Tag: Model

Making a Great Place to Work®

Go Lean Commentary

The book Go Lean…Caribbean represents a quest to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The focus on this commentary is on work. There is actually a formula to making an organization a Great Place to Work®; that formula is so regimented that it is copyrighted and patented, and thus the ® symbol. This effort is pursued by the Great Place to Work® Institute. Below is their corporate information and accompanying VIDEO:

Video: The Great Place to Work Institute Model – http://youtu.be/IneDx950xRA

Great Place to Work Institute co-founder Robert Levering discusses the history of the Institute and how after 25 years of researching the best companies to work for around the world, that high levels of trust between employees and managers is the main element found in great workplaces. – Uploaded on Nov 7, 2011

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CU Blog - Making a Great Place To Work - Photo 1For over 25 years we’ve studied and identified great workplaces around the world.

Your company can be a great workplace, and you have the power to make it happen. It begins with an investment in building trust throughout your organization. The return will be a more vibrant enterprise, more innovative products and more satisfying relationships. Employees who trust their managers give their best work freely, and their extra effort goes right to the company’s bottom line. Managers who trust their employees allow innovative ideas to bubble up from all levels of the company. Employees who trust each other report a sense of camaraderie and even the feeling of being part of a family. Together they deliver far more than the sum of their individual efforts.

We’ve built the Great Place to Work® Model on 25 years of research and surveys of millions of employees.

Many of the best performing companies have followed this insight and seen tremendous results. At the Great Place to Work® Institute, we’ve spent 25 years tracking these leaders and learning from their successes. By surveying millions of employees and studying thousands of businesses, we’ve created a model for building performance based on trust. It’s our contribution to a global shift in businesses that is changing the way the world works.

We know that trust is the single most important ingredient in making a workplace great.

Our data show that building workplace trust is the best investment your company can make, leading to better recruitment, lower turnover, greater innovation, higher productivity, more loyal customers and higher profits. Our model provides specific, actionable steps to get you there. While you’ll be the one to lead your company on this journey, we can provide steady guidance from one of our 40 offices around the world.

We know that great workplaces are better financial performers.

Companies of all sizes look to us for our assessment tools, trainings, advisory services, conferences and workshops. The world looks to us to identify the best workplaces through our renowned lists. It’s all part of our passion to create a better world by helping you create a great workplace. Wherever you are on your journey, we invite you to join us and create yours.

Our clients are those companies and organizations that wish to maintain Best Company environments, those that are ready to dramatically improve the culture within their workplaces, and those in between the two. We know that organizations that build trust and create a rewarding cycle of personal contribution and appreciation create workplace cultures that deliver outstanding business performance.
Great Place to Work® – Corporate Website (Retrieved 12/01/2014)http://www.greatplacetowork.com/about-us

CU Blog - Making a Great Place To Work - Photo 2

The Go Lean book stresses the need to create great work places. It serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation for the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). As a federation or federal government, there will be the need to employ (and empower) a Civil Service workforce; this labor pool is projected to be only 30,000 people, thusly embracing lean (or agile) delivery methodologies.

Lean relates to management, the Great Place to Work® concept, on the other hand, relates more to character and organizational culture. In fact the foregoing source material highlights one attribute more so than any other: Trust. They relate that from the employee’s perspective, a great workplace is one where they:

  • TRUST the people they work for;
  • Have PRIDE in what they do; and
  • ENJOY the people they work with.

So “Trust” is the defining principle of great workplaces. Consider the example of one company, in the Detroit Metro area, Credit Acceptance Corporation in the Appendix below.

While federal employees, civil servants, are among the stakeholders for Caribbean empowerment, they are not the only stakeholders the CU must cater to; there are other stakeholders that cover other aspects of Caribbean life. In fact, the prime directives of the CU covers these 3 focus areas:

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

The roadmap identifies, qualifies and proposes the establishment of a technocratic civil service throughout the region (Page 173). The book posits that an empowered, effective labor force, coupled with advanced technology tools and processes can adequately meet the needs of the region’s super-national government. Imagine kiosks, websites, call centers and mobile applications (Page 197) as opposed to big-bulky edifices with bureaucratic staffers working a queue (think “permits/licensing” in any typical US state – see Page 93 for the example of Nebraska’s “lean” conversion with the Department of Environmental Quality). This technology-led vision is fully detailed in the book (Page 168), encompassing the tactical approach of a “separation-of-powers” with the member-states for specific governmental functionality that will be assumed under CU jurisdiction (Page 71).

In addition to these public sector employees, the Go Lean roadmap also focuses on private enterprises. While there is no plan to micro-manage private companies in the free market, there is the plan to rate/rank companies that are effective and efficient. Imagine: 10 Great Places to Work – Bahamas, 10 Great Places to Work – Dominican Republic, 10 Great Places to Work – Jamaica, so on and so on.

Previously, Go Lean blogs commented on job developments, in the public sector and also with industrial and entrepreneurial endeavors. These points were depicted in the following sample:

Funding Caribbean Entrepreneurs – The ‘Crowdfunding’ Way
Where the Jobs Are – Entrepreneurial Jobs
Jamaica’s Public Pension Under-funded
The Criminalization of American Business – Bad Examples
STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly
British public sector workers strike over ‘poverty pay’
Puerto Rico Governor Signs Bill on Small-Medium-Enterprises
Self-employment on the rise in the Caribbean – World Bank

Now is the time for all Caribbean stakeholders, employees in the public and private sectors, to lean-in to this regional solution for Caribbean empowerment. The end result, a better workplace and a better homeland; in total, a better place to live, work and play.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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APPENDIX: Culture Without Compromise – One Case / One Company:

http://www.greatplacetowork.com/publications-and-events/blogs-and-news/2435-culture-without-compromise

This year, Credit Acceptance, a Michigan-based indirect finance company, secured one of the coveted spots on the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the first time—a goal the company has actively been working toward since 2001 under the leadership of CEO Brett Roberts. While related efforts were numerous and spanned a 13-year period, there are 3 key takeaways to be learned from Credit Acceptance’s journey to greatness from our case study: Culture Without Compromise.

CU Blog - Making a Great Place To Work - Photo 3

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Introduction to Europe – All Grown Up

Go Lean Commentary

CU Blog - Introduction to Europe - All Grown Up - Photo 1The countries in the western hemisphere are considered the New World. Why “new”? Because none of the independent nations in this hemisphere are older than 250 years. Despite previous civilizations in the lands; the hemisphere’s modernity started as colonies of their European forebears: England, France, Portugal, Spain, and The Netherlands. The European lands are thusly referred to as the Old Country.

Well now, the Old Country has a new lesson for the New World: economic, security and governing integration of the European Union (EU). This structure is such an advancement in democracy, that it is now presented as a model for the Caribbean region to explore.

This is the quest of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, to get the Caribbean region to model their society to incorporate the best practices of the EU. The book urges the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book therefore serves as a roadmap for this goal, with turn-by-turn directions to integrate the 30 member-states of the region, forge an $800 Billion economy and create 2.2 million new jobs.

While this is a big idea for the nascent Caribbean, this is just a microcosm of the EU’s width and breadth – Europe is all grown-up. The EU has the economies-of-scale of 508 million people and a GDP of $15 Trillion (2012) in 28 member-states; (the EuroZone Currency Union is a subset of 18 states, 333 million people and $13.1 Trillion GDP). The EU is even larger than the Caribbean’s neighbor, the US, with its 50 states, 320 million people, and $14 Trillion integrated economy.

There is an even more important number in the discussion of EU dynamics: 100 million. That’s how many lives were lost prematurely due to the wars of the 20th Century, all spurred from European conflicts, think World War I and World War II. Since the European integration began, after WW II and completing with the EU charter in 1992, there has been no full continental or global wars. This absence is a testament of European economic-security-governing integration.

The continent of Europe has now “grown up”, organizationally. In fact, because of the success of this integration, the EU was awarded the coveted Nobel Peace Prize for 2012. This fact was detailed in the Go Lean book (Page 130).

Considering the EU example, the economic benefits are undeniable; shocks and dips in economic performance can be more easily absorbed and leveraged across the entire region. (The US provides a similar lesson).  Despite recent crises in the US (2008) and in Europe (Sovereign Debt of 2009 – 2011), the US is still the #2 economy, while the EU is the world’s #1 economy.

At the outset, the Go Lean roadmap identified an urgent need to collaborate and consolidate for economic resilience. This is pronounced in this clause in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):

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

The biggest lesson for the Caribbean to glean from a consideration of the EU is the need for compromise in consensus-building. This is why there are asterisks on so many confederation clauses. See the details in this VIDEO here:

Direct Link: http://youtu.be/O37yJBFRrfg

The CU is modeled from the EU – see Page 130 in the Go Lean…Caribbean book, so as to provide good stewardship and shepherding of the Caribbean economic, security and governing engines.

The theme of applying models and best-practices from other countries/regions has been elaborated on in these previous blog commentaries:

Why India is doing better than most emerging markets
‘Too Big To Fail’ – Caribbean Version
A Lesson in European Dysfunctional History: 100 Years Ago – World War I
EU willing to fund study on cost of not having CARICOM
European Model: One currency, divergent economies
How Nigeria’s economy grew by 89% overnight
Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’

The CU roadmap drives change among the economic, security and governing engines of the Caribbean region. The book presents the solutions to elevate Caribbean society as new community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Forging Change Page 20
Community Ethos – Economic Principles Page 21
Community Ethos – Security Principles Page 22
Community Ethos – Governing Principles Page 24
Community Ethos – Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – CU Vision – Integrate Caribbean member-states modeling the European Union Page 45
Strategy – Facilitate a Currency Union, the Caribbean Dollar (C$), and the Caribbean Central Bank, modeled after the Euro and European Central Bank Page 48
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When Page 67
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Central Bank Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt Page 114
Planning – Ways to Model the EU Page 119
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 Page 136
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations Page 199

The Go Lean roadmap posits that modeling the EU is easier said than done. On the one hand, the economic optimizations are easy, just show up with investments (money) and jobs and any Caribbean community will acquiesce. On the other hand, the attempts to introduce empowerments for security and/or governing engines are doomed to be more complicated, requiring a political process, with a lot of compromise and consensus-building.

See a dissenting view of the EU structure, expressed here:

Dissenting View: Some people object to the structure of the EU. Notice this comment added to the same foregoing YouTube VIDEO above:

By: aalexmary – 1 month ago (October 2014):
So, explained. The European Union is US’s pathetic slave. The European Union is an unsuccessful organisation who took the sovereignty of the nations away. the European union is a monster (I mean its leaders) who carries out coups and bloody wars. The EU, NATO, US destroyed and blooded Ukraine and Novorrosia with the purpose of starting WWIII and to destroy Russia. The European Union hurts its own nations (eg: the illegal insane sanctions against Russia, and this is not the only example). Obama, Merkel and all the leaders of the EU are just pathetic war criminals. Not to mention Pigosenko and his clique. The “democrat” EU brought back the cruel Nazism. EU is ugly. It is not the European “dream” anymore. It is about EU’s leaders greed for power. In EU the individuals do not count. I will be so happy when EU and NATO will disappear. Useless organisations. It is time for the countries to regain their sovereignty.
YouTube Video Sharing Online Site – Posted July 2, 2013; retrieved November 26, 2014
http://youtu.be/O37yJBFRrfg

This heavy-lifting, navigating the dissent and overcoming opposition, is worth the effort. This is the mission of the CU: built for the heavy-lifting of integration and collaboration. With the successful execution of the deliveries in the Go Lean roadmap, the effect will be undeniable: a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Why India is doing better than most emerging markets

Go Lean Commentary

BRICS = Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa …

There are no “push-pull” factors luring Caribbean citizens to emigrate to these countries, (though Caribbean member-states Trinidad and Guyana have a majority population of Indian descent), but still it is very important for the stewards of the Caribbean economy to study the BRICS countries. We need to learn from their lessons, good-bad-and-ugly, and try hard to keep pace.

This global assessment is part of the technocratic activities needed in comparative analysis, essential and strategic in the effort to ensure the region remains competitive. This effort is inclusive of the publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it urges the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book serves as a roadmap for the elevation of the region’s economy-security-governing engines; providing turn-by-turn directions to integrate the 30 member-states of the region and forge an $800 Billion economy.

A likely analogy would be navigating a vessel across a tumultuous ocean. As a humorous depiction, subject matter experts joke that “an economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today”.

All joking aside, the incremental progress of one BRICS country, India, is not to be lambasted or readily dismissed. See this recent news article:

By: JO’s

CU Blog - Why India is doing better than most emerging markets - Photo 1MUMBAI – Investors have fallen out of love with emerging markets. Since the start of last year emerging-market stocks has trailed their rich-world peers. Currencies are falling. Worst-hit is the Russian Rouble, which has fallen by 30% against the Dollar this year. The currencies of other biggish emerging markets, such as Brazil, Turkey and South Africa, have also weakened. For such economies growth is harder to come by. The IMF recently cut its forecasts for emerging markets by more than for rich countries. But India is a notable exception to the general pessimism. Its stock market has touched new highs. The Rupee [currency] is stable. And the IMF nudged up its 2014 growth forecast for India to 5.8%. That figure is still quite low: growth rates of 8-9% have been more typical. But in comparison with others it is almost a boom. Why is India doing better than most emerging markets?

In part optimism about India owes to its newish government. In May Narendra Modi’s Baratiya Janata Party (BJP) won a thumping victory in elections on a pro-growth platform. Since then the BJP has strengthened its position in some key states. So far reform has been piecemeal. Procedures for government approvals have been streamlined. The powers of labour inspectors have been curbed. Civil servants now work harder. That has been enough to sustain hopes of further and bigger reforms. Yet much of the continued enthusiasm about India is down to luck. The currents that sway the global economy presently—the dollar’s strength; slowdown in China; aggressive money-printing in Japan; stagnation in the Euro Zone and falling oil prices—are less harmful to India than to most emerging markets.

Start with the dollar, which has been buoyed by a resilient American economy and the prospect of interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve. Past episodes of rising interest rates and dollar strength (for instance in the early 1980s or mid-1990s) have not been kind to emerging markets. Bond yields rise and currencies fall as capital is drawn back to America. India has a bit less to fear from such a rush to the exits; its bond markets are tricky for foreigners to enter in the first place. India is less harmed by slowdown in China, as only around 5% of its exports go there. It is not part of the China’s supply-chain that takes in much of Southeast Asia. Nor is it a big exporter of industrial commodities, like Brazil. Equally a weaker yen in response to quantitative easing by the Bank of Japan hurts Asia’s manufacturing exporters more than service-intensive India. The misery in the Euro Zone is of greater concern to its local trading partners in Turkey and Russia than to faraway India. And the fall in the crude prices that hurts oil exporters, such as Russia and Nigeria, is a boon to a big oil importer like India. Indeed the deflation that is stalking large parts of the world is helpful to India, which has suffered from high inflation.

India is not impervious to bad news. Some of its recent economic data have looked a little soggy. Exports slumped in October. Car sales have fallen for two consecutive months and there is little sign yet of a meaningful recovery in business investment. This is in part why there have been growing calls (including from the finance minister) for the central bank to cut interest rates soon in response to a drop in consumer-price inflation. The troubles in other emerging markets ought to counsel caution. Any sign that policymakers might be ditching discipline in favour of quick fixes might see India crossed off the love list.
The Economist Magazine – Online Edition – November 18, 2014 –
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/11/economist-explains-11

Other BRICS countries are struggling with growth, at this moment; see story here:

As emerging economies hit hard times, Brazil and Russia look particularly weak.

CU Blog - Why India is doing better than most emerging markets - Photo 2

Considering the realities of the emerging economies, the BRICS countries, it is obvious that there is an ebb-and-flow associated with economic stewardship. This stewardship constitutes the prime directives of the CU:

  • 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.
  • Improve Caribbean governance/administration/oversight to support these engines.

The best practice for effective stewardship of an economy’s ebb-and-flow is the recovery; managing the ability to “bounce back” quickly. This fact is related in the Go Lean book (Page 69), chronicling the experiences in the US when the economy lost $11 Trillion in the 2008 Great Recession, but recovered $13.5 Trillion back a few years later, by December 2012. The US has 50 member-states and 320 million people. Shocks and dips can therefore be absorbed and leveraged across the entire region .The Go Lean roadmap is to integrate the Caribbean in such a structure with 30 member-states and 42 million people.

At the outset, the roadmap identified an urgent need to contend with, since the Caribbean is still in the throes of the financial crisis (commenced in 2008).  This is pronounced in this clause in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):

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

The Go Lean roadmap signals change for the region. It introduces new measures, new opportunities and new recoveries. Economies will rise and fall, ebb-and-flow; the recovery is key. Currencies and inflation issues also factor in the economic stewardship. The foregoing article relates:

“the dollar … has been buoyed by a resilient American economy and the prospect of interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve. Past episodes of rising interest rates and dollar strength … have not been kind to emerging (BRICS) markets”.

So the CU strategy also calls for the establishment of the allied Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to manage the regional monetary and currency affairs. The Go Lean book describes the breath-and-width of the CCB. This stewardship of monetary-currency was envisioned and pronounced 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 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 – Money Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – CU Vision and Mission Page 45
Strategy – Facilitating Currency Union, Caribbean   Dollar Page 45
Strategy – Collaborate for the Caribbean Central Bank Page 45
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies Page 64
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – Trade Page 67
Tactical – Recovering from Economic Bubbles Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Caribbean Central Bank Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives Page 117
Implementation – Ways to Benefit Globalization Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade Page 128
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Control Inflation Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange Page 154
Advocacy – Foster Empowering Immigration – Indentured Indians Page 174
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Trinidad & Tobago Page 240

The Caribbean region needs to learn from the lessons of the BRICS countries, (see VIDEO below). and do the work, the heavy-lifting, to compete with them, and the rest of the world in trade and culture. The subject of trade empowerment has been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2887 Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488 Role Model Jack Ma brings Trade Marketplace Alibaba to America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2435 Latin America’s Dream and Trade Role-model: Korea
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2090 Elaborating on the CU and CCB as Hallmarks of a Technocracy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1869 US Senate Bill Targets Companies for Dishonorable Trade Practices
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1847 Caribbean Cigar Trade – Declared “Among the best in the World”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416 Amazon – Role Model for Trade Marketplace, Introduces New Tablet
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=994 Bahamas Rejects US Trade Demand
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – #3: De-Americanize World Money for Currency in Trade

The Caribbean is arguably the best address on the planet, but there are many deficiencies, as in jobs and economic empowerments. We have suffered as a result of these deficiencies, as a region losing a large share of human capital, one estimate of 70%, to the brain-drain.

No More! Change has now come to the Caribbean.

Shepherding the Caribbean economy is the job for technocrats, trained and accomplished from the battles of globalization and trade wars. This is the Go Lean roadmap. Everyone, the people and institutions are hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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VIDEO: BRICS to change world economy – http://youtu.be/wmS11HnNbk0

Published on Mar 28, 2012 – The BRICS countries’ leaders were preparing for their annual meeting in 2012. These countries make up 42 percent of the world’s population and a quarter of its landmass. They are also responsible for 20 percent of the Global GDP and own a whopping 75 percent of the foreign reserve worldwide. In these tough times for world economics these countries are trying to find a solution for the situation. RT America’s Correspondent Priya Sridhar (the US based arm of Russia Today, a 24-hour English-language international broadcast news network based in Miscow) gave a sneak peak of the summit from India.

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Justice Strategy: Special Prosecutors … et al

Go Lean Commentary

The quest to elevate Caribbean society is a three-prong approach: economics, security and governance.

Economic optimizations are easiest to introduce; show up with investments (money) and jobs and almost any community will acquiesce. But to introduce empowerments for security and/or governing engines is more complicated, as changes in these categories normally require a political process; implying consensus-building and compromise. (Think: Iraq – “A military solution to a political problem?”; see Footnote 1)

This is what the book Go Lean…Caribbean calls “heavy-lifting”.

This Go Lean book posits that “bad actors” will always emerge in times of economic optimizations to exploit opportunities, with bad or evil intent. In support of this argument, the book relates a number of law-and-order episodes from world history: Pirates of the Caribbean (Page 181) and the Old American West (Page 142). In addition to the direct book references, there are a number previously published blogs/commentaries that covered subjects and dimensions for Caribbean justice institutions:

Role Model for Justice – The Pinkertons
Economic Crime Enforcement – The Criminalization of American Business
America’s Navy – 100 Percent – Model for Caribbean
A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago – World War I
Here come the Drones … and the Concerns
Caribbean “Terrorists” travel to Venezuela for jihadist training
Jamaica to receive World Bank funds to help in crime fight
US slams Caribbean human rights practices
10 Things We Want from the US and 10 Things We Don’t Want: Pax Americana

It is evident that justice is very important to this roadmap for societal elevation. We do not want to only react (after the fact) to episodes undermining public security or the integrity of law-and-order in the homeland. We want to have a constant sentinel. This will be accomplished with two regional agencies (defined later): Justice Department and Homeland Security Department.

The Caribbean governance structures were developed under the tutelage of 4 European legacies (British, Dutch, French, Spanish) and the United States of America (territories of Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands and the dominant cultural influence in the region). We now have fitting role models of their societies for the management of justice institutions. This commentary urges their best-practices.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). Normally, when there are questions of integrity in the due-process in executive, legislative or judicial branches of government, the curative measure is a Special Prosecutor (American) or a Commission of Inquiry (European and United Nations).

As defined in the following encyclopedia source reference, these measures are normally reactive, but for the CU, the strategy is proactive…from Day One:

1. UNITED STATES

A Special Prosecutor generally is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by an Attorney General or, in the United States, by Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. A reasoning for such an appointment is that the governmental branch or agency may have political connections to those it might be asked to investigate. Inherently, this creates a conflict of interest and a solution is to have someone from outside the department lead the investigation. The term “Special Prosecutor” may have a variety of meanings from one country to the next, from one government branch to the next within the same country, and within different agencies within each government branch. Critics of the use of Special Prosecutors argue that these investigators act as a “fourth branch” to the government because they are not subject to limitations in spending or have deadlines to meet.

STARR

Federal government
Attorneys in the United States may be appointed/hired particularly or employed generally by different branches of the government to investigate. When appointed/hired particularly by the judicial branch to investigate and, if justified, seek indictments in a particular judicial branch case, the attorney is called Special Prosecutor. When appointed/hired particularly by a governmental branch or agency to investigate alleged misconduct within that branch or agency, the attorney is called Independent Counsel.

State government
Special Prosecutors may also be used in a state prosecution case when the prosecutor for the local jurisdiction has a conflict of interest in a case or otherwise may desire another attorney handle a case.
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia (Retrieved November 17, 2014) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_prosecutor

2. BRITISH DOMINION

A Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. A Royal Commission is similar in function to a Commission of Enquiry (or Inquiry) found in other countries such as Ireland, South Africa, and Hong Kong; (all examples here are from the British Dominion).

CU Blog - Justice Strategy - Special Prosecutors - Photo 1

A Royal Commissioner has considerable powers, generally greater even than those of a judge but restricted to the Terms of Reference of the Commission. The Commission is created by the Head of State (the Sovereign, or his/her representative in the form of a Governor-General or Governor) on the advice of the Government and formally appointed by Letters Patent. In practice—unlike lesser forms of inquiry—once a Commission has started the government cannot stop it. Consequently governments are usually very careful about framing the Terms of Reference and generally include in them a date by which the commission must finish.

Royal Commissions are called to look into matters of great importance and usually controversy. These can be matters such as government structure, the treatment of minorities, events of considerable public concern or economic questions.

Many Royal Commissions last many years and, often, a different government is left to respond to the findings. In Australia—and particularly New South Wales—Royal Commissions have been investigations into police and government corruption and organised crime using the very broad coercive powers of the Royal Commissioner to defeat the protective systems that powerful, but corrupt, public officials had used to shield themselves from conventional investigation.

Royal Commissions usually involve research into an issue, consultations with experts both within and outside of government and public consultations as well. The Warrant may grant immense investigatory powers, including summoning witnesses under oath, offering of indemnities, seizing of documents and other evidence (sometimes including those normally protected, such as classified information), holding hearings in camera if necessary and—in a few cases—compelling all government officials to aid in the execution of the Commission.

The results of Royal Commissions are published in reports, often massive, of findings containing policy recommendations. These reports are often quite influential, with the government enacting some or all recommendations into law.
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia (Retrieved November 17, 2014) –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Commission

3. NETHERLANDS

Though never a member of British Dominion, the Kingdom of the Netherlands has a similar process. An example of a Commission of Inquiry in the Netherlands include this case study:

  • From mid-2010 to December 2011 the Commission of Inquiry carried out an independent study of the sexual abuse of minors in the Roman Catholic Church from 1945 to 2010.

Source: Investigation of Roman Catholic Church Online Site (Retrieved Nov. 17, 2014) –
http://www.onderzoekrk.nl/english-summery.html

4. UNITED NATIONS

a. Commissions and Investigative Bodies

The UN Security Council has established a wide-variety of Commissions to handle a variety of tasks related to the maintenance of international peace and security. Commissions have been created with different structures and a wide variety of mandates including investigation, mediation, or administering compensation. Below is a list of all commissions established by the Security Council, with a short description prepared on the basis of the Repertoire, as well as links to the sections covering them in the Repertoire (Public Relations Publication). They are organized by region, and then under relevant areas or sub-regions, placed chronologically starting with those established most recently:

1946-1951 1952-1955 1956-1958 1959-1963 1964-1965 1966-1968 1969-1971 1972-1974 1975-1980 1981-1984 1985-1988 1989-1992 1993-1995 1996-1999 2000-2003 2004-2007 2008-2009 2010-2011

U.N. peacekeepers drive tank as they patrol past deserted Kibati village

For more information on the investigative and fact-finding powers of the Security Council, see this section on Article 34:

  • Article 34 – Investigation of disputes & fact-finding.
    Article 34 of the UN Charter empowers the Security Council to investigate any dispute, or any situation that is likely to endanger international peace and security. The provision covers investigations and fact-finding missions mandated by the Security Council or by the Secretary-General to which the Council expressed its support or of which it took note. Furthermore, this section has also looked at instances in which Member-States demanded or suggested to the Council that an investigation be carried out or a fact-finding mission be dispatched.

b. UN Commission for Conventional Armaments

The Commission for Conventional Armaments was established on 13 February 1947 to formulate proposals for carrying out General Assembly resolution 41 (I) of 14 December 1946 concerning the general regulation and reduction of armaments. This was a standing Commission, but it was formally dissolved on 30 January 1952.

Source: United Nations Online Archive – Retrieved Nov. 17, 2014 – http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/subsidiary_organs/commissions_and_investigations.shtml

Normally a Special Prosecutor assignment has a limited time expiration. Also a Commission of Inquiry refers to individuals employed, during conciliation (Footnote 2), to investigate the facts of a particular dispute and to submit a report stating the facts and proposing terms for the resolution of the differences. Such a commission is one of many bodies available to governments to inquire/investigate into various issues. The commissions may report findings, give advice and make recommendations; and while their findings may not be legally binding, they can be highly influential.

The declared assignment documents for Special Prosecutors and/or Commissions of Inquiries are called “Warrants”.

The foregoing encyclopedic source explains that “Warrants” may grant immense investigatory powers, including summoning witnesses under oath, offering of indemnities, seizing of documents and other evidence, holding hearings, and compelling aid from government officials. This description provides the role-model for the CU‘s effort in justice and security. The Trade Federation will feature a federal Justice Department, with a separation-of-powers, a ‘Divide’, with the regional member-states. On the CU side of the ‘Divide’ is the jurisdiction for economic crimes, systemic threats, regional escalations and marshaling of any offenses on the federally-regulated grounds, Self-Governing Entities.

This separation-of-powers mandate also dictates that the CU‘s Homeland Security apparatus is the local manifestation of the United Nations Security (Peacekeeping) Forces , except for a regional scope only. This specific federal department will handle a variety of tasks related to the maintenance of regional peace and security.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that the region must prepare its own security apparatus for its own security needs. So the vision is that all Caribbean member-states will authorize the CU as Special Prosecutors and Commissions of Inquiries. These warrants would legally authorize the regional “Justice Institutions”, covering law enforcement and regional defense, all encompassed in the book’s Homeland Security roadmap.

The CU would thusly be set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, and the aligning security dynamics. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

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

There is the need to ensure the economic engines in all 30 Caribbean member-states; plus extractions (mining, drilling) in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Caribbean Sea. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:

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

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.

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

The treaty to establish the “new guards”, the Homeland Security Force and Federal Justice Department within the Caribbean Union Trade Federation gets legal authorization from the provisions of Special Prosecutors and Commissions of Inquiries, therefore enacting a Status of Forces Agreement with the initiation of the confederation. This elaborate process would be “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap. The Go Lean book also details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide increased public accountability and security in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Security Principle – Privacy –vs- Public Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principle – Whistleblower Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principle – Witness Security & Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principle – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principle – Intelligence Gathering Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principle – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principle – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principle – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Trade Federation with Proxy Powers of a Confederacy Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Defense Pact to Defend against Systemic Threats Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Protect Stakeholders   with Vigorous Law-and-Order measures Page 45
Tactical – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice Department – District Attorneys as Special Prosecutors Page 77
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice Department – CariPol: Marshals & Investigations Page 77
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice Department – Witness Protection Page 77
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Trade Anti-Trust Regulatory Commission Page 77
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up Page 102
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives Page 103
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the EEZ – Security – Interdictions & Piracy Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Security and Justice Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid – Military Aid Page 115
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Safety Measures for the Rich and Poor Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Law Enforcement Oversight Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from the West Indies (WI)   Federation – Regiment on the Ready Page 135
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Law & Order Needed Enforcements Page 142
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 Improve Leadership Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact   Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220
Appendix – Art of War Chapters – Chapter 7 – Engaging The Security Force Page 327

Everyone in the Caribbean, the people and institutions, are hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap for elevation of Caribbean society. The roadmap calls for the heavy-lifting so that the justice institutions (permanent Special Prosecutors/Commissions of Inquiries) of the CU can execute their role in a just manner, thus impacting the Greater Good; see VIDEO below of South Africa’s example. This produces the output of a technocratic system bent on efficiency and effectiveness. In practice, this would mean accountability, transparency, and checks-and-balances in the execution of the rule-of-law.

This is the change for the Caribbean: elevated Public Safety, Law Enforcement and Homeland Security, all necessary to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

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

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Footnote:
1 – Iraq: A military solution to a political problem?

2 – Conciliation: The process of adjusting or settling disputes in a friendly manner through extra judicial means.

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Video: Marikana Commission of Inquiry has concluded its hearings – http://youtu.be/k0XAfRzjSXc


The Marikana Commission of Inquiry in South Africa has concluded its hearings after two years of attempting to establish what happened during the violent Wage Strike at Lonmin Platinum Mine in August 2012. 34 people were shot and killed in a confrontation with the police. 10 others including 2 police officers and 2 Mine Guards were also killed in the days preceding the August 16th tragedy.

 

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Local Miami Haitian leaders protest Bahamian immigration policy

Go Lean Commentary

“Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?” – The Coasters – Charlie Brown Song; (see Appendix A).

It would seem that Haitians all around the world can sing the chorus to this above song. The history of Haiti is frequented with hardships in their own country and they have understandingly pursued a better life abroad. However, the Haitian Diaspora have also experienced oppression, discrimination and exclusionary treatment abroad and have had to endure a “hard welcome” in most foreign countries.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for elevating Caribbean society, for all 30 member-states, including Haiti. As such there are direct references in the book regarding Haiti’s historicity; (Pages 238 & 306).

In addition to history, Haiti also has a different geography compared to most Caribbean nations. They share the same island with the Dominican Republic. The oppression, discrimination and exclusionary treatment of Haitians started on that island. Over the years, the governmental administrations of the Dominican Republic have favored “white” immigrant refugees over other races; Dominican troops often forcibly expelled illegal Haitians. Most notably, the 1937 Parsley Massacre of Haitian immigrants, a government-sponsored genocide in October 1937, at the direct order of then President Rafael Trujillo. He ordered the execution of the Haitian population living in the borderlands. The violence resulted in the killing of 20,000 ethnic Haitian civilians during approximately five days. (See Appendix B for additional historic references and inferences).

The US and other countries in the Caribbean neighborhood have also been harsh in their treatment of Haitian refugees. Consider this story of a conflict with the Bahamas, and the protests from the Haitian Diaspora in Miami:

1. News Article Title: Local Miami Haitian leaders protest Bahamian immigration policy
http://www.wsvn.com/story/27344225/local-haitian-leaders-protest-bahamian-immigration-policy – Posted: November 10, 2014

Miami Haitian Protesters 1

MIAMI (WSVN) — Local leaders are stepping up to stop a deportation dilemma regarding an immigration policy.

The policy forces families of Haitian descent out of the Bahamas.

Florida State Representative Daphne Campbell spoke out on the issue at a press conference in Little Haiti Monday morning. “I’m asking all, all cruises and all tourists, to make sure every industry boycotts the Bahamas to end discrimination against Haitian children,” Campbell stated. “Boycott Bahamas! Boycott Bahamas! Boycott Bahamas!”

Activists are now asking for the public’s support in helping to protect the future of Haitian families.
————

Video: WSVN Newscast – http://www.wsvn.com/story/27344225/local-haitian-leaders-protest-bahamian-immigration-policy?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=10832494

Though the leader of the accusing team has her detractors/problems, (South Florida state Rep. Daphne Campbell faces IRS investigation and she is already facing a Florida Medicaid fraud probe), the subject of her accusation may still have merit. What are the facts of the case regarding Haitian children in the Bahamas?

The Bahamas does not automatically grant citizenship to people born of foreign parentage in its homeland. There are special provisos even if one parent is a Bahamian citizen; many details of which are gender-biased. (There were attempts to correct these provisos in Parliament this past year, but this legislative reform was stalled).

This citizenship criteria is not standard … compared to the US, Canada, and most western European countries. Ironic as these countries are also the source of most tourists visiting the Bahamas, the #1 economic driver for the country. So any traction in this Boycott Bahamas campaign can potentially have a negative impact – remember “Boycott Apartheid in South Africa”.

What’s worse, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or UDHR (as related in Go Lean book Page 220) have specific prohibitions against national governments enforcing laws that effectuate discrimination against minority groups.

(The UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, partly in response to the atrocities of World War II, composed by a committee led by former American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Although the UDHR was a non-binding resolution, it is now considered by some to have acquired the force of international customary law which may be invoked in appropriate circumstances by national and other judiciaries. The UDHR urges member nations to promote a number of human, civil, economic and social rights, asserting these rights as part of the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”).

This means you Bahamas! Are you ready to receive the onslaught of darts from the international community? Economic sanctions, formal or informal, are debilitating!

This is not just a Haitian -versus- Bahamian issue. The same immigration-border-encroaching issues are trending with the US, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. This following news article relates this controversy:

2. Title: Haitian Illegal Immigration Through Puerto Rico Is Skyrocketing Too  – http://news.yahoo.com/haitian-illegal-immigration-puerto-rico-skyrocketing-too-021611125.html;_ylt=AwrBJR6DB9dTyzoAHyzQtDMD – Posted: July 26, 2014

Haitians to PRWhile U.S. immigration agencies grapple with a recent surge of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants at the Mexican border, the number of Haitians trying to enter the U.S. illegally through Puerto Rico has skyrocketed as well.

In 2011, only 12 Haitians made the trek through the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory in the Caribbean Sea. That number had ballooned to 1,760 as of last year, according to U.S. Coast Guard statistics, CBS News reports.

“That’s new, and that’s something we’re trying to target,” Capt. Mark Fedor, the Coast Guard’s chief of response for the Southeast and Caribbean, told CBS.

“Organized smugglers in the Dominican Republic are advertising their services to Haitians and saying, ‘We’ll smuggle you through the Dominican Republic, put you on a boat to Puerto Rico or to one of the islands in the Mona Pass – a much shorter journey and we can get you to the United States that way.’ And I think people are responding to that,” he said.

The Dominican smugglers often drop their Haitian charges off at Mona Island, an uninhabited Puerto Rican island 40 miles off of the Dominican coast in the Mona Pass.

“As soon as you’re in Puerto Rico, it’s like you’re in the United States,” Lolo Sterne, coordinator for Haiti’s Office of Migration, told the Associated Press last year.

Once in Puerto Rico, the illegal Haitian immigrants are able to fly to destinations in the U.S. without having to show a passport. All they need is a driver’s license, according to the Associated Press.

The new route through the Mona Pass is seen as more desirable as the U.S. Coast Guard has increased patrols of normal routes taken by immigrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As the AP points out, it has become more difficult to travel directly to the U.S. mainland or through Miami, which has historically served as the choice destination for illegal immigrants from the Caribbean.

Haiti and its 9+ million residents need change. In fact, all of the Caribbean’s 42 million people need change/empowerment.

The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is to turn-around the downward trends in the Caribbean today, to reverse course and elevate society in the Caribbean as a whole and Haiti in particular. The CU, applying best-practices for community empowerment has these 3 prime directives, pronounced as follows:

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

How exactly can the CU impact Haiti to reboot that failing state? The answer can be found in the history of post-war Europe, where the Marshall Plan was instrumental in rebooting that continent. The book Go Lean…Caribbean details a Marshall Plan-like roadmap for Haiti, and all other failing Caribbean institutions.

The related subjects of economic, security and governing dysfunction among European and Caribbean member-states have been a frequent topic for blogging by the Go Lean promoters, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2809 A Lesson in History: Economics of East Berlin
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480 A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2330 ‘Raul Castro reforms not enough’, Cuba’s bishops say
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531 A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago Today – World War I
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433 Caribbean loses over 70% of tertiary educated citizens to the brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014 All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=623 Only at the precipice, do they change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=599 Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451 CariCom Chairman to deliver address on slavery/colonization reparations

The goal of the Go Lean roadmap is simple: to make Haiti (and by extension the rest of the Caribbean) a better place to live, work and play so that citizens would not feel compelled to risk life-and-limb to flee for foreign shores. The goal extends further in the mission to reverse course and encourage the repatriation of the Haitian/Caribbean Diaspora. To accomplish these goals, the book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to empower all the factions of Haitian life in the Caribbean region and in the Diaspora:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision –  Integrate region into a Single Market Economy Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security Page 75
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas … for the Caribbean Region – Haiti & Cuba Page 127
Planning – Ways to Ways to Model the EU Page 130
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed – Germany Reconciliation Model Page 132
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Haiti – first on the region list Page 134
Planning – Lessons from East Germany – European post-war rebuilding Page 139
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration Page 174
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Haitians in Miami Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Help Women Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Dominican Republic Page 237
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti Page 238
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories Page 244
Appendix – Dominican Republic – Rafael Trujillo Regime Page 306

The conclusion of the Go Lean book relates the experiences and motivations of the US Supreme Court for the 1954 landmark decision Brown versus Board of Education. The unanimous wisdom of the 9 Justices on the Court should not be ignored, it was strewn from the experiences of modern society waging two world wars; they saw the rampage, devastation of 60 million deaths around the world and appreciated the wisdom that a downtrodden people would not stay down, that they would rise and revolt, that they would risk their lives and that of their children to pursue freedom.

How impactful is the Haitian Diaspora in the Bahamas? With a total national population of 320,000 and one estimate (July 2013) of 50,000 Haitian and/or Haitian-Bahamians, there is an imminent wave of dissent for the Bahamas to contend with. Don’t wait Bahamas, deal with your domestic issues now! Learn from the experiences of your neighbors, as depicted in the Go Lean book:

US: Lessons from the US Constitution (Page 145)
Canada: Reconciliation with First Nations (Page 146)
Guyana: Indo-Guyanese versus Afro-Guyanese (Page 174)
Trinidad: Indo-Trinidadians versus Afro-Trinidadians (Page 240)

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to learn the lessons from [economic] history of other successful (US & Canada) and unsuccessful societies. The Go Lean book posits that the Caribbean is in a serious crisis, but asserts that this crisis would be a terrible thing to waste. The people and governing institutions of the Bahamas, Haiti and the region as a whole are hereby urged to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is a big deal for the region, we can all strive to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work, and play.

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

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Appendix A – The song: Charlie Brown by The Coasters – http://youtu.be/_UnPzp2lmNk

———–

Appendix B – Homework for additional credit: better understand the history of Haiti and its consequential impact on the world.

Video Title: Black In Latin America (Episode 1): Haiti and The Dominican Republic- The Roots of Division

This scholarly work was produced and narrated by noted Professor Henry Louis Gates. This was part of a series developed for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) , a network of public TV stations in the US. The other features in the series, include:

Black In Latin America (Episode 2): Cuba: The Next Revolution
Black In Latin America (Episode 3): Brazil: A Racial Paradise?
Black In Latin America (Episode 4): Mexico & Peru: The Black Grandma in the Closet

 

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Jamaica’s Public Pension Under-funded

Go Lean Commentary

“Stealing from Peter to pay Paul” – Old Adage.

This above statement does not need to be explained; every reader fully understands and appreciates the meaning of this expression. It reflects a practice in financial management when revenue resources are out-paced by financial obligations. This is when reorganization becomes necessary. In fact, the publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean, SFE Foundation, is well suited to comment on these practices, as their charter is portfolio reorganizations for individuals, families and institutions.

On Page 8 of the book, the detailed profile of the foundation features influences from a noted American Economist Paul Romer by listing two of his famous quotations:

1. “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”
2. “Economic growth occurs whenever people take resources and re-arrange them in ways that are more valuable

The foregoing article relates a need in Jamaica to reorganize the pension program for retired civil servants. The system is broken! This subject of retirement is therefore important for retired people (old) and active workers (young), as every civil servant is either retired or want to be … someday:

Title: Public pension reform programme won’t work – Unfunded obligations at J$680B and growing
Sub-Title: Public-sector employees now enjoy very generous pension benefits that Government pays from current revenue.
By: A.C. Countz, Guest Columnist

s Public Pension Under-funded - Photo 2The Jamaican Government does not put aside the necessary funds to finance pension obligations as they are incurred, as would be done in a private-sector scheme. It has a planned ‘reform’ that will further increase the pension fund deficit. This is irresponsible.

If past pension benefits were funded, as in most private-sector firms, that is, in a special segregated fund with an adequate balance to pay for the pension obligations relating to past service, then the Government (taxpayers) would have to find, right now, about J$680 billion to put into this fund.

Additionally, Government would have to put in 5.0 percent of pensionable annual salary for the public service in years going forward.

Currently, there are many members of the public sector, those of pensionable age, who receive pensions totaling J$23 billion per annum, while employee contributions amount to J$4.4 billion per annum.

In other words, Government is paying out annually almost J$19 billion more in pensions than incoming employee contributions.

Government now plans to reform the pension plan by April Fool’s Day 2016.

CURRENT PROPOSALS
The reform hopes to achieve:

1. Unification of all the different legislations that deal with these pensions and, as far as possible, standardise pensions terms across the whole public sector;

2. A defined benefit scheme would continue, though moderated;

3. An increase in retirement age to 65, gradually for existing employees – apparently lower retirement age for soldiers, policemen and maybe national and local politicians;

4. Calculate pensions based on average last five year’s service (calculation now based on final salary);

5. Calculate pensions based on 1.8 percent of average last five year’s service for every year served. There would be transitional arrangements whereby persons over 54 years old at the start of reform would get a higher percentage of between 2.0 per cent and 2.2 percent.

6. Pensions would not be indexed although the Government might increase pensions if a ‘surplus’ in the scheme is produced – as there is no segregated fund, one cannot imagine how this surplus is to be calculated; and

7. A lump sum of 25 percent of pension benefits payable on retirement and ongoing pension reduced – presumably the reduction will be actuarially calculated.

The Government proposals in the White Paper are faulty and, if implemented, will not make the public-sector pension plan affordable in the future. It is a Band-Aid when strong reform is needed.

The finances of the country are in a disastrous, although possibly better managed, condition.

RIGHT WAY FOR REFORM
Here are some suggestions for pension reform that are more appropriate than those in the White Paper:

1. Terminate the existing defined benefit scheme. Honour past service with existing benefits;

2. Commence a defined contribution scheme at once for ALL public servants, including statutory bodies and executive agencies. All future service for existing employees and all new employees to go into the defined contribution scheme. All employees to start paying a basic contribution of 5.0 per cent of pensionable salaries – these should be defined to exclude non-salary benefits. Employees should be encouraged to make further voluntary contributions to become entitled to a larger pension on retirement. Government to seek a waiver from IMF to allow them to fund the employer’s contribution of 5.0 per cent per annum from now;

3. Defined Contribution (DC) scheme to be operated in a properly managed and transparent segregated fund;

4. Government should face the issue squarely and acknowledge that they have debts, not accounted for in the national debt, of say J$700 billion representing the present day value of unfunded obligations. This amount should be properly accounted for in the national debt and arrangements made to fund it;

5. It is irresponsible for Government to reform the public sector pension scheme in a way that is certain to continue to increase the size of its unfunded obligations. Proper reform will be difficult to deal with, especially coinciding with the end of the pay freeze, but to do otherwise is once again not to face reality.

The basis of any reform must be to halt the growth of the unfunded obligation of the scheme in respect of past service and to fund on a current basis future service obligations.

Jamaica is badly served if EPOC, civil society and private sector organisations – to say nothing about the IMF – allow this pusillanimous approach to be followed.

Government reform must at a minimum stop the growth in the unfunded obligations of the scheme and include a plan to fund what is due for past service over a committed period of time.

A defined contribution scheme should be introduced for all future service.

This will be impossible for government to do unless there is public pressure on them to counterbalance the civil service lobby.

This column reviews the audited and in-house accounts and reports of companies and entities owned or influenced by Government.
Jamaica Gleaner Newspaper Online Site (Posted 08/20/2014; retrieved 03/06/2014) –
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140820/business/business6.html

s Public Pension Under-funded - Photo 1

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The technocratic CU is proffered to provide economic, security and economic security solutions for the 30 Caribbean member-states, including Jamaica. This mandate is important for retirement planning for current and future generations. This is detailed early on in the book’s Declaration of Interdependence, as follows on 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 roadmap posits that retirement is a community issue, and that the mandate for the CU to manage economic security issues must encompass retirement planning as well. Applying lessons from the US and other western democracies, the key to technocratic retirement planning is the time-value-of-money; the ability to invest small amounts when young so that compounded returns can grow exponentially to benefit the saver when they are old; this is depicted in the VIDEO below. This is based on one assumption, that there is a capital/security market to facilitate the investment. This is where the Caribbean status quo is most lacking.

Without question, the role model for Caribbean capital/security markets would be New York City’s Wall Street. This ‘metonym’ refers to more than just the ‘street’, but rather the entire eco-system for financial investing in the US. While, the Caribbean region cannot rival Wall Street (for liquidity), we can reorganize and optimize the existing financial markets  – the current 9 Stock Exchanges – with the introduction of the Caribbean Dollar, managed by a technocratic Caribbean Central Bank.

Liquidity refers to the availability of money, therefore the Go Lean roadmap portrays the need for public messaging to encourage more savings/investments. This messaging pronounces the need for Caribbean stakeholders to “steal from Peter to pay Paul”, where “Paul” is their future selves; see VIDEO below. The book describes this “deferred gratification” as a community ethos that is required to forge permanent change; this is advantageous for the entire Caribbean, and individual member-states like Jamaica.

There are some realities for Jamaica that must not be ignored. This country has experienced numerous currency devaluations and hyper-inflation episodes that has undermined the good habit of savings. These realities were detailed in the Go Lean book (Pages 239 & 297), depicting the “misery index” that Jamaicans had to endure. No wonder the societal abandonment rate in Jamaica is among the highest in the region. A previous Go Lean blog/commentary listed an abandonment rate of 85% among the college educated population.

The Go Lean roadmap addresses pension reorganization by first rebooting the region’s currency, economic and governing engines.

Related subjects on currency, economic, and governing dysfunction in the region that may affect the management of pensions have been previously blogged by the Go Lean promoters, as sampled here:

Inflation Matters – A factor in ‘Pensions’
Canadian Retirees – Florida’s Snowbirds Chilly Welcome
US Federal Reserve releases transcripts from 2008 meetings regarding mitigations of the financial crisis
Dominica demonstrates Caribbean liquidity by raising EC$20 million on regional securities market
Time Value of Money – basis for retirement planning
Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’
What’s Holding Back Jamaica’s Reforms

The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is to turn-around the downward trends in the Caribbean today, to reverse course and elevate Caribbean society. The Go Lean roadmap, applying lessons from the currency, economic and governing dysfunction of past years, has envisioned the CU with the following prime directives:

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

The Go Lean book details a series of assessments, community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize financial/retirement planning and performance:

Assessment – Caribbean Single Market & Economy – need for integration Page 15
Assessment – The Greece of the Caribbean – dysfunctional debt policies Page 18
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier – Control of Local/Regional Currency Page 22
Community Ethos – Return on Investments Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt Page 114
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate Page 118
Planning – Lessons from 2008 Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Control Inflation Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange Page 154
Advocacy – Ways to Manage Federal Civil Service – Pension -vs- 401K Page 173
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Retirement Page 231
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Jamaica Page 239
Appendix – Jamaica’s International Perception Page 297
Appendix – Lessons Learned – Floating a Currency Page 316
Appendix – Controlling Inflation – Technical Details Page 318

In most Caribbean countries, the largest employer is the government. Therefore public-sector employees are the largest group of workers. The foregoing news article was written as an audit-analysis to an audience of two, the Responsible Government Ministers for the Jamaican public-sector employees’ pension. The article specifically identified them as:

Dr. Peter Phillips – Ministry of Finance and Planning
Derrick Kellier – Ministry of Labour and Social Security

The Go Lean roadmap, on the other hand, was written for a different audience, all Caribbean stakeholders: citizens, Diaspora, government officials, civil servants, retirees and the youth. This is an empowerment plan for most aspects of Caribbean life, in fact there are 144 different advocacies in the Go Lean book. This is heavy-lifting; an investment in the people of the Caribbean for the elevation of the Caribbean.

The requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal to elevate society may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state alone. Rather, shifting the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy will result in “greater” production and greater accountability. Retirement planning and pensions are not optional, they need “greater” production and “greater” accountability; they need a “greater” return on investment – see VIDEO below on the slow-but-steady basics of “compound” investing.

Retirement planning for the Caribbean needs to “Go Lean“.

All Caribbean stakeholders are hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work, and play.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———

Video: Retirement Basics: The Power of Compounding – http://youtu.be/immQX0RKFY0

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A Lesson in History – Economics of East Berlin

Go Lean Commentary

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for elevating Caribbean society; the book posits that the history of East Germany is a tutorial to the Caribbean effort. As such there are direct references in the book of the failed Communist State (Pages 132 & 139).

On this date 25 years ago, the “walls came tumbling down”, quickening the reunification of the nations of West Germany and East Germany. That is the headline, but beneath the surface, the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) was also rife with some other ugly truths.

In summary, the City of “East” Berlin was a maximum security prison in the heart of Europe. (This refers to City of East Berlin, not the whole country of East Germany).

Title: 25 Years Ago – The Berlin Wall Crumbled

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Economics of East Berlin - Photo 1On the night of November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. East German authorities opened the border between East and West Berlin and the door to the fall of tyranny.

The wall went up in the early morning darkness of August 13, 1961, to keep millions of people from fleeing communist East Germany after World War II. It fell as suddenly as it had been built. For 28 years, Germany was a country divided not only by ideology but by stone, barbed wire and deadly force. The Berlin Wall — die Mauer — stood as a testament to the eternal struggle between open and closed societies. For all its might, the wall could not stop the free flow of news into East Berlin.

The West side of the wall became a stage for politicians and a canvas for artists. The East side grew grimmer, as social and economic problems worsened. In the end, people rose in protest. When the wall finally crumbled, there was dancing and celebration. But the wall’s toll could not be forgotten: Nearly 200 people died trying to escape; more than 30,000 political prisoners were jailed.

Today, the fallen wall is a memorial to their sacrifice, one of the world’s great symbols of the victory of freedom over oppression. The eight, 12-foot-high segments of the Berlin Wall in the Newseum’s Berlin Wall Gallery weigh 2.5 tons each and came from throughout Berlin. The Newseum acquired the pieces in 1993, along with the three-story East German guard tower that stood near Checkpoint Charlie.

Newseum Institute – Archives and Exhibit of News Artifacts
http://www.newseum.org/2014/11/06/25-years-ago-the-berlin-wall-crumbled/

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Economics of East Berlin - Photo 2This is more than just dry history. No, this is a lesson plan for the Caribbean empowerment effort. That effort is part-and-parcel of the Go Lean…Caribbean movement, this refers to the book and accompanying blog/commentaries. The book posits that the experiences of East Germany and the reunification with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) provide a fitting example for the Caribbean people and institutions. What most people in the Caribbean may not realize, due to the far distance of a continent away, is that the national border for West and East Germany did not traverse through the City of Berlin, but rather 100 miles to the west of Berlin; (see map here). So the City of Berlin stood as an “island” within the country of East Germany, with that island itself split into West and East territories. (This is so similar to many Caribbean locales). The Western portion of Berlin belonged to West Germany; the residents had travel access via “air bridge” to other ports in the Federal Republic of Germany, while East Berliners were restricted – imprisoned in their own country, despite committing no offenses. This is classic human rights violation.

East Berlin, and by extension East Germany was a definitive Failed-State.

This audio-podcast here relates a practice of East Germany selling prisoners to the West for hard currency, so as to remediate the government’s economic deficiencies:

Video: Public Radio International East Germany Prisoner Ransom … http://youtu.be/FjozYlAlMew

The narratives described in this audio-podcast constitutes state-sponsored human trafficking.

This is abominable!

The German Reunification was not a merger, rather it was a repossession. East Germany was at the precipice of a Failed-State. The Caribbean today is at a similar precipice of dysfunction. This status is not due to the failure of communism (though one Caribbean member-state – Cuba – does feature a failed communist society), but rather the global financial crisis. Cuba also parallels East Germany with a human trafficking crisis; many citizens are desperate to leave the island and families pay huge “ransoms” to extract them.

The review of the historic events of this day regarding the Berlin Wall 25 years ago is more than just an academic discussion, the book Go Lean…Caribbean aspires to economic principles that dictate that “consequences of choices lie in the future”. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The people of the Caribbean may not know the intimate details of East Germany, but we do understand societal decline and dysfunction all too well.

What have we learned from the East/West Germany experiences? How will those lessons help us today?

  • Brain Drain is unrecoverable – East Germany learned quickly that they had to keep their talented citizens by any means necessary, and thus the wall. The CU/Go Lean roadmap places priority on the atmosphere for the Caribbean talent to want to stay in the homeland and for the Diaspora to repatriate..
  • Most valuable resource – East German sold their human resources to the West; (over 300,000 people according to the above audio-podcast/VIDEO). This was their best marketable resource. The Go Lean roadmap posits that one person can make a difference and impact the economic engines in the fields of endeavor. Rather than one, the CU/Go Lean effort strives to foster the masses for their collective and individual contributions.
  • Promote opportunities for the Pursuit of Happiness – People in the West were NOT trying to sneak into the East. Basic needs were not fully satisfied there, so higher level needs were rarely pursued. The Go Lean roadmap posits that when the basic needs are in place, only then can the pursuit of happiness be tackled.
  • Consider the Greater Good – Complying with this Greater Good principle would have prevented a lot of the conflict during the 28-year East-West segregation. This philosophy is directly quoted in the book as: “it is the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”. The CU/Go Lean roadmap calls for a number of measures that strike directly at the Greater Good mandate: accountable justice institutions, economic empowerment for rich and poor, strategic education initiatives, proactive health/wellness, etc.
  • Quit on “failed” policies  – With the Soviet Union and Eastern European trading partners collapsing, the East German currency, the Mark, had become worthless outside of the GDR, creating the acute need to merge the two German economies. The GDR did not try to prop up the failing currency beyond 1989, instead they transferred its financial & monetary policy to the stewards of the stronger West Germany currency. The Go Lean roadmap will employ a technocratic Caribbean Central Bank and Caribbean Dollar so as to shore up the currency and economic engines in the region.
  • Negotiating as partners not competitors – Considering the German reunification models, consolidating millions of people with divergent politics and cultures into one Federation requires toleration and adjustments by all stakeholders. Success is possible only when all sides are willing to negotiate as partners not competitors. The CU requires negotiations and treaty considerations for economics, security and governing solutions. So the Go Lean roadmap adopts negotiations as a community ethos.
  • Reconciliation of issues is not optional, more conflict will emerge otherwise – There was loss of life and many human rights abuses in the history of the East-West schism, and there must be accountability. The CU plans for Truth & Reconciliation Commissions for dealing with a lot of latent issues in the last Caribbean century (i.e. Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc).

The related subjects of economic, security and governing dysfunction have been a frequent topic for blogging by the Go Lean promoters, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2585 A Lesson in History: Concorde SST
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480 A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2359 CariCom calls for innovative ideas to finance SIDS development
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2330 ‘Raul Castro reforms not enough’, Cuba’s bishops say
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297 A Lesson in History: Booker T versus Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531 A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago Today – World War I
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433 Caribbean loses over 70% of tertiary educated citizens to the brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1309 5 Steps of a Bubble – Learning from the past and mitigating negatives
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014 All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=816 The Future of Caribbean Integration and CariCom
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=782 Open the Time Capsule: The Great Recession of 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=623 Only at the precipice, do they change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=599 Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451 CariCom Chairman to deliver address on slavery/colonization reparations
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=353 Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’

The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is to turn-around the downward trends in the Caribbean today, to reverse course and elevate Caribbean society. This CU/Go Lean roadmap, applying lessons from the last 25 years of German history, has developed these prime directives, pronounced as follows:

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

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

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier – Control of Local/Regional Currency Page 22
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision –  Integrate Region into a Single Market Economy Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security Page 75
Implementation – Assemble Existing Super-national Institutions Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Planning – Ways to Ways to Model the EU Page 130
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed – Germany Reunification Model Page 132
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices Page 134
Planning – Lessons from East Germany Page 139
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering and Analysis Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220

1989 was pivotal in the history of modern Germany. Today the unified country is the Number One Economy in Europe and a role model for the Caribbean.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to learn the lessons from East Germany’s failed economy. The book Go Lean … Caribbean posits that the Caribbean is in a serious crisis, but asserts that this crisis would be a terrible thing to waste. The people and governing institutions of the region are hereby urged to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is a big deal for the region, the same way 1989 was a big year for Germany. While “impacting Germany” is out-of-scope for this CU roadmap, applying effective turn-around strategies (as in emerging from communism in Cuba) and elevating the Caribbean neighborhood is realistic and plausible. We can make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work, and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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DR President Medina on the economy: ‘God will provide’

Go Lean Commentary

The Caribbean is in crisis!

For many, “success is measured by the successful exodus from their Caribbean homeland”. So declares the foreword of the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 3).

The Dominican Republic is in crisis! According to the foregoing news article, the island nation have lots of issues, stemming primarily from economic dysfunctions, and the solution, according to the President of the Republic is only “Faith, Hope and Prayer”:

President Medina PhotoSanto Domingo – President Danilo Medina says that the Dominican state has a very high level of debt, because it is dragging a vital execution deficit with the income it receives and has to spend, which has prevented the economy from recovery over the past few years.

“When a country does not receive enough resources to fund its spending, the only way of financing it is to use state money. In all these years the country’s average fiscal deficit since 2000 to date has been 4.5% of the annual Gross Domestic Product,” said Medina

He said that the state will have to pay US$11 billion in debt between 2013 and 2015, and for the deficit to be reduced an effort must be made to reduce its essence, in order to take it to 2.8% of GDP.

The President warned that this reduction is behind the importance of building coal-fired plants to supply the country with energy, and that he does not understand why “there is a conspiracy against these plants that should be defended by the whole country, if we want sustainability in public finances.” He said that these plants, which will come into operation in 2017, would mean the state would save 1.7% of the GDP, by paying the Dominican Corporation of State Electricity Companies (CDEEE) debt, thus putting the national economy on a good path within a few years.

When he was asked where he would obtain the resources for governing over the next years, Medina answered, “God will provide.” He said that the budgetary spending restructuring meant the government was investing where people needed it and that this was being reflected in economic development.
Dominican Today – Online Community – Posted 08-20-2014; Retrieved 11-08-2014:
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2014/8/20/52502/President-Medina-on-the-economy-God-will-provide

The publishers of the Go Lean book recognize and respect religious faith and devotion. In fact, the book examines the Bible’s record on economic empowerment, listing 10 Lessons from the Bible (Page 144). For the consideration of this commentary and the President’s “easy” secession in the foregoing article, a fitting lesson is derived from the Bible Book of James Chapter 2:14 – 26; (see Appendix*):

James 2:26 – “Faith without works is dead”.

The required “works” is described in the Go Lean book as heavy-lifting.

The publishers of the Go Lean book humbly submit a plan for heavy-lifting, one so comprehensive that it is considered a roadmap, turn-by-turn directions to move the Dominican Republic from Point A (status quo), to Point B (destination of societal elevation). This roadmap is set to re-boot the island’s economy, security and governing engines, highlighting 144 different advocacies designed to impact society. The book asserts that the problems of the Dominican Republic (and by extension, the entire Caribbean) are too big for any one member-state to solve alone. Rather, the focus of the roadmap is the region-wide professionally-managed, deputized technocracy of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU).

The Dominican Republic needs the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies of the CU.

The CU needs the Dominican Republic!

The CU requires the full participation of all 30 member-states in the region, including all 4 language groups (Dutch, English, French and Spanish). With this approach, the CU benefits from the economies-of-scale of 42 million people.

The CU expects NO MONEY from the Dominican Republic. This is good as the country’s treasuries are strained, maintaining the national debt of US$11 billion, plus a budget deficit reflecting 4.5% of GDP. To cure a deficit a government needs combinations of two things: more revenues and/or fewer expenses.

The Go Lean roadmap features both. The roadmap is a complete re-boot: new revenue streams and a separation-of-powers, thereby delegating some governance to CU agencies.

The Go Lean … Caribbean book introduces the CU to take oversight of’ much of the Caribbean economic, security and governing functionality. In summary, this plan’s execution makes the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play.

This Go Lean roadmap assesses the Dominican Republic human flight/brain drain crisis, where large percentages of the island’s populations have fled to American shores, with estimates of up to 1.3 million in the Diaspora as of 2006 (Page 237 & 306). This plight makes the task of building a functioning society difficult, as often the brightest and best talents are the ones that flee; plus entitlement programs simply need populace retention.

The CU will fix the Dominican Republic! Look here at the solutions; (sorted by Economic/Security/Governance). The book Go Lean … Caribbean details these specific curative measures (advocacies, strategies, tactics, and implementations):

Economic:

Community Ethos – Money Multiplier Page 22
Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Impact Turn-Around Strategies/Tactics Page 33
Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy Page 67
New Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Improve Energy Usage Page 113
Better Manage Debt Page 114
Foster International Aid Page 115
Improve Trade Page 128
Improve Interstate Commerce Page 129
New Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Create Jobs Page 152
Control Inflation Page 153
Improve Credit Ratings Page 155
Improve Education Page 159
Mitigate Black Markets Page 165
Enhance Tourism Page 190
Impact Wall Street Page 200

Security:

Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Page 75
Security Initiatives [stemming from the Start-up] Page 103
Impact Justice Page 177
Mitigate & Reduce Crime Page 178
Improve Intelligence [Gathering & Analysis] Page 182
Impact the Prison-Industrial Complex Page 211

Governance:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Improve Negotiations Page 32
Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Tactics to Foster a Technocracy Page 64
Implement Self-Governing Entities Page 105
Strong Reasons to Repatriate Page 118
Promote Independence Page 120
Improve Healthcare Page 156
Impact Entitlements Page 158
New [Governmental] Revenue Sources Page 172
Impact Public Works Page 175
Better Manage Natural Resources Page 183
Improve for Natural Disasters Page 184
Improve Emergency Management Page 196

The people of the Dominican Republic are calling for change, for help, for some mitigations. They need prayer, yes, but they need workable solutions too. See the VIDEO below, produced by young students in line with a “poverty” theme; this assessment is “from the mouth of babes” – Bible Quote (Matthew 21:16).

With the Go Lean roadmap, change has come to the Caribbean. The people and institutions of the Dominican Republic are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap.

In fact, now is the time for the whole Caribbean region to lean-in for this change, described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are too alluring to ignore: emergence of an $800 Billion regional economy, 2.2 million new jobs and an end to the economic dysfunction. This will result in Dominicans repatriating from the US, not fleeing to the US. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix – Bible Reading – James Chapter 2:14 – 26 (New International Version)

*Faith and Deeds

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

————-

Appendix – Video: Why the Dominican Republic is poor?  http://youtu.be/pCVR-kdc0ss

Published on May 15, 2013 By YouTube Contributor: “camilalovescupcakes” (Sharen Sosa)
The prologue included this verbiage: “In my school, as final exam in English classes, told us to do a video of ‘Why the Dominican Republic is poor?’ We had to make groups and make a video, talking about it, and also focus on the cause, which was the “Corruption”, we made a documentary and here is the whole video, hope you love it”.

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Suit Over Red Light Traffic Cameras Could Impact Millions

Go Lean Commentary

Change is coming to the Caribbean … and economic prosperity will undoubtedly follow:

“Happy Days Are Here Again” – familiar feel-good song during American political conventions.

CU Blog - Suit Over Red Light Traffic Cameras Could Impact Millions - Photo 1The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that “bad actors” will always emerge in times of economic prosperity to exploit opportunities, with bad or evil intent. The book therefore serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) as a regional entity projected to forge security and public safety solutions for the entire Caribbean region.

The heavy-lifting activities to ensure security by this CU technocracy include deploying a wide network of closed-circuit and traffic cameras. This could be beneficial and advantageous, but it appears that there are some perils too. Considering the lessons learned from the US in this following VIDEO, there is the need to protect citizens and their “Due Process” rights:

VIDEO – NBC News TODAY Show – November 5, 2014 – A new lawsuit is challenging the popular cameras at intersections, and could lead to millions of busted drivers across the U.S. getting their money back. NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports.

http://www.today.com/video/today/56366199

The book Go Lean … Caribbean underpins the movement for traffic cameras throughout the Caribbean region, copying the model of the 3rd party company in the foregoing VIDEO, Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions, Inc. (see Appendix below). But rather than a profit motive, the CU‘s motive is the optimization of Caribbean society. Just imagine, receiving a traffic ticket “in the mail” for running a traffic light in some Caribbean member-state.

“In the mail” – This phrase in itself reflects the reform needed for the Caribbean governmental eco-system.

The CU would be set to optimize all aspects of Caribbean society through economic empowerment, and the aligning security dynamics. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines, including road traffic stakeholders like motorists and pedestrians.
  • Improve Caribbean governance, with a separation-of-powers between member-state administrations and the CU federal government (Executive facilitations, Legislative oversight and Judicial prudence) to support these economic/security engines.

Closed-circuit and traffic cameras are designed to impact society in the same above 3 areas: they can generate revenues/jobs, provide public safety / homeland security protections and streamline governmental processes. At the outset of the book (Page 12), these public safeguards are identified as prime directives in the Declaration of Interdependence:

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.

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

CU Blog - Suit Over Red Light Traffic Cameras Could Impact Millions - Photo 2Unified command-and-control is identified as a major function of the CU security / law enforcement apparatus. This includes all intelligence gathering and analysis activities for overt and covert purposes. The effectiveness of these tactics (advanced monitoring, satellite surveillance, electronic eavesdropping, closed-circuit, and traffic cameras) has been proven for crime remediation and investigations. In addition to crime, the Go Lean roadmap targets delivery of government services, identifying best practices in agile methodologies to guarantee fewer defects and more efficiency; (Pages 109 & 147). In fact, the name Go Lean refers to the commitment to lean project management methodologies in the structure of the CU (Page 4).

All of this technocratic efficiency should at least allow for direct home mail delivery. Also at the outset of the book (Page 12), the need to reboot postal operations is detailed in the Declaration of Interdependence:

xv.  Whereas the business of the Federation and the commercial interest in the region cannot prosper without an efficient facilitation of postal services, the Caribbean Union must allow for the integration of the existing mail operations of the governments of the member-states into a consolidated Caribbean Postal Union, allowing for the adoption of best practices and technical advances to deliver foreign/domestic mail in the region.

The installation of the unified command-and-control security structure would be “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap. Secondarily, the roadmap must enhance the postal operations in the region to ensure that government mail can be efficiently delivered to citizens, car drivers and registered car owners – the roadmap proposes a Caribbean Postal Union (CPU). The Go Lean book therefore details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide increased public safety, mail operations and government services in the Caribbean region:

Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens Page 23
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Tactical – Confederating a Non-sovereign Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – CariPol: Marshals and Investigations Page 77
Implementation – Assemble Regional Mail Operations into a CPU Page 96
Anecdote – Implementation Plan – US Failing Mail Services Page 99
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Improve Mail Service Page 108
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact   Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Gun Control Page 179
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering/Analysis Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events – Mitigating Security Threats Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Prison Industrial Complex – Tracking Felons Page 211
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220
Appendix – Prison Industrial Complex – Nauru DetentionCenter Page 327

Other subjects related to public safety empowerments for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554 Security Pact from the Status of Forces Agreement
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1487 Here come the Surveillance Drones … and the Concerns
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=960 NSA records all phone calls in Bahamas, according to Snowden
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=392 Jamaica to receive World Bank funds to help in crime fight

Bad actors will always emerge…

Accepting this premise means preparing the necessary counter-measures. The model of the company American Traffic Solutions gives the Caribbean a template of “how, what, when and why” for traffic cameras. Individual “Due Process” rights do not have to be trampled on in the course of this roadmap. The policing authorities in the region can simply deputize CU resources for law-and-order enforcements in member-states. This deputization strategy/process of member-states authority being vested to CU agencies is front-and-center in the Go Lean roadmap.

Public safety is necessary to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play. Caribbean people need these assurances.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————–

Appendix – American Traffic Solutions, Inc. (ATS) – http://www.atsol.com/

ATS is the leading provider of traffic safety, mobility and compliance solutions for state & local governments, commercial fleets and rental car companies. With nearly 300 customers and more than 3,500 Road Safety Camera Systems installed and operating throughout the United States  and Canada (yellow in the below map), ATS is the market leader for Red-Light, Speed and School Bus Stop-Arm Safety Cameras.

CU Blog - Suit Over Red Light Traffic Cameras Could Impact Millions - Photo 3

ATS is also the industry leader in toll and violation management for fleets and rental companies.  PlatePass® coverage blankets all major toll regions in North America, complying with in-vehicle transponder and license-plate (video) toll recognition systems throughout the United States and Canada.

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Disney World – Role Model for Self-Governing Entities

Go Lean Commentary

The Caribbean enjoys 80 million annual visitors, among its 30 member-states and vast cruise line industry. Impressive!

But one destination in Florida, Walt Disney World, hosted 47.5 million visitors (2009) … alone.[b]

There are lessons for the Caribbean to learn from this experience.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to glean insight from the Walt Disney World history and experience. This is a huge subject in itself and is an appropriate topic for academic research, dissertations and business improvement books. But for this blog/commentary, there is a narrow focus, the special consideration of the “Self Governing Entity” that emerged from the Reedy Creek Improvement District that facilitated the construction and administration of the landmass that became the Walt Disney World Resort. The following encyclopedic details apply to this study:

CU Blog - Disney World - Role Model for a Self Governing Entity - Photo 1The Walt Disney World Resort, informally known as Walt Disney World or simply Disney World, is an entertainment complex in Bay Lake, Florida (mailing address is Lake Buena Vista, Florida), near Orlando, Florida and is the flagship of Disney’s worldwide theme park empire. The resort opened on October 7, 1971 and, according to Forbes Magazine, is the most visited vacation resort in the world, with an attendance of 52.5 million annually. It is owned and operated by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property covers 27,258 acres (11,031 ha; 43 sq mi), in which it houses 27 themed resort hotels, four theme parks, two water parks, four golf courses, one camping resort, one residential area and additional recreational and entertainment venues. MagicKingdom was the first and original theme park to open in the complex followed by EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom which opened later throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

CU Blog - Disney World - Role Model for a Self Governing Entity - Photo 2Designed to supplement Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which had opened in 1955, the complex was developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s, though he died in 1966 before construction on “The Florida Project” began. After extensive lobbying, the Government of Florida created the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special government district that essentially gave The Walt Disney Company the standard powers and autonomy of an incorporated city. Original plans called for the inclusion of an “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” (EPCOT), a planned city that would serve as a test bed for new innovations for city living.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) is the immediate governing jurisdiction for the land of the Walt Disney World Resort. As of the late 1990s, it comprised an area of 38.6 sq mi (100 km2) within the outer limits of Orange and Osceola counties in Florida. The RCID includes the cities of BayLake and LakeBuena Vista, and unincorporated RCID land.CU Blog - Disney World - Role Model for a Self Governing Entity - Photo 3

After the success of Disneyland in California, Walt Disney began planning a second park on the East Coast. He disliked the businesses that had sprung up around Disneyland, and therefore wanted control of a much larger area of land for the new project. Walt Disney knew that his plans for the land would be easier to carry out with more independence. Among his ideas for his Florida project was his proposed EPCOT which was to be a futuristic planned city. He envisioned a real working city with both commercial and residential areas, but one that also continued to showcase and test new ideas and concepts for urban living.

Therefore, the Disney Company petitioned the Florida State Legislature for the creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which would have almost total autonomy within its borders.
Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia  (Retrieved November 2, 2014) –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World

50 Year Historic Timeline:

1965

Walt Disney announces Florida Project

1966

Walt Disney dies of lung cancer at age 65

1967

Construction of Walt Disney World Resort begins

1971

MagicKingdom
Palm and Magnolia Golf Courses
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Polynesian Resort
Disney’s Fort    Wilderness Resort &   Campground
Roy O. Disney dies at age 78

1972

Disney’s Village Resort

1973

The Golf Resort

1974

DiscoveryIsland

1975

Walt Disney Village Marketplace

1976

Disney’s River Country

1980

Walt Disney World  ConferenceCenter

1982

Epcot

1986

The Disney Inn

1988

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney’s Caribbean  Beach Resort

1989

Disney-MGM Studios
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon
PleasureIsland

1990

Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort
Walt Disney World Swan
Walt Disney World Dolphin

1991

Disney’s Port Orleans Resort French Quarter
Disney Vacation Club
Disney’s Old Key West Resort

1992

Disney’s Port Orleans Resort Riverside (Dixie Landings)
Bonnet Creek Golf Club

1994

Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Shades of Green

1995

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
Disney’s Blizzard Beach
Disney’s Fairy Tale Wedding Pavilion
Walt Disney World Speedway

1996

Disney Institute
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn and BoardWalk Villas

1997

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex
Downtown Disney West Side

1998

Disney’s Animal Kingdom
DisneyQuest

1999

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort

2000

The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

2001

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

2002

Disney’s Beach Club Villas

2003

Disney’s Pop Century Resort

2004

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

2007

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas

2008

Disney-MGM Studios is renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios

2009

Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Treehouse Villas

2011

Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort

2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
Phase 1 of New Fantasyland

2013

The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

2014

Phase 2 of New Fantasyland

Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia (Retrieved November 2, 2014) –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World

The economic impact of Walt Disney World as a Self-Governing Entity (SGE) is undeniable. The resort is responsible for $18.2 billion in annual economic activity in Florida, said a study released by the theme park giant. The study found that Disney paid out nearly $1.8 billion in compensation to more than 59,000 workers in 2009.[a]

The Go Lean roadmap seek to emulate some of the strategies, tactics and implementation successes of the Walt Disney World as a SGE. This roadmap seeks to elevate the 30 Caribbean member-states with economic engines (direct and indirect spin-off activities), by assuming jurisdiction for Self-Governing Entities in the region and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the 1,063,000 square miles of the Caribbean Sea. This approach allows for initiation, cooperation and coordination of SGE’s (and the EEZ) to effectuate change in the region, allowing these 3 prime directives:

  • 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, specifically in SGE’s and the EEZ.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Imagine many Disney World-style industrial developments, (not necessarily as touristic resorts), throughout the Caribbean region.

Wow! This is a game-changer.

The individual Walter Elias Disney (1901 – 1966) proved to be a game-changer. The Go Lean book posits that one person can make a difference and positively impact society; so the book advocates for a community ethos of investment in the “gifts” that individuals “bring to the table”. The book identifies the quality of geniuses and relates worthwhile returns from their investments. This mode of study allows us to consider this example of contributions from Walt Disney and his corporate/artistic creations:

 Video: The History of Walt Disney World – http://youtu.be/_6Kesbfg-Ok

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that SGE’s and the EEZ can be strategic, tactical and operationally efficient for elevating Caribbean society. These points are pronounced early in the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 and 14), with these statements:

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.

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

The subject of SGE’s has been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2338 Using SGE’s to Welcome the Dreaded ‘Plutocracy’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2003 Where the Jobs Are – Ship-breaking under SGE Structure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214 Fairgrounds as SGE and Landlords for Sports Leagues
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=286 Puerto Rico’s Comprehensive Cancer Center Project Breaks Ground – Model of Medical SGE

The Go Lean book itself details the economic principles and community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to forge Self-Governing Entities and industrial growth in the Caribbean:

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 – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth 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 – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations Page 32
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederating 30 Member-states in a Union Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build   and Foster Local Economic Engines Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy – New High Multiplier Industries Page 68
Separation of Powers – Department of State – Self-Governing Entities Page 80
Separation of Powers – Interior Department – Exclusive Economic Zone Page 82
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change – SGE Licenses Page 101
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities Page 103
Anecdote – French Guiana Space Agency – Example of a SGE Page 103
Implementation   – Benefits from the Exclusive Economic Zone Page 104
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Self-Governing Entities Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce Page 129
Planning – Lessons from New York City Page 137
Planning – Lessons from Omaha Page 138
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources – EEZ and SGE’s Page 183
Anecdote – Caribbean Industrialist & Entrepreneur Role Model Page 189
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Develop Ship-Building as SGE’s Page 209
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Prison Industrial Complex as SGE’s Page 211
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One Percent – Job Creators Inducements Page 224
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Self-Governing Entities Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living – Self-Governing Entities Page 235
Advocacy – Ways to Promote World-Heritage-Sites as SGE’s Page 248
Appendix – Airport Cities – Models for Self Governing Entities Page 287

There is a role for the contributions of one impactful person, or one impactful company, in this vision for the elevation and empowerment of the Caribbean homeland. The Go Lean … Caribbean roadmap invites these contributions. However, the roadmap also mitigates the threats of corporate abuse of a plutocracy. With the right applications from people, tools and techniques many SGE initiatives can have a positive impact in changing society, with minimal risks and threats of negative consequences. Walt Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District have demonstrated how successful SGE’s can be.

Thank you Walt Disney. Thanks for showing us the way, for providing a role model that we can emulate for our own success.

Change has come to the Caribbean. Everyone is hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——————

Appendix – Source References:

a. Retrieved November 3, 2014 from: http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2011/04/14/disneys-annual-economic-impact-182b.html

b. 2009 Attendance Walt Disney World’s 1. Magic Kingdom: 17.2 million 2. Epcot: 11.0 million 3. Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.7 million 4. Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 9.6 million. Retrieved November 3, 2014 from: http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201004/1895/

 

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