There is a concept in the field of Econometrics and Statistics, that numbers can tell any lie. Proponents and opponents can look at the same numbers and draw different conclusions. Consider:
An 8-ouce glass with 4 ounces of water.
It is half full.
It is half empty.
So while numbers can be a source of great debate in the planning and forecasting process, there comes the time where the “rubber meets the road”, where there is no more planning or interpretation, it is just reality; it then becomes this scenario:
“It is what it is”.
This is the reality facing the Detroit Metro-area School District for Farmington, Michigan. This week was back-to-school, the start of a new academic school year, and the reality is:
There are not enough students and too many schools.
Detroit, MI – The Farmington Hills school district says it has too much space and too few students.
This news report aligns with the movement promoting the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The publication took an assessment of the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines and then declared … a crisis! The same as the Detroit-area is in crisis after decades of societal decline in their societal engines; to the point that there are now not enough students to fill the class rooms. The Caribbean is suffering a similar fate of dysfunction. The schools buildings in the Farmington District are still there; the teachers are still hired, (under labor contracts); the school buses still roam the city for pick-up and drop-off; food supplies still have to be delivered, prepared and served to the available students. But now there are less of them, and less monies accordingly. (The State of Michigan, like most US States, provides education grants to each school district based on the number of students).
This is the case in Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan USA. The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean are here to “observe and report” the turn-around and rebirth of the once-great-but-now-distressed City of Detroit and its metropolitan area. The foregoing article/VIDEO relates to topics that are of serious concern, demographics of the community. The numbers cannot be ignored! Declining populations are a problem and the consequences are dire.
This latter point – education policy – is the focus of this commentary. (College education in particular).
This is a concern for Detroit and other American cities. To the extent that US President Barack Obama came to Detroit, yesterday (September 9, 2015) to advocate for a change in government policy for education. Mr. Obama recognizes that there is the need to re-boot the American tertiary education eco-system to better adapt to the changing workplace and job markets. Without the ability to supply the market with the labor force being demanded, communities will just continue to lose out on population growth and economic growth. The situation would go from good … to bad, to worse, to Detroit. 🙁
Detroit, MI – President Barack Obama touted retraining and reinvention in his speech at Macomb Community College.
We need to apply these lessons in the Caribbean. Education policy has been devastating for this region. Rather than the usual gains, we have experienced declines due to the implementation of education policy in the region. This point has been echoed in many previous Go Lean blog/commentaries. See sample here:
Is a Traditional 4-year Degree a Terrible Investment?
This commentary is a big proponent for the Caribbean of the type of education reform being touted by President Obama. But this commentary is a big opponent of Caribbean stakeholders leaving their homeland to matriculate in these American schools. Our track record cannot be ignored, for far too often, our Caribbean students have not returned, contributing further to our brain drain and societal abandonment problem. We need this Obama-promoted education reform, but we need it in the Caribbean, for the Caribbean.
Change has now come. The driver of this change is technology and globalization. Under the tenants of globalization, the conflict is a Trade War. There are offensive and defensive battles. Caribbean institutions must be able to attract foreign students to study in the region, not just have local students study abroad. Otherwise, we can never compete in this education trade wars. It will be all “give” and no “take” for us.
How do we re-boot the region’s education eco-systems for this Trade War?
The Go Lean roadmap provides turn-by-turn directions on reforming 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 to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The Go Lean book details how education is a vital consideration for Caribbean economic empowerment, but with lessons-learned from all the flawed decision-making by the Caribbean in the past and from other communities like Detroit. 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. The book details those policies (like online learning; forgive-able student loans), the community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to succeed in the education reform quest 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
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization
Page 57
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
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit
Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – Online Options
Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Student Loans – Forgive-able Options
Page 160
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance
Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Better Managed the Social Contract – Education Optimizations
Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries
Page 187
Appendix – Education and Economic Growth
Page 258
Appendix – Measuring Education
Page 266
The US is the world’s largest Single Market economy and yet they are failing in some communities, i.e. Detroit. Let’s learn from this… and do better.
We want to only model some of the American example. We want to foster a education climate to benefit the Greater Good of the Caribbean, and not repeat bad mistakes.
Those are the lessons from Detroit and the Caribbean past.
It is time now to graduate from this “school … of thought”. It is time to lean-in to the reform, re-boot and empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. It is time to work to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work, learn and play. 🙂
Now this new article reports how the governmental administrations of this territory are willing to short-change investors and renege on financial promises that were made to previous bondholders. This is bad for the island’s credit rating and country risk assessments. This gross disregard for the “Full Faith and Credit” is egregious; rather the credit image of any state government should be jealously protected. This story – see here – fully describes the urgent need to reboot the economic, security and governing engines of this island:
Title: Puerto Rico bondholders coalition launches ad campaign
WASHINGTON, DC — Main Street Bondholders Coalition, a project of the 60 Plus Association, America’s largest center-right seniors organization representing more than 7.2 million older Americans, has launched a paid advertising campaign in Washington and Puerto Rico to highlight what it describes as Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla’s plan to violate Puerto Rico’s constitution at the expense of small bondholders.
“Governor Garcia Padilla’s plan – to declare debts un-payable and then attack bondholders by calling them ‘vultures’ – is both unjust and unconstitutional. Our coalition includes Puerto Rican residents and mainland seniors living on fixed incomes, who staked their retirement in bonds backed by Puerto Rico’s full faith and credit. Congress must oppose the governor and his team’s reckless plan that disregards the rule of law and devastates the lives of these small investors,” said Matthew Kandrach, vice-president for 60 Plus.
Padilla’s plan is so radical and unprecedented that members of his own political party are speaking out against it:
Nadal Power, chairman of Puerto Rican Senate Committee on Treasury and Public Finance: “We have to respect what the Constitution says and to do otherwise would take away a lot of credibility, not only the word of Puerto Rico, but compliance with the supreme law.”
Eduardo Bhatia, president of the Senate of Puerto Rico: “Puerto Rico has not been disciplined. We must restore confidence. We have to reduce government spending.”
Added Kandrach, “Puerto Rico can fix its financial problems, but any solution must be built on the cornerstone of genuine fiscal reform, not empty rhetoric and punishing investors. The governor and his circle of advisors, who are the same bunch representing deadbeat sovereigns like Argentina, have chosen to manufacture a crisis in order to get Washington’s help in their plan to stiff creditors. Congress must not allow that to happen.
“Puerto Rico would benefit from a fiscal control board, just like the District of Columbia had in the 1990s when it faced financial crisis. Congress must also oppose the governor’s plan to restructure Puerto Rico’s constitutional bonds. Allowing him to do so would set a terrible precedent, and open a Pandora’s Box of other state defaults. No retirement account in America would be safe.”
Main Street Bondholders Coalition is a project of the 60 Plus Association that is made up of small bondholders from across America who are committed to a policy process that returns Puerto Rico to sound financial management, respects the rule of law, and protects their retirement savings. Source: Caribbean News Now – Regional Online News Source – Retrieved 09-09-2015 http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Puerto-Rico-bondholders-coalition-launches-ad-campaign-27533.html
The summary of this news article is that it looks like Puerto Rico is “cruising for a bruising”, flirting with Bankruptcy. They resemble a Failed-State in some Banana Republic, rather than an American sovereign territory in the southern shadows of its bigger-richer mainland. This reflects a broken eco-system.
The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap to re-boot the island’s economic engines. The focus of the roadmap is the introduction and implementation of the region-wide professionally-managed, deputized technocracy of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap asserts that the problems of Puerto Rico (by extension, the entire Caribbean) are too big for any one member-state to solve alone. There is the need to leverage the problems and solutions across the remaining of the Caribbean region; all 30 member-states.
The CU roadmap is a request for Puerto Rico to confederate with the rest of the Caribbean, their English-speaking, Dutch-speaking, French-speaking Caribbean neighbors; despite their political status. Puerto Rico needs the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that would emerge from such integration. As reported in the previous April 2014 blog:
Puerto Rico needs the CU!
The CU needs Puerto Rico!
For the roadmap to be successful there is interdependence among these Caribbean member-states, since they are all too small. There is an overbearing need for leverage and economies-of-scale. This point was declared early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11 – 14), with these statements:
viii. Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.
xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.
xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.
xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent Overseas Territory of imperial powers, the systems of governance can be instituted on a regional and local basis, rather than requiring oversight or accountability from distant masters far removed from their subjects of administration. The Federation must facilitate success in autonomous rule by sharing tools, systems and teamwork within the geographical region.
xxv. Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.
xxix. Whereas all Caribbean democracies depend of the free flow of capital for municipal, public and private financing, the institutions of capital markets can be better organized around a regional monetary union. The Federation must institute the controls to insure transparency, accounting integrity and analysis independence of the securities markets, thereby shifting the primary source of capital away from foreign lenders to domestic investors, comprising institutions and individuals.
The CU requires the full participation of all 30 member-states in the region. A careful assessment of government finances, performed for the Go Lean book, shows that the finances for all Caribbean member-state governments are curtailed – the region is in crisis. One state after another feature deficits or excessive high Debt-to-GDP rates. (The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank have monitors permanently stationed in the region). For many states, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis still lingers.
To assuage the economic crisis for Puerto Rico and the other Caribbean member-states, the Go Lean roadmap focuses on both increasing revenues, lowering operational expenses, and refinancing previous high-interest debt instruments (bonds). The roadmap is a complete re-boot! Imagine new revenue streams and a separation-of-powers to off-load some of the operational burdens to the CU Trade Federation. These are the prime directives of the Go Lean roadmap, pronounced as these 3 statements:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The book Go Lean … Caribbean introduces the CU so as to assume much of the Caribbean economic, security and governing functionality. The roadmap makes Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play. How? By the adoption of a series of community ethos, plus the execution of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to elevate the societal engines of the region and to stop any downward spiral into Failed-State status. See the lists here:
Assessment – French Caribbean – Organization & Discord
Page 17
Assessment – Puerto Rico – The Greece of the Caribbean
Page 18
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness
Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states/ 4 languages into a Single Market
Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines
Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion GDP
Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance
Page 71
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities
Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change
Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt
Page 114
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid
Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Forging the Single Market for the whole region
Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade
Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce
Page 129
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008
Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Egypt – Dysfunction in a Tourism Mecca
Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Credit Ratings
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance
Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract
Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice
Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security
Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street
Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories
Page 244
The Go Lean roadmap alerts the Caribbean – the 42 million people, 10 million Diaspora and 80 million visitors – that the effort to elevate the societal engines is heavy-lifting. This is no easy task, serious-minded leadership is necessary. There can be no reneging of commitments and repayments of previous bond obligations, as related in the foregoing news article and this VIDEO here:
Published on Aug 3, 2015 – Envision Capital Management CEO Marilyn Cohen explains how Puerto Rico got into poor fiscal shape. Category: News & Politics License: Standard YouTube License
There must be new solutions that considers the pasts, accepts the present and fosters the future.
Change has come to the Caribbean. Puerto Rico and all neighboring member-states are admonished to lean-in to the empowerments and elevation described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are needed urgently now! We need the emergence of a $800 Billion regional economy, 2.2 million new jobs. We need the Caribbean homelands to become better places to live, work and play. 🙂
Should we be leery or should we just embrace [the badly needed] help from whatever sources?
How much of this questioning is influenced by a pro-American yearning? Pro-Christian yearning? Fear of strangers? Racist under-valuing of non-White/European races?
There is the need for the Caribbean to take stock of its thoughts-feelings-actions and give all of these questions serious deliberation.
If this Golden Rule is true: “he who has the gold makes the rules”, then we will be held to account to stakeholders in China, as their many state-own companies are definitely “bringing gold” to the table. This was vividly communicated in a previous (2014) China-Caribbean Trade/Business Summit:
“Latin America has much to gain from deepening its relationship with China, just as China has much to gain from our region,” said Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). “For our governments, this is a strategic priority. But much of the day-to-day building of those links will fall on the private sector.”
China joined the IDB as a shareholder in 2009, and is now the top trade partner for several countries in the region, including Brazil and Chile.
Trade between Latin America and the Caribbean and China is expected to double in the next decade. …
The book Go Lean…Caribbean anticipates the participation of Direct Foreign Investments in the Caribbean community. The book serves asa roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU will serve as an integrated entity to shepherd progress and optimization among the region’s societal engines for economics, security and governance. This is to be likened to a Confederated Command of Allied Forces for battles in a “Trade War”.
This aligns with the CU/Go Lean roadmap, as the focus of CU is about Trade, not politics; thus the CU branding is Trade Federation. The experience and wisdom of this roadmap was derived from successes and failures in 2008 Trade Wars.
China is officially a Communist country. But these referenced headlines do not refer to politics nor any Chinese influence of the region’s politics; not even any pressure to lean politically. It is only about trade and succeeding in a global “Trade War”.
China, with its Communist leaning is also officially atheist but truthfully, their de facto policy is religious agnosticism; they simply tolerate them all. (Many religions abound in that 1.2 Billion population, consider: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and the toleration of Western religions). The publisher of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, SFE Foundation, is a Community Development Foundation; it shares many of these same ideals. This was related in the book’s opening chapter with this Who We Are statement:
The SFE Foundation is not a person; it’s an apolitical, religiously-neutral, economic-focused movement, initiated at the grass-root level to bring change back to the Caribbean … There is an old observation/expression that states that “there are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder ‘what happened?’“ Principals of SFE Foundation were there in 2008 … on the inside looking out, not the outside looking in. Understanding the anatomy of the modern macro economy, allows the dissection of the processes and the creation of viable solutions.
This focus on trade is very familiar.
This is the same playbook of the United States of America in building the world’s largest Single Market economy. (Remember, with the Army Corp of Engineers,the US built the Panama Canal, but with more strings attached). China is simply following the same American script – minus the cronyism and militarism – of promoting trade of their products, services and capital.
Capital? Yes, many of the projects highlighted in the foregoing news articles are being financed by China’s state-owned banks and lending institutions. They are “putting their money, where their mouth is”. These are economic battles only! See US President Barack Obama’s comments on China’s Caribbean motives in the Appendix-VIDEO below.
As a region, with numerous Failed-States, can we really quiver over the nationality of our benefactors; can we question the ethnicity of the “Cavalry that has come to our rescue”? Hardly! We have to just manage with whatever refuge being offered, to allow us to better cover our basic needs.
For example, healthcare delivery is still a major concern in the Caribbean. According to the following article, the member-state of Jamaica needs to expand their number of hospital beds … and a China-backed project is facilitating this quest:
The University of the West Indies and China Harbour Engineering Company (see Appendix) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a $511 million USD development project.
The project will include the expansion of the University Hospital from 500 to 1,000 beds, an upgrade to the College Commons, the building of a 100-room hotel, and a new center for sporting activities.
The expansion will also include the addition of a cogeneration plant to supply electricity and to feed the cooling system for the campus.
Addressing the signing ceremony at the UWI Mona Campus, Professor Archibald McDonald said that the realignment of the hospital’s structure was necessary to promote efficiency and to put the institution in a position to serve the wider region.
“This will have all the modern facilities. The Government of Jamaica invests a large portion of its budget to the [UHWI]; therefore, the University Hospital has to give back to the people of Jamaica. It has to supplement the Government’s hospitals, and provide a higher level of care,” he said.
Jamaican Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson also praised the arrangement.
“I am satisfied that the direction [in which] they are going will preserve and protect the most vulnerable within our society, and ensure that health care is not out of the reach of ordinary citizens,” Ferguson said.
The project in this article is not solely for Jamaica, but rather, it is within the charter of the University of the West Indies; so there is a regional focus.
The underlying motivation of the Go Lean book is brotherly love. Therefore who so ever, brings a solution to impact the Greater Good for the Caribbean people must be embraced, despite their political affiliations. The Go Lean roadmap is therefore not “pro” or “con” American, but rather pro solutions; in fact the CU is described as a technocracy with a focus on delivery and merit; this is the same charter as the Steering Committee of the Government of the Peoples Republic of China. This was related in the Go Lean book (Page 64) as follows:
Even the leaders of the Communist Party of China are mostly professional engineers. The Five-Year plans of the People’s Republic of China have enabled them to plan ahead in a technocratic fashion to build projects such as the National Trunk Highway System, the High-speed rail system, and the Three Gorges Dam.
A basic economic principle, subscribed in Go Lean (Page 21), is that “Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices and Incentives”. So the advanced field of economics hereby posits that Economic Systems, more so than political systems influence people’s choices and incentives. The CU seeks to optimize the region’s economic systems to better deliver on the prime directives of the Go Lean roadmap, pronounced as the following statements:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate challenges/threats to ensure public safety for the region’s stakeholders.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, including a separation-of-powers with member-states, to support these economic/security engines.
So the CU vision is to provide the stewardship for the region’s economic engines, first, so as to succeed in the goals of the roadmap. This vision was pronounced at the outset of the book in the roadmap’s Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):
xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.
The CU roadmap drives change among the region’s economic, security and governing engines. These solutions are as new community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; sampled as follows:
Who We Are – Veterans of 2008 “Wars” & Financial Crisis
Page 8
Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth
Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier
Page 22
Community Ethos – Cooperatives
Page 25
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – CU Vision and Mission
Page 45
Strategy – Build and foster local economic engines
Page 45
Strategy – Reform our HealthCare industries to better fulfill our health care needs
Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy – China’s Example
Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – Trade
The Caribbean region needs help! We need the elevations of this Go Lean roadmap; we need the direct investments from China’s banks. We need the expertise and core competences of China’s many state-owned engineering and development companies. We simply cannot expect progress with a North American-only focus. We cannot only look North and West, we must also look East and South. The world is now flat; we must embrace globalization.
It is now a changed world. We must embrace China. Not as new colonizers, but as partners. There are opportunities for China to reap returns on their investments, with no exploitation of the Caribbean land or people.
The shepherding of the Caribbean economy now requires best-practices and technocratic executions; it requires those trained and accomplished from the battles of globalization and trade wars. This is the Go Lean roadmap.
Everyone, the people, businesses, institutions and trading partners are all hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
CHEC is an engineering contractor and a subsidiary of CCCC (China Communications Construction Company), providing infrastructure construction, such as marine engineering, dredging and reclamation, road and bridge, railways, airports and plant construction.[1] As a dredger the company is the second largest in the world, carrying out contracts in Asia, Africa, and Europe.[2]
The company was established in December 2005 during the merger of China Harbour Engineering Company Group (founded 1980) with China Road and Bridge Corporation into CCCC.
CHEC has won large contracts for dredging, particularly in the Middle East and Asia.
——— Appendix – VIDEO – President Obama On China’s Influence In The Caribbean & Latin America https://youtu.be/vfve6V3zA08
Published on Apr 16, 2015 – President Obama on China’s growing influence in the Caribbean and Latin America at youth town hall meeting, Thursday April 9, 2015, University of the West Indies (Mona Campus), Kingston, Jamaica. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftDpg…
“Are you ready for some football?” – Promotional song by Hank Williams, Jr. for Monday Night Football on ABC & ESPN networks for 22 years (1989 – 2011). See Appendix below.
This iconic song (see Appendix) and catch-phrase is reflective of exactly how popular the National Football League (NFL) is in the US:
“They own an entire day of the week”.
So says the new movie ‘Concussions’, starring Will Smith, referring to the media domination of NFL Football on Sundays during the Autumn season. The movie’s script is along a line that resonates well in Hollywood’s Academy Award balloting: “David versus Goliath”; “a small man speaking truth to power”.
In the case of the NFL, it is not just about power, it is about money, prestige and protecting the status quo; the NFL is responsible for the livelihood of so many people. The book Go Lean … Caribbean recognized the importance of the NFL in the American lexicon of “live, work and play”; it featured a case study (Page 32) of the NFL and it’s collective bargaining successes (and failures) in 2011. An excerpt from the book is quoted as follows:
Football is big business in the US, $9 billion in revenue, and more than a business; emotions – civic pride, rivalries, and fanaticism – run high on both sides.
Previous Go Lean commentaries presents the socio-economic realities of much of the American football eco-system. Consider a sample here:
While football plays a big role in American life, so do movies. Their role is more unique; they are able to change society. In a previous blog / commentary regarding Caribbean Diaspora member and Hollywood great, Sidney Poitier, it was 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”.
Yes, movies help us to glean a better view of ourselves … and our failings; and many times, show us a way-forward.
These descriptors actually describe the latest production from Hollywood icon Will Smith (the former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). This movie, the film “Concussion”, in the following news article, relates the real life drama of one man, Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born medical doctor – a pathologist – who prepared autopsies of former players that suffered from football-related concussions. He did not buckle under the acute pressure to maintain the status quo, and now, he is celebrated for forging change in his adopted homeland. This one man made a difference. (The NFL is now credited for a Concussion awareness and prevention protocol so advanced that other levels of the sport – college, high schools and Youth – are being urged to emulate).
See news article here on the release of the movie:
Title: ‘Concussion’: 5 Take-a-ways From Will Smith’s New Film
Will Smith, 46, is definitely going to get a ton of Oscar buzz portraying Dr. Bennet Omalu in the new film “Concussion.” NFL columnist Peter King of Sports Illustrated got an exclusive first peek at the trailer and it has been widely shared on social media since. And it’s very chilling.
Here are five take-aways and background you need to know before checking out the clip:
1 – It’s Based on a True Story
Omalu is the forensic pathologist and neuropathologist who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players who got hit in the head over and over again, according to the Washington Post.
In the clip, he says repetitive “head trauma chokes the brain.”
Omalu was one of the founding members of the Brain Injury Research Institute in 2002. He conducted the autopsy of Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, played by David Morse in the film, which led to this discovery.
2 – Smith’s Version of Omalu’s Accent Is Spot On
Omalu is from Nigeria and Smith has been known to transform completely for a role. He was nominated for an Oscar for 2011’s “Ali,” playing the legendary Muhammad Ali.
For comparison, here’s Omalu’s PBS interview from 2013.
3 – Smith Is a Reluctant Hero
“If you don’t speak for them, who will,” Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays Prema Mutiso in the film, tells Smith’s character.
He admits he idolized America growing up and “was the wrong person to have discovered this.”
“Concussion” brought in some heavyweights for this movie. Baldwin plays Dr. Julian Bailes, who advises Omalu, and Wilson, who will reportedly play NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, according to IMDB. There’s no official word on this. He’s seen at a podium in the trailer, but doesn’t speak.
5 – “Tell the Truth”
Smith captures Omalu’s passion to have the truth told about this injury and disease.
“I was afraid of letting Mike [Webster] down. I was afraid. I don’t know. I was afraid I was going to fail,” Omalu told PBS a couple years back.
Will Smith stars in the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player.
The subject of concussions is serious – life and death. Just a few weeks ago (August 8), an NFL Hall-of-Fame inductee was honored for his play on the field during his 20-year professional career, but his family, his daughter in particular, is the one that made his acceptance / induction speech. He had died, in 2012; he committed suicide after apparently suffering from a brain disorder – chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a type of chronic brain damage that has also been found in other deceased former NFL players[4] – sustained from his years of brutal head contacts in organized football in high school, college and in his NFL career. This player was Junior Seau.
Why would there be a need for “David versus Goliath”; “a small man speaking truth to power”? Is not the actuality of an acclaimed football player committing suicide in this manner – he shot himself in the chest so as to preserve his brain for research – telling enough to drive home the message for reform?
No. Hardly. As previously discussed, there is too much money at stake.
These stakes bring out the Crony-capitalism in American society.
The book Go Lean…Caribbean (and subsequent blog/commentaries) relates many examples of cronyism in the American eco-system. There is a lot of money at stake. Those who want to preserve the status quo or not invest in the required mitigations to remediate concussions will fight back against any Advocate promoting the Greater Good. The profit motive is powerful. There are doubters and those who want to spurn doubt. “Concussions in Football”is not the first issue these “actors” have promoted doubt on. The efforts to downplay concussion alarmists are from a familiar playbook, used previously by Climate Change deniers, Big Tobacco, Toxic Waste, Acid Rain, and other dangerous chemicals.
This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). Sports are integral to the Go Lean/CU roadmap. While sports can be good and promote positives in society, even economically, the safety issues must be addressed upfront. This is a matter of community security. Thusly, the prime directives of the CU are described as:
Optimize the economic engines of the Caribbean to elevate the regional economy to grow to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs, including sports-related industries with a projection of 21,000 direct jobs at Fairgrounds and sports enterprises.
Establish a security apparatus to protect the people and economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these economic and security engines.
The CU/Go Lean sports mission is to harness the individual abilities of athletes to not just elevate their performance, but also to harness the economic impact for their communities. So modern sports endeavors cannot be analyzed without considering the impact on “dollars and cents” for stakeholders. This is a fact and should never be ignored. There is therefore the need to carefully assess and be on guard for crony-capitalistic influences entering the decision-making of sports stakeholders. The Go Lean book posits that with the emergence of new economic engines, “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent”. These points were pronounced early in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 &14):
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 of criminology and penology to assuage continuous threats against public safety. …
xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.
xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interests of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
xxxi. Whereas sports have been a source of great pride for the Caribbean region, the economic returns from these ventures have not been evenly distributed as in other societies. The Federation must therefore facilitate the eco-systems and vertical industries of sports as a business, recreation, national pastime and even sports tourism …
The Go Lean book envisions the CU – a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean chartered to do the heavy-lifting of empowering and elevating the Caribbean economy – as the landlord of many sports facilities (within the Self-Governing Entities design), and the regulator for inter-state sport federations. The book details the economic principles and community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize sports enterprises in the Caribbean:
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification
Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways
Page 21
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices / Incentives
Page 21
Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Economic Principles – Job Multiplier
Page 22
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Whistleblower Protection
Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Light-Up the Dark Places
Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – “Crap” Happens
Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness – Mitigate Suicide Threats
Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederating 30 Member-States into a Single Market
Page 45
Strategy – Vision – Foster Local Economic Engines for Basic Needs
Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Prepare for Natural Disasters
Page 45
Strategic – Staffing – Sporting Events at Fairgrounds
Page 55
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization
Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union
Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture Administration
Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration
Page 83
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Health Department – Disease Management
Page 86
Implementation – Assemble Regional Organs into a Single Market Economy
Page 96
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Sports Stadia
Page 105
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Unified Command & Control
Page 103
Implementation – Industrial Policy for CU Self Governing Entities
Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver – Project Management/Accountabilities
Page 109
Anatomy of Advocacies – Examples of Individuals Who Made Impact
Page 122
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance
Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract
Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds
Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management – Trauma Arts & Sciences
Page 196
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Sports
Page 229
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Sports Leagues
Page 234
The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs declare that the Caribbean needs to learn lessons from other communities, especially when big money is involved in pursuits like sports. These activities should be beneficial to health, not detrimental. So the admonition is to be “on guard” against the “cronies”; they will always try to sacrifice public policy – the Greater Good – for private gain: profit.
The design of Self-Governing Entities allow for greater protections from Crony-Capitalistic abuses. While this roadmap is committed to availing the economic opportunities of sports and accompanying infrastructure, as demonstrated in the foregoing movie trailer, sport teams and owners can be plutocratic “animals” in their greed. We must learn to mitigate plutocratic abuses. While an optimized eco-system is good, there is always the need for an Advocate, one person to step up, blow the whistle and transform society. The Go Lean roadmap encourages these role models.
Bravo Dr. Bennet Omalu. Thank you for this example … and for being a role model for all of the Caribbean.
RIP Junior Seau.
Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This roadmap will result in more positive socio-economic changes throughout the region; it will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
As of this moment (August 28 – 29, 2015), there is a Tropical Storm – Erika – barreling through the Caribbean. So far, it has been deadly, with reports of fatalities in the islands of Dominica and Puerto Rico. See story/VIDEO here:
VIDEO 1:Tropical storm Erika nears US, destruction in its wake
The effects of tropical storm Erika are already being felt in Puerto Rico, after the storm left four people dead and more missing on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Janet Shamlian reports and TODAY’s Al Roker takes us through the storm’s projected path.
This storm is not done yet, more damage to persons and property is expected – it is expected to elevate to hurricane status by Sunday.
Welcome to the Caribbean 2015 …
… the greatest address on the planet?!?!
Why would anyone campaign to assume the stewardship of this archipelago of islands?
This is the “siren song” of the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The publishers and underlying Foundation are petitioning for a leadership role in the economic, security and governing engines of the region. Why?
There is no insanity! This is an expression of love for the homeland. The 30 member-states of the Caribbean are home to 42 million people, and a Diaspora of 10 million; plus 80 million visitors annually.
This is the greatest address on the planet!
Plus, everywhere has natural disasters to contend with. This fact relates to rich countries and poor alike. For example, take the United States; they are the richest Single Market economy in the world and yet their coastal city of New Orleans Louisiana (NOLA) was devastated by Hurricane Katrina 10 years ago … to the day (August 29, 2005). Their riches did not spare their devastation, nor did the riches facilitate best-practices in terms of response, relief and rebuilding. New Orleans is marking the anniversary of Katrina’s devastation and the lessons learned from the aftermath. See story/VIDEO here:
VIDEO 2: Both Progress and Stumbling Blocks Linger a Decade After Katrina
Ten years later, after Hurricane Katrina many of those who left have returned and while tourist sections of the city have been rebuilt, recovery in areas like the Lower Ninth ward is slow.
There is a lesson for the Caribbean in considering the history of ‘Katrina’: There is a parallel cause-and-effect to Tropical Storm Erika and all subsequent storms: Climate Change.
In the last few decades, major devastating storms have proliferated every year … somewhere … in the Northern Hemisphere. This commentary has detailed other cases; see sample here:
Caribbean grapples with intense new cycles of flooding & drought
These commentaries, and the Go Lean book, all assert that Climate Change cannot be ignored. Even though there be deniers of any man-made causes, the reality of these storms challenge the realities of Caribbean life.
It is what it is!
The region has been warned: Prepare!
The book Go Lean … Caribbean delved into details of the Katrina lessons in application to the Caribbean. This is an excerpt from Page 184:
The Bottom Line on Hurricane Katrina Katrina was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the US. At least 1,833 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods; total property damage was estimated at $81 billion. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. The most significant number of deaths occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed, 53 different breaches, in the hours after the storm had moved inland. Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded, and the floodwaters lingered for weeks.
The economic effects of the storm were far-reaching. The Administration of President George W. Bush sought $105 billion for repairs and reconstruction in the region, which did not account for damage to the economy caused by interruption of the oil & natural gas supply, destruction of the GulfCoast’s highway infrastructure, and exports of commodities such as forestry and grain. Plus, hundreds of thousands of local residents were left unemployed, Before the hurricane, the region supported over one million non-farm jobs, with 600,000 of them in New Orleans. It is estimated that the total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi exceeded $150 billion, as Katrina redistributed over one million people from the central Gulf coast elsewhere across the United States, which became the largest Diaspora in the history of the US.
Within days of Katrina’s August 29, 2005 landfall, public debate arose about the local, state and federal governments’ role in the preparations for and response to the hurricane. Criticism was initially prompted by televised images of visibly shaken and frustrated political leaders, and of residents who remained stranded by flood waters without water, food or shelter. Deaths from thirst, exhaustion, and violence, days after the storm had passed, fueled the criticism, as did the dilemma of the evacuees at ill-prepared shelter facilities (i.e. the Super Dome, LouisArmstrongInternationalAirport). Some alleged that race, class, and other factors could have contributed to delays in response. President Bush later called the criticism, directed towards him, (particularly by Hip-Hop recording artist Kanye West), the worst moment in his presidency, being unjustly accused of racism.
The Super Dome in New Orleans – The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
This is the purpose of the Go Lean roadmap. It introduces the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to prepare Caribbean society for the eventual devastation of these Climate-Change-induced weather systems, such as Katrina was for New Orleans, Louisiana. We do not have the luxury of “sticking our head in the sand” and pretending that these problems will simply go away – the conclusion of many observers of the Katrina Crisis on NOLA. This point is pronounced early in the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11), with this opening statement:
i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.
The CU will implement optimized Emergency Management schemes to provide better stewardship for the region’s preparation and response to natural disasters; (in addition to hurricanes, there is the need to monitor earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and droughts in the regions). In addition, the CU will assume jurisdiction for the Caribbean Sea, the 1,063,000 square-mile international waters, as an Exclusive Economic Zone. These preparations and mitigations will allow for better cooperation, collaboration and equalization in the region. The CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines, including the Emergency Management apparatus.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The Go Lean book details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to impact the homeland in this age of Climate Change. Consider the list as follows:
Profile – Who We Are: SFE Foundation
Page 8
Economic Principles – People Choose because Resources are Limited
Page 21
Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs
Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives
Page 21
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices
Page 21
Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier
Page 22
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens
Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Anecdote – Pipeline Transport – Strategies, Tactics & Implementations
Page 43
Strategy – Vision – Confederating 30 Member-states in a Union
Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change
Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy – Quicker Recoveries; Less Economic Bubbles
Page 69
Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Department – Emergency Management Agency
Page 76
Separation of Powers – Interior Department – Exclusive Economic Zone
Advocacy – Ways to Ways to Improve Monopolies – Foster Cooperatives for Better Recoveries
Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation – Pipeline Options
Page 205
It is time for change in the Caribbean! It is time to change our preparations and our responses to these natural disasters. The strategies, tactics and implementations proposed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean are conceivable, believable and achievable. We must do these! We must do better.
Everyone in the Caribbean are hereby urged to lean-in for this Go Lean roadmap. 🙂
Quick survey: 30 years ago – 1985 – did you have a smartphone or did you envision a smartphone – with such processing power, functionality and storage – being available to carry around in your pocket?
If your answer to this question is ”No”, then congratulations, you are an ordinary everyday “man/woman on the street”. You, like most people, didn’t envision that this technology would change “us” so dynamically that it would transform our lives and render obsolete, so many ordinary appliances (and industries); think: camera, watch, pager, map, address book, calculator, books, and more.
Take note:
This transformative change is about to happen again!
An acute transformation – major change in a short period of time – is about to occur again. This time with 3D Printing. This change will affect the fabrication of so many ‘chattel’ goods. Imagine fabricating your own car!
Consider first, what 3D Printing refers to:
3D Printing (also called additive manufacturing) is any of various processes used to make a three-dimensional object.[1] In 3D printing, additive processes are used, in which successive layers of material are laid down under computer control.[2] These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry, and are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data source. A 3D Printer is a type of industrial robot. 3D Printing in the term’s original sense refers to processes that sequentially deposit material onto a powder bed with inkjet printer heads. More recently the meaning of the term has expanded to encompass a wider variety of techniques such as extrusion and sintering based processes. Technical standards generally use the term additive manufacturing for this broader sense. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing)
This VIDEO here depicts a simple 3D Printing demonstration:
VIDEO – Timelapse of Hyperboloid Print – https://youtu.be/1213kMys6e8
Time-lapse video of a hyperboloid object made of Polylactic Acid (PLA) using a RepRap “Prusa Mendel” 3 printer for molten polymer deposition.
The hypothesis in this commentary is not just theoretical; this acute transformation is happening in real life. Consider this story/VIDEO here of an actual car being made using the 3D Printing process (assembly methods and sourcing):
Published on Jun 24, 2015 – Meet Blade – a super-light sports car with a 3D printed chassis, designed as an alternative to traditional car manufacturing. Through 3D printing, entrepreneur Kevin Czinger has developed a radical new way to build cars with a much lighter footprint.
Read More On Forbes: http://onforb.es/1fBjCqt
Traditionally, fabrication methodologies involve subtraction. This strategy calls for starting with a block/lump of raw material (wood, stone, etc.) and cutting away excess materials to keep the desired structure. The alternate fabrication methodology involves molding pliable materials (iron/steel/aluminum) to a desired shape. 3D Printing or additive manufacturing (AM) is a game-changer! As the name suggests, the approach is to add, build up to the design/mold that is intended. The encyclopedic reference continues:
The umbrella term additive manufacturing gained wider currency in the decade of the 2000’s[12] as the various additive processes matured and it became clear that soon metal removal would no longer be the only metalworking process done under that type of control (a tool or head moving through a 3D work envelope transforming a mass of raw material into a desired shape layer by layer). It was during this decade that the term subtractive manufacturing appeared as a retronym (new name) for the large family of machining processes with metal removal as their common theme. However, at the time, the term 3D Printing still referred only to the polymer technologies in most minds, and the term AM was likelier to be used in metalworking contexts than among polymer/inkjet/stereolithography enthusiasts. The term subtractive has not replaced the term machining, instead complementing it when a term that covers any removal method is needed.
Based on the above descriptions, the term Printer is only vaguely similar to traditional printing of ink on to paper. The similar movement of inkjet print heads versus the “head” movement of 3D Printers is what dominates the branding, and thus for the foreseeable future, the fabrication devices would probably be called “printers”, for both industrial and consumer uses; (see Appendix – 3D Printers).
The new reality of 3D Printing is now changing business models. Imagine distributed manufacturing where the additive manufacturing process would be combined with cloud computing technologies to allow for decentralized and geographically independent distributed production.[74] For example, make a car, with parts sourced from different locations by different 3D Printers. Under this new scheme, the creation of chattel goods will be a product of intellectual property.
The future is exciting!
Here comes change! Consider the governmental consequences:
If Caribbean governments depend on ‘Customs Duties’ of manufactured goods for a revenue source, they are hereby put on notice that this revenue stream will dry up. In many countries, (the Bahamas for example), the duty rates for automobiles are on a sliding scale from the high of 85% down to 55%. With an average costs of US$25,000, that is a lot of lost revenue for a member-state to adjust to.
The future is scary!
The book Go Lean…Caribbean focuses heavily on the future, and how to manage, monitor, and mitigate the changes (good and bad) that the future will bring. This acute transformation of 3D Printing is a good model of the type of innovation the Go Lean book anticipates. The book posits that the Caribbean region must not only be on the consuming end of these developments; we must create, develop and contribute to the innovations. This means jobs!
The job-creating initiatives start by fostering genius in Caribbean stakeholders who demonstrate competence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This will eventually apply to government revenue officials, but initially the focus will be more on the youth markets, as these ones adapt more readily to acute transformations.
This vision was pronounced early in the book with these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14) about the need for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation:
xiv. Whereas government services cannot be delivered without the appropriate funding mechanisms, “new guards” must be incorporated to assess, accrue, calculate and collect revenues, fees and other income sources for the Federation and member-states. The Federation can spur government revenues directly through cross-border services and indirectly by fostering industries and economic activities not possible without this Union.
xxii. 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.
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 that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, prefabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.
xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.
xxviii. Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.
xxx. Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.
The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of this Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government to administer and optimize the region’s eco-systems. In fact the book identifies the prime directives of the CU with these statements:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The CU strives to elevate all of Caribbean society and culture. A recommended community ethos for the region to adapt, “Return on Investments” (Page 24). This calls for embedding incentives and inducements to encourage students and apprenticeships in these STEM fields. These incentives can resemble forgive-able student loans, on-the-job training employment contracts, paid internships, signing bonuses, etc. This ethos also translates into governing principles for CU-sponsored business incubators, R&D initiatives, grants, entrepreneurship programs and the regional implementation of Self-Governing Entities (SGE).
The book estimates that the technology job-creating effect can amount to 64,000 new direct and indirect technology/software jobs in the region. This is just one ethos. The Go Lean roadmap was constructed with more community ethos in mind to forge change and build anticipation and excitement for technological transformative changes. The book lists the following samples, plus the execution of related strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies:
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 – Economic Principles – Job Multiplier
Page 22
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius
Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property
Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development
Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide
Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness
Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States
Page 45
Strategy – Vision – Invite Diaspora Back to the Caribbean Homeland
Page 46
Strategy – Mission – Exploit the benefits and opportunities of globalization
Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union
Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change
Page 101
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities
Page 105
Implementation – Trends in Implementing Data Centers – Creating the ‘Cloud’
Page 106
Implementation – Ways to Deliver
Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – Caribbean Cloud
Page 111
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – Cyber-Caribbean
Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better
Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy
Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – STEM Promotion
Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance – Managing Changes of e-Government & e-Delivery
Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology
Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce
Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Automobile Industry
Page 206
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth
Page 227
Appendix – CU Job Creations
Page 257
This Go Lean roadmap calls for the heavy-lifting to transform Caribbean society. As conveyed in the foregoing VIDEOs, technological change is coming anyway; consider the imagery of a freight train coming down the track, the force and momentum cannot be stopped. The roadmap advocates getting ahead of the change, to shepherd and navigate important aspects of Caribbean life through these “seas of change”. These goals were previously featured in Go Lean blogs/commentaries, as sampled here:
The Go Lean book focuses primarily on economic issues, and it recognizes that computer hardware and software like 3D Printing systems – as portrayed in the foregoing VIDEOs – are the future direction for industrial developments. This is where the jobs are to be found. The Go Lean roadmap describes the heavy-lifting for people, organizations and governments to forge these innovations here at home in the Caribbean. The Caribbean consumes manufactured goods now. What an acute transformation that much of the manufacturing maybe here at “home”; not just in the homeland, but also in home garages, family rooms and study desks.
Do-It-Yourself manufacturing may be a reality! (See Appendix of 3D Printed Perpetual Engine).
No, this is now! This is conceivable, believable and achievable; consider the foregoing VIDEOs. The Go Lean book offers the turn-by-turn directions for strategies, tactics and implementations so that our communities may not only be consuming these innovations, but be innovators as well. With the right commitment of time, talent and treasuries, we can forge our own future of inclusion and progress. 🙂
Published on Jan 3, 2015 – This is a 3D printed EZ Spin Motor. It turned out being a very clean and nice running build. I also explain how to properly wire up an EZ Spin Motor. This thing would run for a very long time on a 5v super capacitor.
LaserSaber online store at: http://teslamaker.com/
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Appendix – 3D Printers
Industrial Use
As of May 2011, the company Ultimaker now sells additive manufacturing systems that range from $1,300 to $2,750 in price and are employed in several industries: aerospace, architecture, automotive, defense, and medical replacements, among many others. For example, General Electric uses the high-end model to build parts for turbines.[41]
Consumer Use
Several projects and companies are making efforts to develop affordable 3D printers for home desktop use. Much of this work has been driven by and targeted at Do-It-Yourself-(DIY)/enthusiast/early_adopter communities, with additional ties to the academic and hacker communities.[42]
RepRap is one of the longest running projects in the desktop category. The RepRap project aims to produce a free and open source hardware (FOSH) 3D printer, whose full specifications are released under the GNU General Public License, and which is capable of replicating itself by printing many of its own (plastic) parts to create more machines.[43][44] RepRaps have already been shown to be able to print circuit boards[45] and metal parts.[46][47]
Because of the FOSH aims of RepRap, many related projects have used their design for inspiration, creating an ecosystem of related or derivative 3D printers, most of which are also open source designs…
The cost of 3D printers has decreased dramatically since about 2010, with machines that used to cost $20,000 now costing less than $1,000.[50] For instance, as of 2013, several companies and individuals are selling parts to build various RepRap designs, with prices starting at about €400 / US$500.[51] The open source Fab@Home project[52] has developed printers for general use with anything that can be squirted through a nozzle, from chocolate to silicone sealant and chemical reactants. Printers following the project’s designs have been available from suppliers in kits or in pre-assembled form since 2012 at prices in the US$2000 range.[51] The Kickstarter funded Peachy Printer is designed to cost $100[53] and several other new 3D printers are aimed at the small, inexpensive market including the mUVe3D and Lumifold. Rapide 3D has designed a professional grade crowdsourced 3D-printer costing $1499 which has no fumes nor constant rattle during use.[54] The 3Doodler, “3D printing pen”, raised $2.3 million on Kickstarter with the pens selling at $99,[55] though the 3D Doodler has been criticised for being more of a crafting pen than a 3D printer.[56]
As the costs of 3D printers have come down they are becoming more appealing financially to use for self-manufacturing of personal products.[57] In addition, 3D printing products at home may reduce the environmental impacts of manufacturing by reducing material use and distribution impacts.[58]
“We used to own our slaves, now we just rent them” – Quotation from a farmer in 1960 CBS Documentary
This reminds us of a common expression:
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
In the landmark 1960 Documentary by famed TV Journalist Edward R. Morrow, the conclusion was that American Agricultural Interest would always seek some scheme for cheap labor. That even though slavery had been abolished for 100 years, there were still labor practices that were tantamount to modern-day slavery.
So sad! American society hadn’t reformed.
How about now, 55 years later?
Truthfully, despite this innovative partnership here to aid farm workers, there has only been small progress forward for a journey of thousands of miles. Just consider this latest CBS News story/VIDEO here:
August 9, 2015 – For decades, the tomato farms in South Florida have been known for their awful working conditions, but things are changing thanks to some unlikely partners. Mark Strassmann reports on how a coalition of migrant farm workers and some of the nation’s biggest tomato buyers are helping improve working conditions and raise pay. (VIDEO plays best in Internet Explorer).
Welcome to the America of 1865, 1960 and 2015.
Only now after decades, American society is finally reporting progress for the conditions of migrant farm workers. Too little, too late!
Perhaps the American shores should not be the destination for Latin American Migrant Farm Labor. This is definitely the position of the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The publishers of the Go Lean book campaign that it would be better for Caribbean citizens (subset of Latin America) to remain in their homeland and work to remediate conditions there, than to migrate to American destinations looking for better labor options. (Previously the same futility had been detailed regarding a Jamaican-Canadian Labor Exchange program). Considering the statistics and anecdotal evidence in the foregoing VIDEO, these 2 conclusions appear indisputable:
The reasons for this Caribbean crisis are identified as “push-and-pull”. Failures in our society are so acute that many feel compelled to seek their future abroad. While this is “push”, the “pull” refers to the propaganda and image that American life is better – the “place to be”.
Hopefully this commentary succeeds in dispelling this mis-information that life in the American Migrant Labor eco-system is better than enduring Caribbean society. This is one of the motives of this commentary; another motive is to highlight the success of Farm Labor Reform Advocates, in this case the #FairFoods movement; this innovative partnership to aid farm workers.
This cause and campaign is not unfamiliar to the Go Lean movement. The Go Lean book had identified another effective advocate in the farm labor movement: Cesar Chavez of the 1960’s/1970’s United Farm Workers Union movement. (In many ways, #FairFoods stands on the shoulders of the late-great Cesar Chavez). The book relates (Page 122) this summary of the historicity of Cesar Chavez:
Chavez (1927 – 1993) was an American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers Union (UFW)). He became the best known Latino American civil rights activist, and was strongly promoted by the American labor movement, which was eager to enroll Hispanic members. His public-relations approach to unionism and aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the farm workers’ struggle a moral cause with nationwide support. By the 1970s, his tactics had forced growers to grant respect to migrant workers, and recognize the UFW as the bargaining agent for 50,000 field workers in California & Florida.
There is now new update on the national appreciation and societal impact of Cesar Chavez:
Chavez is buried at the National Chavez Center, on the headquarters campus of the United Farm Workers of America at 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road in the Keene community of unincorporated Kern County, California.[36][37]He received belated full military honors from the US Navy at his graveside on April 23, 2015, the 22nd anniversary of his death.[38]
The efforts of this commentary is not to reform America, but to reform the Caribbean. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). While the branding Trade connotes economics, the roadmap also addresses labor and justice assurances. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and the Caribbean homeland against abuse from “bad actors” in society.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between CU agencies and member-state governments.
The goal of the Go Lean roadmap therefore is to forge a better society, to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. By optimizing our justice and labor institutions, we would lower our own “push” factors. These requirements were pronounced at the outset of the Go Lean book, in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) with these statements:
xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.
xxi. 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.
How can the Caribbean be different than the United States in the pursuit of labor justice?
The CU/Go Lean roadmap seeks to apply best-practices in labor regulations; we do not want to repeat America’s mistakes; we have enough “push” reasons to contend with already.
This review of American Farm Labor past-and-present also helps with the “pull factors. We see a more accurate portrayal of American values. The Go Lean book cites the historic example and abuses of the Peonage system that emerged in the Southern US after the Civil War (Page 211). It was obvious that many “bad actors” in American society wanted cheap labor even though slavery had just been outlawed in the country. With the realities of migrant farm workers and their need for civil rights, obviously, there remains factions in the American Agriculture eco-system that have not matured in their appreciation of the working classes. This class of people have still “not overcome”.
Welcome to America … a land of two destinations: richer or poorer.
To all those in the Caribbean desiring to emigrate to the US, we urge you to take heed: the “grass is not greener” on that other side! This point was highlighted in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentary, as sampled here:
Jamaica-Canada employment program try to pump millions into local economy
The book Go Lean … Caribbean details these strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to elevate Caribbean society, mitigating the “push” reasons:
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier
Page 22
Community Ethos – Whistleblower Protection
Page 23
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation
Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives
Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Leadership Skills
Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations
Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Education Without Further Brain Drain
Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – High Multiplier Industries
Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice Department – Trade Anti-Trust Regulatory Commission
Page 77
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Labor Department – Labor Relations Board
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Labor Markets and Unions
Page 164
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 Foster Cooperatives
Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice
Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology
Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations
Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Battle Poverty – Third World Realities
Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Help the Middle Class
Page 223
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Incentivizing STEM Careers
Page 227
Appendix – Growing 2.2 Million Jobs in 5 Years
Page 257
Appendix – Job Multipliers
Page 259
The Go Lean roadmap asserts to all those desiring to flee to the US: America is not so alluring … from a labor justice perspective, especially if you’re poor, Black-and-Brown. The admonition: Lower the “pull” factors for Coming to America.
There is the need for new jobs; exporting workers for seasonal agricultural harvests had been a popular strategy. This Go Lean roadmap though takes an alternate approach; it creates local jobs; high paying, career-enhancing ones. The Go Lean book pronounces this need in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14):
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 … – impacting the region with more jobs.
More jobs would help to lower “push” factors. We must do this; address all possible “push” factors. The region must address its issues, as to why its population is so inclined to emigrate; this is the purpose of the Go Lean roadmap. It features the assessments, strategies, tactics and implementations to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.
Now is the time for the Caribbean region to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are too alluring to ignore: emergence of our own $800 Billion (GDP) economy, 2.2 million new jobs, new industries, new services and optimized justice institutions.
The end result of the Go Lean roadmap – after the defined 5 year plan – is to lower both the “push” and the “pull” factors. Instead we want to incentivize our citizens to remain home, participate in new job initiatives and to prosper here where we are planted. 🙂
Gravity is an absolute: what goes up must come down!
Minimum wage is a law, not an absolute.
The book Go Lean…Caribbean, which calls for the elevation of Caribbean economics, asserts that the Caribbean has to better managed the realities of minimum wage jobs. The book examined the anatomy of minimum wages (Page 152) and its effect on a community’s eco-system. This classic case study on this subject is quoted as flows:
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labor. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in many jurisdictions, differences of opinion exist about the benefits and drawbacks of a minimum wage.
The minimum wage is generally acknowledged to increase the standard of living of workers, reduces poverty, reduces inequality, boosts morale and forces businesses to be more efficient. Critics of the minimum wage, predominantly followers of neo-classical economic theory, contend that a minimum wage increases unemployment, particularly among workers with very low productivity due to inexperience or handicap, thereby harming less skilled workers and possibly excluding some groups from the labor market; additionally it may be less effective and more damaging to businesses than other methods of reducing poverty. Source: Black, John (September 18, 2003). Oxford Dictionary of Economics. OxfordUniversity Press. p. 300.
The reality of minimum wage, helping some workers while harming others, has been bantered about in the news as of late, consider the following news articles:
Title #1: Fast Food Workers Win A Historic Raise By: Cole Stangler, International Business Times
New York made shockwaves on Wednesday when a specially-convened state wage board called for a hike in the minimum pay for fast food workers to $15 an hour. Assuming it’s approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo –and no signs suggest otherwise– the new rate will be, at once, a jaw-dropping victory for labor activists, a rare political setback for name-brand restaurant chains, and the latest piece of fodder for a national debate about the value of fair pay. It also can’t come soon enough for David Ramirez.
“We need that raise, my man,” says Ramirez, 52, an employee at the same Subway restaurant in midtown Manhattan for the past 10 years, where he earns the state minimum, now $8.75. “We bust our a– up in here.”
On most days, Ramirez wakes well before dawn in downtown Brooklyn, where he splits monthly rent of $1300 with his mother who receives Social Security benefits. He usually starts work at 5 in the morning. When his shift ends at 3 in the afternoon, he heads to a different Subway in Woodmere, Queens –about an hour and a half away by train– and works another 4 hours. It makes for an exhausting 60 hour work week. Since he divides the time over two jobs, neither tallying more than 40 hours per week, Ramirez doesn’t earn any overtime. In New York City, he says, those annual earnings of about $21,000 are hard to get by on. A raise of $6 would go a long way.
“It would make a big difference, not just to me,” he says, “but other families too.”
Unchartered Waters That was also the thinking of the Fast Food Wage Board, which voted unanimously in support of the $15 rate. The pay hike would apply to fast food chains with 30 or more locations nationwide, and be phased in over time, becoming mandatory in New York City by 2019, and the rest of the state by July 2021. Backed with enthusiasm by Gov. Cuomo, the raise can proceed without legislative approval: a New Deal era law allows state regulators to boost wages for specific industries and occupations where they deem pay “insufficient to provide for the life and health” of workers. The raise comes after two and a half years of high-visibility protests from the so-called Fight For 15, a movement of low-wage workers and labor activists backed by the powerful Service Employees International Union that demands higher wages in fast food and other low-paying sectors.
Amid pressure from these activists, other major cities have already approved $15 minimum wages –Seattle, San Francisco and both the city and county of Los Angeles– but New York’s looming pay hike is unique for a couple of reasons. For one, it’s the only one to apply to a single industry. It also would take effect across the entire state, whereas the other ambitious wage hikes have all been limited to cities.
Jay Holland, government affairs coordinator for the New York State Restaurant Association, blasted the state’s decision to single out the fast food industry. “This is an economic policy that’s never been tried before,” he says of the sector-wide wage. “The idea that an EMT worker or a home care aide should make less than a fast food worker flies in the face of reason.”
“Most restaurants operate under really thin margins,” he adds. “You’re gonna have to raise prices, lay people off or come up with some creative scheduling practices to save money.”
Anna agrees with Holland. She earns $9.75 an hour and works 32 hours a week, scrubbing tables and mopping floors at a McDonald’s in midtown Manhattan. Like many low-wage workers, she lacks job protections and did not provide her last name. “It sounds good,” she says of $15 an hour, “but you know they’re gonna cut hours. That’s what they’re already doing.”
James Sherk, labor policy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, says the pay mandates will accelerate the industry’s turn toward automation — self-service tablets, for example, that replace the need for cashiers. Such technologies are already being developed, but are not yet widely used.
“The main barrier to implementation is the up-front cost and then maintenance,” Sherk says. “But with the minimum wage going up it will make a lot more sense for McDonald’s to do this. It changes the financial calculus.”
Tsedeye Gebreselassie, staff attorney at the left-leaning National Employment Law Project, shrugs off the criticism. Businesses always tend to complain when the wage floor rises, she says, and this is no exception. Plus, the hike is staggered over time, giving the firms –which include some of the largest corporations in the nation– plenty of time to adjust.
The boost will also deliver broader benefits to the economy, as workers find themselves with more spending power than before. That bottom tier of the labor force is in despearate need of economic gains. “Part of why there has to be such a dramatic increase is that wages have fallen so dramatically,” Gebreselassie says. “This is about playing catch up.”
It’s also about setting high standards for an increasingly large part of the labor force, she says. More than 4 million people work in the fast food sector nationwide; 180,000 of them are in New York.
As the recovery continues to inch forward, lingering myths of fast food as a temporary gig for teens simply don’t reflect the new economic reality. A New York survey found 87.5 percent of the state’s fast food workers are aged 19 and older. “Because this is such a growing industry, more and more adults are going to be spending their careers in it,” she says. It makes sense that decent pay should follow.
Another benefit of the wage hike is that it remains largely immune to a common threat of employers confronted with mounting high labor costs: relocation. Unlike the sorts of manufacturing jobs that companies can easily ship to cheaper states or countries — say, General Electric’s ongoing relocation from a unionized capacitor plant in Fort Edward, New York to non-union Clearwater, Florida — fast food restaurants aren’t about to up and leave the state en masse. “You need to be where your customers are, where the demand is,” says Gebreselassie.
“Everything’s Rising Except For The Pay” For many workers, business concerns don’t change the fact that current pay practices verge on the nightmarish.
“Everything’s rising except for the pay — rents, food, transportation” says Filiberto Carrillo, who, like David Ramirez, has to work at two different New York City Subways to make ends meet. He’s worked at Subway for 6 years, he says, and earns $10 an hour. “Right now, when you ask for more pay, they just give you more hours.”
Physically, he cannot tolerate much more. Carrillo says he usually works 15 to 16 hour days, or 75 hours a week. A $15 wage would be a relief, he says, before going to fix coffee for an anxious customer in line.
Meanwhile, for David Ramirez, a pay raise might resolve his MetroCard dilemma. Right now, he uses a weekly pass. He knows it’s cheaper to get the monthly one, but it’s especially prone to malfunction if it bends a lot — it’s happened before and takes far too long to get fixed. The monthly cost difference between the two passes is about 7 dollars. He would rather not make such calculations.
Published on Jul 22, 2015 – New York City fast food workers are getting a pay raise after the state’s wage board approved a new minimum hourly pay of $15, up from $8.75 which would take effect by 2018 and 2021 for the rest of the state. The wage hike applies to fast food workers — whether at big corporations like McDonald’s (MCD) and Burger King …
Poor McDonalds!
No wait … the foregoing article highlights:
… the pay mandates will accelerate the industry’s turn toward automation — self-service tablets, for example, that replace the need for cashiers. Such technologies are already being developed, but are not yet widely used.
This is the theme of this commentary, minimum wage is a law, not an absolute; technology will simply be deployed to mitigate the high costs of labor. See this subsequent article, posted earlier, during the 4th Quarter of 2014:
Title #2: McDonald’s has joined the list of food chains looking to put more machines to work By: Patrick Thibodeau, ComputerWorld Magazine Contributor
Oct 24, 2014 – McDonald’s this week told financial analysts of its plans to install self-ordering kiosks and mobile ordering at its restaurants. It isn’t the only food chain doing this.
The company that owns Chili’s Grill & Bar also said this week it will complete a tablet ordering system rollout next month at its U.S. restaurants. Applebee’s announced last December that it would deliver tablets to 1,800 restaurants this year.
The pace of self-ordering system deployments appears to be gaining speed. But there’s a political element to this and it’s best to address it quickly.
The move toward more automation comes at the same time pressure to raise minimum wages is growing. A Wall Street Journal editorial this week, “Minimum Wage Backfire,” said that while it may be true for McDonald’s to say that its tech plans will improve customer experience, the move is also “a convenient way…to justify a reduction in the chain’s global workforce.”
The Journal faulted those who believe that raising fast food wages will boost stagnant incomes. “The result of their agitation will be more jobs for machines and fewer for the least skilled workers,” it wrote.
The elimination of jobs because of automation will happen anyway. Gartner says software and robots will replace one third of all workers by 2025, and that includes many high-skilled jobs, too.
Automation is hardly new to retail. Banks rely on ATMs, and grocery stores, including Walmart, have deployed self-service checkouts. But McDonald’s hasn’t changed its basic system of taking orders since its founding in the 1950s, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, a research group focused on the restaurant industry.
The move to kiosk and mobile ordering, said Tristano, is happening because it will improve order accuracy, speed up service and has the potential of reducing labor cost, which can account for about 30% of costs. But automated self-service is a convenience that’s now expected, particularly among younger customers, he said.
“It’s keeping up with the times, and the (McDonald’s) franchises are going to clamor for it,” said Tristano, who said any labor savings is actually at the bottom of the list of reasons restaurants are putting in these self-service systems.
McDonald’s is already deploying mobile ordering in other countries. In France, you can order a McDonald’s hamburger from a mobile device, tablet or desktop and pick it up later at a restaurant, said Thomas Husson, a Forrester analyst in a report.
“By reducing the stress of the ordering, McDonald’s has significantly increased the average revenue per order,” wrote Husson of the experience in France.
Chili’s has deployed some 45,000 tablets from Ziosk, which makes the system. Ziosk CEO Austen Mulinder says the tablets are used for ordering drinks, appetizers and desserts and for making payments, but they remain optional for customers. The waitstaff will take the first drink and entrée orders, which are often modified by people at the table.
Mulinder said there’s no capital cost to installation, and the multi-year subscription price for the system is more than offset by increased revenues it generates.
The tablet also includes games and an opportunity for people to give feedback, and to join a loyalty program. That creates the potential for increased sales, because customers aren’t necessarily waiting to catch an employee’s attention to refill a drink. It also avoids the frustration of waiting for the check, said Mulinder.
“Restaurants want to speak the language of the millennials and the language of millennials is digital,” said Mulinder.
Wyman Roberts, the CEO of Chili’s parent company, Brinker International, spoke to financial analysts this week in a conference call about the new system. “We’re excited about the potential this has to create a stronger connection and smarter interactivity between us and our guests,” said Roberts, according to a transcript by Seeking Alpha.
The current Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour; a change to $15 is considered by some: Extreme!
Needless to say, this issue is highly charged politically.
There are forces on the “left” that want to elevate many in poverty by mandating a higher minimum wage, setting a higher entitlement benefit. Then there are forces on the “right” that want the Free Market to reign, despite any suffering by those at the lowest rungs of society’s economic ladder. Consider this right-leaning commentary here in the following article:
Title #3: McDonald’s Announces Its Answer to $15 an Hour Minimum Wage – Touch-Screen Cashiers By: Jim Hoft, June 15th, 2015
This is exactly what the left pushed for… Fast Food chains were never meant to be a place for someone to raise a family of 6, they were to be part time positions with some full-time advancements. Mostly the fast food restaurants were for school aged kids to learn how to interact with people, with a job, to offer spending money, and to begin responsibility learning for their future.
The part time position was not intended to pay for a house, it is a stepping stone to move on.
$15.00/hr x 8 hrs= $120/day x 5 days= $600/week x 52 weeks = $31,200/year!!
Of course when this happens, like it did today in Los Angeles, the poor and unskilled workers will go on Welfare, and cost American workers more to support them.
McDonald’s recently came out with their answer to those that want $15/hr pay:
From a Caribbean perspective, neither extreme – “left” nor “right” – is acceptable!
The $31,200 annual salary for New York proposed minimum wage is higher than the average income for all Caribbean member-states, except the states with bloated figures from residing expatriates and offshore banking activity (Bermuda, BVI, Caymans & St. Barths). This new $31,200 minimum wage development would therefore lure even more Caribbean citizens away, as those minimum wage jobs in New York would be higher than their normal income/experiences at home. The Caribbean crisis will therefore deepen.
These ‘Agents of Change’ (Technology and Globalization/Mobilization of Labor Force) align with the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The book calls for the elevation of Caribbean economics, asserting that the Caribbean region has been losing the battle of technology and globalization. The consequence of our defeat is the sacrifice of our most precious treasures: our people, especially our youth. The assessment of all 30 Caribbean member-states is that every community has lost human capital to emigration. Some communities, like Puerto Rico (and the US Virgin Islands) have suffered with an abandonment rates of more than 50% , thus the term “Nuyorican”. Other states have watched as more than 70% of their college-educated citizens flee their homelands for foreign shores.
These ‘Agents of Change’ are affecting everyone, everywhere. The Go Lean book therefore posits that there is a need to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize the engines of commerce – fix the broken eco-systems – so as to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. We need jobs; though our focus is on higher-paying jobs, the minimum wage variety, must not be ignored. The foregoing news articles therefore are very relevant … and fear-inspiring.
The book Go Lean… Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) with the charter to facilitate jobs in the region. The book posits that ICT (Internet & Communications Technology) can be a great equalizer for the Caribbean to better compete with the rest of the world. This job-creation focus is among these 3 prime directives of CU/Go Lean roadmap:
Optimization of economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
Early in the Go Lean book, the responsibility to create jobs was identified as an important function for the CU with these pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 14):
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 that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, prefabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.
xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.
xxviii. Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.
According to a previous blog/commentary, computers are reshaping the global job market; now the foregoing articles relate that the impact is also affecting the low-end Fast-Food industry’s jobs. Nothing is safe! Consider these other blog/commentaries related to the current state of the job market:
The book Go Lean…Caribbean details the creation of 2.2 million new jobs for the Caribbean region, many embracing ICT/STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics/Medicine) skill-sets. How? By adoption of certain community ethos, plus the executions of key strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies. The following is a sample from the book:
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier
Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments
Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship
Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property
Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development
Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide
Page 31
Strategy – Mission – Education Without Further Brain Drain
Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – High Multiplier Industries
Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Commerce Department – Patents & Copyrights
Page 78
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change
Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver
Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact ICT and Social Media
Page 111
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade
Page 128
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs
Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education
Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Food Consumption – Reality of Quick Serve Restaurants
Page 162
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Labor Markets and Unions
Page 164
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology
Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce
Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Battle Poverty – Third World Realities
Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Help the Middle Class
Page 223
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Usual Candidates for Fast-Food Jobs
Page 227
Appendix – Growing 2.2 Million Jobs in 5 Years
Page 257
Appendix – Job Multipliers
Page 259
Appendix – Nuyorican Movement
Page 303
The CU must foster job-creating developments for above minimum-wage jobs, by incentivizing many high-tech start-ups and incubating viable companies. The primary ingredient for CU success must be Caribbean people, so we must foster and incite participation of many young people into STEM fields.
The automation trend will continue. We cannot be on the receiving end of these monumental changes; we must help foster the change as well. These previous commentaries highlighted how the Go Lean roadmap is preparing the region for engagement with autonomous systems:
Ghost ships – Autonomous cargo vessels without a crew
The Caribbean must not be parasites, we must be protégés!
The Caribbean is arguably the best address on the planet, but jobs are obviously missing. Everyone is hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap, so that we can create the high-paying, community-impacting jobs. This roadmap provides the turn-by-turn directions to get the region to its desired destination: a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
In the Caribbean, this time of the year, it is “hot, hot, hot”.
While that is a hit song by “The Merrymen” of Barbados (see Appendix below), unfortunately, it is also the weather report.
“I just flew back from the Caribbean and boy are my arms tired…from fanning … for relief from the heat” – Old joke-new twist
This is not good! In fact, the hot weather, and the lack of infrastructure to mitigate and remediate the discomfort, is identified as one of the reasons for the brain drain/societal abandonment. (This commentary is an appeal for cooperative refrigeration).
The issue of Caribbean citizens abandoning their homelands is one of the more dire threats to societal life in the region. Why do they do it?
“Push and Pull” reasons!
Push Conditions at home drive Caribbean citizens to take flight and find refuge elsewhere. Many times these conditions are economic (jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities), security and governance related, but there are other reasons too; consider discriminations due to ethnic diversity or other lifestyle choices.
Lastly, there is the new threat of Climate Change. While this is a threat for the whole world, the Caribbean is on the frontline. Though there is some debate as to the causes of climate change, there is no question as to its outcome: temperatures are rising, droughts prevail, and most devastating, hurricanes are now more threatening. A Caribbean elevation plan must address the causes of climate change and most assuredly its consequences.
Early in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, a roadmap to elevate the Caribbean region, the pressing need to be “on guard” of climate change is pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11), with these words, (the first of many “causes of complaints”):
i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.
The Go Lean…Caribbean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU must advocate for systems and schemes for a lower carbon footprint so as not to contribute further to green-house gases. Plus, the CU must implement recovery measures to respond, and react to the ever-threatening climatic conditions. While this means hurricanes at the extreme, it also includes daily factors that must be dealt with, like excessive heat and frequent power black-outs … during summer months. (The elderly are more susceptible to heat stroke and other ailments).
“Growing up in the Caribbean, summer extended from Easter Monday to Columbus Day” – Recollection of a Caribbean/Bahamas Diaspora Member.
Now, the anecdotal experience is that there is a need to mitigate excessive heat in the region for an even longer season. How do we mitigate excessive heat?
Air conditioning!
But this cure may at times be worse than the disease.
Air conditioning requires even greater energy consumption, (the Caribbean has among the highest energy costs in the Western Hemisphere); the Go Lean book posits that the average costs of energy can be decreased from an average of US$0.35/kWh to US$0.088/kWh in the course of the 5-year term of this roadmap; (Page 100).
In addition, the release of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) in the air-conditioning process is a contributor of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The status quo needs remediation!
Pull In addition to these climatic “push” factors, there are also climatic pull considerations.
These factors, as related in the Go Lean roadmap, posit that North American and European destinations have been more inviting to Caribbean citizens. Weather-wise, everywhere has “mean seasons”, but it is easier to stay warm during a wintry “mean season” in the North, than it is to stay cool in the “mean season” in the South. Plus with pronounced Climate Change effects on northern communities, the “mean seasons” in the north have been shorter and easier to endure.
This issue refers to an environment – the weather – that maybe outside of human control. But when humans do grab some control – climate control – the northern communities (US, Canada and Europe) do a better job of mitigating and remediating the new acute effects of climate change.
Consider again, the location for the composition for the Go Lean book, Omaha, Nebraska. That community in the American Midwest is notorious as a “land of 4 seasons” and all of them extreme. In May 2013, it snowed on May 1st then the temperature hit 100 degrees (Fahrenheit) on May 15th. Omaha is provided in the Go Lean book (Page 138) as a model for Caribbean communities to emulate. How does Omaha mitigate the extreme climate conditions they have to contend with?
Infrastructure
Economies-of-Scale
Consider this one example of how a cooling/heating scheme provides the needed air-conditioning for the entire Downtown District:
NRG Energy Center Omaha provides energy-efficient and environmentally sound district heating and cooling for the business district of downtown Omaha, including Woodman Tower, Creighton University, the Joslyn Art Museum, Creighton University Medical Center and more than 70 percent of all other public and commercial buildings in the downtown area.
NRG Energy Center Omaha has established a reliability history of “Six-Nines” (99.9999%) for its chilled-water service. Our steam service reliability history is equally impressive.
NRG Energy Center Omaha leverages a variety of conventional fuels, depending on which is most cost-competitive at a given time, and it has also incorporated cogeneration technology – a highly efficient combination of heat and mechanical power –to reduce the amount of energy lost up the smokestack. This kind of technology and fuel flexibility keeps costs down, preserves valuable natural resources and reduces emissions. We also provide the buildings we serve with free energy audits, budget assistance and historical use and cost data on request.
Recent developments linked to NRG Energy Center Omaha include the Hruska Federal Courthouse, First National Bank of Omaha Technology Center, Creighton University expansion, the First National Bank Office Tower, World Herald’s Freedom Center, Qwest Arena and Convention Center, the Omaha Performing Arts Center, and the Lasting Hope and MidCity Centers.
System Profile Area served: Downtown Omaha Services Provided: Steam heating and chilled water cooling Total system capacity: 29,250 tons of chilled water and 735,000 lbs/hr of steam Buildings on system: Woodman Tower, Creighton University, the Joslyn Art Museum, Creighton University Medical Center and more than 70 percent of all other public and commercial buildings in the downtown area.
Consider the photos above; (the building with the mural is a refrigerated warehouse). Imagine this Omaha Downtown model deployed in Caribbean communities. This “District Heating and Cooling” scheme provides economies-of-scale, efficiency and lower costs. The design is a “plant” to produce steam, hot water and/or chilled water at a central location and then pipe the steam and water underground to individual buildings within a specific district. This process is energy efficient and reliable, typically requiring less capital investment, risk and operational costs than systems where each building must maintain its own boiler or air conditioner. The destinations/buildings only need air handlers – much cheaper than full air-conditioning – to blow and control preferred temperature settings.
This is a model of a technocracy. Without these types of infrastructure the Caribbean is just … ‘Third World’.
The Go Lean/CU roadmap recognizes that modern life has expanded the definition of basic needs to now include food, clothing, shelter and energy. And thusly the book proposes many solutions for the region to optimize energy generation, distribution and consumption. There are many lessons to learn from other more-efficient communities. This is the prime directive of the Go Lean roadmap, to apply these lessons and best-practices so as to impact the Caribbean in these 3 ways:
Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion GDP and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, including Self-Governing Entities, to support these engines.
As for energy, the Go Lean book posits that the average costs of energy can be decreased from an average of US$0.35/kWh to US$0.088/kWh in the course of the 5-year term of this roadmap. (Page 100). This is a 75% savings! Cooperative refrigeration allows for even more savings!
These initiatives will take some effort on the part of the community and governmental institutions. This is heavy-lifting! The Go Lean roadmap details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the progress in the wide fields of energy optimization and cooperative refrigeration. The following list applies:
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices/Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments
Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives
Page 25
Community Ethos – Model: Regional Taxi Commissions
Page 25
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations
Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future
Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations
Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing – Economies of Scale
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Anecdote – Pipeline Transport – Strategies, Tactics & Implementations
Page 43
Strategy – Harness the power of the sun/winds
Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora
Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change
Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy
Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Public Works and Infrastructure
Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Energy Commission
Page 82
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government – Energy Permits
Page 93
Anecdote – Caribbean Energy Grid Implementation
Page 100
Implementation – Ways to Develop Pipeline Industry
Page 107
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage
Page 113
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean – Gerontology Initiatives
Page 118
Planning – Lessons Learned from Omaha
Page 138
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works – Air Chillers Utilities
Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives – Refrigerated Warehouses Model
Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Monopolies – Empower Municipal Authorities
Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Develop a Frozen Foods Industry – Need for Refrigerated Warehouses
Page 208
Advocacy – Ways to Battle Poverty – Third World Realities
Page 222
The phrase “Hotter than July” should only be a song, not a way of life in the Caribbean.
Energy needs are undeniable. Air-conditioning needs to be readily available and affordable during the “mean season”. This should not be open to any compromise.
Fulfilling these needs is a great target for lean, agile operations, perfect for the CU technocracy. Any failure in this regards results in heightened abandonment.
Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people, businesses, institutions and governments, to lean-in for the optimizations and opportunities described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean.
Uploaded on Dec 21, 2011 – The Merrymen recorded this song in 1983 originally on thier album “No Big Ting”, however this version was recorded in 1988 on their album “Hot Hot Soca”. http://www.facebook.com/themerrymenfr…
According to the news article below, Carnival Cruise Lines is now banning carry-on bottled beverages on their ships. They claim that this move “is not intended to raise beverage revenues”.
Does anybody believe that?
Hardly!
This is the consistent theme in the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it posits that cruise lines have progressively tighten their practices and policies to ensure more revenues for them and less for the port cities (Page 32).
Scratch a liar, catch a thief!
Why so harsh a criticism? Simple: the dynamics of the Crony-Capitalistic cruise industry in the past, present and future.
The cruise line industry was not always as reflective of this Crony-Capitalism … as they are today. There was a time when passenger shipping companies submitted to the laws of the land – the home countries of the ship owners, i.e. US, England, Netherlands, Greece. This compliance dictated that the shipping lines conformed to labor, anti-trust and competition laws. Then the Crony-Capitalistic influence was embedded and the shipping lines started seeking ship-registry third-party countries that are agnostic to community best-practices (Liberia, etc.).
Today the Caribbean cruise industry is dominated by 3 cruise companies (with large percentages of the passenger traffic; Carnival alone had 52% global market share in early 2012), and the fast-growing Disney Cruise Line. These companies are now all publicly-traded on Wall Street – see stock-symbols listing as follows – so they now answer to new bosses, whose goal is singular: increase shareholder value:
Symbol
Name
Price Today
CCL
Carnival Corporation
51.87
RCL
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
83.20
NCLH
Norwegian Cruise Line
59.81
DIS
Disney (Cruise Line)
118.80
The “modus operandi” is no longer a matter of extending hospitality to their guests, but rather the business ethos – fundamental spirit that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of an enterprise – is simply to maximize profits. This means increasing revenues while simultaneously lowering costs. (In a previous blog/commentary the full extent of the industries’ labor practices were detailed).
This is not a good trend!
The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is a confederation of 30 Caribbean member-states with the mission to form a unified negotiating front in bargaining with the cruise line industry. The CU goal is simple: integrate the region into a Single Market.
Why a Single Market?
The Go Lean book posits (Page 3) that the problems of the Caribbean, cruise industry manifestations included, are too big for any one member-state to tackle alone. Even though some cruise destinations, (like the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and St Martin) have demonstrated some success with this business model, the trend is for the opposite direction. (Wall Street firms try to improve profits more and more for each passing fiscal quarter). As demonstrated in the following news article, the trending is for this cruise industry to extract more and more passenger spending, not share. See the news article here:
Title: Carnival to ban carry-on bottled beverages By: KDSK Reporting
Carnival Cruise Line is trying to put a stop to alcohol being smuggled aboard its ships disguised as bottled water.
Beginning July 9, Carnival will effectively ban beverages in bottles from being brought onboard at embarkation. The only exception is a single bottle of fine wine or champagne.
Otherwise, beverages must [be] packaged in unopened cans or cartons, including water, sodas and juices, with a maximum number of 12 packed in carry-on luggage.
The change means passengers can no longer tag beverages for embarkation as checked luggage. In addition, Carnival will restrict the size of coolers brought aboard to those measuring 12x12x12 or less.
In a letter being sent to passengers, Carnival said bottled beverages have become a prime means of bringing unauthorized alcohol on cruises. The line claims inspecting a growing number of bottles was bogging down embarkation, and that episodes of bad behavior on ships often trace back to smuggled alcohol. The letter also explained that cruise personnel cannot effectively monitor consumption of alcohol that isn’t sold on the ships, it said.
“We sincerely apologize for any disappointment these changes may cause,” said the letter, signed by Arlene Marichal, senior director, solutions and special services. “However, we firmly believe this will result in a safer environment while also improving the embarkation process and the overall guest experience.”
Concurrent with the policy change, Carnival has lowered the price of bottled water to $2.99 for a 12-pack of 500 ML bottles, if purchased in advance of the cruise, or $4.99 onboard. Carnival said the move is not intended to raise beverage revenues.
Source: KSDK NewsChannel 5 – St. Louis, Missouri Local NBC Affiliate – Posted June 9, 2015; retrieved July 22, 2015 from: http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/06/09/carnival-to-ban-carry-on-bottled-beverages/28744127/
The goal of the Go Lean roadmap is the Greater Good. This includes applying strategies and tactics to incite more spending at Caribbean ports-of-call.
Singlehandedly, these port cities-member states cannot effect change on this cruise line industry. But together, as one unified front, the chances for success improve exponentially.
The cruise lines “ply their trade” in the Caribbean region (waters and ports-of-call); this is our marketplace so it would be expected that we would have some jurisdiction. After all, the Caribbean is the attraction for Caribbean cruises.
The confederacy goal of the CU entails accepting that there is interdependence among the Caribbean member-states. The Go Lean book initiates with this quest for regional integration with an opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 13); consider these pronouncements:
v. Whereas the natural formation of our landmass and coastlines entail a large portion of waterscapes, the reality of management of our interior calls for extended oversight of the waterways between the islands. The internationally accepted 12-mile limits for national borders must be extended by International Tribunals to encompass the areas in between islands. The individual states must maintain their 12-mile borders while the sovereignty of this expanded area, the Exclusive Economic Zone, must be vested in the accedence of this Federation.
vi. Whereas the finite nature of the landmass of our lands limits the populations and markets of commerce, by extending the bonds of brotherhood to our geographic neighbors allows for extended opportunities and better execution of the kinetics of our economies through trade. This regional focus must foster and promote diverse economic stimuli.
viii. Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing [or bargaining] agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.
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 …
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 …
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.
This Go Lean roadmap represents change for the Caribbean and all of our stakeholders, including sailing/cruising and flying visitors. But our quest in the CU to elevate Caribbean society is not designed to antagonize cruise line operators. Just the opposite; we set out to be their able-bodied trading partners, not adversarial opponents. We seek the Greater Good for their interest as well, a win-win.
The CU/Go Lean prime directive is 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, including maritime activities on the Caribbean Sea.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
Collective bargaining is the key.
The Go Lean book promotes collective bargaining as a community ethos, so as to mitigate the perils of “going at it alone”. The book details the applicable community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to elevate the benefits of regional cruise line industry in the region:
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways
Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices & Incentives
Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future
Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations
Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments (ROI)
Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives
Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations
Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing
Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good
Page 37
Strategy – Confederate 30 Caribbean Member-States
Page 45
Strategy – Customers / Stakeholders – Governments, Businesses, and Citizens
The issues raised in the foregoing article weigh heavy on a lot of Caribbean commerce. For example, we have a thriving rum industry in the region, with products deemed the best in the world. An objective of rum producers is to market their wares to the 10-million-plus cruise visitors. An unchallenged cruise line policy, dissuading onshore beverage purchases, would undermine this rum industry goal.
The cruise lines have invested heavily in new amenities and duty-free shopping options on board their newer ships. See photos and VIDEO here:
Published on Apr 22, 2012 – A look at shopping on the Disney Fantasy including Sea Treasures, Mickey’s Mainsail, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and White Caps. Visit http://www.wdwinfo.com for more information on Disney Cruise Line.
While these onboard retailers may be in direct competition with port-cities, it is the Go Lean assertion that there is market enough for all these stakeholders; onboard and onshore. There is no need for anti-trust practices.
Consider these previous blog/commentaries that drilled deep on the Go Lean vision and opportunities for the cruise industry:
The Caribbean region and the cruise line industry must do better … and work together to grow this industry.
In the end, these changes will be for the better; for the Greater Good and to promote a better partnership for all cruise industry stakeholders.
We welcome the 10 million cruise visitors and the many cruise ship operators. Let’s work together … to make the Caribbean destination a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
