Foreign Policy – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Foreign Policy

Mineral Extraction 101 – Commerce of the Seas – Encore

Posted on January 25, 2021 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Implementation, Industries

Mineral Extraction and mining is not only a consideration for the Caribbean homeland. It is also a concern for the seas and waterways in the region. Both land and sea is in scope for technocratic stewardship.

The land-side has experienced some abuse; it had previously been scarred-and-scotched. But, what about the seas?

Yes, there has been dredging and Mineral Extraction – think Sand.

But there is a greater demand for our Beach sand – which can be retrieved from the seabed. Many times, we have not supplied all the demand.

This is wise, as we first need to protect our own environment while contemplating the Commerce of the Seas.

All in all, there are a lot of heavy issues involved in this discussion. This is part and parcel of the current series on Mineral Extraction. This is the continuation of the January 2021 Teaching Series from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean … Caribbean book. This is submission 4-of-6. Every month, we message about serious issues germane to Caribbean life and culture. This month our focus is on reforming and transforming the Caribbean economic engines around Mineral Extractions.

This is the full catalog of the series of commentaries this month:

Mineral Extraction 101 – Raw Materials ==> Finished Goods
Mineral Extraction 101 – Lesson from History: Jamaica’s Bauxite
Mineral Extraction 101 – Industrial Reboot – Modern factories – Small footprints
Mineral Extraction 101 – Commerce of the Seas – Encore
Mineral Extraction 101 – Restoration after Extraction – Cool Sites
Mineral Extraction 101 – Sovereign Wealth Fund – Not the Panacea

Let’s dig deep in the sea-side implications of Mineral Extractions.

We had previously discussed the Commerce of the Seas and the impact of Mineral Extractions and oil exploration. It is only apropos to Encore that June 14, 2017 commentary again here-now:

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Go Lean Commentary – Commerce of the Seas – Extraction Realities

According to the book Go Lean…Caribbean, ‘Luck is the destination where opportunity meets preparation’ – Page 252.

Well, opportunity is awaiting the Caribbean … for mineral extraction and oil exploration.

The book also alerts the Caribbean region that Climate Change is raging forward, with a lot of repercussions in its wake. Global warming is resulting in higher sea levels, due to the melting of the polar ice craps/icebergs. A repercussion is:

Beach erosion.

Beaches are gravely important for the American East Coast. (They are important to Caribbean communities as well). So many communities depend on beach vacation and traffic during the spring/summer months (think Spring Break and the commercial summer season of Memorial Day to Labor Day). So when oil spills or predictable storms endanger beach sand, it becomes an urgent imperative for communities to assuage the crisis, even replace the sand; consider these recent News Articles/Summaries here:

Title: Beach Erosion on the US East Coast

1.  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/sfl-us-has-ok-to-study-bringing-bahamas-sand-to-florida-beaches-20170102-story.html

January 2, 2017: A possible solution for replacing sand on South Florida beaches is buying it from the Bahamas. The US federal government has now loosened rules to make this possible.

2.  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-beach-erosion/

The Art-and-Science of beach management is now being challenged – “Unfortunately for beach lovers and owners of high-priced beach-front homes, coastal erosion in any form is usually a one-way trip. Man-made techniques such as beach nourishment—whereby sand is dredged from off-shore sources and deposited along otherwise vanishing beaches—may slow the process, but nothing short of global cooling or some other major geomorphic change will stop it altogether.”

3. http://abcnews.go.com/US/deepdive/disappearing-beaches-sea-level-rise-39427567

DISAPPEARING BEACHES – A Line in the Sand – A tragic story of a family that buys a beach house in 1982, but today, they have to abandon it because of the eroding sands, and bedrock under the house.

4.  AUDIO: http://www.npr.org/2014/09/18/348985568/a-coastal-paradise-confronts-its-watery-future

September 18, 2014 – There is ‘Trouble in Paradise’. Beachfront communities are finding the waters rising more and more due to global warming.

——–

Title: Oil Exploration and Drilling

http://www.npr.org/2015/03/12/392383373/plans-to-explore-for-oil-offshore-worry-east-coast-residents
March 12, 2015

March 12, 2015 – As the [US federal government] administration opens the door to offshore drilling, the oil industry is promising more jobs and less reliance on foreign oil. … Coastal towns and cities in several states are formally opposing offshore drilling and oil exploration.

——–

Everyone has a price! So if the price goes up high enough, there may be interested parties among Caribbean member-states to take the money for allowing mineral/oil extraction in their offshore vicinity. There is a need to be alarmed at such proposals, as dredging sand or drilling for oil may endanger protected reefs or other underwater marine features.

With greater demand – imagine post hurricanes – the Laws of Supply-and-Demand will mandate that the prices for extracted minerals will only increase.

It will get more and more tempting!

The movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean wants to add other types of economic activities to the Caribbean landscape; we urgently want to use the sea as an industrial zone. This is because the Caribbean region is badly in need of jobs. The book urges communities to empower the economic engines of the Caribbean Sea, as in mineral & oil extraction.

The region’s economic driver is tourism. Tourism and “mineral extraction or oil exploration” are incompatible activities. Thus there is the need for the cautions in this commentary. The challenge is to embrace the commerce of mineral extraction for the positives, while avoiding the negatives.

Challenge accepted!

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This would be the governmental entity for a regional Single Market that covers the land territories of the 30 member-states, and their aligning seas; (including the 1,063,000 square miles of the Caribbean Sea). The Go Lean/CU roadmap features this prime directive, as defined by these 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect public safety and ensure the economic engines of the region, including the seas.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines in local governments and in the Exclusive Economic Zone, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

This commentary posits that there are opportunities for the Caribbean to better explore the “Commerce of the Seas”, to deploy International Maritime Organisation-compliant offshore mineral/oil extraction and dredging operations. There are so many lessons that we can learn from the Economic History of other communities and their exploitation of extraction on the high seas. This commentary previously identified a series of 4 commentaries considering the Lessons in Economic History related to “Commerce of the Seas”; this entry is a 5th entry. The full series is as follows:

Commerce of the Seas – Stupidity of the Jones Act
Commerce of the Seas – Book Review: ‘Sea Power’
Commerce of the Seas – Shipbuilding Model of Ingalls
Commerce of the Seas – Lessons from Alang (India)
Commerce of the Seas – Extraction Reality

The reference to “Commerce” refers to the economic interest of the 30 member-states in the Caribbean region. There is the need for more commercial opportunities that would impact the community with job and entrepreneurial empowerments.

Mineral extraction and oil exploration could be providential! Consider these foregoing source references.

In a previous blog, Guyana prioritized oil exploration and drilling as an economic activity in their Exclusive Economic Zone…

… the oil industry/eco-system could be a dizzying ride, up and down, complete with exhilaration and anxiety, especially for communities with mono-industrial economic engines. Trinidad is once such community. Now Guyana is entering that fray.

There are other countries seeking to join these ranks: Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

A key consideration in this commentary is the concept of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Every Caribbean nation with no immediate neighbor within the 200 miles has this exclusive territory to exploit; the previously identified blog-commentary from May 25, 2015 detailed the encyclopedic details, shown here again in Appendix A.

The EEZ is factored in for mineral extraction and oil exploration. This is both a simple and a complicated issue. There is a lot of heavy-lifting involved to balance the needs of commerce and environmental protection.

This is the guidance from the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The CU federation is designed to employ best practices for economics, security and governance. The CU/Go Lean roadmap posits that “Extractions” (Oil and minerals like Rare Earths) must be a significant tactic for the Caribbean region to elevate its society.

The implementation of the CU allows for the designation of an enlarged Exclusive Economic Zones – requiring special approval from an United Nations Tribunal – consolidating existing EEZ’s and the technocratic cooperative-administration of Extractions within that space. This vision was embedded in the Go Lean’s book’s opening Declaration of Interdependence. See the need for regional coordination and integration pronounced these sample stanzas (Page 11 – 13):

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

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.

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.

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

The Go Lean book provides a 370-page guide on “how” to optimize the eco-system for mineral extraction and oil exploration in an integrated Caribbean region, for the geographic area of the Caribbean Sea. This is the “Commerce of the Seas”.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap asserts that as the confederation for the region’s 30 member-states, the CU, will be the administrator of this EEZ. Step One / Day One of the roadmap calls for awarding contracts for oil exploration and other extractions in the EEZ – this is one of the methods for financing the CU; this is how to Pay For Change.

The Go Lean roadmap details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster development, administration and protections in the Caribbean EEZ. Consider this sample except (headlines) from the book’s Page 195:

10 Ways to Impact Extractions

Case Study: The Bottom Line on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The disaster (also referred to as the BP Oil spill or the Macondo blowout) was an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP operated Macondo Prospect, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Following the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which claimed 11 lives, a sea-floor oil gusher flowed for 87 days, until it was finally capped on 15 July 2010. The total discharge is estimated at 4.9 million barrels (210 million gallons), resulting in a massive response ensued to protect beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil utilizing skimmer ships, floating booms, controlled burns and 1.84 million gallons of Corexit (a chemical oil dispersant). After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Due to the months-long spill, along with adverse effects from the response and cleanup activities, extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats, fishing and tourism industries, and human health problems have continued through this day, 2013. Three years after the spill, tar balls could still be found on the Mississippi coast. …

[See Trailer of the resultant 2016 Movie-Storytelling in the Appendix B VIDEO below.]

1	Lean-in for Caribbean Integration The CU treaty unifies the Caribbean region into one single market of 42 million people across 30 member-states, thereby empowering the economic engines in and on behalf of the region, including many public works projects and the emergence of many new industries. The new regional jurisdiction allows for mineral extraction (mines), oil/natural gas exploration in the Exclusive Economic Zone and some federal oversight for domestic mining/drilling/extraction operations, especially where systemic threats or cross-border administration are concerned. One CU mandate is to protect tourism. This is just one of the negative side-effects to be on guard for, see *Appendix ZK (Page 334)* for other concerns.
2	Oil – Mitigation Plan The concept of oil exploration is very strategic for the CU, as there are member-states that are oil producers. With energy prices so high, this is a lucrative endeavor. But there is risk, tied to the reward equation; the CU cannot endure a Deepwater Horizon-style disaster. Risk management and disaster mitigation plan must therefore be embedded into every drilling permit. The CU will oversee this governance and provide transparent oversight, accountability & reporting.
3	“Rare Earth” Rush – Minerals Priced higher than Gold (Year 2010: $1,000 a pound; $2,200 per kilogram) There is a “rush”/quest to harvest rare earth elements. These include lanthanide elements (fifteen metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, from lanthanum through lutetium) for metals that are ferromagnetic, this means their magnetism only appear at low temperatures. Rare earth magnets are made from these compounds and are ideal in many high-tech products. The CU will foster the regional exploration and extraction of these pricey materials.
4	Pipeline Strategy/Tactical Alignment
5	Emergency Response / Trauma Center The CU accedence grants authority for federal jurisdiction on oil exploration/drilling projects. This is due to the environmental concerns, systemic threats and the strategic implications for energy security. So CU Emergency (Risk, Disaster, and Medical Trauma) Managers will audit and test shutdown, mitigation and emergency procedures annually.
6	Exclusive Economic Zone Oversight / Research and Exploration
7	State Regulated Mining – Peer Review
8	Precious Metals – *Exclusive to Caribbean Dollar*
9	Treasure Hunting in EEZ – CU must grant Excavation “Permits”
10	Ferries Schedule for Transport to Offshore Rigs

The CU will foster “Extractions” as an industrial alternative to tourism. We have the natural resources (in the waterscapes), the skills and the passionate work-force. We only need the Commerce of the Seas. The Caribbean people are now ready for this industrial empowerment as mineral/oil extraction is both good … and bad!

The Go Lean roadmap asserts that economic needs are undeniable and tempting. While the region sorely needs the economic empowerments, this roadmap also details the mitigations and security measures to guarantee environmental protection.

There is much at stake when communities get the Art-and-Science of mineral extraction wrong!

This commentary ends this deep, long review of the Commerce of the Seas discussion. We have considered many different industries: Tourism, Cruise Lines, Shipping-Trade, Shipbuilding, Ship-breaking and now, Extractions. That is a lot of details to get right! The optimizations of these areas are the hallmarks of a technocracy. Yes, we can … get this right!

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people, business, institutions and governments, to lean-in for the technocratic deliveries of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. 🙂

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

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

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Appendix A – Exclusive Economic Zone

An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a sea zone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind.^[1] It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from its coast. In colloquial usage, the term may include the continental shelf. The term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nmi limit. The difference between the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone is that the first confers full sovereignty over the waters, whereas the second is merely a “sovereign right” which refers to the coastal state’s rights below the surface of the sea. The surface waters, as can be seen in the map, are international waters.^[2]

Generally, a state’s EEZ extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370 km) out from its coastal baseline. The exception to this rule occurs when EEZs would overlap; that is, state coastal baselines are less than 400 nautical miles (740 km) apart. When an overlap occurs, it is up to the states to delineate the actual maritime boundary.^[3] Generally, any point within an overlapping area defaults to the nearest state.^[4]

A state’s Exclusive Economic Zone starts at the landward edge of its territorial sea and extends outward to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from the baseline. The Exclusive Economic Zone stretches much further into sea than the territorial waters, which end at 12 nmi (22 km) from the coastal baseline (if following the rules set out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea).^[5] Thus, the EEZ includes the contiguous zone. States also have rights to the seabed of what is called the continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (648 km) from the coastal baseline, beyond the EEZ, but such areas are not part of their EEZ. The legal definition of the continental shelf does not directly correspond to the geological meaning of the term, as it also includes the continental rise and slope, and the entire seabed within the EEZ.

The following is a list of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones; by country with a few noticeable deviations:

Country	EEZ Kilometers²	Additional Details
United States	11,351,000	The American EEZ – the world’s largest – includes the Caribbean overseas territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
France	11,035,000	The French EEZ includes the Caribbean overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy and French Guiana.
Australia	8,505,348	Australia has the third largest exclusive economic zone, behind the United States and France, with the total area actually exceeding that of its land territory. Per the UN convention, Australia’s EEZ generally extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coastline of Australia and its external territories, except where a maritime delimitation agreement exists with another state.^[15]The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf confirmed, in April 2008, Australia’s rights over an additional 2.5 million square kilometres of seabed beyond the limits of Australia’s EEZ.^[16][17] Australia also claimed, in its submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, additional Continental Shelf past its EEZ from the Australian Antarctic Territory,^[18] but these claims were deferred on Australia’s request. However, Australia’s EEZ from its Antarctic Territory is approximately 2 million square kilometres.^[17]
Russia	7,566,673
United Kingdom	6,805,586	The UK includes the Caribbean territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks & Caicos and the British Virgin Islands.
Indonesia	6,159,032
Canada	5,599,077	Canada is unusual in that its EEZ, covering 2,755,564 km², is slightly smaller than its territorial waters.^[20] The latter generally extend only 12 nautical miles from the shore, but also include inland marine waters such as Hudson Bay (about 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) across), the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the internal waters of the Arctic archipelago.
Japan	4,479,388	In addition to Japan’s recognized EEZ, it also has a joint regime with Republic of (South) Korea and has disputes over other territories it claims but are in dispute with all its Asian neighbors (Russia, Republic of Korea and China).
New Zealand	4,083,744
Chile	3,681,989
Brazil	3,660,955	In 2004, the country submitted its claims to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to extend its maritime continental margin.^[19]
Mexico	3,269,386	Mexico’s EEZ comprises half of the Gulf of Mexico, with the other half claimed by the US.^[32]
Micronesia	2,996,419	The Federated States of Micronesia comprise around 607 islands (a combined land area of approximately 702 km² or 271 sq mi) that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,678 mi) just north of the equator. They lie northeast of New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 2,900 km (1,802 mi) north of eastern Australia and some 4,000 km (2,485 mi) southwest of the main islands of Hawaii. While the FSM’s total land area is quite small, its EEZ occupies more than 2,900,000 km2 (1,000,000 sq mi) of the Pacific Ocean.
Denmark	2,551,238	The Kingdom of Denmark includes the autonomous province of Greenland and the self-governing province of the Faroe Islands. The EEZs of the latter two do not form part of the EEZ of the European Union. See Photo 4.
Papua New Guinea	2,402,288
China	2,287,969
Marshall Islands	1,990,530	The Republic of the Marshall Islands is an island country located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia. The country’s population of 68,480 people is spread out over 24 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The land mass amounts to 181 km² (70 sq mi) but the EEZ is 1,990,000 km², one of the world’s largest.
Portugal	1,727,408	Portugal has the 10^th largest EEZ in the world. Presently, it is divided in three non-contiguous sub-zones: Continental Portugal 327,667 km² Azores 953,633 km² Madeira 446,108 km² Portugal submitted a claim to extend its jurisdiction over additional 2.15 million square kilometers of the neighboring continental shelf in May 2009,^[44] resulting in an area with a total of more than 3,877,408 km². The submission, as well as a detailed map, can be found in the Task Group for the extension of the Continental Shelf website. Spain disputes the EEZ’s southern border, maintaining that it should be drawn halfway between Madeira and the Canary Islands. But Portugal exercises sovereignty over the SavageIslands, a small archipelago north of the Canaries, claiming an EEZ border further south. Spain objects, arguing that the SavageIslands do not have a separate continental shelf,^[45] citing article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.^[46] <<< See Photo 6 >>>
Philippines	1,590,780	The Philippines’ EEZ covers 2,265,684 (135,783) km^2[41]. See Photo 5.
Solomon Islands	1,589,477
South Africa	1,535,538
Fiji	1,282,978	Fiji is an archipelago of more than 332 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited, and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi).
Argentina	1,159,063
Spain	1,039,233
Bahamas	654,715
Cuba	350,751
Jamaica	258,137
Dominican Republic	255,898
Barbados	186,898
Netherlands	154,011	The Kingdom of the Netherlands include the Antilles islands of Aruba. Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Maarten and Sint Eustatius
Guyana	137,765
Suriname	127,772
Haiti	126,760
Antigua and Barbuda	110,089
Trinidad and Tobago	74,199
St Vincent and the Grenadines	36,302
Belize	35,351
Dominica	28,985
Grenada	27,426
Saint Lucia	15,617
Saint Kitts and Nevis	9,974

(Source: Retrieved May 25, 2017 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone)

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Appendix B VIDEO – Deepwater Horizon (2016) Official Movie Trailer – ‘Heroes’ – https://youtu.be/S-UPJyEHmM0

Published on May 26, 2016 – Deepwater Horizon – Now Playing.
#DeepwaterHorizonMovie

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Foreign Policy, Trade, Transform

American Democracy? We can do better! – Encore

Posted on January 7, 2021 in Ethos, Government, Social

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

It does not take much to ascertain that there is something wrong in America – even a blind man can see it.

Everyone who pursues truth and justice can easily conclude:

We can do better!

The actuality is that Donald Trump is a failed experiment. This man lie, cheat and steal – past and present – yet he is perched on top of the American government structure and branded as the Leader of the Free World.

Not this one; not this time! This President lost his re-election bid on November 3, 2020 and has since pursued a “scorched earth” approach to damage the American democracy that rejected him. This January 6 insurrection – see Appendix B VIDEO below – was the product of a direct urging to “go down Pennsylvania Avenue and take back our country”.

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The Bible clearly shows that:

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” – Luke 16:10 New Living Translation

Donald Trump “lied, cheated and stole” the little things entrusted to him over the years – businesses, education (as a student and as Trump University owner), marriages, foundations – we should not be surprised that he continues to do it now.

But this commentary is not about the failings of Donald Trump; it is about the failings of America. In a previous commentary – from November 14, 2020 – from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean, this salient point was made:

Decision 2020 – It is what it is; ‘we are who we are’
The four (4) years of the Trump Administration was a “circus and he proved to be a clown”; there was one infraction after another. …
America has not changed! The 2020 Decision for the President of the United States (POTUS) has not led to any reformation or transformation – it is what it was. American has doubled-down on being America.

This is a Cautionary Tale for Caribbean people, in the homeland and in the Diaspora. Many Caribbean people look to the US as a “city on the hill”, a role model for advanced democracies.
…
The election is over: Joe Biden defeated the incumbent Donald Trump at the November 3^rd polling. He won, not by changing the hearts and minds of undecided people, but rather doubling-down on his base to get their electoral support; (Trump did likewise; this time with an even greater turnout than 2016, [5 million more votes]). The people in this country are still entrenched in their ideologies.

Surely, it is obvious here that the problem is the institutions of America, not just the individuals.

Surely, we can do better … here in the Caribbean homeland.

We presented this thesis before. It is only apropos to encore the thesis again … in this previous blog-commentary from June 30, 2015 with the title: “Better than America? Yes, we can!”. See that encore here-now:

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Go Lean Commentary – Better than America? Yes, we can!

Is America the “Greatest Country in the World”?

Perhaps this was arguable in the past? Today? Hardly … see VIDEO here; (excuse the profanity):

VIDEO: America, the Greatest? –

Published on Oct 21, 2012 – Jeff Daniels, who portrays news anchor Will McAvoy in the HBO Series “The Newsroom”, delivered a stunning, hard-hitting, accurate, and intelligent monologue/response when asked why America is the greatest country in the world. A sobering outlook on the state of the USA. (CAUTION ON THE ADULT LANGUAGE).

Even in the past when the “Greatest” label was arguable, it didn’t apply to everyone! America was the Greatest Country, maybe, if you were:

White, Anglo-Saxon, Rich, Male and Straight

But if you were any of the following, then God help you:

Black
Brown – Hispanic
Native American
Jewish
Catholic
Woman
Gay
Persons with Disabilities (Physical or Mental)
Slavic – Eastern European
Muslim
Communists
Atheist
Poor

Yes, building a multi-cultural society is not easy. The book Go Lean … Caribbean describes the challenge as heavy-lifting. America has failed at this challenge, hands-down. In previous blog- commentaries, many defects of American life were detailed, (including the propensity for Crony-Capitalism). See the list of defects here: Housing, education, job hunting, prisons, drug crime prosecutions, and racial profiling.

But despite this list and the reality of this subject, America tries …

This is an important consideration for the planners of Caribbean empowerment. The Caribbean, a region where unfortunately, we have NOT … tried.

The social science of Anthropology teaches that communities have two choices when confronted with endangering crises: fight or flight. The unfortunate reality is that we have chosen the option of flight; (we have no ethos for fighting for our homeland).

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that no society can prosper with a high abandonment rate – reported at 70% for educated classes. The primary mission of the Go Lean book is to “battle” against the “push-and-pull” factors that draw so many of our Caribbean citizens away from their homelands to go to the US. While we cannot change/fix America, we can…

Lower the “push” factors!

The purpose of the Go Lean book is to fix the Caribbean, to be better than America. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to pursue the quest to elevate the Caribbean region through empowerments in economics, security and governance. It is the assertion that Caribbean citizens can stay home and effect change in their homelands more effectively than going to America to find the “Greatest Country in the World”. The book therefore asserts that the region can turn-around from failing assessments by applying best-practices, and forging new societal institutions to impact the Greater Good for all the Caribbean. This point was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these acknowledgements and statements:

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

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

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like … Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations… On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities like New York City, … Canada, the old American West and tenants of the US Constitution.

This is the quest of Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap, to reboot the region’s societal engines; employing best-practices and better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

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

The Go Lean book stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states/ 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion GDP	Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities	Page 96
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – American Model: Kennedy’s Quest for the Moon	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned New York City – Managing as a “Frienemy”	Page 137
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Turn-around from Failure	Page 140
Planning – Lessons Learned from Indian Reservations – Pattern of Ethnic Oppression	Page 141
Planning – Lessons Learned from the American West – How to Win the Peace	Page 142
Planning – Lessons Learned from the US Constitution – America Tries – Each Generation Improves	Page 145
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218

The threats of the repressive American past have not always been domestic; there have been times when American dysfunction have reached across borders, including Caribbean countries, and disrupted the peace and progress. This is an important lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering the history of “American Greatness”; the following previous blog/commentaries apply:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5506	Edward Snowden Case Study: One Person Making a Difference
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4166	A Lesson in History: Panamanian Balboa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789	A Lesson in History: America’s War on the Caribbean

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to empower and elevate Caribbean societal engines to make us better than the American eco-system. Tall order?

Yes, we can!

According to the foregoing VIDEO (and Appendix [A VIDEO] below), other communities have done it. Consider Europe, all grown up now.

We can apply these models and lessons from these societies to obtain success. This vision is conceivable, believable and achievable!

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

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

———

Appendix A VIDEO – Comedic Commentary – Bill Maher: America Isn’t #1 – https://youtu.be/T8UqdPKbpWM

Uploaded on Jul 11, 2009 – Bill Maher rants on America letting people know we need to reclaim that title and to quit replying on old adages.

———

Appendix B VIDEO – Katy Tur Breaks Down the Breach of the U.S. Capitol – https://youtu.be/AZsP4C2RRPo

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Posted January 7, 2021 – Katy Tur breaks down the events that unfolded during the official count of electoral votes, shares why Trump’s statement on the situation did more harm than good and explains why debunking conspiracy theories is a lost cause.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Stream now on Peacock: https://bit.ly/3gZJaNy

Subscribe NOW to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: http://bit.ly/1nwT1aN

Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Weeknights 11:35/10:35c

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Decision 2020 – It is what it is; ‘we are who we are’

Posted on November 14, 2020 in Ethos, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

We thought there would be a Great Reckoning!
It didn’t happen…

What happened America? We thought you would “clap back” at Donald Trump. We waited… you didn’t!

The four (4) years of the Trump Administration was a “circus and he proved to be a clown”; there was one infraction after another; consider just this short sample:

Trump’s a Clown, but the GOP’s a Circus

So finally the country got the opportunity to voice their discontent of Trump’s character and policies, with the 2020 General Election; we were waiting … and waiting.

Boink! Splatt!
It didn’t happen.

The election results are in and the headlines on America has emerged:

It is what it is; ‘we are who we are’.

The summary of the election analysis is that Americans didn’t change during the 4 years of Donald Trump:

“They doubled-down!” The Deep Blue states remained Blue; the Deep Red states remained Red.

The challenge of the election was not whether people would change their minds or opinions, but rather “would they show up to vote”. See this theme as presented in this news analysis/article by NBC News:

Title: In battleground states, few counties flipped even when states did
Sub-title: Turnout was up in 99 percent of the counties in battleground states, while 97 percent voted the same way they voted in 2016.
By: Kanwal Syed, Elliott Ramos, Ellie Frymire and Naitian Zhou

Voter turnout rose sharply during last week’s election in battleground states across the country.

Nearly every county in the 13 major battleground states had more voter turnout than in the 2016 election, according to an analysis of NBC News election results. Of those thousand-plus counties, only 12 had lower turnouts than in the last election, as of the latest results.

While Joe Biden was able to flip four of the 13 states from President Donald Trump and win three more states than Hillary Clinton won in 2016, the picture remains largely unchanged within the states themselves.

Out of 1,118 counties in battleground states, only 37 flipped, or 3.3 percent, which meant control of the states rested largely on parties’ turning out votes within counties they had won before.

Michigan
More than 70 percent of Michigan voters turned out, an increase of almost 10 percentage points over 2016. The state, part of the so-called blue wall, went to Biden after having flipped for Trump in 2016.

Jake Berlin, a first-time voter from Oakland County, teetered on the fence about his decision this year all the way up until he reached his polling place.

“I felt I could be tipping the scale one way or another and felt like I had a good amount of power,” Berlin said. “That was exciting.”

Berlin did not vote in 2016. He said he had a change of heart because of Michigan’s role as a swing state.

“You’ve kind of got to make sure your voice is heard, otherwise it’s just going to be everyone else’s voice heard,” he said.

Berlin said he voted for Trump. His county went for Biden.

Florida
Florida, a decisive state in many presidential elections, had a turnout of 64 percent, up from 57 percent in 2016.

A precinct within the University of Central Florida in Orange County even exceeded 100 percent voter turnout, which The New York Times attributed to a few voters who switched their addresses on Election Day and moved into the area.

Danaë Rivera-Marasco, a spokesperson for the Orange County Elections Commission, said the commission worked closely with the UCF student government association to encourage young voters to vote.

“It’s great to see young engagement and that they took responsibility,” Rivera-Marasco said. “We haven’t seen anything like that in past elections.”

Arizona
Arizona was one of the states with the greatest increases in voter turnout, up by 10 percentage points from 2016. Only four counties went to Clinton in 2016, and according to the latest results five have gone to Biden.

This year, 300,000 more Democratic voters turned out in Maricopa County than in 2016, flipping it to Biden, who holds a lead over Trump in the state. The region, which includes Phoenix, is the state’s most populous county.

North Carolina
Turnout in North Carolina, another such swing state, rose by 7 percentage points over 2016. Scotland County is one of three counties in the state to have flipped this year, having voted for Clinton in 2016 and switching to Trump this year.

Dell Parker, elections director of the Scotland County Board of Elections, said that even with the popularity of mail-in and absentee ballots, the board expected a larger outcome on Election Day.

“We had heard a lot of people talking about the election, so we kind of prepared for a big turnout,” Parker said. “We were actually a little disappointed that more people did not come.”

The state’s final vote count is expected Tuesday.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/graphic-battleground-state-turnout-2020-election-n1247337?icid=election_nav posted November 13, 2020; retrieved November 14, 2020.

Did you notice this summary excerpt?

Out of 1,118 counties in battleground states, only 37 flipped, or 3.3 percent, which meant control of the states rested largely on parties’ turning out votes within counties they had won before.

America has not changed! The 2020 Decision for the President of the United States (POTUS) has not led to any reformation or transformation – it is what it was. American has doubled-down on being America.

This is a Cautionary Tale for Caribbean people, in the homeland and in the Diaspora. Many Caribbean people look to the US as a “city on the hill”, a role model for advanced democracies.

Yet the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean has always maintained that America should not be considered as some land of refuge for Caribbean people – the grass is not necessarily greener on the American side. America should not be the destination. Rather than fleeing in search of refuge, we need to do the work to reform and transform our communities:

2017 Review – Mr. Trump shows the ‘Wrong Way’ – December 21, 2017
Surely, fleeing to the US must be likened to “jumping out of the frying pan into the fire”. Remember, this country was not built for the Caribbean’s Black-and-Brown. They continue to experience racial discriminations, despite a recent Black President. …

Surely, it is the conclusion of most people that 2017 has proven that America is not working for Caribbean priorities …

… they are not even working for their own priorities, as the country under Trump seems more and more divided with the President only supported by 33 percent of the people, the other 67% are outraged … i.e. the majority of the population are middle class, yet yesterday’s passage of the Tax Reform bill only benefits the rich.

Proudly, we say that for our societal elevation efforts, the quest of the Go Lean … Caribbean movement: we do not want to be America, we want to be better.

————

Better than America? Yes, We Can! – June 20, 2015
… building a multi-cultural society is not easy. The book Go Lean … Caribbean describes the challenge as heavy-lifting. America has failed at this challenge, hands-down. In previous blog- commentaries, many defects of American life were detailed, (including the propensity for Crony-Capitalism). See the list of defects here: Housing, education, job hunting, prisons, drug crime prosecutions, and racial profiling.

But despite this list and the reality of this subject, America tries …

This is an important consideration for the planners of Caribbean empowerment. The Caribbean, a region where unfortunately, we have NOT … tried.

The social science of Anthropology teaches that communities have two choices when confronted with endangering crises: fight or flight. The unfortunate reality is that we have chosen the option of flight; (we have no ethos for fighting for our homeland). …

We can apply these models and lessons from these [other] societies to obtain success. This vision is conceivable, believable and achievable!

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

The election is over: Joe Biden defeated the incumbent Donald Trump at the November 3^rd polling. He won, not by changing the hearts and minds of undecided people, but rather doubling-down on his base to get their electoral support; (Trump did likewise; this time with an even greater turnout than 2016). The people in this country are still entrenched in their ideologies. So now the question becomes: “Can Joe Biden bridge the huge divide between Blue and Red in America?” See this portrayal in this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – US Election 2020: Can Joe Biden heal America’s political divisions? – https://youtu.be/uEGDigc2kU8

Sky News
Posted November 7, 2020 – Joe Biden is set to become US president – but with the country in political gridlock, the Democratic former VP may have a tough task ahead.

SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/skynews
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Sky News videos are now available in Spanish here/Los video de Sky News están disponibles en español aquí: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzG5…

The election is over but still, the analysis continues.

This commentary is such an analysis; it is a continuation of the monthly Teaching Series from the Go Lean movement on Decision 2020. The Teaching Series always addresses issues germane to Caribbean life and culture. This one is no different. We presented 5 entries in October 2020, plus two subsequent ones in November – this is the third. All of these entries are relevant for Decision 2020 as they relate to the impact of the Caribbean on America’s politics … and the impact and lessons of America’s politics on the Caribbean. See the full catalog of this multi-part, multi-month Decision 2020 Teaching Series here as follows:

Decision 2020: Puerto Rico claps back at Trump
Decision 2020: Haiti’s Agenda 2016 ==> 2020 – Trump never cared
Decision 2020: Latino Gender Gap – More Toxic Masculinity
Decision 2020: More Immigration or Less
Decision 2020: What’s Next for Cuba & Venezuela
——– After the Vote:
Decision 2020: Hasta La Vista Mr. Trump
Decision 2020: Voices From the ‘Peanut Gallery’
Decision 2020: It is what it is; ‘we are who we are’

The take-away from all of these considerations is that American politics have a bearing on our Caribbean ecosystem; their domestic policy affects our Foreign Policy. It would be nice to just mind our own business; but whether we have a vote or not in Decision 2020, we are affected. It is our business too and so, we must use our voices.

This actuality of Foreign Policy have a bearing on our interaction with other countries as well; think French Departments, Netherlands Antilles, British Overseas Territories.

This is a familiar theme – our Foreign Policy and disposition with the rest of the world – for the Go Lean movement; we have repeatedly blogged on this subject; consider this sample of previous submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19570	The EU as a Role Model: Not when ‘Push’ comes to ‘Shove’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19521	BHAG – Outreach to the World: Doing it as a Profit Center – Why Not?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19494	BHAG – One Voice: Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Stance
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19203	Empowering Immigrants for a Brain Gain: Yes we can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17878	Profiting from the Supply-side of the Migration Crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14954	Overseas Workers – Not the Panacea
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13642	Africa: Past, Present and Future of Caribbean Relations
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13233	Caribbean proposes new US-Caribbean trade initiative
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8799	Lessons from China – Too Big To Ignore
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6231	China’s Caribbean Playbook: America’s Script
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4240	Immigration Policy Exacerbates Worker Productivity Crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3662	Migrant flow into US from Caribbean spikes

America is what it is … they may not learn or apply any lessons from the failed Trump experiment. 🙁

From a Caribbean perspective, it is not our homeland, it is their homeland. They are not changing for us; we cannot make them change. We can only change ourselves, individually and collectively. If we were to change (reform and transform) then maybe our people would not need to flee in the first place … as they have done in the past, so many times in the past.

That would be a good change. Donald Trump cannot do it for us; neither can Joe Biden. We must do “it” ourselves.

Let’s get busy with doing the changes, doing the heavy-lifting to reform and transform our society. We can and should work to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

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

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.

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

Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

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

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

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

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

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Decision 2020 – What’s Next for Cuba & Venezuela

Posted on October 30, 2020 in Ethos, Government, Locations, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Wanna get elected in the Unites States?

Here is good advice in terms of political strategy:

Distance yourself from Cuba and/or Venezuela.

Any affinity to their extreme socialism is a death sentence for political success in the US. This is the experience in the 2020 Presidential Race and just recently in the California gubernatorial race (2018).

2020 – See here this news VIDEO story for this current race for Decision 2020 for the President of the United States (POTUS):

VIDEO – The Threat of Socialism Is Dividing Miami Cubans Ahead of the Election – https://youtu.be/oKI3B_W-xO0

VICE News
Posted Aug 21, 2020 – VICE News visits Miami to see how Trump is weaponizing Socialism to win over some Latinos.

Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News

Check out VICE News for more: http://vicenews.com

Follow VICE News here:
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More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo

2018 – See here, this excerpt from 2018 California Race:

“Venezuela” – ‘On the Menu’ in California – June 7, 2018

Featured article quotation: “Gavin Newsom wants to turn this State into Venezuela” …

… the aggressive tone of this accusation has generated a lot of excitement among conservatives. Here’s the background: Gavin Newsom is the Democratic Party’s nominee for Governor of California – the General Election will be November 6, 2018 – he is currently the Lieutenant Governor and also the former Mayor of San Francisco. He is a liberal icon in a liberal State.

Yet the one criticism that is sticking to candidate Newsom by Republican Party candidate John Cox is the fearful pattern of Venezuela.

Yes, Venezuela is “On the Menu” in California. But wait, that should be our ‘vantage point’ in the Caribbean!

… this was the theme of a previous blog-commentary from the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean. Venezuela is in our neighborhood – with a long coastline on the Caribbean Sea – dysfunctions there spillover to our Caribbean member-states.

So what are we to do for Cuba and Venezuela?

This is the goal of the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean, to reform the Caribbean member-states. This includes Cuba; Venezuela, not so much.

What’s next for Cuba … and Venezuela?

How do we fix Cuba? How will voting in the US General Election affect this quest?

This is the completion of the monthly Teaching Series from the movement behind the Go Lean book. This Teaching Series addresses issues germane to Caribbean life and culture; this is entry 5-of-5 for October 2020, closing out the thesis that many people from Caribbean member-states now have a voice in the American General Election for November 3. As related in the foregoing VIDEO, many Cuban-Americans do have a voice and a vote in the America’s policy debates. But these one are only concerned about one (1) issue – the only issue that matters to them: “Anti-Socialism”.

This, their sole issue started as Anti-Communism or Anti-Castro, but now that the Castros are gone (Fidel – dead; Raul – retired), the issue remains as just “Anti-Socialism”. (This is what aligns Cuban-Americans with Venezuelan-Americans as they are both protesting the dysfunctional socialism in their homelands).

So from a Caribbean perspective, Cubans differ from the rest of the Caribbean in their policy disputes:

So while Puerto Ricans are anxious to “clap back” at Mr. Trump for his “long train of abuses” towards their island, Cubans are mute.
While Haitians are anxious to voice their displeasure of the President labeling their island as a “Shithole” country, Cubans are mute.
While Latinos or Hispanics in general are disgusted of the Toxic Masculinity exhibited by the POTUS, Cubans are mute.
While Caribbean people are looking for More Liberal Immigration policies, Cubans are mute.

There is no unity or collaboration among the Caribbean Diaspora in the US. This is sad, because together, if such a collectivity was ever possible, the grouping of the Caribbean Diaspora could be an impactful voting bloc. They would have even more relevance in American campaigns due to the fact that their numbers are so strong – upwards of 22 million people, 7 percent of the US population. This is enough to have influence in any political race. This is the overall theme for this Decision 2020 blog-commentary Teaching Series; see the full catalog here:

Decision 2020: Puerto Rico claps back at Trump
Decision 2020: Haiti’s Agenda 2016 ==> 2020 – Trump never cared
Decision 2020: Latino Gender Gap – More Toxic Masculinity
Decision 2020: More Immigration or Less
Decision 2020: What’s Next for Cuba & Venezuela

Socialism continues in Cuba and Venezuela both. The revolutions in those countries have stalled. This has been the case for many years, decades and even generations. Perhaps more is needed than just influencing American Foreign Policy towards these countries; perhaps there is the need to impact domestic policy from inside the country. This is the approach of the Go Lean roadmap in regards to Cuba.

Yes, this is what is next for Cuba. (Venezuela is out-of-scope for the Go Lean roadmap). Cuba should be invited to join the regional integration movement, initially the Caribbean Community (CariCom) and then confederate with the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU).

The Go Lean presented this plan, an entire roadmap in effect for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic CU Trade Federation. Among the many strategies, tactics and implementations is one advocacy, specifically for Cuba, entitled: “10 Ways to Re-boot Cuba“. Consider these highlights, headlines and excerpts from that advocacy on Page 236:

1	*Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market* – Ratify treaty for the CU.** This regional re-boot will allow for the unification of the region into one market, thereby creating a single economy of 30 member-states, 42 million people and a GDP of over $800 Billion. Following the model of European integration, the CU will be the representative and negotiating body for Cuba and the entire region for all trade and security issues. This helps to assuage the political adversity expected from Anti-Castro [and Anti-Socialists] groups.
2	Political Neutrality of the Union Cuba is the only Communist-led state in the CU region. Other states have multiple party systems: left-leaning or right-leaning governments; many have more than 2 parties. The CU is officially neutral! The election of the popular leaders of each country is up to that country. The Election functionality of member-states can be outsourced to the CU as the organization structure will provide the systems, processes and personnel to facilitate smooth and fair election.
3	US Trade Embargo By-Pass The US embargo against Cuba is an economic, and financial embargo imposed in October 1960. It was designed to punish Cuba to dissuade communism and the nationalization of private property during the revolution. To date, there are judgments of up to $6 billion worth of claims against the Cuban government. Despite this US action, the rest of the Caribbean, Canada and Europe do trade with Cuba, with no repercussions in their relationship with the US. It is expected that after Fidel and Raul Castro, there will be greater liberalization of trade and diplomacy with the US.
4	Marshall Plan for Cuba
5	Leap Frog Philosophy There is no need to move Cuba’s 1950’s technology baseline to the 1960’s, then the 1970’s, and so on; rather, the vision is to leap-frog Cuba to where technology is going. This includes advance urban planning concepts like electrified light-rail, prefab house, alternative energies and e-delivery of governmental services and payment systems.
6	Repatriation and Reconciliation of the Cuban Diaspora The goal will be to extend the “Welcome Mat” to people that may have left Cuba over the decades and want to return. The repatriation the CU advocates is for the Diaspora’s time, talents and treasuries. The CU will incentivize “ex-patriots” to at least have vacation homes on the island. The CU will provide the “re-patriots” with special status to assuage any victimization. Cuba’s repatriation is expected to differ from the other CU nations. After the Castro Brothers, there will be the expectation of reparation and reconciliation. In addition, the CU will convene a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bring resolution to many issues from the revolution, Castro Brothers, previous coup attempts and the Bautista dictatorship – there will be the expectation of reparation. (South Africa had a successful reconciliation after Apartheid).
7	Access to Capital Markets
8	Optimization of Agricultural Exports
9	National Historic Places
10	World Heritage Sites

The truth of the matter is, Caribbean people are not doing enough for our own neighborhood. We cannot just expect America to do the heavy-lifting to reform and transform our homeland. We must act … united and together. Yes, Decision 2020 allows us to analyze the motivations and sensibilities of not just the American eco-system, but also that of the regional Caribbean.

We need regionalism; we need a confederacy … that includes Cuba. This exact theme has been detailed in many previous Go Lean commentaries; consider this list of samples here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=20072	Rise from the Ashes – Political Revolutions: Calling ‘Balls & Strikes’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17686	‘Free Market’ Versus … Communism – Lessons from History
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17371	Marshall Plan – Cuba: An Imminent need for ‘Free Market’ Emergence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16864	Cuba’s Progress: New Constitution with some ‘Free Market’ Guarantees
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14732	‘Red Letter Day’ for Cuba – Raul Castro Retires
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7412	The Road to Restoring Cuba: Normalization of Travel, Mail, Internet, etc.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3455	Restoration of Diplomatic Relations Between Cuba and the USA
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3354	CariCom Chairman calls for an end to US embargo on Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2330	‘Raul Castro reforms not enough’, Cuba’s in-country bishops declare
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1609	Cuba’s Parliament mulls economy and some ‘Free Market’ changes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=436	Cuba Approves New “Law on Foreign Investment” – a Start for Progress

The Go Lean movement posits that Cuba will soon transform away from its communistic leanings. In the last 10 years, they had been steadily moving in the direction of a Free Market system – their biggest “speed bump on this road” to freedom had been the 4 years of the Donald Trump administration. But still we can be confident that “Cuba sera Libre”!

The status quo for the Caribbean is deficient and defective. The status quo for Cuba is even more deficient and defective. This same assessment requires some of the same solutions. We – 30 member-states – all need each other.

The take-way from this 5-part October Teaching Series – now that it’s complete – is that elections have consequences but they do not substitute for the hard-work that needs to be done. The widely popular expression is true: “many hands make heavy loads lighter”; this is true, the heavy loads are still heavy, it is just that the leverage across more hands (people) makes the burden lighter.

America will not solve the Caribbean problems for us. No, the Caribbean must mitigate and remediate our problems ourselves. This is how we can make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

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.

xiii. Whereas the legacy of dissensions in many member-states (for example: Haiti and Cuba) will require a concerted effort to integrate the exile community’s repatriation, the Federation must arrange for Reconciliation Commissions to satiate a demand for justice.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … 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.

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

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.

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

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Cuba, Diaspora, Foreign Policy, Transform

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European Role Model: Not when ‘Push’ comes to ‘Shove’

Posted on April 18, 2020 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

There are ordinary times … and there are extraordinary times.

When ’push comes to shove’, the ordinary becomes extraordinary. (The world enduring the pangs of distress of this Coronavirus crisis is definitely an extraordinary time).

The ordinary times of the Caribbean was forged by the long history of European colonialism; (the indigenous population is now mostly all extinct). The populations of the Caribbean member-states only emerged as a product of the imperial expansion and colonization from the Old World of Europe. The reference to Old World is in contrast to the New World of the Americas (North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean islands in between). The Old World of Europe, went through a lot of reformations, revisions and revolutions (even world wars); then a new disposition of cooperation, collaboration and confederation commenced. A better Europe emerged.

This reality had allowed Europe to emerge as a role model for the Caribbean …

… 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.
…
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).
…
The biggest lesson for the Caribbean to glean from a consideration of the EU is the need for compromise in consensus-building. – Blog-commentary: Introduction to Europe – All Grown Up posted November 27, 2014.

The EU, on paper, is the epitome of 28 parties – European member-states – “playing well in the sandbox”, or nations behaving mannerly. They boasted Free Movement of people and universal protections of civil rights in every jurisdiction. But, now something has broken that European tranquility …

Now that the COVID-19 crisis is imperiling the world in general and Europe in particular, that once proud EU interdependence is now reverting to the dreaded state-only independent thinking and nationalism. Ouch! Be afraid; be very afraid!

Did the Coronavirus break Europe’s good manners … or was that appearance of societal maturity just a false façade covering over the true European character?

Remember this is the continent that forge the 1884 Berlin Conference and subsequently spawned World War I, World War II, the Nazi Holocaust, Balkan Ethnic Cleansing, and many more atrocities right up to the present day … almost – see the dissenting commentary below where it is asserted that European “beauty is really only skin deep, but their ugly goes to the bone”.

See the bad happenstance occurring in today’s Europe due to this COVID-19 threat as portrayed in this news article here:

Title: Coronavirus: The European Union Unravels
By: Soeren Kern

Faced with an existential threat, EU member states, far from joining together to confront the pandemic as a unified bloc, instinctively are returning to pursuing the national interest. After years of criticizing U.S. President Donald J. Trump for pushing an “America First” policy, European leaders are reverting to the very nationalism they have publicly claimed to despise.

Ever since the threat posed by coronavirus came into focus, Europeans have displayed precious little of the high-minded multilateral solidarity that for decades has been sold to the rest of the world as a bedrock of European unity. The EU’s unique brand of soft power, said to be a model for a post-national world order, has been shown to be an empty fiction.

In recent weeks, EU member states have closed their borders, banned exports of critical supplies and withheld humanitarian aid. The European Central Bank, the guarantor of the European single currency, has treated with unparalleled disdain the eurozone’s third-largest economy, Italy, in its singular hour of need. The member states worst affected by the pandemic — Italy and Spain — have been left by the other member states to fend for themselves.

The European Union, seven decades in the making, is now unravelling in real time — in weeks.

NICKELSDORF, AUSTRIA – MARCH 18: Trucks are parked on the motorway leading to the Austrian-Hungarian border crossing near Nickelsdorf on March 18, 2020 in Nickelsdorf, Austria. After negotiations between Austrian and Hungarian authorities, Hungary opened the border for Rumanian, Serbian and Bulgarian citizens. Prior to the measures the queues on Austrian side were up to 60kms long. (Photo by Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)

As the coronavirus pandemic rages through Europe — where more than 250,000 people have now been diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 15,000 have died — the foundational pillars of the European Union are crumbling one by one.

Faced with an existential threat, EU member states, far from joining together to confront the pandemic as a unified bloc, instinctively are returning to pursuing the national interest. After years of criticizing U.S. President Donald J. Trump for pushing an “America First” policy, European leaders are reverting to the very nationalism they have publicly claimed to despise.

Ever since the threat posed by coronavirus came into focus, Europeans have displayed precious little of the high-minded multilateral solidarity that for decades has been sold to the rest of the world as a bedrock of European unity. The EU’s unique brand of soft power, said to be a model for a post-national world order, has been shown to be an empty fiction.

In recent weeks, EU member states have closed their borders, banned exports of critical supplies and withheld humanitarian aid. The European Central Bank, the guarantor of the European single currency, has treated with unparalleled disdain the eurozone’s third-largest economy, Italy, in its singular hour of need. The member states worst affected by the pandemic — Italy and Spain — have been left by the other member states to fend for themselves.

The seeds of the European Union were planted in the ashes of the Second World War. In May 1949, Robert Schuman, one of the EU’s founding fathers, boldly announced the creation of new world system:

“We are carrying out a great experiment, the fulfillment of the same recurrent dream that for ten centuries has revisited the peoples of Europe: creating between them an organization putting an end to war and guaranteeing an eternal peace.”

The European Union, seven decades in the making, is now unravelling in real time — in weeks. After the dust of the coronavirus pandemic settles, the EU’s institutions will almost certainly continue to operate as before. Too much political and economic capital has been invested in the European project for European elites to do otherwise. However, the EU’s attraction as a post-national model for its own citizens, much less for the rest of the world, will have passed.

Recent examples of the unilateral pursuit of the national interest by European leaders, many of whom publicly espouse globalism but in times of desperation embrace nationalism, include:

France. On March 3, France confiscated all protective masks made in the country. “We will distribute them to healthcare professionals and to French people affected by the coronavirus,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter. On March 6, the French government forced Valmy SAS, a face mask manufacturer near Lyon, to cancel an order for millions of masks placed by the UK’s National Health Service.

Germany, March 4. Germany banned the export of medical protective equipment such as safety glasses, respiratory masks, protective coats, protective suits and gloves. On March 7, the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that German customs authorities were preventing a Swiss truck carrying 240,000 protective masks from returning to Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU. The Swiss government summoned the German ambassador to protest against the export ban. “In these contacts, the German authorities were urged immediately to release the blocked products,” a Swiss government spokesperson was quoted as saying. After facing a backlash from other EU member states, Germany on March 19 reversed course and lifted the export ban.

Austria, March 10. Austria became the first EU country to close its borders to another EU country. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced controls along the border with Italy and a ban on the entry of most travelers from there. “The utmost priority,” Kurz said, “is to prevent the spread and thus importing the illness into our society. There is therefore a ban on entry for people from Italy into Austria, with the exception of people who have a doctor’s note certifying that they are healthy.” The government also announced a ban on all air or rail travel to Italy. Austria’s decision threatened to undo the so-called Schengen Area, which entered into effect in 1995 and abolishes the need for passports and other types of control at the mutual borders of 26 European countries.

Slovenia, March 11. The government closed some border crossings with Italy and at those remaining open, had started making health checks to combat the spread of the virus.

Czech Republic, March 12. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš closed the country’s borders with Germany and Austria and also banned the entry of foreigners coming from other risky countries. On March 22, the government said that the border restrictions may last for up to two years.

Switzerland, March 13. The Swiss government imposed border controls with other European countries. Switzerland, although not a member of the European Union, is part of the Schengen zone.

Italy, March 13. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde dismissed calls by Italy for financial assistance to help it cope with the pandemic. After her comments rattled financial markets, Lagarde said that the ECB was “fully committed to avoid any fragmentation in a difficult moment for the euro area.” Italian President Sergio Mattarella replied that Italy had a right to expect solidarity rather than obstacles from beyond its borders.

Denmark, March 14. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen imposed border controls on all traffic by land, sea and air until at least April 13.

Poland, March 15. The government closed the country’s borders to everyone except Polish citizens or people with a Polish residence permit.

Germany, March 16. Germany, the largest and most powerful country in the European Union, introduced controls on its borders with Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The move came after Germany registered 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 in just one day.

Hungary, March 16. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán halted all passenger traffic into Hungary would be halted and only Hungarian citizens allowed to enter the country.

Spain, March 16. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska decreed the establishment of controls at all land borders.

Serbia, March 16. President Aleksandar Vučić declared a state of emergency due to coronavirus. He condemned the EU for restricting exports of medical equipment and appealed for help from his “friend and brother,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “European solidarity does not exist,” Vučić said. “That was a fairy tale on paper. I have sent a special letter to the only ones who can help, and that is China.” Serbia applied to become a member of the EU in 2009. Accession talks began in January 2014.

Czech Republic, March 17. Czech authorities seized 110,000 face masks that China had sent to Italy. On March 23, the Czech Republic delivered the confiscated material to Italy. “There are 110,000 masks on board the bus as a gift to Italy, which is supposed to replace the material that was probably a Chinese gift for Italian compatriots,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Stichova.

Germany, March 18. Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a rare televised speech, urged all Germans to obey rules aimed at reducing direct social contact and avoiding as many new infections as possible. “It is serious,” she said. “Take it seriously. Since German reunification, actually, since World War Two, there has never been a challenge for our country in which acting in solidarity was so very crucial.” Merkel’s address to the nation was the first time in nearly 15 years in office that she had spoken to the country other than in her annual New Year’s address. She did not mention the European Union or other EU member states.

Belgium, March 22. The coronavirus has fueled tensions between Belgium, which is on lockdown, and the Netherlands, which is not. “In the Netherlands, shops are still open and meetings of 100 people are still allowed — these are breeding grounds for the virus,” said Marino Keulen, mayor of the Belgian border town Lanaken. Belgian authorities have set up barricades along the border and are ordering cars with Dutch license plates to turn around and return home. Keulen called the border checks a “signal to The Hague” to “quickly scale-up” its response and align with neighboring countries. “The Dutch government is incompetent and ridiculous in its response to the coronavirus crisis,” said Leopold Lippens, the mayor of Belgian seacoast town Knokke-Heist. “The Netherlands is doing nothing, so we have to protect ourselves.”

Spain, March 25. After failing to obtain assistance from the European Union, the Spanish government asked NATO for help in acquiring 1.5 million face masks and 450,000 respirators. NATO lacks this material and is limited to passing the Spanish request on to the remaining 29 allies, many of which are also members of the EU.

Poland, March 25. Polish authorities prevented hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer from being exported to Norway, which is not a member of the EU. The Norwegian company Norenco manufactures and packages hand sanitizer for the Scandinavian market at a factory it owns in Poland. Norenco’s chief executive, Arne Haukland, said that after he applied for an export license, five men arrived at the factory, and demanded to be shown its stock of hand sanitizer. He said the company then received a letter ordering it to sell any hand sanitizer it had produced to the local city authorities in Lubin at a fixed price, under emergency coronavirus laws passed in Poland at the start of March. The seizure will exacerbate the supply problem faced by Norwegian hospitals.

France, March 25. President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to the nation at a military hospital in the eastern city of Mulhouse, which has been especially hard hit by the coronavirus, called for national, as opposed to European, unity: “When we engage in war, we engage fully, we mobilize united. I see in our country factors of division, doubts, all those who want to fracture the country when it is necessary to have only one obsession: to be united to fight against the virus. I call for this unity and this commitment.”

Meanwhile, in Italy, a nationwide survey published on March 18 found that 88% of Italians believe that the EU is not helping their country. Only 4% thought the opposite while 8% did not have an opinion. More than two-thirds (67%) of Italians said that they believe that being part of the European Union is a disadvantage for their country.

In an article titled, “Coronavirus Threatens European Unity,” Bill Wirtz, a political commentator based in Luxembourg, observed:

“As the coronavirus unfolds, Schengen countries are shutting their own borders. Whether or not they do so because they believe that a coordinated European response would be inefficient, or whether they believe that their own voters wouldn’t buy it — at this stage it’s irrelevant. The mere fact that borders have resurfaced in Europe is a failure for the integrity of the Schengen open borders agreement….

“A coordinated EU response to this crisis does not exist, and as the recommendations fall on deaf ears, Brussels is dealing with a crisis of confidence. There is no union-wide crisis response, coordinated testing or research. Worse than that, the EU institutions are bystanders to a war between countries, which are trying to limit exports of medical supplies in order to keep them for themselves. In times of crisis, the true influence and capacity of the EU has shown, and it is very little.

“As it stands, countries are dealing with a crisis of missing hospital beds, medical equipment, and overall resources. If the virus ever happens to lay lower than it does now, and the conclusion is drawn that the European Union was a powerless bystander in the eye of the storm (which it is), then the Schengen Agreement and open borders in Europe could be dealing with a difficult recovery.”

Darren McCaffrey, the political editor of the France-based news channel Euronews, wrote:

“In the past couple of weeks, solidarity has collapsed in the bloc. Countries have started imposing border controls on neighboring EU countries, and even Germany has taken steps to manage the flow of people entering and leaving its territory.

“On Tuesday, a 35-kilometer-long queue formed at the Polish-German border, where hundreds of Europeans — Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians — were stuck in trucks, cars and buses.

“As the EU must take measures to prevent the spread of the disease, many are worrying about the essence of the European Union and its four freedoms [the free movement of goods, services, capital and people].

“What is the EU if its own citizens can’t move freely? What is the single market if goods can’t cross Europe’s borders without hindrance?”

In an article titled, “Nations First: The EU Struggles for Relevance in the Fight against Coronavirus,” the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel noted:

“As the pandemic takes hold in Europe, the decades-old union is showing its weaknesses. While the EU managed to survive Brexit and the euro crisis, the corona crisis may yet prove to be an insurmountable challenge.

“Instead of trying to come up with joint solutions, the Continent is becoming balkanized and is reverting to national solutions. Instead of helping each other out, EU countries are hoarding face masks like panicked Europeans are hoarding toilet paper. The early decisions made by some EU member states to refrain from exporting medical equipment to Italy — the EU country that has thus far been hit hardest by the pandemic — has even overshadowed the lack of European solidarity displayed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the refugee crisis.

“Europeans are even divided on the question as to how to combat the virus. Whereas Germany is eager to prevent as many people as possible from encountering the virus and becoming infected, the Netherlands wants to see as many healthy people as possible fight off COVID-19, thus becoming immune. The signal is clear: When things get serious, every member state still looks out for itself first — even 60 years after the founding of the community.”
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
Source: Posted March 27, 2020; retrieved March 31, 2020 from: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15803/coronavirus-european-union-unravels

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Posted Mar 16, 2020 – FRANCE 24 English

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Category: News & Politics

No homeland is perfect.

The European continent has made great progress; but is still plagued with many societal defects. Yet still, the Caribbean member-states, though modeled and structured from their European legacy, have even more defects. These tropical territories lose many of its young people to abandonment and defection to the homelands of their European masters. In truth, in the Dutch Antillean islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Martin) and in the French Antillean islands (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin) all share the same experience of raising children, just to watch them leave after high school graduation; (same for the UK and American territories). See how this was reported in a previous Go Lean commentary:

All of the Caribbean, despite the languages, have had societal failures. Large swaths of the population has fled to foreign shores for refuge. In the French (and Dutch) Caribbean, it is not uncommon for high school graduates to leave soon after graduation. No society can thrive with this disposition. Communities need its people, young and old. But the people need opportunities for prosperity. – Blog-commentary: Welcoming the French posted February 20, 2017.

What is the experience for those emigrants, mostly Black-and-Brown, when they arrive to live, work and play in their new European lands of refuge? This question was answered in another previous Go Lean commentary:

Latent Racism – For societies to promote the exploitation of slaves, there must have been an underlying creed of racism, or racial supremacy. This emerges from time to time, as reflected recently with the Middle East Refugee crisis. People with this mindset may not have a problem with coming to a Black majority Caribbean destination for leisure travel; it may be fun for them to be pampered by “servants”, but not so much for those facilitating the service. – Blog-commentary: 10 Things We Want from Europe and 10 Things We Do Not Want posted from October 19, 2019.

So is it advisable for Caribbean people to live, work and play in Europe? Nah! While no homeland is perfect – there is the need for societies everywhere to reform and transform – but it is easier for the Black-and-Brown of the Caribbean to succeed right here in the Caribbean, rather than in some foreign location; (with appropriate mitigations that is).

See how this assertion is made by this one political commentator – Mike Larry, a Social Justice Advocate and Pro-African Pundit – in the Caribbean member-state of the Bahamas:

I look at MSM (Mainstream Media) as a propaganda tool where those that control it announce their next move or provide enough disinformation to set those not in their clique running in the wrong direction. On the first reading Europe has long practiced socialism and nationalism especially with respect to any natural resource they find at home and abroad; Norway and its sovereign wealth fund being a perfect example.

The U.S. is another example where she practices socialism and nationalism in the most egregious ways as she stomps about the earth imposing her brutish brand of imperialism on other sovereign states so that her citizens can maintain a certain standard of living at the expense of others. Isn’t that what the Berlin Conference of 1884 was really about with consensus among those of Eurocentric descent to collaborate rather than fight over non-Eurocentric nations and resources.

(In case you missed it, this has always been about resources to the detriment of resource-rich Afrocentric lands in particular).

On a deeper reading of the article, I see this as disinformation that Europe has put out into the mainstream to neutralize any effort or bright ideas that Africa and the African Diaspora might have regarding a United Africa and by extension CSME or any other non-Eurocentric trading bloc. Yet while this might cause non-Eurocentric states to abandon unity, this doesn’t mean that Europe has abandoned her common objective, as laid out in the Berlin Conference, such policies that remain alive and well. Even though Africans in the continent and the Diaspora are only now waking up to history of this barbaric treaty to which Africans were not seated at the table in Berlin. Again this has always been about resources and who gets to share in them in pursuance of their Eurocentric social and national agendas.

In summary, the push to open borders to neoliberal agendas was designed to destabilize sovereign states economically, gain control of their resources and economic arteries, in pursuit of a global system of socialism and nationalism with multiple layers of underclasses and white supremacy representing the capstone of the pyramid. I also believe the US and Europe will use the “engineered coronavirus” scare to gain better control over immigration issues, which too is based in racism and discrimination; this is what we do here in the Bahamas, not understanding that even in a so-called Black-led nation, such as ours, our immigration laws and policies criminalize primarily people of African descent.

When the smoke clears, we will appreciate that Europe, and its allies, have abided by the obligations of that horrible Berlin Treaty from over a century ago. [The goals and practices remain]. It doesn’t need a European Union for there to be business-as-usual in the exploitation of African people. That colonial spirit is embedded in their DNA [still], as evidenced by their avoidance of any Reparation Discourse, aside from empty apologies.

I don’t buy their story, as presented, as they will always be united against us in furthering their nationalistic and socialistic agendas which they have taught us to condemn in Africa and the Diaspora.
Posted: March 31, 2020.

The European Union had emerged as a role model for the Caribbean, but as portrayed in the foregoing news reports, they reverted to independent-minded “me first” nationalism, instead of the best-practice of interdependence, now that ‘push has come to shove’. We want to do better than this in the Caribbean; we do not want to structure our regional society just for the sunshine; no we want to prepare for the rain as well. We want the same rights, responsibilities and deliveries during “push” as during “shove”.

“Can’t we all just get along”?!

This is not just our question-opinion alone.

“When we grow up, we want to be like the European Union” – the Go Lean book proclaimed back in 2013; see this excerpt:

The EU region has quite an ignoble history of contending with differences, spurning 2 World Wars in the last century. Yet they came together to unite and integrate to make Europe a better place to live, work and play. Just like the EU, the CU will not possess sovereignty; this feature remains with each member-state. – 10 Ways to Model the EU (Page 130).

Yes, we want our Caribbean Community (CariCom) to become the Caribbean Union (CU). Except that the EU has NOT provided us with a good role model as of late. Rather than collaborating and confederating for solutions for this COVID-19 threat, they have reverted to their bad roots of nationalism and self-interest.

Europe is not all good.
Europe is not all bad.

Their duplicity gives lessons for us here in the Caribbean to look, listen and learn. But we must not stop there; we must also lend-a-hand and lead. Any society can come back from the brink; then reform and transform; then actuate a great community to live, work, heal and play. We have seen this done, even in Europe – therefore, we are convinced it can happen here. This theme has been highlighted in many previous Go Lean blog/commentaries; see this sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19217	Reducing Brain Drain: Introducing Localism to ‘Live and Let Live’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17915	What Went Wrong in the Caribbean? ‘We’ never had our own war!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17284	Way Forward – ‘Whatever it takes’: Life Imitating Art
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16153	100 Years of Armistice Day – Lessons Learned from World War I
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15796	Lessons Learned from 2008 Financial Crisis: Righting The Wrong
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15521	Caribbean Unity from one European Legacy to Another? What a Joke!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8943	Lessons from Zika’s Drug Breakthrough – Solutions at the precipice
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8132	Venezuela: Watching a ‘Train Wreck in Slow Motion’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6563	Lessons from Iceland’s Model of Recovery: Burn it down; Build it up
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5964	‘Feed the right wolf’ in a crisis – Lessons from Movie ‘Tomorrowland’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3780	National Sacrifice – The Missing Ingredient for Caribbean Recovery
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=623	Harsh Reality: ‘Only at the precipice, do they change’

The movement behind the Go Lean book has consistently monitored and messaged about this fight against the Coronavirus threat; we have even presented a musical accompaniment with the 1970 song “Lean On Me” by Singer-Songwriter Bill Withers. There is a lyrical line in the song that is spot-on for today:

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can’t carry
I’m right up the road
I’ll share your load
If you just call me

For the 30 member-states of the political Caribbean, take these words to heart: “I’m right up the road” This is literally true, as some Caribbean member-states share the same island (think: St. Martin, Haiti, Dominican Republic), and other member-states are only 7 to 60 miles apart; (think USVI and BVI).

As related previously, today’s reality is the manifestation of this song (lyrics); it is time for the Caribbean neighborhood to “lean on” each other, rather than look to foreign masters thousands of miles away – who are otherwise occupied and disinterested.

Due to this Coronavirus reality, the ordinary times are no more; they may never return; this is the new normal, or a new abnormal. By all of us working together – a first time manifestation – we can have a fighting chance to make our regional homeland a better place to live, work, heal and play in good times and bad. 🙂

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

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

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

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

xxii. Whereas the heritage of our lands share the distinction of cultural tutelage from European and American imperialists that forged their tongues upon our consciousness, it is imperative to form a society that is neutral and tolerant of the mother tongue influences of our people to foster efficient and effective communications among our citizens.

xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent Overseas Territory of imperial powers, the systems of governance can be instituted on a regional and local basis, rather than requiring oversight or accountability from distant masters far removed from their subjects of administration. The Federation must facilitate success in autonomous rule by sharing tools, systems and teamwork within the geographical region.

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.

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

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Disaster, EU, Foreign Policy, Model

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BHAG – Outreach to the World: Why Not a Profit Center – Encore

Posted on March 28, 2020 in Economics, Government, Planning, Strategy

The plan to reform and transform the Caribbean member-states does not ignore the rest of the world. No, it recognizes that there must be a lot of “coming and going” with other people in other places.

We honestly admit that many of our own citizens have abandoned the homeland, yet these ones still want to be engaged with Caribbean institutions and can truly still have a positive impact on our societal engines. If only we can “profit” from this engagement.

Yes, we can …

How about a plan for the Caribbean member-states to build-out their “Outreach to the World” – Embassies, Consulates and Trade Mission Offices – in such a way so as to generate traffic from consumer and commercial stakeholders – think: retail, dining, entertainment and amusements.

Generate traffic and generate profits!

This is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), but this can be done; this is being done; this could be expanded upon to a heightened extent.

Every month, the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean presents a Teaching Series on a subject germane to Caribbean life, either at home or abroad. For this March 2020, our focus is on BHAG efforts that are too big for any one member-state alone. This is entry 5-of-6 for this series, which embraces the reality of the Caribbean Outreach to the World.

The full catalog of the series for this month – under the BHAG theme – is listed as follows:

BHAG – The Audacity of Hope – Yes, we can!
BHAG – Regional Currency – In God We Trust
BHAG – Infrastructure Spending … finally funding Toll Roads
BHAG – One Voice – Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Stance
BHAG – Outreach to the World – Why Not a Profit Center
BHAG – Netflix, Hulu, CBS, Peacock ==> Caribbean Media

In addition to the 42 million people in the Caribbean member-states, there is also the Diaspora, estimated in some circles to be 10 to 26 million people; (the disparity is due to the status of first generation “legacies”; only “some” identify with the homeland). So the subject of Caribbean Outreach to the World is familiar for this movement behind the Go Lean book. In addition to the direct references to Diaspora and Trade Mission Offices in the 2013 book, there have been a number of previous Go Lean commentaries that elaborated on this theme of Outreach to this population; consider this sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=19134	Caribbean Diaspora – All Member-states – Not the Panacea
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17992	The ‘Best of the Caribbean’ … now live abroad
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16532	Diaspora Reckoning – Settlers -vs- Immigrants – ‘We’ never catch-up
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16395	The Caribbean – A People or A Place?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16208	Caribbean Trade and Outreach Can Transform Society
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15858	Opportunities for a New Media Network to reach the Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15658	Realities and Dangers of American Immigrant Life – We need to protect our Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14746	Calls for Repatriation Strategy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13604	Outreach Goal: We Want Diaspora to Retire ‘Back at Home’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151	The Caribbean is Looking For Heroes … to Return

In fact, this exact concept of Outreach to the World – Why Not A Profit Center has been addressed specifically in this prior Go Lean blog-commentary from May 3, 2014. It is only appropriate to Encore that 6-year old commentary now. But imagine how much progress has been made since then. For example, consider this establishment in Berlin Germany where developers have captured a Tropical Island experience indoors, open 365 days a year. Consider this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Tropical Islans Water Park! – https://youtu.be/MRywPptaOrA

Posted March 12, 2017 – Tropical Islands is a tropical water park built in an old air ship hanger that protected air ships in bad weather. It is located about 45 minutes south of Berlin, Germany and is set in the largest freestanding hall in the world.
Category: Film & Animation

This is not the only one – there are many more “Indoor Water Parks” throughout the world; consider this list:

30 Top Indoor Water Parks around the World
i.e. #21: Castaway Bay, Cedars Point, Sandusky, Ohio, USA

Why can’t we do the same in other locations – especially our Trade Mission sites – in our Outreach to the World?!

“Can’t bring the people to the Caribbean? Then bring the Caribbean to the people.” – Yes, this is a BHAG.

See the Encore of the May 3, 2014 commentary here-now:

———————–

Go Lean Commentary – Why not … a Profit Center?

Most Caribbean countries have Embassies, Consular Offices and/or Trade Mission Offices in world capitals. These are normally cost centers, where the governments have to maintain the cost burden for these facilities. But why do they have to be cost centers, why not profit centers?

Why not … a profit center? As in one integrated, consolidated center on behalf of all the Caribbean member-states – a classic “cooperative” model. This strategy meets a basic requirement of retail design: traffic. All the embassy, consular and trade mission activities would create impactful retail traffic demands.

This vision comes into focus as a result of the emergence of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), and the news article^[c] below. The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. The roadmap fully anticipated integrating and consolidating Trade Mission Offices (Page 116) to advance the causes of the Caribbean people in foreign countries; eight (8) cities are specified in details.

The resultant facility, and accompanying eco-system, would fulfill a CU mandate, global outreach to expand Caribbean trade within the source country, city and regional area.

From the outset of the roadmap, the intent to leverage Trade Mission Offices was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13), as follows:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. … The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

The roadmap also urges the urban design approach for mixed-use developments; (Page 234). This dictates a structure designed as retail (ground floor), mezzanine for offices, and higher levels/floors for residences (apartments, condominiums, and hotels). See a sample site in a US Midwestern city here – Photos & VIDEO:

VIDEO Midtown Crossing Commercial – https://youtu.be/3Ua3FjWLfKk

A model of a successful mixed-use development is the Omaha-Nebraska Midtown Crossing^[a].

Consider New York City; it is one of 8 mission cities envisioned. This map below and the Appendix Table lists all the addresses of the Caribbean embassies, consulates, and outreach offices in New York City^[b] – all within a 5 mile radius. Imagine if all those facilities were in one property – a mixed-use development.

Imagine too, a climate-controlled atrium with Caribbean fauna & flora; a food court showcasing cuisines from all the participating Caribbean countries, (up to 30); art galleries, convention/banquet facilities, exhibit halls, night clubs, performing arts theaters and maybe even an indoor entertainment center (for instance, modeling the legacy of Caribbean Pirates). This vision would generate multiple streams of revenue – a profit center as opposed to 30 cost centers.

This vision would benefit a lot of Caribbean stakeholders with support and outreach services – those desiring to live, work, learn, heal and play in the Caribbean. These stakeholders include:

Visitors
Caribbean Citizens (travelling abroad)
Diaspora
Foreign Direct Investors
Students

There is the need for this manifestation right now in London, England (another designated Trade Mission Office – Page 116 ); as depicted in this referenced news story^[c]:

LONDON, England (May 1, 2014) — Overseas Territory representatives from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands and Anguilla met with United Kingdom business networking specialists, CaribDirect International Business Network (CIBN) in London last week, as the first networking session focusing on trade and investment gathers momentum.

These discussions, held at the offices of the Bermuda representative, focused on introducing the CaribDirect International Business Network (CIBN) concept; outlining its broad scope; revealing the economic and political opportunities available for the Caribbean Overseas Territories (OTs); and examining practical ways to work together for the benefit of the dependent territories of the Caribbean.

CIBN is an agency designed to facilitate and connect entrepreneurs and business people in the UK with Caribbean government and business representatives for trade and investment.

Representatives attending the meeting were Cayman Islands’ deputy director Charles Parchment, Montserrat director Janice Panton, BVI London Office director Kedrick Malone, Bermuda director Kimberley Durrant, CaribDirect director of policy Ron Belgrave and CaribDirect multi-media CEO David Roberts.

If only this profit center concept existed now … in London … and in New York.

The CU roadmap is designed to bring change to the Caribbean region. This commentary demonstrates that a lean, nimble organization structure can also be “at the corner of preparation and opportunity” and that opportunity can be made in turning a cost center into a profit center. This structure can optimize the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines – no matter the location. If the Trade Mission Offices were constituted as profit centers, the following details from the book Go Lean…Caribbean would manifest, with impacted community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; listed as follows:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 37
Strategy – Repatriating Caribbean Diaspora	Page 47
Strategy – Inviting Foreign Direct Investments	Page 48
Tactical – Separation of Powers – State Department	Page 80
Tactical – Design Requirements for the Capital District	Page 110
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Advocacy – Lessons from New York City	Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Advocacy – Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234

The Go Lean roadmap will make the outreach, and foreign support, for Caribbean stakeholders more efficient and effective. This plan would impact and change the Caribbean and the foreign world we reach out to.

All Caribbean stakeholders – citizens, businesses and governments alike – are urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap.

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

———————

Appendix – References

a. http://www.midtowncrossing.com/about/default.aspx
b. http://michaelbenjamin2012.com/2012/06/21/caribbean-region-consulates-in-nyc/
c. http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Caribbean-overseas-territories-meet-with-UK-networking-specialists-20934.html

———————

Appendix – TABLE – Caribbean States Mission Offices – New York City

Member-State	Address
Anguilla	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-0277
Antigua & Barbuda	610 Fifth Avenue, Ste 311, New York, NY 10020 Phone: 212-541-4117
Aruba	666 Third Avenue, 19th floor, New York, NY 10017 Phone 877-388-2443
Bahamas	231 East 46^th Street, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-421-6420
Barbados	820 Second Avenue, 5^th Fl, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-551-4325
Belize	675 Third Avenue, Ste 1911, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-593-0999
Bermuda	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
British Virgin Islands	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
Cayman Islands	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
Cuba	315 Lexington Ave 38th Street New York, NY 10016 Ph. 212-689-7215
Dominica	800 Second Ave, Ste 400H, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-949-0853
Dominican Republic	1500 Broadway, Ste 410, New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-768-2480
Grenada	800 Second Ave, Ste 400K, New York, NY 10017 Phone 212-599-0301
Guadeloupe	45 W 34th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10001 Phone 877-203-2551
Guyana	370 Seventh Avenue, 4^th Fl, New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-947-5110
Haiti	271 Madison Avenue, 17^th Fl, New York, NY 10016 Phone: 212-967-9767
Jamaica	767 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-935-9000
Martinique	444 Madison Avenue, 16^th Fl, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-838-6887
Monserrat	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-0200
Netherland Antilles:Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Eustatius, Saba	1 Rockefeller Plaza 11th Floor, New York, NY 10020 212-246-1429
Puerto Rico	666 5th Avenue # 15l, New York, NY, 10103-1599. Phone: 212-333-0300
St. Barthelemy	934 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10021 Phone: 212-606-3601
St. Kitts & Nevis	414 East 75^th Street, New York, NY 10103 – 212-535-5521
St. Lucia	800 Second Avenue, 9^th Fl, New York, NY 10017 – 212-697-9360
St. Maarten	675 Third Avenue, Ste 1807, New York, NY 10017 – 800-786-2278
St. Vincent & The Grenadines	801 Second Avenue, 21^st Fl, New York, NY – 212-687-4490
Suriname	1 UN Plaza, 26^th Fl, New York, NY 10017 – 212-826-0660
Trinidad & Tobago	125 Maiden Lane, Unit 4A, 4^th Fl, New York, NY 10038 Ph. 212-682-7272
Turks & Caicos Island	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
US Virgin Islands	45 W 34th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10001 Phone 877-203-2551

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BHAG – One Voice: Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Stance

Posted on March 27, 2020 in Government, Planning, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Face the truth, the “little one” is often invisible and ignored …

… but a Bible prophecy gives hope that the small inconsequential one can someday become significant and actually have a voice that is heard by the “powers that be”. Here is that prophecy from the Bible, from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament); it is a great inspiration:

A little one shall become a thousand, And a small one a strong nation.- Isaiah 60:22 New King James Version

Here is another great directive from The Bible – this time from the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament), from Act 8:6:

And the people with one accord ^G3661 gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

“One Accord”, in this case, does not refer to the vehicle from the Japanese Auto Company Honda …

… rather, it refers to the Art & Science of speaking in unison. This harmonizes with the source Greek word that is used in the above scripture: Homothumadon, which means “with one mind, with one accord, with one passion”.

This is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) of the planners for a new Caribbean. This was enunciated in the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean as a necessary engagement for the 30 member-states of the Caribbean region. Now more than ever, we – all 42 million people in the region – need to speak with one accord, one voice and one passion.

The average population for these territories is not the arithmetic formula of 1.4 million people or (42,198,874 divided by 30). No, the truth is, there are 4 Big Islands, the Greater Antilles of Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti & Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico and Jamaica that have the majority of the population (11.2, 9.0 + 9.5, 4.0 and 2.8 million respectively). While the remaining 26 member-states only total 10 million people; some member-states (15) are so small that they only have 100,000 people or less. (All these figures are as of 2010 and published in the Go Lean book, Page 66).

So the small one can become a strong nation by speaking in unison, with One Voice One Accord.

This is entry 4-of-6 for the March 2020 monthly series from the movement behind the Go Lean book. This submission asserts that there is the need to reform the Foreign Policy of the Caribbean member-states, and further that the voices emanating from 30 different member-states now only sounds like noise. What we need instead is one melodious sound. This is why it is important for the region to speak with One Voice One Accord.

How is this possible, considering that there are 4 different languages and 5 different colonial legacies? The answer is heavy-lifting; but alas, we have the sample-example of a successful execution by the European Union with 28 countries and 15 languages. See how the Go Lean book related this:

The Bottom Line on EU Foreign & Security Policy
The European Union (EU) has its own foreign and security policy, which has developed gradually over many years and which enables it to speak – and act – as one in world affairs. Acting together the 28 member countries have greater weight and influence than if they act individually, following 28 different policies. The EU’s common foreign and security policy has been further strengthened by the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which created the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. At the same time, it created a European Diplomatic Service – the European External Action Service (EEAS).

How about a Caribbean Diplomatic Service? Yes, we can.

Where as the Europeans developed their unified voice “gradually over many years”, our Caribbean must have our unified voice immediately. We must not settle for the luxury of “gradually over many years”. No, we have an urgent-emergent situation transpiring in the region where we need to be One Voice One Accord now. This urgency-emergency relates to the Coronavirus that is rocking our region and the whole world. See this chart of Coronavirus incidences in the region:

Title – Coronavirus cases in the Caribbean as of March 21 at 1 pm

Confirmed Caribbean coronavirus cases as of today, March 21:

Source: Retrieved March 23, 2020 from: http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com/content/coronavirus-cases-caribbean-date-11

China, South Korea, Iran, Italy have individually engaged in unifying their voice for consistent leadership in this Coronavirus battle. Now, we have many Caribbean nations that have been afflicted – people have died – but we need the rest of the world to respect our policies and decision-making. There need not be any guessing as to whether Caribbean nations are open or closed. We need the full region to “shelter-in-place” everywhere and close our borders. We need to allow this crisis to pass, with minimal contagions, so that we can quickly re-open to a disease free environment.

Remember, the Cruise ships in our waters as well.

There is much for us to learn by studying the success and failure of other peoples. Right now today, there is a lesson for us to contemplate from the American metropolitan area of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, where the population is 7,690,420 (according to the U.S. Census Bureau‘s 2018 population estimates,^[4]) across a 13-county region. The 10 urban-suburban counties, despite having their own economic, security and governing engines, now need One Voice One Accord, in their management of the Coronavirus crisis; see this news article here:

Title: Dallas County judge to Collin County: Keep people at home
Sub-title: Clay Jenkins’ admonition comes on a day when North Texas tallies 100 more coronavirus cases. Dallas County had a seventh death, and Denton County recorded its first fatality.

On a day when more than 100 coronavirus cases were reported in North Texas, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins gave a blunt message Thursday night to counties that haven’t enacted shelter-in-place orders, singling out Collin County, which has told residents to stay home but told businesses to stay open.

“We need those in our region who have not moved to heed the scientific advice to do it now,” Jenkins said. “Every day we wait costs lives.”

Dallas County was the first in the state to announce a shelter-in-place order, which went into effect Monday night.

Jenkins said he and his counterparts in the 10-county area took part in a call Thursday with Jim Hinton, the chief executive of Baylor Scott & White Health System. Collin County was the only county that didn’t participate, he said.

Hinton told the county judges that “the only way we can keep people safe and not overrun our hospitals is [to] shelter in place,” Jenkins said at a news conference Thursday evening.

…

Jenkins said he’s taking on the issue of regional cooperation more bluntly “because every day gets us closer to that day when we don’t have enough hospital beds.”

“I don’t want us to get there,” he said.

Asked about the call with the hospital executive, Hill said it was accurate that he didn’t participate but that he had participated in two other calls with county judges Thursday that Jenkins didn’t take part in.

“We need regional cooperation right now in North Texas,” Hill said. “And I urge Judge Clay Jenkins to reconsider his position.”

…

See the full news article here: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2020/03/26/dallas-county-reports-56-new-coronavirus-cases-7th-death/ retrieved March 26, 2020.

This commentary details the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for the Caribbean, that of having a unified voice on the world scene. This is only possible if we were a unified Single Market; then we will have the size – 42 million people – and leverage the whole region as a single entity; this is much better than any one small member-state “making noise alone”. There is an actual advocacy for this purpose in the Go Lean book; see here some of the specific plans, excerpts and headlines from Page 102, entitled:

10 Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up

1	*Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market* Confederation Treaty: Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU)** The CU is modeled after the EU and will allow for the unification of the Caribbean region into one market of 42 million people across 30 member-states, thereby creating an economic zone to promote and protect the interest of the participant trading partners. The CU’s Office of Trade Negotiation currently liaisons with foreign entities to secure better trade deals for the region; under the CU the first goal is to secure the Exclusive Economic Zone status, from the United Nations, for the territory between the islands. In addition, the CU treaty will allow for a collective security agreement of the Caribbean nations so as to ensure homeland security and negotiate better foreign relations with neighboring powers.
2	Speaking with one voice Acting together as the CU, the 30 member countries will have far greater weight and influence than if they act individually, following 30 different policies. The CU, in speaking for 42 million people, brings huge cost savings to the member-states by providing economies-of-scale for representative personnel and offices in foreign countries. The CU will not only perform diplomatic services, but economic ones as well. There is the need for collective bargaining with the Cruise Line industry. Then extending beyond the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), the CU will function as a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) to garner savings for the member-states; and also create a revenue stream for the CU.
3	CU Security Pact
4	US Relationship The CU’s biggest neighbor is the United States, plus two member-states are US Territories. Plus, many of the Caribbean Diaspora live in the US. Therefore any serious foreign policy initiative must start with Washington, DC. The CU will staff an office in Washington to act as its legislative liaison (lobbyist) arm. The US also grants foreign aid to many CU member-states. The goal is to aggregate and streamline US aid to the region through the CU.
5	US Immigration Policy and ICE Policy-wise, the CU advocates repatriation and “drying up the brain drain”. But there are factions in the US that want to liberalize immigration and allow more foreigners to relocate to the US. On the other hand, there are factions that want to tighten US policy and secure the borders. The US agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) do exert some efforts to patrol the Caribbean region, as many illegal immigrants to the US use Caribbean pathways. The CU will advocate for more collaboration and intelligence sharing with ICE and embed CU personnel in tactical engagements.
6	Canada Relationship
7	EU Relationship
8	Mexico Relationship
9	South American Relationship
10	Intelligence Gathering and Analysis

This quest for One Voice One Accord for the 30 Caribbean member-states is one of our Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG). The full catalog of the series for this month – under the BHAG theme – is listed as follows:

BHAG – The Audacity of Hope – Yes, we can!
BHAG – Regional Currency – In God We Trust
BHAG – Infrastructure Spending … finally funding Toll Roads
BHAG – One Voice – Foreign Policy and Diplomatic stance
BHAG – Outreach to the World – Why Not a Profit Center
BHAG – Netflix, Hulu, CBS, Peacock ==> Caribbean Media

The subject of One Voice One Accord is familiar for this movement behind the Go Lean book. In addition to the direct references in the 2013 book, there have a number of previous Go Lean commentaries that elaborated on this theme; consider this sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=18243	After Hurricane Dorian, “Regionalism” new appreciation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17250	Way Forward – Caribbean ‘Single Market’ for Voice & Media
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15858	Network Mandates – One Voice – for a New Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15521	A Plan for Caribbean Unity – Finally for Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15245	Righting a Wrong: Re-thinking CSME
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14718	‘At the Table’ or ‘On the Menu’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090	Introduction to Europe – All Grown Up and Unified

The goal of this Go Lean roadmap is to reform and transform the 30 member-states of the Caribbean, individually and collectively as One Single Market – One Voice One Accord. This is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, but this is conceivable, believable and achievable.

The Coronavirus crisis is not the first challenge to the global, regional, national or local well-being. We guarantee you that this will not be the last; we must simply be prepared or On Guard for any threats to our society. This is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap; this CU effort may be our best solution for protecting and promoting our society. We therefore urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this roadmap. The CU Trade Federation is not the first attempt to unify the Caribbean region for a regional Public Health stance; no, there is CariCom and their related agencies; see the Appendix VIDEO below. The Go Lean movement have always maintained that CariCom is inadequate for Caribbean integration; it does not even include Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Island, the French or Dutch Caribbean territories. In fact, CariCom only includes 15 million of the 42 million in the region; this is truly inadequate, so we recognize it only as a First Step for regional integration.

The Go Lean roadmap for the CU Trade Federation and all its embedded agencies is better … and timely for what we need right now and for the future.

Despite the challenges to our status quo, due to this COVID-19 Coronavirus crisis, this 2013 published plan is the Way Forward for Caribbean society. This is how we will make our homeland a better place to live, work, heal and play. 🙂

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

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

ix. Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for health plans to consolidate premiums of both healthy and sickly people across the wider base of the entire Caribbean population. The mitigation should extend further to disease management, wellness, mental health, obesity and smoking cessation programs. The Federation must proactively anticipate the demand and supply of organ transplantation as developing countries are often exploited by richer neighbors for illicit organ trade.

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

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

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

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

————————–

Appendix VIDEO – CARICOM One on One – Interview with CARPHA’s Dr James Hospedales – https://youtu.be/865DWo7OKp0

CARICOM: Caribbean Community

Dr James Hospedales of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) speaks with the CARICOM Secretariat’s Jascene Dunkley-Malcolm on Measles and Immunization

Category: Travel & Events

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Brain Drain – Brain Gain: Yes we can!

Posted on February 26, 2020 in Economics, Ethos, Locations, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Wait, what?!
Rather than the subtraction of a “drain”, there is a way to get the addition of a “gain”?
Then bring it on!

This is the change that is being promoted, projected and proposed for Caribbean people and Caribbean communities:

Yes, we can have a Brain Gain.

This simply means we have to do the heavy-lifting to retain our people and invite others to come join us. What a challenge?!

Challenge accepted!

This was the quest of the 2013 book Go Lean … Caribbean, it presented a roadmap for elevating the economic, security and governing engines of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean region. It focuses on the 42 million people in the homeland and the 20 million (plus or minus) in the Diaspora. Perhaps some of that Brain Gain will be those of the Diaspora repatriating, or just simply some empowering immigrants from foreign abodes.

“Make happy those who are near and those who are far will come” – Ancient Chinese proverb.

This is the continuation, entry 2-of-5, of this February Teaching Series from the movement behind the Go Lean book. The topic this month is on Brain Drains; we present the full width-and-breadth of the subject. Other Brain Drain considerations are presented in this series; see the full catalog here:

Brain Drain – Where the Brains Are
Brain Drain – Brain Gain: Yes we can!
Brain Drain – Geeks and Freaks: Ultimate Revenge
Brain Drain – ‘Tiger Moms’ – Is that so bad?
Brain Drain – Live and Let Live – Introducing ‘Localism’

As related in the first entry in this series, even advanced democracy countries, like the United States, have challenges with Brain Drains. As related in the AUDIO-PODCAST below, 60 percent of the US population live in urban-suburban areas, as more and more people abandon the rural areas and seek refuge near cities.

Why do they leave? For the same reasons the Caribbean suffers from such an atrocious Brain Drain rate:

“Push” – people leave, to seek refuge elsewhere. Social defects result in narrow-mindedness of attitudes and values towards anyone that looks, talks, thinks or loves differently that those in the community. This includes those identified as LGBT, Disabled, Domestic-abused, Medically-challenged.

“Pull”, on the other hand refers to the lure of a more prosperous life elsewhere; many times people are leaving based on a mirage of “greener pastures”, though the “better prospect” may be elusive … especially for the first generation.

While there are more jobs in the Big Cities, the American pastoral lands – fly-over country – have always featured great agricultural opportunities – a popular expression of entrepreneurship. But this is not just an issue of economics. Those who live in the rural areas and small town have always had the privilege of ignoring the locks on their doors – so there is less of a security threat (crime and organized gangs).

So what’s the Push dynamics that threaten the viability of rural citizens, especially young ones:

The cultural differences between Urban Progressives and Rural Conservatives is stark and must be reconciled.

This fact was related in the aforementioned AUDIO-PODCAST; let’s consider that now and see how some rural areas have found success in attracting empowering New Comers:

AUDIO-VIDEO – Reversing the ‘Brain Drain’ in Rural America? – https://the1a.org/segments/2019-10-09-migrating-to-the-midwest/

Posted October 9, 2019 – Rural America has never been only one place, one type of person or one type of job. And new data points to the growing complexity and diversity of those parts of the country. Author and podcast host Sarah Smarsh wrote in The New York Times recently about so-called “brain gain” instead of “brain drain.”

The Christian Science Monitor recently reported a prairie trend of young people, drawn by family ties and affordable entrepreneurship, returning to rural and small-town homes around college graduation. They’re opening restaurants or starting small, unconventional farming operations. One college senior founded a direct-to-consumer beef company in Otoe County, Neb., and sold $52,000 worth of meat in the past nine months.

This return — or refusal to leave — is good news for Americans who will happily remain in cities. The future of rural is intertwined with suburban and urban outcomes by way of food production, natural resources, the economy, political movements and beyond.

What makes for success in some spots? And what’s driving people away from others?

We expand on our previous conversation about how to report on rural America with Smarsh, data journalist Dante Chinni of the American Communities Project at George Washington University and Monica Potts, who moved back home to Clinton, Arkansas, to write about low-income women in her hometown.

Produced by Stacia Brown.

Guests:

Dante Chinni – Director of the American Communities Project at the George Washington University; data journalist for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal; author of “Our Patchwork Nation”.
Sarah Smarsh – Journalist; host, “The Homecomers” podcast.
Monica Potts – Journalist based in rural Arkansas.

One strategy that is emerging from the mitigation of Brain Drains , and for enabling Brain Gain, is that of localism.

Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity. – Source: Wikipedia

This localism is clearly gleaned from the foregoing PODCAST; it provides a model for other rural communities to emulate and for the Caribbean as well. The featured local communities began to realize that they had to be tolerant of visitors, strangers and foreigners. So localism in this case brought a certain amount of pragmatism:

The town must survive – “we must put aside our differences and work together”.

Ditto for the Caribbean region and 30 member-states. This is why the movement behind the Go Lean book has always championed the need to reform and transform community values. See how this has been addressed in many previous Go Lean commentaries – consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=18410	Refuse to Lose – Remediating ‘Columbus Day’ & Reforming History
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=18321	Unequal Justice: Reforming Sheriffs with ‘soft’ Tyrannicide
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17820	Reforming LGBT Policies – “Can’t we all just get along”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16408	Reforming Bad Ethos on Home Violence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15998	Reforming Our Governance: The Kind of Society We Want
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15996	Reforming Our Governance: Stepping Up in an Emergency
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15886	Reforming Reinsurance to Reform Disaster Response
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9766	Rwanda’s Catholics Apologize for Genocide and Seeks to Reform
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=313	What’s Holding Back Jamaica’s Reforms

The opening theme in this commentary related the need to do the “heavy-lifting to retain our people and invite others to come join us”. This means being more willing to embrace empowering immigrants. Wow! This means overcoming the natural tendency to be xenophobic and expressing some disdain for strangers. But “the world is flat”, so to compete in this world will mean overcoming any dogma and orthodoxy. So rather than strangers, the advocacy is to think of outsiders as potential trading partners and new friends.

Can we consider this? Can we consider this … in regards to immigration and our view of new immigrants?

Yes, we can must … if we want to survive. Immigration policy has been a “lightning rod” issue in many communities. The American example is duplicitous: their President wants to “build a wall” to keep immigrants out, while the country’s economists tabulate the positive effects of immigration on their economy. Consider the lessons-learned in the Appendix VIDEO below.

Also consider how the Go Lean movement addressed the need to invite Empowering Immigrants in a previous commentary. This Case Study is presented regarding the once rural town of Huntsville, Alabama. They got over their reticence and disdain towards Germans – after World War II – and invited the Rocket Scientist Wernher von Braun, and his team of other German engineers, scientists and technologists. The end result was the fostering of an advanced Scientific Climate for building rockets for NASA for the space expeditions in the 1960’s … and continuing until today. See a summary of that Case Study and related references here:

Much of America’s leadership in the Space Race during the Cold War years of 1950 to 1991 was due to the contributions of one empowering immigrant: Rocket Scientist Wernher von Braun; see … more details …below.

…

Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was a German and later American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States and is considered one of the “Fathers of Rocket Science”. He was also a member of the Nazi party and the Schutzstaffel (SS), and was suspected of perpetrating war crimes during World War II.

In his twenties and early thirties, Braun was already the central figure in the Nazis’ rocket development program, responsible for the design and realization of the V-2 rocket during World War II. After the war, he and selected members of his rocket team were taken to the United States as part of the secret Operation Paperclip. Braun worked on the United States Army’s intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) program before his group was assimilated by NASA. Under NASA, he served as director of the newly formed Marshall Space Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the super-booster that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon.^[1] According to one NASA source, he is “without doubt, the greatest rocket scientist in history”.^[2] In 1975 he received the National Medal of Science.
…
In 1950, at the start of the Korean War, von Braun and his team were transferred to Huntsville, Alabama, his home for the next 20 years. Between 1952 and 1956,^[63] von Braun led the Army’s rocket development team at Redstone Arsenal, resulting in the Redstone rocket, which was used for the first live nuclear ballistic missile tests conducted by the United States. He personally witnessed this historic launch and detonation.^[64] Work on the Redstone led to development of the first high-precision inertial guidance system on the Redstone rocket.^[65]
…
NASA was established by law on July 29, 1958. One day later, the 50th Redstone rocket was successfully launched from Johnston Atoll in the south Pacific as part of Operation Hardtack I. Two years later, NASA opened the Marshall Space Flight Center at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) development team led by von Braun was transferred to NASA.

Source: Retrieved February 26, 2020 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun

Huntsville, Alabama
The city is nicknamed “The Rocket City” for its close association with U.S. space missions.^[41] On January 31, 1958, ABMA placed America’s first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit using a Jupiter-C launch vehicle, a descendant of the Redstone. This brought national attention to Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, with widespread recognition of this being a major center for high technology.

On July 1, 1960, 4,670 civilian employees, associated buildings and equipment, and 1,840 acres (7.4 km²) of land, transferred from ABMA to form NASA‘s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Wernher von Braun was MSFC’s initial director. On September 8, President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the MSFC.^[42]

During the 1960s, the major mission of MSFC was in developing the Saturn boosters used by NASA in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. For this, MSFC greatly increased its employees, and many new companies joined the Huntsville industrial community. The Cummings Research Park was developed just north of Redstone Arsenal to partially accommodate this industrial growth, and has now became the second-largest research park of this type in America.

Huntsville’s economy was nearly crippled and growth almost came to a standstill in the 1970s following the closure of the Apollo program. However, the emergence of the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and a wide variety of advanced research in space sciences led to a resurgence in NASA-related activities that has continued into the 21st century. In addition, new Army organizations have emerged at Redstone Arsenal, particularly in the ever-expanding field of missile defense.^[43]

Now in the 2000s, Huntsville has the second-largest technology and research park in the nation,^[44] and ranks among the top 25 most educated cities in the nation.^[45][46][47] It is considered in the top of the nation’s high-tech hotspots,^[48][49] and one of the best Southern cities for defense jobs,^[50] It is the number one United States location for engineers most satisfied with the recognition they receive,^[51] with high average salary and low median gross rent.^[52]

Source: Wikipedia retrieved February 26, 2020 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsville,_Alabama#Missile_development

Go to Huntsville! Go visit! Tour and Engage!

This is the 5 L’s at work: Look, Listen, Learn, Lend-a-hand, then Lead!

This goal is among the missions and motivations of the Go Lean book, as related on Page 46:

Invite empowering immigrants to help us move our society and our economy to destinations where we have never been before.

We must reboot the 3 vital societal engines (economics, security, governance) by employing best practices in labor strategies. The Go Lean book provides 370 pages of details on how to spur such a reboot. First, it identified that new community ethos (attitudes and values) have to be adopted; then we must execute new strategies, tactics and implementations to elevate the societal engines. In fact, there is an actual advocacy for this purpose in the book; see here for some of the specific plans, excerpts and headlines from Page 174, entitled:

10 Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration

1	*Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market* Confederation Treaty: Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU)** This treaty allows for the unification of the region into one market, thereby creating a single economy of 30 member-states, 42 million people and a GDP of over $800 Billion. The Single Market structure allows for the controlled movement of labor from state to state, and the opportunity to correct actuarial imbalances. The CU is a re-boot of the economic engines, the same way indentured servitude rebooted the labor pool in 19th century Guyana. The skills needed for today’s global economy may not be plentiful in the Caribbean and thus the need to invite empowering immigrants. In general, this group of immigrants should give more than they take; they should not be looking for jobs, rather they should create jobs.
2	DFI Time, Talent, Treasuries The CU will incentivize/promote direct foreign investments (DFI). The CU protections minimize the risk of failure, while extending greater reward because of the dynamics of this market. Members of the One Percent look for enterprising opportunities. The CU will therefore invite this Special Interest Group to immigrate to the region, along with their assets.
3	SGE Labor Rules
4	STEM Immigrants The same as there is now priority for educational ventures for Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, there is also the need for professionals (practitioners and teachers) in these fields. The CU will incentivize these immigrants.
5	Retirees and Tax Refugee – Long Term Tourists
6	Artistic Immigrants
7	Carnies – Event Staff
8	Refugees
9	Movie Making
10	Virtual Employees

Brain Gain, instead of Brain Drain – Yes, we can …

That opening quotation, originally published in a previous blog-commentary, is so apropos that it should be encored here:

“Make happy those who are near and those who are far will come”.

That previous blog-commentary identified tourists-visitors and repatriates (Re-patriots) as the target audience to “come from afar”. Now we are also applying this mantra to Empowering Immigrants.

Let’s get started and convert our atrocious Brain Drain to a Brain Gain. This is how we make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

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

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

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

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

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.

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

————

Appendix VIDEO – How does immigration impact the economy? | CNBC Explains – https://youtu.b e/f0dVfDiSrFo

CNBC International
Posted Dec 21, 2018 – It’s an incredibly complicated topic, with political disagreement about how immigration affects a nation’s economy. CNBC’s Uptin Saiidi explains the data behind the debate.
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Category: News & Politics

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Profiting from the Migration Crisis – Encore

Posted on July 16, 2019 in Ethos, Government, Strategy

The Migrant Crisis in the US is very acute right now … and very sad. Underlying to this drama, is the concern over Homeland Security and decency while ensuring Human Rights.

In the Caribbean, many of our member-states are affected by this crisis, either on the supply-side or the demand-side.

On the supply-side, we have countries that border the US territories – think: Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands – so people flee to these member-states – as an intermediary step – in an attempt to “pursue refuge or asylum” in the US. (The US now wants asylum-seekers to apply only in these 3rd-Party countries).
On the other hand, on the demand-side, we are also involved in this drama. Many of those who seek refuge in the US are from Caribbean states – think: Cuba, Haiti, etc.. In fact, in some member-states our societal emigration-abandonment rates are so high that we have lost 70 percent, on the average, of our professional citizens to foreign shores – many have emigrated to the US.

Is the grass greener on the American-side, so as to impact the demand in our region for our citizens to want to migrate there?

Our Caribbean people do leave … due to “Push and Pull” reasons. “Push” refers to the societal defects in the Caribbean that moves people to want to get way, while “pull” refers to the impressions and perceptions (true or false) that America is better.

The purpose of this commentary is two-fold:

to dissuade the high emigration rates of Caribbean citizens to the American homeland.
to structure our societal engines – economics, security & governance – to better avail the economic opportunities related to America’s homeland security.

Migrants have been told that they are not invited and not welcomed in the US; yet they still come anyway; the audacity of Human Rights!

What’s a country, in this case the United States, to do?

Answer: Throw money at it!

We can benefit our regional economy more by facilitating the engines to deliver on the Homeland Security needs of the US; while optimizing concern for Human Rights.

Can we do more on the supply-side to avail the opportunities associated with this immigration crisis? Yes; yes indeed – remember, our previous proposition on Prisons 101.

This rich country – USA – needs lots of help. So far their delivery has been so poor – think: separating small children from mothers and “kids in cages” – that there have been comparisons to the “Concentration Camps” by Nazi Germany during World War II.

“Concentration Camps”?!?!

This is not our words alone; rather this is the assessment by “Concentration Camp” survivors. See the news story here:

For the past two weeks, Americans have debated whether the notoriously cramped and dirty detention centers on the southern border can be called “concentration camps.” For at least one Holocaust survivor, the answer is a resounding yes.

Ruth Bloch was 17 years old when she was separated from her family. While living in Holland in 1942, her father, mother, and brother were arrested and sent to concentration camps, where they were eventually killed. Bloch remained in Holland working as a seamstress at a fur factory, sewing fur-lined coats for German troops. She was eventually sent to Vught concentration camp in Holland in 1943, before being eventually transported to Auschwitz.

Now, at 93, she told The Daily Beast that she looks back at that time and can relate to the thousands of migrants, including small children, being held at camps after crossing the border into the U.S. to seek refuge.

See the full story here; posted by The Daily Beast on July 8, 2019 : https://www.yahoo.com/news/holocaust-survivor-yes-border-detention-084846706.html

Accompanying VIDEO:

We can do better than “Concentration Camps”!

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that we should look, listen and learn from this full drama; then we should lend-a-hand. In this case our lending-a hand can be building “optimized” Detention Centers in our Caribbean communities and servicing these “patrons” for the US … for a profit.

(The 5 L’s of leadership progression is defined as 1. Look, 2. Listen, 3. Learn, 4. Lend-a-hand and 5. Lead).

Homeland Security is traditionally a big area for spending. So “Yes we can” profit from this crisis; other countries have done so – ‘catered’ a foreign Detention Center and made money – think: Nauru on behalf of Australia. This is the model we want to emulate here in the Caribbean, outside the US borders.

We have discussed Nauru before; it is only apropos to re-consider or Encore that discussion now. See how the prospect of this business model was presented in this Encore of the previous blog-commentary from July 9, 2014 – 5 years ago:

—————–

Go Lean Commentary – Obama’s Plans for $3.7 Billion Immigration Crisis Funds

If only we were ready now!

$3.7 Billion in new spending in communities that really do not want the activity.

This, according to the below article, is the ground situation regarding the current immigration crisis on the US-Mexico border with children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The US government, Obama Administration, is requesting additional funding from Congress of $3.7 Billion to better interdict and respond during this crisis. The biggest part of the expense will be the detention functionality for the apprehended trustees.

This is a crisis … and this crisis is a terrible thing to waste!

By: Mary Bruce

Detainees sleep and watch television in a holding cell where hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center on June 18, 2014, in Nogales, Arizona. Ross D. Franklin-Pool/Getty Images

President Obama today is requesting $3.7 billion to cope with the humanitarian crisis on the border and the spike in illegal crossings by unaccompanied minors from Central America.

Roughly half of the funding would go to the Department of Health and Human Services to provide care for the surge of children crossing the border, including additional beds.

The rest would be split between several departments to tackle the issue on both sides of the border, including $1.6 billion to the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to boost law enforcement at the Southwest border and pay for additional immigration judge teams, among other things, and $300 million to the State Department to tackle the root causes of this crisis and to send a clear message to these countries not to send children illegally to the U.S.

Today’s funding request is separate from policy changes that the administration is also seeking to speed up the deportation of the children, most of whom are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The White House sent a letter to Congressional leadership last week requesting the legal changes to make it easier to send them home.

According to a White House official, greater administrative authority as well as the additional resources will help make it more efficient and expeditious to process and return the children.

What remains unclear is how much faster this additional funding would make the process to send children back to their home countries. White House officials today declined to speculate on such timing, but the administration has said that most of the unaccompanied minors will likely be “sent home.”

“Based on what we know about these cases, it is unlikely that most of these kids will qualify for humanitarian relief. And what that means is it means that they will not have a legal basis for remaining in this country and will be returned,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.

The White House has yet to say how many of the roughly 52,000 children that have been apprehended this year have been sent back to Central America. Today, officials offered only the total figure, including adults. So far this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has removed almost 233,000, that includes over 87,000 to Central American countries.

Here’s a detailed look at some of the ways the president wants to spend $3.7 billion to deal with the influx of unaccompanied minors, according to the White House.

$364 MILLION:

To pay for operational costs of responding to the significant rise in apprehensions of unaccompanied children and families, including overtime and temporary duty costs for Border Patrol agents, contract services and facility costs to care for children while in CBP custody, and medical and transportation service arrangement.

$39.4 MILLION:

To increase air surveillance capabilities that would support 16,526 additional flight hours for border surveillance and 16 additional crews for unmanned aerial systems to improve detection and interdiction of illegal activity.

$109 MILLION:

To provide for immigration and customs enforcement efforts, including expanding the Border Enforcement Security Task Force program, doubling the size of vetted units in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and expanding investigatory activities by ICE Homeland Security Investigations.

$879 MILLION:

To pay for detention and removal of apprehended undocumented adults traveling with children, expansion of alternatives to detention programs for these individuals, and additional prosecution capacity for adults with children who cross the border unlawfully.

$45.4 MILLION:

To hire approximately 40 additional immigration judge teams, including those anticipated to be hired on a temporary basis. This funding would also expand courtroom capacity including additional video conferencing and other equipment in support of the additional immigration judge teams. These additional resources, when combined with the FY 2015 Budget request for 35 additional teams, would provide sufficient capacity to process an additional 55,000 to 75,000 cases annually.
ABC News Online News Video Source (Retrieved 07/08/2014) – http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/07/obamas-plans-for-3-7-billion-immigration-crisis-funds/

ABC News | ABC Sports News

The overriding theme of the foregoing news article is the need for professional detention capabilities. Within this crisis, the publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean see opportunities for commerce.

The book posits that the region must prepare its own security apparatus for its own security needs. But while we are building facilities (prisons, jails, detention centers, etc) for our own needs, we can employ the strategy of over-building and insourcing for other jurisdictions. Had we been ready now, with this Go Lean plan, we would have been able to embrace the opportunities presented by this Central American Children Crisis. 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 of criminology and penology to assuage continuous threats against public safety. The Federation must allow for facilitations of detention for convicted felons of federal crimes, and should over-build prisons to house trustees from other jurisdictions.

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.

The Go Lean roadmap facilitates the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). With 2 American territories in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico & the US Virgin Islands), it would be a simple proposal to Washington to offer to house these Central American Children in a Caribbean detention center, until some disposition is finalized regarding their individual cases. Then portions of that $3.7 Billion could be earned here, in the Caribbean.

The book asserts that the CU can copy the model of the small Pacific island country of Nauru (Page 290). As of July 2013 the detention center there was holding 545 asylum seekers on behalf of Australia … for a fee, assuaging an immigration crisis for Australia.

In addition to government spending, there will be the bonus of private spending from the visitors and family members of the detainees.

Just like that: Commerce!

This is the goal of Go Lean…Caribbean, to confederate under a unified entity made up of all 30 Caribbean member-states. Then provide homeland security for “our neighborhood”, contending with man-made and natural threats. The CU security goal is for public safety! The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through a number of missions. 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.

In recent blog submissions, this commentary highlighted the security provisions that must be enacted to improve homeland security, as soon as possible:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554	Status of Forces Agreement = Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1076	References to the Caribbean Regional Security System

If only those provisions were in place already!

We console with the communities dealing with this crisis; already there have been protests from townspeople where the existing American detention facilities are located. We also console with the refugees fleeing the crime, violence and despair in their homeland; this Go Lean roadmap is the Caribbean’s aspiration to mitigate against a similar Failed-State status (Page 134).

Underlying to the prime directive of elevating the economics, security and governing engines of the Caribbean is the desire to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play (Page 131) and to impact the Greater Good (Page 37) because “the needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the few”.

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

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Marshall Plan – Is $91 Billion a Redux for Puerto Rico?

Posted on May 14, 2019 in Economics, Government, Locations

Go Lean Commentary

The US gave $13 Billion to Western Europe to recover, reboot and turn-around the deficient societal engines of that region, post World War II. It made a huge difference and restored the national production (think GDP) to levels exceeding the years before the war.

This was the Marshall Plan; it worked for Europe. There are even lessons for us to learn and apply in our Caribbean region.

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico (PR), “bombing” its infrastructure. The island needed (actually still needs) all the help it could get. PR must reboot! Help came from the US Federal government … eventually. The US President now claims that his administration has given $91 Billion.

If so, wouldn’t this constitute a turn-around for Puerto Rico; perhaps another round – a redux – of the Marshall Plan, the original European Recovery Plan of 1948 – 1952?

The answer is: No!

Despite the need for a Marshall Plan for PR, they have not gotten one. They also did not get $91 Billion!

Wait, what?! See the news story-VIDEO here:

VIDEO – CNN reporter responds to Trump: That’s not true – https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/05/09/trump-puerto-rico-storm-relief-false-claim-crn-vpx.cnn

CNN Right Now
Posted May 9, 2019 – President Trump falsely claimed that Puerto Rico has been given $91 billion in disaster aid following Hurricane Maria that devastated the island.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean asserts that the Caribbean must first look to the Caribbean to effect the needed change in the region. The idea of someone “swooping in” and bringing the relief that the Caribbean needs – a panacea – is simply a fantasy. This has not happened, is not happening and will not happen.

“We” must be the change our homeland needs.

The 2013 Go Lean book anticipated the repercussions and consequences of natural disasters in the Caribbean. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This is the solution that we need, a regional regime to shepherd the economic, security (including Emergency Management), and governing engines of the 30 member-states, as one integrated unit.

This could be fact, not fantasy!

The Go Lean/CU roadmap does include a Marshall Plan for some member-states (Cuba & Haiti), that need to simply catch-up. Puerto Rico, while needing a Way Forward to reboot, recover and turn-around, is not envisioned for such a Marshall Plan. This is entry 5-of-5 in this series of commentaries – the final one – on the Marshall Plan, the historic European one and Caribbean versions. Here, as follows, is the full series being presented this month of May (2019):

Marshall Plan: A Lesson in History
Marshall Plan: Cuba – An imminent need for ‘Free Market’ Emergence
Marshall Plan: Haiti – Past time for Mitigation
Marshall Plan: Funding – What Purse to Fund Our Plans?
Marshall Plan: Is $91 Billion a Redux for Puerto Rico?

So if no Marshall Plan for PR, what solutions do we propose for this island. The theme of rebooting PR has been detailed in many previous Go Lean commentaries; consider this sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17135	Way Forward – Puerto Rico: Learns its status with America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15012	In Life or Death: No Love for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14101	‘We Are The World’ Style Campaign to Help Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13995	First Steps – Congressional Interstate Compacts – No Vote; No Voice
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13391	After Maria, Failed-State Indicators: Destruction and Defection for PR
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11647	Righting a Wrong: Puerto Rico’s Bankruptcy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7963	‘Like a Good Neighbor’ – Being there for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6260	Puerto Rico Bondholders Coalition Launches Ad Campaign
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1325	Puerto Rico Attempts to Reboot the Landscape for Entrepreneurs (SME)
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=599	Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes

The status quo for the Caribbean is deficient and defective. The status quo for Puerto Rico is deficient and defective. This same assessment requires some of the same solutions. The Go Lean/CU roadmap presents the solutions to fix the entire region.

This is the Way Forward.

Is the Way Forward part-and-parcel of their American experience?

How was the $91 Billion?

Oh wait! It’s a mirage. It is past time for PR to realize that its panacea is not the American eco-system. It is time to Grow Up, Already! The heavy-lifting that is needed for Puerto Rico must be exerted by Puerto Rico.

You are acting like a colony … towards your imperial masters, Washington D.C..

Instead, we propose that you act like a Good Neighbor, willing to partner with others “in the same boat” with common problems to find common solutions.

Puerto Rico should be fully inclusive in the political, social, economic, security, musical and athletic fabric of the regional society. This is the Caribbean’s future … and Puerto Rico’s future. This is how we can make our regional homeland, PR included, a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

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

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

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

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

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