personnel present in a host country in support of the larger security arrangement.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that the region must prepare its own security apparatus – a NATO-styled inter-governmental military alliance – for our own security arrangement, to execute a limited scope on their sovereign territories. The limited scope reflects the separation-of-powers between the member-state governments and the CU Homeland Security agencies. So the request is that all Caribbean member-states welcome this foreign military force – foreign as in from the neighboring countries, from the confederated authority.

Some CU Homeland Security activities include:

A Naval Authority for the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the Caribbean Sea
A robust Intelligence Gathering and Analysis apparatus
A Group Purchasing Organization, for armament procurement

The book contends that this confederated authority is the best way to prepare for the bad actors that will emerge just as a result of new economic successes in our 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.

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

The Caribbean appointing “new guards”, or a security pact to ensure public safety is intended to be a comprehensive endeavor; the funding should follow the NATO model of 2-percent – see Appendix below – the US has the largest NATO economy so they pay a much larger share of the funding. This 2-percent approach would dictate the following budget (in $millions) for the Caribbean Security Pact; using 2010 GDP numbers from the Go Lean book Page 66:

Member-State
2010 GDP

2% Defense

Anguilla
0.108

$0.00

Antigua and Barbuda
1,646

$32.92

Aruba
2,400

$48.00

Bahamas
9,228

$184.56

Barbados
5,244

$104.88

Belize
2,525

$50.50

Bermuda
5,085

$101.70

British Virgin Islands
84

$1.68

Cayman Islands
1,939

$38.78

Cuba
111,000

$2,220.00

Dominica
720

$14.40

Dominican Republic
76,304

$1,526.08

Grenada
1,153

$23.06

Guadeloupe
6,169

$123.38

Guyana
3,082

$61.64

Haiti
11,562

$231.24

Jamaica
20,958

$419.16

Martinique
9,610

$192.20

Montserrat
29

$0.58

Netherlands Antilles
2,450

$49.00

Puerto Rico
67,870

$1,357.40

Saint Barthélemy
255

$5.10

Saint Kitts and Nevis
750

$15.00

Saint Lucia
1,839

$36.78

Saint Martin
599

$11.98

Saint Vincent
1,086

$21.72

Suriname
4,436

$88.72

Trinidad and Tobago
27,038

$540.76

Turks and Caicos Islands
845

$16.90

US Virgin Islands
2,679

$53.58

$378,585.11

$7,571.70

$7.6 billion in spending to assure the regional defense? That would be nice!

The CU Trade Federation is designed to lead, fund and facilitate regional security forces. But the plan is NOT for the individual member-states to write checks to the CU. Rather, the CU Trade Federation creates its own funding – from regionalized services – and then encumbers the funds for each member-state to earmark the security initiatives, at the above rates. This is analogized as 2 Pies:

One ‘pie’ to represent the existing budgets of the member-states and how they distribute their government funding between government services (education, healthcare, etc.), security measures (Police, Coast Guards)
One ‘pie’ to represent the CU funding from exclusive activities (Spectrum Auctions, Lottery, Exploration Rights, Licenses, Foreign-Aid, etc.).

The concept of Foreign-Aid requires more than just a quick mention; this could be a significant source of CU security funding. We have the example-model of the US giving aid to Egypt; this is documented (circa November 2013) further in the Go Lean book on Page 103:

The Bottom Line on US Aid to Egypt
Annually, the U.S. funds 20% of Egypt’s military budget (US$1.3 billion) and gives another US$250 million in economic aid. The US is now being pressured to suspend aid to [the] Egyptian military because the military has overturned the vote of the people and executed a coup d’état; [this is a violation of US law to support such a regime]. US Senator John McCain asserts that once a timetable is arranged for a new election and a new constitution “we should evaluate whether to continue with aid or not.” He was the first US politician to refer to the events as a coup. But as of August 31, 2013, the US was still set to go ahead with the delivery of F-16 jets promised to Egypt.

The foregoing SOFA is “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap for Homeland Security, covering the need for adequate funding, accountability and control. The Go Lean book details this along with a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide increased public safety & security in the Caribbean region:

Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering	Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Tactical – Confederating a non-sovereign union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security – Naval Authority	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security – Militias	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security – Emergency Management	Page 76
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change – Source of funds	Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Foreign Policy Initiatives	Page 102
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Planning – Ways to Model the EU … and NATO	Page 130
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from the West Indies Federation	Page 135
Planning – Lessons from East Germany – Mitigating Threats	Page 139
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Need for Law & Order	Page 142
Planning – Lessons from Egypt	Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to 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 Protect Human Rights	Page 220

Other subjects related to security and governing empowerments for the region have been blogged in previous Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10336	Lesson in History: Haiti’s Reasonable Doubt of American Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10222	Waging a Successful War on ‘Terrorism’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9974	Lessons Learned from the Pearl Harbor Attack
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9072	Securing the Homeland – On the Ground
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9070	Securing the Homeland – From the Seas
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9068	Securing the Homeland – From the Air
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8819	Lessons from China – South China Seas: Exclusive Economic Zones
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7345	ISIS reaches the Caribbean Region
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6720	Lesson in History – During the Civil War: Fighting Our Own Battle
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6103	Sum of All Fears – ‘On Guard’ Against Deadly Threats
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5183	Lesson in History – Cinco De Mayo and Mexico’s Security Failures
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5002	Managing a ‘Clear and Present Danger’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4531	‘Crony-Capitalism’ of Big Defense
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4360	Dreading the ‘Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1965	America’s Navy – 100 Percent – Model for Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554	Status of Forces Agreement = Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1487	Managing the Advance of Drones … and the Concerns
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1076	Trinidad Muslims travel to Venezuela for jihadist training
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=960	NSA records all phone calls in Bahamas, according to Snowden
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789	America’s War on the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=535	Remembering and learning from Boston
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=392	Jamaica to receive World Bank funds to help in crime fight
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US: #4 – Pax Americana

The movement behind the Go Lean roadmap wants to make the Caribbean homeland a better-safer place to live, work and play; this means optimizing the societal engines of economics, security and governance.

We do not have to wage a World War, only ensure protections for our people and trading partners. It is unfortunate, but true, that domestic and foreign “bad actors” will always emerge as societal threats. The Caribbean has this experience. So we do not want to play catch-up with our security needs, we want to proactively enable this security apparatus from Day One of this new Caribbean empowerment roadmap. As related: We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety …

Appointing is one thing; funding it is another, thusly the thorough Go Lean roadmap, detailing the required strategies and tactics to fund the Security Pact. This roadmap is therefore conceivable, believable and achievable. All of the Caribbean are hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———-

Appendix Title: Funding NATO
Member countries make direct and indirect contributions to the costs of running NATO and implementing its policies and activities.

Highlights

Indirect – or national – contributions are the largest and come, for instance, when a member volunteers equipment or troops to a military operation and bears the costs of the decision to do so.
Direct contributions are made to finance requirements of the Alliance that serve the interests of all 28 members – and are not the responsibility of any single member – such as NATO-wide air defence or command and control systems. Costs are borne collectively, often using the principle of common funding.
Within the principle of common funding, all 28 members contribute according to an agreed cost-share formula, based on Gross National Income, which represents a small percentage of each member’s defence budget.
Common funding arrangements are used to finance NATO’s principal budgets: the civil budget (NATO HQ running costs), the military budget (costs of the integrated Command Structure) and the NATO Security Investment Programme (military capabilities).
Projects can also be jointly funded, which means that the participating countries can identify the requirements, the priorities and the funding arrangements, but NATO provides political and financial oversight. The funding process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, managed by the Resource Policy and Planning Board, and implemented by the Budget Committee and the Investment Committee.
In 2014, at the Wales Summit, NATO leaders tasked further work in the areas of delivery of common funded capabilities, reform governance and transparency and accountability, especially in the management of NATO’s financial resources.

…
The 2% defence investment guideline

In 2006, NATO member countries agreed to commit a minimum of two per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to spending on defence. This guideline principally served as an indicator of a country’s political will to contribute to the Alliance’s common defence efforts. Additionally, the defence capacity of each member country has an important impact on the overall perception of the Alliance’s credibility as a politico-military organisation.

The combined wealth of the non-US Allies, measured in GDP, exceeds that of the United States. However, non-US Allies together spend less than half of what the United States spends on defence. This imbalance has been a constant, with variations, throughout the history of the Alliance and more so since the tragic events of 11 September 2001, after which the United States significantly increased its defence spending. The gap between defence spending in the United States compared to Canada and European members combined has therefore increased.

Today, the volume of the US defence expenditure effectively represents 72 per cent of the defence spending of the Alliance as a whole. This does not mean that the United States covers 72 per cent of the costs involved in the operational running of NATO as an organisation, including its headquarters in Brussels and its subordinate military commands, but it does mean that there is an over-reliance by the Alliance as a whole on the United States for the provision of essential capabilities, including for instance, in regard to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; air-to-air refuelling; ballistic missile defence; and airborne electronic warfare.

The effects of the financial crisis and the declining share of resources devoted to defence in many Allied countries have exacerbated this imbalance and also revealed growing asymmetries in capability among European Allies. France, Germany and the United Kingdom together represent more than 50 per cent of the non-US Allies defence spending, which creates another kind of over-reliance within Europe on a few capable European Allies. Furthermore, their defence spending is under increasing pressure, as is that of the United States, to meet deficit and indebtedness reduction targets. At the Wales Summit in 2014, NATO leaders agreed to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets and decided:

Allies currently meeting the 2% guideline on defence spending will aim to continue to do so;
Allies whose current proportion of GDP spent on defence is below this level will halt any decline; aim to increase defence expenditure as GDP grows; and will move toward the 2% guideline within a decade.

While the 2% of GDP guideline alone is no guarantee that money will be spent in the most effective and efficient way to acquire and deploy modern capabilities, it remains, nonetheless, an important indicator of the political resolve of individual Allies to devote to defence a relatively small, but still significant, level of resources at a time of considerable international uncertainty and economic adversity.
Source: North Atlantic Treaty Organization – Official Website; posted January 19, 2017; retrieved 02/21/2017 from: http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_67655.htm?

———-

Appendix VIDEO – NATO chief comments on Russia, defence funding in first official address – https://youtu.be/6Rf7gi81zPk

Published on Aug 3, 2015 – NATO’s new secretary-general said Tuesday that only a strong Western alliance can negotiate better ties with Russia.
Jens Stoltenberg said his experience as Norway’s prime minister was that robust defence capabilities and a strong trans-Atlantic bond were fundamental to bring about constructive relations with Russia.
In his first policy speech since taking office Oct. 1, Stoltenberg said there was no contradiction between wanting to keep NATO strong and continuing to attempt to engage with the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“NATO is here to stay. Russia is here to stay. So we’re going to have some kind of relationship,” Stoltenberg said. The question, he said, is “what kind.”
Stoltenberg also spoke about the threats facing NATO in the south, where Islamic State group extremists have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and declared a self-styled caliphate, or Islamic empire.
The group launched its offensive on the Syrian border town of Kobani and nearby villages in mid-September.
The fighting has killed more than 800 people, according to activists.
Kobani borders the Turkish town of Mursitpınar.
He said NATO had already deployed Patriot batteries to Turkey and had pushed ahead with a missile defence system.
“This sends a strong signal of solidarity and a strong signal of deterrence,” he said, adding “we must be prepared to use military force when necessary.”
Stoltenberg said defence budgets that were trimmed after the end of the Cold War needed to be replenished due new security threats.
“We are moving into more uncertain times, more uncertain security environment and therefore there are strong arguments of increasing defence spending again after a long period of reducing them.”
The NATO chief spoke in Brussels at an event organised by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Category: News & Politics
License: Standard YouTube License

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Learning from Stereotypes – Good and Bad

Posted on February 19, 2017 in Ethos, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

“Tell them about the dream Martin” – Prompting by Gospel Singer Mahalia Jackson.

“I have a dream that one day … children will be judged by the contents of their character and not the color of their skin.” – Martin Luther King (MLK) @ March on Washington August 28, 1963.

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean has asserted that the country of the United States had a long way to go to reform their societal defects – racism proliferated every aspect of society. In a previous blog-commentary about lessons learned from 75 years ago with Japanese-American relations (Pearl Harbor) it was explained how America double-downed on their bad community ethos (the underlying attitude/spirit/sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices):

Japan’s aggression was a direct result of their community ethos that honored Samurai warrior and battle culture. Men would walk the streets with their swords, ready for a challenge. On the other hand, the US (and Western Europe) community ethos of racism was so ingrained that the natural response in the US, post-Pearl Harbor, was to intern Japanese Americans in camps.
All of these bad community ethos were weeded out with post-WWII Human Rights reconciliations. – Go Lean book Page 220.

This day – February 19 – is special; this is the Day of Remembrance of the bad episode of American stereotyping their own citizens, Japanese-Americans following the Pearl Harbor attacks. This is the 75th anniversary of then President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR) executive order that allowed this open discrimination against Japanese-Americans. This was just 2 and a half months after the Pearl Harbor attack and the American response was to stereotype all Japanese. See this portrayal in the historic account here:

The internment of Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II was the forced relocation and incarceration in camps in the interior of the country of between 110,000 and 120,000^[4] people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast. Sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens.^[5][6] These actions were ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt shortly after Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.^[7]

Japanese Americans were incarcerated based on local population concentrations and regional politics. More than 110,000 Japanese Americans, who mostly lived on the West Coast, were forced into interior camps, but in Hawaii, where the 150,000-plus Japanese Americans composed over one-third of the population, 1,200 to 1,800 were interned.^[8] The internment is considered to have resulted more from racism than from any security risk posed by Japanese Americans,^[9][10] as those who were as little as 1/16 Japanese^[11] and orphaned infants with “one drop of Japanese blood” could be placed in internment camps.^[12] – Source: Wikipedia.

In effect, the America of 1942 was declaring that if one Japanese person could attack America then all Japanese people could attack America. They were judging the Japanese people based on the “color of their skin” (and slant of their eyes) rather than the “content of their character”. This is so obviously wrong.

Did America learn from this 1942 experience?

Unfortunately, the experience continued as “more of the same”. Martin Luther King echoed his dream 21 years later after lamenting the continuous bad experience of blatant racism against Black people. Even today, prominent Japanese-Americans are decrying the “more of the same” parallel that America is demonstrating; see George Takei’s comments here:

Every year, on February 19, we Japanese-Americans honor this day as Remembrance Day, and we renew our pledge to make sure what happened to us never happens again in America. I am always amazed, and saddened, that despite our decades long efforts, so many young people today are not even aware that such a tragedy and miscarriage of justice took place here.

And I grow increasingly concerned that we are careening toward a future where such a thing would again be possible.

A few months into his campaign, Donald Trump refused to outright reject the policies and fears that underlay the internment. Instead, he suggested that it was a tough call, and that he “would have had to be there” in order to know whether it was the wrong one.

Trump ignored the inconvenient fact that not a single case of espionage or sabotage was ever proven against any internee, and that the military itself admitted that there was never any evidence to support their sweeping policy. A few months later, a top Trump surrogate went on television and suggested that the internment might actually serve as a “precedent” for another Trump policy — the registration of Muslim-Americans in a database.

I cannot help but hear in these words terrible echoes from the past. The internment happened because of three things: fear, prejudice and a failure of political leadership. When the administration targets groups today, whether for exclusion from travel here on the basis of religion and national origin, or for deportation based on their undocumented status, I know from personal experience that these are not done, as they claim, truly in the name of national security.
…

Source: Posted and retrieved February 19, 2017 from: http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/18/opinions/george-takei-japanese-american-internment-day-of-remembrance/index.html

Despite the 75 years since FDR’s racist decree and 54 years since MLK’s lamentation of blatant American racism, we find “more of the same” in this society, though now it is considered politically incorrect to be blatantly racist. Under the tenants of the law, this type of behavior – 1942 internment – is now fully recognized as being unconstitutional. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 officially acknowledged the “fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights” of the internment.^[7] Many Japanese-Americans consider the term internment camp a euphemism and prefer to refer to their forced relocation as imprisonment in concentration camps.^[8]

The movement behind the Go Lean book asserts that despite the legalities, the foundations of institutional racism in America have become even more entrenched. This movement campaigns that it is folly for the Black-and-Brown populations to leave the Caribbean for American shores. Racism is in this country’s DNA as the Naturalization Act of 1790 restricted naturalized US citizenship to “free white persons”.

Considering the reality of the Caribbean demographics (Black-and-Brown), it is no wonder that the American world consider Caribbean people and society as “Less Than“.

This is the problem with stereotypes. There is an art-and-science associated with the subject of stereotypes.

Consider the photos here and this AUDIO Podcast:

Full Podcast – Playing With Perceptions – http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/358360814/playing-with-perceptions

AUDIO – Why Do We Create Stereotypes?

Posted February 14, 2017 – Where do stereotypes come from? Why do some perceptions persist, and is there any truth or value to the assumptions we make? In this hour, TED speakers examine the consequences of stereotypes.

The planners of Caribbean empowerment, the Go Lean movement assess that America is a “frienemy” for us! We are trading partners; we are aligned; we are allies; many of our Diaspora live in America; studied in America; but we have to compete to dissuade our young people from setting their sights on American shores as a refuge and destination of their hopes and dreams. So the Go Lean book challenges Caribbean society, positing that “we” cannot prosper with a high abandonment rate – reported at 70% for educated classes. Therefore we must battle” against the “push-and-pull” factors that draw so many Caribbean citizens away from their homeland to places like the US.

This is the quest of Go Lean…Caribbean. The book and accompanying blog/commentaries advocate learning lessons from other societies, from history and the present. Examples are provided from as far back as the patriarchal Bible times, to best-practices today employed by communities around the world that have successfully turned-around their societies, such as post-World War II Germany and Japan; and post-Apartheid South Africa. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap seeks to reboot the region’s economic, security and governing engines; to employ best practices to impact our prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

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

The Go Lean book relates that 29 of the 30 Caribbean member-states (“St. Barths” is the only exception) have a majority Black population. So the roadmap pushes further on this subject of racism, positing that it is easier for Caribbean citizens to stay home and effect change in their homelands than to go to America – and other countries – to try to remediate other societies. This consideration is one of technocratic stewardship of the regional Caribbean societal engines, not ignoring the realities and historicities of race relations in the New World. This point was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these acknowledgements and statements:

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

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

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

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of [other] communities.

The Go Lean book stresses the key community ethos that need to be adopted and the societal defects that need to be “weed out”; plus strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification – African American Experience	Page 21
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 Manage Reconciliations – South Africa’s Model	Page 34
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 – Post WW II European Marshall Plan Model	Page 68
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Post WW II Japan’s Turn-around Model	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 Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Anatomy of Advocacies – One Person can make a difference!	Page 122
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Single Market / Currency Union	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Caribbean Image	Page 133
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Minority and Human Rights	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from the previous West Indies Federation	Page 135
Planning – Lessons Learned New York City – Managing as a “Frienemy”	Page 137
Planning – Lessons Learned from East Germany – Bad Examples for Trade & Security	Page 139
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Turn-around from Failure	Page 140
Planning – Lessons Learned from Indian Reservations – Pattern of Ethnic Oppression	Page 141
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218

There are other lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering the history of race/ethnic relations and the effects on stereotypes; see the following sample blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10216	Waging a Successful War on Orthodoxy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10170	Obama was a ‘Reconstruction’; Trump is the resulting ‘Redemption’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9214	US Race Relations: Spot-on for Protest
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	US versus Marcus Garvey: A Typical Case of Racism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8200	Respect for Minorities: Climate of Hate
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221	Street Naming for Martin Luther King Unveils the Real America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5527	American Defects: Racism – Is It Over?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2809	A Lesson in History: Economics of East Berlin
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480	A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297	A Lesson in History: Booker T versus Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020	Europe Desperately Battling to Weed-out Last of Racism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789	A Lesson in History: America’s War on the Caribbean

The Go Lean roadmap does not seek to reform or transform America; it is out-of-scope for our efforts; our focus is only here in our Caribbean homeland.

The stereotypes in America are based on a false premise: White Supremacy. The everyday consequence of this bad foundation is White Privilege. This is why it is better for Caribbean people to stay in the Caribbean, to prosper where planted here at home. But we have defects too. However it is easier to reform our defects in the Caribbean than to try and fix the American eco-system.

We urge everyone in the Caribbean to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. It is the heavy-lifting we need to effect change in our region’s societal engines.

Yes we can … make the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Transforming ‘Money’ Countrywide

Posted on February 16, 2017 in Economics, Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Big changes are coming with electronic money (e-Money). The countrywide deployments will be transformative!

There are so many benefits:

Security – Smartchips and PIN options can ensure against unauthorized use.
Risk-aversive – The informal economy and Black Markets are mitigated, thereby fostering tax revenues.
Portability – e-Money can be used in Cyberspace and in the real world (merchant POS, ATMs).
Functional – Payroll and Government Benefits can be easily loaded; credit programs can also be added.
Far-reaching – Benefits outside of the payment transaction; the scheme increases M1, which increases available bank capital for community investments. (M1 is the measurement of currency/money in circulation – M0 – plus overnight bank deposits. As M1 values increase, there is a dynamic to create money “from thin-air”, called the money multiplier. The more money in the system, the more liquidity for investment and industrial expansion.)

The actuality of e-Money is not just academic, it is ubiquitous in the role-model country of India, and their “rupee” currency. This emerging economy of 1.2 billion people forcibly transformed the money supply in their market this past year (November 8), with good, bad and ugly results. See the full story of the designs and developments here:

Title: What the U.S. can learn from India’s move toward a cashless society
By: Vivek Wadhwa, Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University

Silicon Valley fancies itself the global leader in innovation. Its leaders hype technologies such as bitcoin and blockchain, which some claim are the greatest inventions since the Internet. They are so complex that only a few mathematicians can understand them, and they require massive computing resources to operate — yet billions of dollars are invested in them.

India may have leapfrogged the U.S. technology industry with simple and practical innovations and massive grunt work. It has built a digital infrastructure that will soon process billions more transactions than bitcoin ever has. With this, India will skip two generations of financial technologies and build something as monumental as China’s Great Wall and America’s interstate highways.

A decade ago, India had a massive problem: nearly half its people did not have any form of identification. When you are born in a village without hospitals or government services, you don’t get a birth certificate. If you can’t prove who you are, you can’t open a bank account or get a loan or insurance; you are doomed to be part of the informal economy — whose members live in the shadows and don’t pay taxes.

In 2009, the government launched a massive project, called Aadhar, to solve this problem by providing a digital identity to everyone based on an individual’s fingerprints and retina scans. As of 2016, the program had issued 12-digit identification numbers to 1.1 billion people. This was the largest and most successful I.T. project in the world and created the foundation for a digital economy.

India’s next challenge was to provide everyone with a bank account. Its government sanctioned the opening of 11 institutions called payment banks, which can hold money but don’t do lending. To motivate people to open accounts, it offered free life insurance with them and made them a channel for social-welfare benefits. Within three years, more than 270 million bank accounts were opened, with $10 billion in deposits.

And then India launched its Unified Payment Interface (UPI), a way for banks to transfer money directly to one another based on a single identifier, such as the Aadhar number.

Take the way that credit-card payments are processed: When you present your card to a store, the cashier verifies your signature and transmits your credit-card information to a billing processor such as Visa, American Express or MasterCard — which works with the sending and receiving banks. The billing processors act as a custodian and clearing house. In return for this service, they charge the merchants a fee of 2 to 3 percent of the transaction. This is a tax that is indirectly passed on to the customer.

With a system such as UPI, the billing processor is eliminated, and transaction costs are close to zero. The mobile phone and a personal identification number take the place of the credit card as the authentication factor. All you do is to download a free app and enter your identification number and bank PIN, and you can instantly transfer money to anyone — regardless of which bank he or she uses.

There is no technology barrier to prevent a UPI from working in the United States. Transfers would happen within seconds, even faster than the 10 minutes that a bitcoin transaction takes.

India has just introduced another innovation called India Stack. This is a series of secured and connected systems that allow people to store and share personal data such as addresses, bank statements, medical records, employment records and tax filings, and it enables the digital signing of documents. The user controls what information is shared and with whom, and electronic signature occurs through biometric authentication.

Take the example of opening a mobile-phone account. It is cumbersome everywhere, because the telecom carriers need to verify the user’s identity and credit history. In India, it often took days to produce all the documents that the government required. With the new “know-your-customer” procedures that are part of India Stack, all that is needed is a thumb print or retina scan, and an account can be opened within minutes. The same can be done for medical records. Imagine being able to share these with doctors and clinics as and when necessary. This is surely possible for us in the United States, but we aren’t doing it because no trusted central authority has stepped up to the task.

India Stack will also transform how lending is done. The typical villager currently has no chance of getting a small-business loan, because he or she lacks a credit history and verifiable credentials. Now people can share information from their digital lockers, such as bank statements, utility bill payments and life insurance policies, and loans can be approved almost instantaneously on the basis of verified data. This is a more open system than the credit0scoring services that U.S. businesses use.

In November, in a move to curb corruption and eliminate counterfeit bills, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shocked the country by announcing the discontinuation of all 500- and 1,000-rupee (about $7 and $14) notes — which account for roughly 86 percent of all money in circulation. The move disrupted the entire economy, caused pain and suffering, and was widely criticized. Yet it was a bold move that will surely produce long-term benefit, because it will accelerate the push to digital currency and the modernization of the Indian economy.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that the United States should follow Modi’s lead in phasing out currency and moving toward a digital economy, because it would have “benefits that outweigh the cost.” Speaking of the inequity and corruption that is becoming an issue in the United States and all over the world, he said: “I believe very strongly that countries like the United States could and should move to a digital currency so that you would have the ability to trace this kind of corruption. There are important issues of privacy, cybersecurity, but it would certainly have big advantages.”

We are not ready to become a cashless society, but there are many lessons that Silicon Valley and the United States can learn from the developing world.
Source: Linked-in Business Social Media – Posted February 14; retrieved February 16, 2017 from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-us-can-learn-from-indias-move-toward-cashless-society-wadhwa?trk=eml-email_feed_ecosystem_digest_01-hero-0-null&midToken=AQEaD9txxg6Yyw&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=2MfxBMnV48eDE1

Studying the lessons from other societies and deploying cutting-edge payment systems are missions of the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the aligning Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). This Go Lean/CU/CCB roadmap depicts e-Money as a hallmark of technocratic efficiency, with agility to keep pace of technology and market changes.

To be ubiquitous – the capacity of being everywhere, especially at the same time – requires coordination of all engines of society. This is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap, to optimize these engines, as stated with these 3 prime directives:

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

The Go Lean/CU/CCB roadmap anticipated an e-Money scheme, one for cruise lines using smartchips payment-identity cards. This is part-and-parcel of the plan for a regional currency for the Caribbean Single Market, the Caribbean Dollar (C$), to be used primarily as an electronic currency. (A regional currency model exists with the Euro currency for 19 European states and 337 million people). These cashless schemes will impact the growth of the regional economy in both the domestic and tourist markets. Consider this one CU scheme to incentivize more spending among cruise line passengers:

The cruise industry needs the Caribbean more than the Caribbean needs the industry. But the cruise lines have embedded rules/regulations designed to maximize their revenues at the expense of the port-side establishments. The CU solution is to deploy a scheme for smartcards (or smart-phone applications) that function on the ships and at the port cities. This scheme will also employ NFC technology – (Near Field Communications; defined fully at Page 193 – so as to glean the additional security benefits of shielding private financial data of the guest and passengers.

This is an example of an electronic money scheme facilitating more commerce (e-Commerce). So the CCB will settle all C$ electronic transactions – cashless or accounting currency – in a credit card-style interchange / clearinghouse system.

There are a lot of details to “sweat out” – this is heavy-lifting. So the same as the U.S. can learn many lessons from India’s cashless moves in the foregoing article, the Caribbean can benefit too. A cashless society is the prize that mature economies want. It would be a win-win. See the portrayal of this Indian model in this Appendix VIDEO below.

The Go Lean book asserts that the Caribbean should keep their “eyes on the same prize” of a cashless society. If India can, then so can we; this Third World country is now considered an “emerging” economy for elevating more of their citizens to middle class status. The book posits that to thrive in the new global marketplace there must be an agile technocratic administration for the region’s currencies. This is the charge – economics, security and governance – of the Go Lean roadmap, opening with these pronouncements; Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

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

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

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

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

Community Ethos – Economic Principles	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier Principle	Page 22
Community Ethos – Security Principles	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the monetary needs through a Currency Union	Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Central Banking	Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Central Bank Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #2: Currency Union / Single Currency	Page 127
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Black Markets	Page 165
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cruise Tourism – Smartcard scheme	Page 193
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations – Central Banking Efficiencies	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201

The points of effective, technocratic currency stewardship were further elaborated upon in previous blog/commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8381	A Lesson in Economic Fallacies – Casino Currency – US Dollars?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7140	Central Bank of Azerbaijan sets its currency on free float
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7034	The Future of Money
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6800	Venezuela sues black market currency website in US
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6635	New Security Chip in Credit Cards Unveiled
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5668	Move over Mastercard/Visa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4425	Cash, Credit or iPhone …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889	RBC EZPay – Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881	The Need for Regional Cooperation to Up Cyber-Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2074	MetroCard – Model for the Caribbean Dollar
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350	PayPal expands payment services to 10 markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906	Bitcoin virtual currency needs regulatory framework to change image
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	One currency, divergent economies

There are things that we in the Caribbean want from India … and things we do not want.

We want their lessons learned so that we can get more impact in our society, like:

more cruise tourism spending
foster more e-Commerce
increase M1 money supply in our region
mitigate the informal economy and Black Markets,
steer oversight for technology engagements
grow the economy
create jobs
enhance security
optimize governance

India has to feed 1.2 billion people. We do not want that population! India has a large Diaspora scattered throughout the world. We do not want that either. We simply want our people to prosper where they are planted in our Caribbean homeland. This means we have to better compete, adjust and adapt to this ever-changing world.

Now is the time for all stakeholders of the Caribbean to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This change can help to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

—————

Appendix VIDEO – Digital payment providers cash in on India’s currency crunch – https://youtu.be/BvnL7ZjBfkk

Published on Dec 2, 2016 – Paytm and other digital payment providers in India are mobilising an army of workers to enrol small merchants and customers to permanently change their historic reliance on cash as they reap the benefits of the severe currency crunch affecting the country.

Paytm and other digital payment providers in India are on an intensive campaign to woo small merchants and customers to permanently change their historic reliance on cash as they reap the benefits of the government’s currency clampdown.

From front page ads in national dailies to quirky social media posts, digital players including Paytm and MobiKwik have left no stones unturned to sign up people for mobile payments since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to ditch high value bank notes.

However getting shops and customers to go digital and shun their dependence on hard cash still remains a herculean task.

“The problem we face is that we are not educated enough to operate it (digital payment apps). We don’t have that smart phone that is why there are some problems,” said Lal Singh, a betel shop owner in one of New Delhi’s bustling markets, who uses a feature phone.

Around 65 percent of the mobile phones in India are feature phones which are used only for simpler calling and texting purposes.

Sales of cheap smartphones have boomed in recent years, but internet networks remain patchy, especially in rural India.

Credit Suisse estimates more than 90 percent of consumer purchases are made in cash, as millions still do not have bank accounts. Those who do have bank cards mainly use them to withdraw from cash machines. Financial literacy and technology usage also remains low, and many fear getting duped.

Modi’s push against black money has given digital payment providers an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand their user base and the results have been promising so far, sparking widespread optimism.

MobiKwik, whose backers include U.S. venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and American Express, has added 150,000 merchants since the curb for a total of 250,000, and co-founder Upasana Taku said there has been a sea change in the modes of payment since the November 8 announcement.

“We look at it as a tectonic shift in user behaviour where people are now willing to adopt digital payments because the government has incentivised them. In many ways, this is the best marketing campaign any mobile wallet company could have ever wanted,” said Taku.

She is expecting a user base of around 150 million by next year.

Meanwhile, Paytm, India’s largest mobile payment and commerce platform and backed by Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has deployed a 10,000-strong sales force, and nearly doubled the number of small merchants signed up to its services to 1.5 million.

“So we were targeting 500 million users by 2020. Now, we are targeting them by 2018. So, we have fast forwarded that plan by two years and similarly, one lakh crore (1,000 billion) that’s the volume of dollar transaction volume that we were talking about, if we were targeting it in 2020, we are targeting it in 2018,” said Chief executive of Paytm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

There were concerns as well that once the cash crunch subsides, merchants and customers will go back to business as usual, using notes to pay for transactions but Sharma said the convenience value provided by the online payments will prevail over it.
Paytm now has 158 million clients, 8 million more since the note ban.

One of the factors which have prompted mom and pop stores and people to turn to Paytm and other e-wallet companies is that the new 2,000 rupee introduced by the government has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the common man.

The hype regarding the new 2,000 rupee note was short lived as people were unable to use it to buy products for domestic purposes due to the non-availability of small money in the hands of shopkeepers and vendors at large.

The lack of 500 and 100 rupee bills in the market paved the way for e-wallet companies to become the way out for such vendors.
“This will give us a lot of relief. Exchange of change is a big issue. Some people have notes of higher denomination like 2,000 rupee notes, then how will we give the change for it,” said a roadside restaurant owner in Gurgaon, Bhuvan Kumar.

The move to demonetise the large bills is designed to bring billions of dollars’ worth of cash in unaccounted wealth into the mainstream economy, as well as dent the finances of Islamist militants who target India and are suspected of using fake 500 rupee notes to fund operations.

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Banks, e-Commerce, ICT, India, Model

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A Lesson In History – Ending the Military Draft

Posted on February 14, 2017 in Ethos, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Do you remember the draft?

If you were born after 1953, then probably not. The draft or conscription – see Appendix A below – ended in America in June 1973; see the full historic details in Appendix B below.

This was an American issue, but the shadow loomed large over other countries in the region, including the Caribbean. A most amazing observation – a learned lesson – is made based on the date of the draft ending: it saw the beginning of the end of Caribbean cohesion as we knew it.

The end of the American draft was the “first domino” in the Caribbean downfall. Societal abandonment has been all the rage ever since. (According to a 2012 report, the Migration Policy Institute detailed that the Caribbean Diaspora in the US amount to 22 million with the vast majority arriving in the last 2 decades of the 20th Century).

For the most part, Caribbean people had opposed military conscriptions, but only with passive voice, while other communities protested with vocal demonstrations and distributed various opposition publications. Consider this example:

The Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the United States from 1911 until 1917, when federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was succeeded by The Liberator and then later The New Masses.

Considering that the majority of the Caribbean were of an African heritage and the “pre-Civil Rights” American homeland was not welcoming for Black people, it is understandable that no Caribbean mother would have wanted to sacrifice their sons on the altar of war for racist America.

Sacrifice is the key word …

… the term National Sacrifice has been proclaimed to be a new community ethos that must be fostered in the Caribbean by the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean. Community ethos is defined as the underlying spirit-attitude-sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of society.

As an ethos, National Sacrifice defines a “willingness to die” for a cause. But the fuller definition presented by the Go Lean book and movement means a “willingness to live” for a cause. The Go Lean movement wants to forge change in the Caribbean, we want to change the attitudes for the entire region. We want to bring a National Sacrifice ethos to the Caribbean. This spirit is undoubtedly missing, as evidenced by the fact that the region suffers from an alarming rate of societal abandonment: 70% of the college-educated population have left in a brain drain.

This is the bad disposition now. This is the end-product of those dominoes; with no draft in the US – permanent residents with a “Green Card” were eligible for the draft – then the American homeland became more inviting. There are two reasons why Caribbean people have fled:

“Push” factors – People want to flee “home” and seek “refuge” in foreign countries because of societal defects here – think LGBT, Disability, Domestic-abuse, Medically-challenged – for better life, liberty & pursuit of happiness.
“Pull” factors – The lure of a more prosperous life in foreign countries – like the US after Civil Rights were guaranteed – enticed people to flood in.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); a confederation to bring change and empowerment to the Caribbean region; to make the region a better place to live, work and play for all Caribbean people.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean opens with the acknowledgement that despite having the “greatest address in the world… the people of the Caribbean have beat down their doors to get out”, (Page 5). So the purpose of this roadmap is to mitigate this abandonment threat. How?

Dissuade the high emigration rates of Caribbean citizens to the American homeland.
Encourage the Caribbean Diaspora to repatriate back to their ancestral homeland.

The truth of the matter is America is not the panacea for Caribbean ills. This commentary has long asserted that it is better for the Black-and-Brown of the Caribbean to prosper where planted in their homeland than to emigrate to foreign countries, like the United States.

But no one wants the status quo. We all want the elevation/empowerment as related in the Go Lean roadmap. In total, 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 to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance and industrial policies to support these engines.

The roadmap details the following community ethos, plus the execution of these strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to effect a turn-around in the region to improve our societal abandonment experiences:

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 – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact a Turn-Around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Enact a Defense Pact to Defend the Homeland	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Keep the next generation at home	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Implementation – Assemble – Incorporating all the *existing* regional organizations	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – Defense / Homeland Security Pact	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories	Page 244

So Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, is the one that ended the draft that started the Caribbean dominoes …

… is he to blame for the Caribbean’s atrocious societal abandonment rate?

No! Though he turned out to be a “bad actor” in his own rite, he is not directly responsible for Caribbean dysfunctions; “we” did that on our own. (Nixon was fulfilling a campaign promise to end the universally unpopular Vietnam War in which there were organized protests for all of the 1960′s and 1970′s to date; see Appendix C VIDEO). But the US did not work in the Caribbean’s best interest; they rarely do. This is the running theme of so many previously Go Lean blog/commentaries; they have detailed how Caribbean priorities are rarely American priorities. See this sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10336	A Lesson in History – Haiti’s Reasonable Doubt of US Intentions
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9214	Time to Go: Spot-on for Protest
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9216	Time to Go: No Respect for our Hair
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9626	Time to Go: Marginalizing Our Vote
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9646	Time to Go: American Vices; Don’t Follow
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9648	Time to Go: Public Schools for Black-and-Brown
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	American Dysfunction with Marcus Garvey
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4551	US Territories – Between a ‘rock and a hard place’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4360	Dreading the ‘Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789	America’s War on the Caribbean

So President Nixon ended the draft as a campaign promise; see Appendix B below. Had he, and subsequent presidents, left it in place, Caribbean people may have stayed home. Our lack of a National Sacrifice ethos would dictate this decision-making.

We cannot go back in time …

… but we can go forward and foster a National Sacrifice ethos of our own. Not by messaging a devotion for a “cause to die for”, but rather messaging a “cause to live for”. We already have the greatest address considering island terrain, fauna/flora, hospitality, festivities, food, rum and cigars. If only we can optimize our societal engines (economics, security and governance).

Yes, we can … foster the national pride and love of culture. It takes heavy-lifting so this is the charter for the Go Lean/CU roadmap. We had that ethos before …

… the same Black-and-Brown populations have had to endure change over the years, decades and centuries to get the progress they have now. The Go Lean book identified the ethos of “deferred gratification” as having a focus on the future. Accentuating this ethos is how we forge patriotism and love of homeland. As related in a previous blog, public servants are required to show a sacrificial spirit now. Many times these public servants (school teachers and administrators) are lowly paid; their service to their country is a great sacrifice. Yet respect for this group is so lacking now – see this previous blog that relates the under-funding of a pension plan in one Caribbean member-state.

This is among the building blocks for fostering National Sacrifice. This point was detailed in these 2 previous blogs:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2809	National Sacrifice – The Missing Ingredient
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3929	Success Recipe: Add Bacon to Eggs

The Caribbean is arguably “the greatest address on the planet”. This beauty should be valued; we should be willing to die for our homeland, but the Go Lean roadmap is only asking that we live for it … and live in it. Everyone in the Caribbean is urged to lean-in to this roadmap for Caribbean empowerment. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——————-

Appendix A – Conscription (or drafting)

This is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of National Service, most often military service.^[2] Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1–8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force.

Conscription is controversial for a range of reasons, including conscientious objection to military engagements on religious or philosophical grounds; political objection, for example to service for a disliked government or unpopular war; and ideological objection, for example, to a perceived violation of individual rights. Those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country.^[4] Some selection systems accommodate these attitudes by providing alternative service outside combat-operations roles or even outside the military, such as civil service in Austria and Switzerland.

As of the early 21st century, many states no longer conscript soldiers, relying instead upon professional militaries with volunteers enlisted to meet the demand for troops. The ability to rely on such an arrangement, however, presupposes some degree of predictability with regard to both war-fighting requirements and the scope of hostilities. Many states that have abolished conscription therefore still reserve the power to resume it during wartime or times of crisis.^[5]
Source: Retrieved January 15, 2015 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription

——————-

Appendix B – End of Conscription

During the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon campaigned on a promise to end the draft.^[57] He had first become interested in the idea of an all-volunteer army during his time out of office, based upon a paper by Martin Anderson of Columbia University.^[58] Nixon also saw ending the draft as an effective way to undermine the anti-Vietnam war movement, since he believed affluent youths would stop protesting the war once their own probability of having to fight in it was gone.^[59] There was opposition to the all-volunteer notion from both the Department of Defense and Congress, so Nixon took no immediate action towards ending the draft early in his presidency.^[58]

Instead, the Gates Commission was formed, headed by Thomas S. Gates, Jr., a former Secretary of Defense in the Eisenhower administration. Gates initially opposed the all-volunteer army idea, but changed his mind during the course of the 15-member commission’s work.^[58] The Gates Commission issued its report in February 1970, describing how adequate military strength could be maintained without having conscription.^[57][60] The existing draft law was expiring at the end of June 1971, but the Department of Defense and Nixon administration decided the draft needed to continue for at least some time.^[60] In February 1971, the administration requested of Congress a two-year extension of the draft, to June 1973.^[61][62]

Senatorial opponents of the war wanted to reduce this to a one-year extension, or eliminate the draft altogether, or tie the draft renewal to a timetable for troop withdrawal from Vietnam;^[63] … After a prolonged battle in the Senate, in September 1971 the draft renewal bill was approved.^[65] Meanwhile, military pay was increased as an incentive to attract volunteers, and television advertising for the U.S. Army began.^[57] With the end of active U.S. ground participation in Vietnam, December 1972 saw the last men conscripted, who were born in 1952^[66] and who reported for duty in June 1973.
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia – Retrieved 02/13/2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_the_United_States#End_of_conscription

——————-

Appendix C VIDEO – Opposition to the Vietnam War in the United States – https://youtu.be/vVNUlOUlMeo

Published on Oct 21, 2015 – As opposition to the Vietnam War grew, protests erupted in communities and college campuses across the United States. In May of 1970, four students were killed by Ohio National Guard troops on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio during a protest. The deaths shocked the nation and brought attention to the unrest of the times. This segment from Iowa Public Television’s Iowans Remember Vietnam documentary includes archival footage and and first-person accounts from a news reporter, protester, and draft resistor from the era. Source: http://iptv.org

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Diaspora, Model, Security, Transform

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ENCORE: Patriarch of an ’empowering’ family – Mike Ilitch dies; RIP

Posted on February 11, 2017 in Ethos, Locations

This is an ENCORE of the original blog-commentary from April 28, 2015 regarding empowering families in failing communities. The City of Detroit was cited, in comparison to select families in the Caribbean.

That Detroit family, Mike Ilitch et al, now has to endure the loss of the family patriarch. This is a big loss for the family and a big loss for the Detroit community; see the full story here:

http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/columnists/2017/02/10/ilitch-detroit-pizza-red-wings-tigers-hockey-forbes/91475642/

The movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean have observed-and-reported on the turn-around of the once-great City of Detroit. We learned to value and respect the Ilitch family as role models for the Caribbean to emulate. This loss is huge!

RIP Mike Ilitch.

See the original blog-commentary here:

==================

A Lesson in History – Empowering Families

Go Lean Commentary

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. – Source unknown

This familiar expression is not intended to give culinary instructions regarding “elephant” meat, but rather it relates a formula for taking on big goals. The answer is to attack the big goal with one small task at a time; taking one step after another in a journey towards a destination. The book Go Lean…Caribbean seeks to engage a big goal, that of elevating the Caribbean region through economic, security and governing empowerments.

This book declares this “elephant-size” goal is heavy-lifting; thusly the above advice applies. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to provide better stewardship for the Caribbean homeland. The book posits that we can do this. We can look internally for solutions, rather than expecting some external “actor” to come in and provide answers. No, we must not fashion ourselves as parasites, but rather protégés of those communities that have already completed these heavy-lifting tasks.

Here is where we benefit from the lessons in history from other communities, families and individuals that have demonstrated unity-of-purpose. We are taught that “bite-size morsels” of the regional “elephant” can be well-handled by strong families; therefore the need exists to strengthen and empower families to optimize their societal contributions.

This strategy of family empowerment is very critical, and has a successful track record. In a previous blog/commentary, the issue of the origin of powerful families was detailed at full length. A direct quote relates:

From the origins of slavery, the region traversed the historic curves of social revolution and evolution. In the 1500, the Protestant movement took hold. As other European powers deviated from Catholicism, Papal Bulls [- which awarded territories in this New World -] carried no significance to them and compliance was ignored. England and Holland established their own Protestant Churches with their own monarchs as head of Church and State; Papal decrees were replaced with Royal Decrees and Charters. The intent and end-result was still the same: territories and lands awarded (colonized) with the stroke of a pen by one European power after another. The Royal Decrees and Charters were then reinforced with a strong military presence and many battles…

[The resultant] “oligarchy” … power effectively rested with a small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, religious or military affiliation.

In this discussion of oligarchy, focus is given to powerful families. There are encyclopedic references that relate that oligarchy structures are often controlled by a few prominent families, who typically pass their influence/wealth from one generation to the next, even though inheritance alone is not a necessary condition for oligarchies to prevail.

The islands of the Caribbean fit the story-line in the [Caribbean-Calypso] song lyrics: “Islands in the sun; willed to me by my father’s hand”.

This is the challenge that belies Caribbean society. Most of the property and indigenous wealth of the Caribbean region is concentrated amongst the rich, powerful and yet small elite; an oligarchy. Many times these families received their property, corporate rights and/or monopolies by Royal Charter from the European monarchs of ancient times. These charters thus lingered in legacy from one generation to another … until …

The Go Lean book pushes further and deeper on this subject of family empowerment, stressing that success can still be derived in the Caribbean, even without the legacy of 500 years of entitlement. The book therefore stresses certain best-practices to apply to the regional strategies, tactics and implementations.

The book and subsequent Go Lean blogs prescribed new empowerments like investments in intellectual properties, controlled mineral exploration & extraction, strategic ship-building and outsourced security services. The book/blogs also call for best practices to optimize the current business models of tourism, financial services and specialty agriculture/fisheries.

The lesson of best practices comes from another community, of which we can be a protégé. This is the City of Detroit, Michigan USA. This community is notorious for its urban failures, even filing Bankruptcy in 2013. But from these ashes we have the following example of the pivotal and empowering Ilitch Family. Their Ilitch Holdings, Inc. operates as a holding company for restaurants, sports clubs, real estate, and entertainment businesses. With 17,000 direct employees and annual revenues of $1.8 billion (estimated in 2007; privately held companies are not required to disclose), this family enterprise truly impacts and empowers its community. (Detroit is voted #1 Sports City in the USA). The family operates and franchises the Little Caesars Pizza global chain plus this entertainment company branded Olympia Entertainment:

In 1982, Michael and Marian Ilitch purchased the Olympia Stadium Corporation, the management company for Olympia Stadium and renamed it Olympia Arenas, Inc. (In 1927, the Olympia Sports Arena was built in downtown Detroit to accommodate Detroit’s NHL franchise, and serve as the premier venue for a variety of entertainment). The newly purchased business was responsible for managing events at Joe Louis Arena (which had been completed in 1979 as the home of the Detroit Red Wings), Cobo Arena and the Glens FallsCivicCenter. That same year, Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch purchased the Detroit Red Wings.

In 1987, the Ilitches purchased Detroit’s iconic Fox Theatre (built in 1928) and renovated the 4,800+ seat venue, saving 80% of the original surfaces. In 1988, the Ilitches re-opened the Fox as the hub of the Foxtown Entertainment District and the building now houses the offices of Olympia Entertainment and Little Caesars Pizza. In 1989, the National Parks Service designated the Fox Theatre as a National Landmark.

The Olympia Stadium Corporation was renamed Olympia Entertainment in 1996 to reflect the management company’s expanded operations and venues.

In April 2000, Comerica Park, the new home of the Detroit Tigers hosted Opening Day and ushered in a new era of MLB baseball in Detroit. The 41,000+ seat ballpark is owned by the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority, and Olympia Entertainment operates Comerica Park.
(Source: http://www.olympiaentertainment.com/about-olympia-entertainment/company-history)

Why consider the Ilitch Family as a model? They are impactful in business, sports, entertainment and philanthropy. This applies to the patriarch (Michael, Sr.) and the next generation; thus forging a family legacy. The family enterprises plus the Olympic Entertainment are detailed in the Appendix below. This is truly a family endeavor; in addition to parents Michael and Marian Ilitch, they have seven children: Christopher Ilitch (current CEO and President of Ilitch Holdings, Inc.); daughter Denise Ilitch, an attorney; Ron; Michael, Jr.; Lisa Ilitch Murray; Atanas; and Carole (Ilitch) Trepeck.

Needless to say, the City of Detroit had/has to engage, cooperate and collaborate with this family to induce their investment in the community. This is an example of impacting the Greater Good.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for engaging families in the Caribbean that are committed to elevating the Caribbean. There are truly Ilitch-like families here as well. Just consider this simple list of the most influential families in just one Caribbean member-state, Jamaica; as published by the highly regarded regional online publication, Pan-American World:

Title: 8 Wealthiest and Most Influential People From Jamaica
Pan-American World Online Magazine – Retrieved 04/21/2015 from:
http://www.panamericanworld.com/en/article/8-wealthiest-and-most-influential-people-jamaica

1. Joseph M. Matalon
Matalon is among the foremost leaders in Jamaica business, part of a family with a legacy of successful business practices for decades. He is the chairman of the ICD Group, a Jamaican investment holding company. For more than 20 years, his knowledge and expertise have been utilized in the areas of transactional finance, investments and banking in various institutions. He is the chairman of British Caribbean Insurance Co., the Development Bank of Jamaica and president of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ). He also is a director of the Gleaner Co. and Commodity Service Co. and a former director of the Bank of Nova Scotia (Jamaica Limited). In addition, he has been involved with a number of special committees to advise the government on financial and economic matters.

2. Michael Lee-Chin
He is a self-made billionaire who started his career as a road engineer for the Jamaican government and gradually built his way up to chairman and founder of Portland Holdings, a thriving, privately held investment company in Jamaica. Additionally, Lee-Chin is executive chairman of AIC Limited and National Commercial Bank. Born in Port Antonio in the Portland Parish, the Jamaican-Canadian Lee-Chin also owns stakes in National Commercial Bank Jamaica and Total Finance in Trinidad and Tobago. His personal real estate portfolio includes 250 acres of beachfront property in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and homes in Canada and Florida, according to Forbes. He has been off the magazine’s billionaire list for the last four years, topping out at a net worth of $2.5 billion in 2005.

3. Chris Blackwell
He belongs to an affluent family that acquired its wealth through sugar and Appleton Rum. He established himself as a music mogul more than 50 years ago. His rise included introducing the world to reggae. He produced music for artists like Ike and Tina Turner, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Burning Spear and Black Uhuru, among others. He is also the founder of Palm Pictures and creator of the Golden Eye Film Festival that honors Jamaicans who excel in the arts and music. He was awarded the Order of Jamaica for his exemplary work in the entertainment industry in 2004. The Blackwell family name has been the inspiration for “Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum.” Blackwell currently runs Island Outpost, which is a conglomerate set up to run a group of resorts in Jamaica and the Bahamas. He has an estimated net worth of $180 million, according to celebritynetworth.com.

4. Paula Kerr-Jarrett
She is an attorney, philanthropist and influential presence in the Jamaican society circle. She and her husband, Mark, are working to bolster Montego Bay tourism. They announced two months ago a multibillion-dollar partnership project to construct 1,200 homes, a 48-acre tech park with enormous space for information technology that would bring 30,000 jobs and a new University of the West Indies that would accommodate up to 10,000 students. They estimate the investment value of this project to be $500 million. Her great-grandmother, Marion Louise Reece Bovell, was the first woman in Jamaica to run in the general elections of 1944 as an independent candidate. Kerr-Jarrett is connected by marriage to the prominent Jarrett family.

5. Dr. Blossom O’Meally-Nelson
O’Meally-Nelson is Jamaica’s first female postmaster general. She is the former pro-chancellor and chairman of Council for the University of Technology (UTECH). Against the background of her outstanding achievements in public service, O’Meally-Nelson is making inroads in the private sector with a family-owned logistics company, Aeromar Group.

6. Joseph John Issa
Known mostly as Joe Issa, he is the founder of Cool Group, a multibillion-dollar entity that is made up of more than 50 companies; the chairman of the SuperClubs all-inclusive resort chain, and vice chairman of the Gleaner Co. Issa is credited with introducing the all-inclusive concept into Jamaica more than 30 years ago. He introduced the concept during the tourism slump in the 1970s when many hotels were struggling to break even. It was and remains a booming success. He also maintains a commitment to helping the community, especially children from underprivileged areas in education. He said, ”Born into a rich family, I cannot imagine what it would be like going to school without lunch or books.”

7. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart
Stewart reigns as the chairman of Sandals Resorts International, The Jamaica Observer and more than 20 other companies that fall under the Appliance Traders empire, one of the largest private-sector conglomerates in the Caribbean. He has a net worth of $1 billion. His working life began at the age of 12, when he borrowed his father’s fishing boat and began selling his catch of the day and ferrying the rich and famous between their anchored yachts and the harbor front. It was during those times he said he learned the elements of success.

8. Wayne Chen
Wayne Chen, the chief executive officer of Super Plus Food Stores, is also the man behind a massive expansion in the local supermarket business in Jamaica. Super Plus is a large supermarket chain with at least 30 stores across the island. He wears other hats, too: chairman of NCB Insurance Co. Limited and West Indies Trust Co. Limited. He is also a director of NCB (Cayman) Limited, AIC (Barbados) Limited and the Christiana Town Centre Limited. He is also a younger brother of billionaire Michael Lee-Chin.

So the consideration of the Go Lean book, as related to this subject is one of governance and economic empowerment. The book posits that empowerment does not only need to emanate from government, but rather individuals and empowering families can have a positive impact. These points were pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) with these acknowledgements and 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.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like … Detroit…

The same as empowering families ruled in colonial times, based on special favor granted to their forebears by Royal Decree, the family dynamic can help the region again; this time for the Greater Good. While collaboration is so much harder on a societal level – there is the need for buy-in, compromise and consensus – families are already attuned to instinctively trust each other, work together and foster unity-of-purpose. Lastly, families often invest with a deferred gratification ethos, expecting many times that only the next generation will reap the returns on these investment. This eco-system is the microcosm of societal progress.

This Go Lean roadmap calls for incentivizing and engaging many empowering families; and to do so on a regional basis.

In general, the CU/Go Lean roadmap will employ strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

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

In much the same way the Ilitch Family seeks to transform Detroit, the Go Lean book stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book; the following is a sample:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – 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 – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds – Learning from Detroit	Page 33
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 & regional economic engines	Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Repatriate & Reunite Families	Page 70
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Planning – Anatomy of Advocacies – One person can make a difference	Page 122
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Turn-around from Failure	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Anecdote – Caribbean Industrialist – Butch Stewart	Page 189
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Retirement	Page 221
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One Percent	Page 224
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Empower Women – Focus on Families	Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Jamaica	Page 239

There are other lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering the historicity of empowering families, those in the past, present and future. Whether these families prospered due to their own business acumen and hard work, or were entitled by some Royal Decree, we must all be judged on what we do with the gifts we are blessed with.

Our region has experienced a lot of abandonment over the decades; this status quo cannot persist. We have suffered the same as many other failing communities – like Detroit. But the families depicted in this commentary, in Detroit and in the Caribbean, prove that despite hardships, if there is some unity-of-purpose, success can still be fostered even in the most trial-some conditions. Looking and learning at these communities, we glean that we can confer, convene and collaborate with empowering families to positively impact our communities.

Let’s get started! Let’s make our Caribbean homeland – and our individual communities – better places to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix – Ilitch Family Holdings and Olympia Entertainment Group

Fox Theatre	Opened: September 21, 1928 Re-opened: November 19, 1988 after Michael and Marian Ilitch bought and restored the theatre to its original splendor; saving 80 percent of the original surfaces.Features: The Fox Theatre was the crown jewel of Detroit’s theater district during the first quarter of the 20th Century playing host to some of the biggest names in show business and showing first-runs of some of the greatest films in history. The Fox Theatre has played host to some of the greatest names in entertainment including Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. Designated a National Landmark in 1989, the Fox is the second largest surviving theatre (over 4,800 seats) in the nation and has the second largest functioning Wurlitzer organ.
Joe Louis Arena	Opened: In December 1979. Joe Louis Arena (The Joe or JLA) became the home-ice of the Detroit Red Wings NHL hockey franchise, replacing Olympia Stadium, the former home of Detroit’s NHL team for 72 years.Features: The 20,058-seat arena is Detroit’s largest indoor venue and has hosted a wide variety of events in its 30-year existence including the NHL All-Star Game (February 5, 1980), the Republican National Convention (July 14-18, 1980) and six Stanley Cup Finals. The arena is named after boxing legend and long-time Detroit resident, Joe Louis. First event: December 23, 1979 — University of Detroit vs. University of Michigan basketball; First Red Wings Game: December 29, 1979
Comerica Park	Opened: April 11, 2000 Features: The 45,010 seat, open-air ballpark is home to the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball franchise. The ballpark has hosted more than 850 ball games as well as concerts with more than 80,000 fans. Comerica Park has hosted Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, KISS, Eminem, Jay-Z, The Rolling Stones and Kid Rock.First Event: Detroit Tigers vs. Seattle Mariners on April 11, 2000First Concert: The Dave Matthews Band on July 5, 2000
City Theatre	Opened: September 15, 1993 as the Second City-DetroitReopened: October 6, 2004 as renamed City TheatreFeatures: An intimate, 472-seat theatre with the atmosphere of a Broadway house.
Affiliates
Little Caesars Pizza	Little Caesars Pizza founders Michael and Marian Ilitch opened their first restaurant in Garden City, Michigan, in 1959. Little Caesars, the fastest growing pizza chain, built more stores in the world in 2009 than any other pizza brand and today is the largest carry-out chain globally with restaurants on five continents. Little Caesars is growing in prime markets across the country, and is offering strong franchisee candidates an opportunity for independence with a proven system. For the third year in a row, Little Caesars was named “Best Value in America”* of all quick-serve restaurant chains. In addition, Little Caesars offers strong brand awareness with one of the most recognized and appealing characters in the country, Little Caesar. “Highest-Rated Chain – Value for the Money” based on a nationwide survey of quick-service restaurant consumers conducted by Sandelman & Associates, 2009
Detroit Red Wings	One of the Original Six franchises in the National Hockey League, the Detroit Red Wings have won more Stanley Cup Championships than any other American franchise. Purchased in 1982 by Mike and Marian Ilitch, the Red Wings have stood as one of professional sports’ premier franchises with the most recent Cup victories in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008. The Red Wings play in front of sellout crowds of 20,000-plus fans at Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. Visit us at http://www.detroitredwings.com.
Detroit Tigers	In 1992, Mike Ilitch purchased the Detroit Tigers, Detroit’s major league baseball team, which plays in Comerica Park. The ballpark is located directly across the street from the Fox Theatre. ComericaPark opened in 2000 to rave reviews. Sports Illustrated called Comerica Park a “brilliant ballpark”, among the top two or three in the country. In 2005, the Detroit Tigers hosted the 76th All-Star game at Comerica Park. All-Star Week in Detroit produced the highest grossing revenue in the history of the All-Star Game. Comerica Park has also hosted numerous concerts and the 2006 World Series. Visit the Detroit Tigers website at www.detroittigers.com
Little Caesars Pizza Kits	Since its introduction in the Detroit area in 1997, Pizza Kits has become the “Hottest Fundraiser in America” for all types of nonprofit organizations. Pizza Kits contain all the ingredients to make delicious pizza at home. The Pizza Kit Program now offers a variety of family favorites: 9 Pizza Kits, 3 Breads, and 3 Specialty Items. In Fall 2003, the Little Caesars Cookie Dough Program was launched with 8 great tasting varieties including: Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Raisin. Today, Little Caesars Fundraising Programs proudly helps raise millions of dollars for thousands of schools, churches, sports teams and nonprofit organizations throughout the continental United States. Visit us at www.pizzakit.com or call us toll free at 1-888-4-LC-KITS.
Olympia Development	Olympia Development, L.L.C. was established by the Ilitch organization in 1996 to cultivate and attract development in downtown Detroit. The company was instrumental in negotiating the side-by-side Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions stadiums. As a result, the 76th All-Star Game played at Comerica Park in 2005 and the XL Super Bowl that played at Ford Field in 2006. Olympia Development is dedicated to supporting further growth with the new Foxtown sports and entertainment district in downtown Detroit; see VIDEO below.
Uptown Entertainment	Uptown Entertainment includes two of Detroit’s finest movie theatres – the historic Birmingham 8 and Ren Cen 4. In addition to featuring first-run movies, Uptown Entertainment offers unparalleled event services in a variety of unique settings. Uptown is dedicated to faithfully providing our guests with the ultimate in theatre projection, sight, sound, and service. Special features of Uptown Entertainment theatres include stadium seating, digital surround sound, wall-to-wall curved screens and full bar service is available for any private theatre reservations. In 2010, the Birmingham 8 theatre was one of the first in the area to offer Sony Digital Cinema 4K projection and RealD 3D, which provides the highest resolution projection available, 3D capability and a superior viewing experience for guests. The technology also allows for a variety of alternative content such as live concerts, sporting events, operas and more! Visit UptownEntertainment.com. The Destination for an Exceptional Entertainment Experience.
Hockeytown Cafe	Voted the No. 2 sports bar in the country week after week by ESPN2’s Cold Pizza, Hockeytown Cafe is the hottest place to take part in the action before, during and after both Red Wings and Tigers games with live bands, great food and drink and the best view of Comerica Park in the MotorCity! Visit us at www.hockeytowncafe.com.
Blue Line Foodservice Distribution	Blue Line Foodservice Distribution was established in 1971 in Farmington Hills, Michigan as a premier foodservice distribution company. With 14 distribution centers in North America and satellite locations within the U.S., the company distributes food and equipment to Little Caesars® stores as well as many other customers throughout the world. Through its West Coast centers, Blue Line provides exporting services to the Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Rim and other territories; through its East Coast centers support is provided to the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and South America. Blue Line, with 700 employees, offers a single point of contact for product purchasing, replenishment, equipment, customer service and logistics. Learn more about Blue Line Foodservice Distribution at www.bluelinedist.com.
Champion Foods	Champion Foods is a premier manufacturer of top quality private label and branded food products. Its specialty products are high quality packaged retail pizzas and breadsticks, par-baked pizza crusts and premium cookie dough. Champion Foods services many customers including major grocery retailers, food service distributors, restaurant chains and industrial toppers. Its experienced and professional staff makes dozens of products, any of which can be customized to specific customer needs at their state-of-the-art manufacturing research center located in Metro Detroit. Champion Food offers an expansive distribution network to ship throughout North America. www.championfoods.com
The Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League	Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League (LCAHL) is the nation’s largest amateur youth hockey league, involving teams from all over America’s Midwest — Michigan, Ohio and Indiana including Nashville, Tennessee — with more than 700 Travel and House Teams and over 11,000 players in 45 affiliated Associations.
Little Caesars AAA Hockey	Little Caesars AAA Hockey is one of the most recognized and respected organizations in amateur travel hockey. A cornerstone of the Midwest Elite Hockey League since 1968, the program has captured numerous state championships and tournament titles over its 30-plus year history. Mike and Marian Ilitch, owners of the Little Caesars Pizza chain, have been sponsoring amateur hockey teams since 1968 and are a major reason for the club’s success. Visit us at www.littlecaesarshockey.com.
Little Foxes Fine Gifts	Little Foxes Fine Gifts, located in Downtown Detroit’s Fox Theatre Building, offers Metro Detroiters unique gifts for every occasion. You’ll find one-of-a-kind gifts from around the world including pottery, fine crystal, art, jewelry and home furnishings. Established by Marian Ilitch in 1992, Little Foxes is the premiere downtown location for all your gift giving needs! Free Parking is available. Visit us at www.littlefoxes.com.
MotorCity Casino Hotel	Motor City Casino Hotel has 400 rooms and suites. Dining options include Iridescence, Detroit’s only AAA Four Diamond Award-winning restaurant, Grand River Deli, and Assembly Line Buffet. With live entertainment nightly at Chromatics, Detroit’s only Radio Bar, Spectators sports bar to watch the game, and Amnesia, Detroit’s only ultra lounge, there’s something for everyone. For more information please visit www.motorcitycasino.com. Due to Sports league ownership rules, the casino is directly owned by Marian Ilitch.
Coming Development
The District Detroit (See *VIDEO* below)	Ilitch Organization Achieves Zoning Approval for New Detroit Events Center. Our Vision for Affordable Housing and Plan for Renovation of Eddystone Hote. l Detroit Businesses Win Majority of Contract Awards for New Detroit Events Center. The District Detroit: Six Job Fairs in 60 Days

(Source: http://www.olympiaentertainment.com/about-olympia-entertainment/company-history)

VIDEO – Ilitch Organization unveils sports and entertainment district plans – https://youtu.be/3fSVcsNWhjk

Published on Jul 21, 2014

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Science of Sustenance – CLT Housing

Posted on February 10, 2017 in Economics, Government, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Believe it or not, the Caribbean is the “best of times and the worst of times”. – Charles Dickens.

We have the greatest address on the planet – in terms of terrain, fauna/flora, hospitality, festivities, food, rum and cigars – but we have near-Failed-States as well, to the point that 70 percent of the educated classes have fled the region. The above Dickensian quote emerges as a strong parallel:

This phrase has been taken from the famous opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The novel opens as, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. – LiteraryDevices.com

This age of radical opposites in the Caribbean must be assuaged. But how? How do we implement a reboot and turn-around?

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that we re-focus on basic needs – food, clothing, shelter and energy – and their required delivery systems. The book quotes that we must:

Feed Ourselves
Clothe Ourselves
House Ourselves – in the US, the National Association of Realtors® trumpets that “housing creates jobs”.

A consideration of the science of housing solutions, is therefore important and apropos for rebooting societal engines as housing requires local jobs and building materials. So it is a study in economics, security and governance.

But rebooting the delivery of housing in this year 2017 must dictate at least one additional criteria:

Adherence to Green principles.

Enter CLT for meeting housing- shelter needs; CLT = Cross Latinate Timber. Green building practices have helped CLT’s popularity, with its combination of environmental performance, sustainability, design flexibility, cost-competitiveness and structural integrity.

The Timber label discloses that the based material is wood; naturally grown on trees. This is as green as green gets; every tree cut down can be replaced with seedling for a new tree. But CLT is driven by forces in emerging science – see Appendix.

This is the focus of this commentary: science for rebooting the delivery of basic needs. This is 4 of 4 in this series covering: energy, food, clothing and shelter-housing. It is possible to deliver all basic needs without science. But for our modern world, the advances of science make a positive impact on daily life. So the full series for our consideration follows this pattern:

The book Go Lean…Caribbean promotes advanced science and technology for Caribbean housing solutions, specifically trumpeting Smart Homes – home automation for security, communications, energy optimization, and house work.

CLT is also a Smart Home option, in that its a smart building material. It is strong, safe and flexible. With CLT as building blocks, structures can actually be built tall … maybe even skyscrapers. See a related new article here:

Title: Why a Wooden Office Tower may Symbolize the Future of Multi Story Construction
By: Patrick Sisson

“Office building goes up in Minneapolis” isn’t exactly a headline built to blow up Twitter. But the seven-story, 210,000-square-foot T3 commercial structure that broke ground at the end of July in the city’s North Loop neighborhood isn’t just any office. A new home for the Hines development firm, T3 (Timber, Technology and Transit) will be the first tall-timber building of its type in the United States, a new spin on architecture utilizing a material that’s been a bedrock of construction for millennia. According to architect Michael Green, when it’s finished in late 2016, T3 will challenge assumptions many hold about wooden structures, and represent a massive technological leap beyond the old-school timber warehouses that surround it. Green, one of a number of architects worldwide specializing in tall-timber construction, sees buildings like this as part of a vanguard of sustainable construction technology that will be called upon to create taller and taller buildings going forward. With so much of our energy footprint going towards constructing and maintaining buildings, it only makes sense to move away from resource-intensive steel.

“It’s the beauty of what we’re doing here, incorporating modern technology with good, old ideas,” he says. “We’re not reinventing the wheel, we’re bringing back a very good wheel.”

Green’s eponymous Canadian firm is perhaps best known for the seven-story Wood Innovation and Design Centre in Prince George, British Columbia, currently the tallest timber building in North America. For the T3 project, he’s been forced to start with a concrete foundation to meet code requirements, and the skeleton will be steel, but the vast majority of the structure will be wood sourced from the West Coast. The core and floorplates will be made from huge panels of engineered lumber that have been nailed and glued together, with support provided by engineered wooden columns (pressed together to replicate the load-bearing abilities previously provided by massive beams cut from old growth timber). The panels’ density actually means they won’t burn through completely, instead forming a protective layer of charcoal. It’s a marriage of old and new techniques, he says, that will provide a much more energy-efficient building due to the natural source materials. And, as opposed to concrete-and-steel structures that often draw in the cold, this wooden structure will provide insulation, a godsend in a cold climate such as Minneapolis.

While Europe has traditionally been the leader in re-developing timber as a building material for tall structures—The Stadthaus, a nine-story building in London built in 2008 with cross-laminated timber, was one of the forerunners of the modern wooden building boom—Green feels North America is starting to catch up.

“Height is happening, but it’s a slow process,” he says. “There are a few projects in the U.S. being considered, and you’re starting to see innovation creep up.”

While there are scores of projects utilizing cross-laminated timber and heavy wood construction, one of the projects Green is most excited about is the recent $60M forestry school expansion at Oregon State University dedicated to advancing the technology behind timber construction. The concept reinforces the main ecological and economical advantages of the practice, the ability to harvest renewable resources for construction while concurrently redeveloping rural economies. As timber buildings get higher in cities across the country, different areas, such as the seismic West Coast or windy Midwest, will require unique systems and designs to start rising above 20 floors. Developing and sharing regional knowledge between builders, regulators and architects will be key to future acceptance, still a barrier to more widespread adoption.

“The U.S. government investment in building science technology represents .0001 percent of total innovation investment,” he says. “That’s a statistic that needs to be shouted from the roof tops.”

While the industry is just starting to get off the ground here, Green and his firm are aiming skyward. A perfect example is their recent proposal for a 35-story tower in Paris. Set to be submitted after the contentious battle over the Herzog & de Meuron tower, the first tall building of any type approved in Paris in decades, the MGA plan was abandoned. But that was because it was tall and in Paris, not tall and made of wood.

“We have a new means of building that can help us realize a new era of architecture, a post-climate era,” he says. “As this develops, we’ll see how this changes the look of our cities and buildings.

Related stories:

Why Doesn’t the World Have More Wooden Skyscrapers?

World’s Tallest Wooden Tower May Soon Rise in Sweden

Source: Curbed.com – Urban Design Online Site – (Posted 08-12-2017; retrieved 02-02-2017) from: http://www.curbed.com/2015/8/12/9931212/minneapolis-t3-timber-construction-michael-green

———-

Appendix – About Curbed.com

Since 2004, Curbed has been an integral part of the online housing industry, and by providing analysis, coverage, and insight, we apply an editorial lens to the onslaught of information. Unlike a glossy shelter magazine, we see homes, architecture, interior design, cities, neighborhoods, and properties for sale as related points on a spectrum. An artfully styled home shoot isn’t the be-all-end-of-all in the life of a residence: It’s one station along a continuously evolving timeline.
Source: Retrieved February 3, 2017 from http://www.curbed.com/pages/about-curbed

A consideration of CLT raises a lot of questions:

What would CLT Housing mean for the Caribbean region?
Are CLT-made homes strong-safe for the tropical zone’s threat of hurricanes?
Are they strong-safe for earthquake threats?
Do they fit in with the traditional decor of Caribbean neighborhoods?

Answers:

CLT Housing in the Caribbean – This region is not known for tall skyscrapers, so 20 – 30 maximum stories would be ideal for urban areas.
Strong-safe for hurricanes – The options for 3, 5 or 7 layered timber blocks are just as strong as concrete and steel. These structures have been tested and graded for Category 4 storms.
Strong-safe for earthquakes – Wood is energy-absorbent; this flexibility allows buildings to withstand quakes better than concrete, brick or steel.
Traditional Caribbean Decor – The classic-colonial look of the region featured wooded homes and sharp colors; this is ideal for CLT.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), with a charter to elevate Caribbean society by optimizing the delivery of the region’s basic needs. With 144 missions, the dynamics of housing is identified specifically as one of the missions for the Go Lean/CU roadmap; so too the quest for Pre-Fab housing. The book highlights the CU’s prime directives, as described by these statements:

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

There are a lot of economic issues associated with the subject of building materials; this subject reflects heavily on the local availability of natural resources. The Caribbean member-states – many of them small islands – do not have a lot of iron ore for steel and limited quarry areas for concrete-cement. But trees are an inexhaustible resource. So a confederated union in the region or a cooperative could be a good solution for installing a factory to produce CLT products. See the manufacturing process in the Appendix VIDEO below.

The Go Lean roadmap, and the foregoing article, calls for the region to double-down its efforts to ensure a quality delivery for housing and building materials. This need was identified early in the Go Lean book, in the opening pronouncement in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14), as follows:

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like prefabricated housing ….

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 collaboration of the region’s housing 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 by consolidating the purchasing of raw materials and equipment – think Group Purchasing Organizations. The CU empowerments would also allow for better coordination with commercial entities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international stakeholders.

The book details the community ethos needed to effect change in this area, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the region’s housing solutions:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Choose For Greatest Benefits Despite Scarcity	Page 21
Community Ethos – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Lean Operations – Group Purchase Organization	Page 24
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Embrace the advances of technology	Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Separation of Powers – Department of Housing and Urban Authority	Page 83
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Housing solutions	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Mitigate Failed-States	Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Housing – Smart Homes	Page 161
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources	Page 183
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Develop a Pre-Fab Housing Industry	Page 207
Appendix – Housing Solution: Pre-Fab Homes	Page 289

This Go Lean book asserts that there is a direct correlation between housing and the economy. This viewpoint has been previously detailed in Go Lean blog/commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10140	Lessons Learned: Detroit demolishes thousands of structures
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7659	Pre-Fab Housing and Elder-Care Conjunction
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5155	Tesla unveils super-battery to power homes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4337	Study: Homes Marketed via the MLS Sell for More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1896	The Crisis in Black Homeownership
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=709	Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers

CLT methodology is a scientific advance for green building materials. Green is important for the Caribbean region. Among the benefits are the consequences, the mitigations for Climate Change. Some of the threats for this region are hurricanes; as of late, with global warming the storms have been more destructive. A 1 to 2 degree difference in ocean temperature can mean the difference of a Category 2 storm versus Category 3. So CLT buildings will help to assuage greenhouse gases and protect the homes from destructive storms. These are better protections for earthquakes too.

Win – Win! This is the effect of advancing the science of sustenance, for all our basic needs: energy, food, clothing & shelter.

All of these scientific solutions are the new best-practices. They make this Go Lean/CU roadmap conceivable, believable and achievable.

Everyone in Caribbean – residents, homeowners, home-builders, governments – are hereby urged to lean-in to the Go Lean roadmap for regional, societal empowerment. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

Appendix VIDEO – CLT production line from Kallesoe Machinery – https://youtu.be/BikISh6F1wo

Published on Apr 15, 2015 – This massive high frequency press from Kallesoe Machinery represents the most efficient installation on the marked for the production of CLT elements. The press is a highly efficient production unit with high capacity and very short pressing times.

This CLT press can press endless CLT elements up to 20 meters long and 3.2 meters wide.

Category – Science & Technology
License – Standard YouTube License

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Science of Sustenance – e-Clothing

Posted on February 9, 2017 in Economics, Ethos, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Basic needs (food, clothing & shelter) and cutting-edge technologies, what a conundrum?!

A lot of science/technology goes into the harvesting of food, and the construction of houses, but clothing has a “leg up”, in that the science is emerging to where people can wear their technology.

Welcome to the new age! This is called e-Clothing (electronic-embedded clothing) or e-Textile, a subset of “Materials Sciences” – see Appendix below.

This imagery is so remindful of the old television cartoon show, The Jetsons. It debuted in 1962 telling stories of what the writers envisioned the year 2062 would be like. In those 55 years, the actual technologies have changed, so if envisioned again, what do we now think the year 2062 will look like.

This re-imagining was done; see Appendix VIDEO below.

This commentary presses the point about innovations in wearable technologies; the purpose tends to not be fashion, but function; (there are some fashion statements with flashing lights; see Appendix). There are a lot of circumstances where embedded technologies in clothing would be advantageous; consider:

Performance enhancing – technologies to improve and enhance movement and skills.
Disease Management – diagnostics of medical conditions to alert stakeholders of declining health metrics; consider blood pressure, blood sugar, temperature and pulse rate.

Considering the Appendix VIDEO below, it would appear that future innovations are expected to take place in places other than the Caribbean. That would be a sad disposition. This point was highlighted in the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it purports that a new industrial revolution is emerging in the world and that Caribbean people and society must engage. This is pronounced at the outset of the Go Lean book in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14), with this opening statement:

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 there must be Caribbean participants in this global race to create technological solutions to better deliver on basic needs. This commentary is 3 of 4 in a series on the modern advances in science for delivering basic needs: energy, food, clothing and shelter. While it is possible to deliver these basic needs without science, our modern world is defined by the advances of science and their impact on daily life. The full series for our consideration follows this pattern:

The Go Lean book’s assertion is that innovations will spurn new economic activity, improve lives and lower our overall cost of living.

Clothing is undeniably a basic need, but e-Clothing is associated more with progress. All people in our region need clothes and yet we do not source our own clothing. We have no textile industry (cotton, wool, linen, leather, etc.). There is art and science associated with the subject of apparels. The art is considered fashion; and Caribbean stakeholders have made a great impact in the fashion industry – remember Oscar De La Renta. But art and fashion does not have to be the limited for the Caribbean vocation – tailoring, dress-making, arts-and-crafts – in this apparel eco-system. For the most part, our clothing needs are imported products, but we can still better provide for the region’s clothing needs, and depend less on globalization.

The book Go Lean… Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This effort will marshal the region to avail the opportunities associated with technology and clothing. The CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

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

The Go Lean roadmap calls for the immediate adoption of the community ethos to foster information technology innovation. This was the original motivation of the Go Lean roadmap, an interdependence of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean to offset the effects of globalization. This statement was also pronounced early in the book on the same page of the Declaration of Interdependence as above:

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

There is a lot at stake for the Caribbean in considering this subject area. According to the subsequent article, there are scientific developments to power the chips embedded in textiles using body heat. Just think of this innovation: 98.6 degrees is a lot of heat that humans generate. If only that body energy can be captured and harnessed to power electronics in e-Clothing and/or e-Textiles. According to this article, there is progress:

Title: Wearable integrated thermocells based on gel electrolytes use body heat as power source

Summary: Electronics integrated into textiles are gaining in popularity: Systems like smartphone displays in a sleeve or sensors to detect physical performance in athletic wear have already been produced. The main problem with these systems tends to be the lack of a comfortable, equally wearable source of power. Scientists are now aiming to obtain the necessary energy from body heat. They have now introduced a flexible, wearable thermocell based on two different gel electrolytes.

FULL STORY:
Electronics integrated into textiles are gaining in popularity: Systems like smartphone displays in a sleeve or sensors to detect physical performance in athletic wear have already been produced. The main problem with these systems tends to be the lack of a comfortable, equally wearable source of power. Chinese scientists are now aiming to obtain the necessary energy from body heat. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, they have introduced a flexible, wearable thermocell based on two different gel electrolytes.

Our muscle activity and metabolism cause our bodies to produce constant heat, some of which is released through the skin into the environment. Because of the relatively small temperature difference between skin (approximately 32 °C) and the temperature of our surroundings, it is not so easy to make use of body heat. Previous thermoelectric generators, such as those based on semiconductors, produce too little energy, are costly, or are too brittle for use in wearable systems. Thermocells with electrolyte solutions are difficult to integrate into extensive wearable systems. A team led by Jun Zhou at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan, China) has now found a solution to this problem: thermocells with gel-based electrolytes.

The researchers are making use of the thermogalvanic effect: if two electrodes in contact with an electrolyte solution — or an electrolyte gel — are kept at different temperatures, a potential difference is generated. The ions of a redox pair in the electrolyte can rapidly switch between two different charge states, accepting or releasing electrons at electrodes with different temperature. In order to use this to produce a current, the scientists combined two types of cells containing two different redox pairs. Each cell consists of two tiny metal plates that act as electrodes, with an electrolyte gel in between. The first cell type contains the Fe2+/Fe3+ redox pair. The second type of cell contains the complex ions [Fe(CN)6]3-/[Fe(CN)6]4-. Because of the choice of these redox pairs, in cell type 1, the cold end gives a negative potential, while in type 2, the cold end gives a positive potential.

The researchers arranged many of these two types of cells into a checkerboard pattern. The cells were connected to each other by metal plates alternating above and below, to link them into a series. They then integrated this “checkerboard” into a glove. When the glove is worn, the desired temperature difference results between the upper and lower plates. This produces a voltage between neighboring cells, and the voltage adds up. This makes it possible to generate current to power a device or charge a battery.

In an environment at 5 °C, it was possible to produce 0.7 volts and about 0.3 μW. By optimizing this system, it should be possible to improve the power, even with smaller temperature gradients.

Reference: Peihua Yang, Kang Liu, Qian Chen, Xiaobao Mo, Yishu Zhou, Song Li, Guang Feng, Jun Zhou. Wearable Thermocells Based on Gel Electrolytes for the Utilization of Body Heat. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2016; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201606314

Source: Science Daily e-Zine – Posted September 6, 2016; retrieved 02-04-2017 from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160906131128.htm

This foregoing article is describing the dynamics of Research-and-Development (R&D). It is an attitude, a spirit, a motivation and a sentiment. The Go Lean book describes this as community ethos, the appropriate attitude/spirit to forge change in our region. R&D is cited as one of the community ethos the Caribbean region needs to adopt. This will foster the climate, environment and atmosphere to forge change in e-Clothing deliveries. Engaging this ethos early can result in many new jobs, and entrepreneurial opportunities. This is how to succeed in a world dominated by globalization; we must not only consume, we must produce as well. The Go Lean book details R&D and other ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to forge Research-and-Development and industrial growth in Caribbean communities:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	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 Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy – New High Multiplier Industries	Page 68
Separation of Powers – Patent, Standards, & Copyrights Office	Page 82
Separation of Powers – Health Department – Diagnostic Services	Page 86
Separation of Powers – Drug [and Medical Devices] Administration	Page 87
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Implement Self-Government Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare	Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Entitlements	Page 158
Advocacy – Ways to Better Provide Clothing	Page 163
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care	Page 225
Appendix – Healthways Model – Disease Management Data Capture	Page 300

Historically, the Caribbean has been quick to consume technological advances. Now we want to be quick to produce the technology, not just consume it. Some Caribbean communities are doing this already, consider Cuba with their research in cancer drugs. Other Caribbean R&D activities have been detailed in these previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9751	Where the Jobs Are – Animation and Game Design
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8943	Zika’s Drug Breakthrough
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8817	Lessons from China – R&D for Mobile Game Apps
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5034	US Patent Office: Model of Innovation and Abuse
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3974	Google’s R&D efforts in Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1817	Caribbean R&D on the new cycles of flooding & drought
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1288	Future Caribbean Astronauts – Not so improbable
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=308	CARCIP Urges Greater Caribbean Innovation thru R&D
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=286	Puerto RicoCancerR&DCenter Project Breaks Ground

Change has come to the world of textiles and clothing; these changes must also be forged, researched and developed in the Caribbean region. We must be able to better provide our clothing. This is one of the basic needs that we must convene, collaborate and cooperate on as a region. This helps to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

But we must also be able to contribute to the new world of performance-enhancing and diagnostic e-Clothes.

The people and institutions of the region are hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap, to embrace all these empowerments efforts to reboot our region. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix – e-Textiles

E-textiles, also known as smart garments, smart clothing, electronic textiles, smart textiles, or smart fabrics, are fabrics that enable digital components (including small computers), and electronics to be embedded in them. Smart textiles are fabrics that have been developed with new technologies that provide added value to the wearer. Pailes-Friedman of the Pratt Institute states that “what makes smart fabrics revolutionary is that they have the ability to do many things that traditional fabrics cannot, including communicate, transform, conduct energy and even grow”.^[1]

Smart textiles can be broken into two different categories: aesthetic and performance enhancing. Aesthetic examples include fabrics that light up and fabrics that can change color. Some of these fabrics gather energy from the environment by harnessing vibrations, sound or heat, reacting to these inputs. Performance enhancing smart textiles are intended for use in athletic, extreme sports and military applications. These include fabrics designed to regulate body temperature, reduce wind resistance, and control muscle vibration – all of which may improve athletic performance. Other fabrics have been developed for protective clothing, to guard against extreme environmental hazards, such as radiation and the effects of space travel.^[2] The health and beauty industry is also taking advantage of these innovations, which range from drug-releasing medical textiles, to fabric with moisturizer, perfume, and anti-aging properties.^[1] Many smart clothing, wearable technology, and wearable computing projects involve the use of e-textiles.^[3]

Electronic textiles are distinct from wearable computing because emphasis is placed on the seamless integration of textiles with electronic elements like microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators. Furthermore, e-textiles need not be wearable. For instance, e-textiles are also found in interior design.

The related field of fibretronics explores how electronic and computational functionality can be integrated into textile fibers.

A new report from Cientifica Research examines the markets for textile based wearable technologies, the companies producing them and the enabling technologies. The report identifies three distinct generations of textile wearable technologies:

“First generation” attach a sensor to apparel. This approach is currently taken by sportswear brands such as Adidas, Nike and Under Armour
“Second generation” products embed the sensor in the garment, as demonstrated by current products from Samsung, Alphabet, Ralph Lauren and Flex.
In “third generation” wearables, the garment is the sensor. A growing number of companies are creating pressure, strain and temperature sensors for this purpose.

Future applications for e-textiles may be developed for sports and well-being products, and medical devices for patient monitoring. Technical textiles, fashion and entertainment will also be significant applications.^[4]

Source: Retrieved February 4, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-textiles

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Appendix VIDEO – The World of The Jetsons, reimagined – https://youtu.be/37waZeR4isc

Published on Nov 15, 2016 – The world of The Jetsons gets a scientific makeover. Arconic has reimagined the year 2062 through the eyes of leading futurists, our engineers and filmmaker Justin Lin. This futuristic world features advanced technologies—flying cars and extra tall, 3D-printed buildings—that Arconic’s materials science and manufacturing experts could help bring to life.

Arconic is built on an extraordinary heritage of innovation that began with Alcoa’s founding in 1888. We have helped shape the aerospace, automotive and building and construction industries since the days of the Wright brothers, Henry Ford and the first modern downtowns. Today, as Arconic, we continue to build on more than a century of innovation to help transform the way we fly, drive, build and power. Arconic is where the future takes shape.

Learn more at http://www.arconic.com/thefuture.

Category: People & Blogs
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Member-State	2010 GDP	2% Defense
Anguilla	0.108	$0.00
Antigua and Barbuda	1,646	$32.92
Aruba	2,400	$48.00
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Barbados	5,244	$104.88
Belize	2,525	$50.50
Bermuda	5,085	$101.70
British Virgin Islands	84	$1.68
Cayman Islands	1,939	$38.78
Cuba	111,000	$2,220.00
Dominica	720	$14.40
Dominican Republic	76,304	$1,526.08
Grenada	1,153	$23.06
Guadeloupe	6,169	$123.38
Guyana	3,082	$61.64
Haiti	11,562	$231.24
Jamaica	20,958	$419.16
Martinique	9,610	$192.20
Montserrat	29	$0.58
Netherlands Antilles	2,450	$49.00
Puerto Rico	67,870	$1,357.40
Saint Barthélemy	255	$5.10
Saint Kitts and Nevis	750	$15.00
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Saint Martin	599	$11.98
Saint Vincent	1,086	$21.72
Suriname	4,436	$88.72
Trinidad and Tobago	27,038	$540.76
Turks and Caicos Islands	845	$16.90
US Virgin Islands	2,679	$53.58
	$378,585.11	$7,571.70