Go Lean…Caribbean – Page 67 – Live, work, and play in the Caribbean? Let's make it better…together!

Respect for Minorities: ‘All For One’

Posted on June 10, 2016 in Ethos, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

This subject of “Respect for Minorities” is dominant in the news right now. This commentary is 1 of 3 in this series on lamentations for defective Caribbean social values. The complete series is as follows:

Respect for Minorities: ‘All For One’
Respect for Minorities: Climate of Hate – ‘It Gets Worse Before It Gets Worse’
Respect for Minorities: Reconstruction then Redemption

There is this impactful quotation from the Bible:

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? – The Bible; Matthew 18:12 – New International Version.

But someone might argue: “the needs of the many out-weight the needs of the few”. This is the principle of the Greater Good. Yes, this is true! This principle is very familiar to the publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean; the principle is foremost in the book (Page 37) as a community ethos, the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a society. The region needs to adopt this ethos to forge change in the Caribbean. But it turns out that the Greater Good is not just a priority on the majority, it is very much reflective of minorities.

All For One … and … One For All!

This expression is from literature, the book: The Three Musketeers, by the nineteenth-century French author Alexandre Dumas – it represents “art imitating life” in it’s meaning:

All the members of a group support each of the individual members, and the individual members pledge to support the group. Note: “All for one and one for all” is best known as the motto of the title characters in the book. Source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/all-for-one-and-one-for-all

Since everyone is unique, we may all be minorities in some respects. Consider (these previous blogs):

There is the need for the majority to protect the basic rights of minority groups; this is in effect protecting the rights for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness … for all.

What’s more, the minorities should not have to beg the majority for these rights; the rights should be an automatic entitlement.

Let’s consider the example here of the “peanut“.

It’s a great little snack; a lot of people enjoy them. But, for some – a small but growing minority in any society; see VIDEO below – the peanut is deadly, due to their allergic reactions. Should a majority of people be inconvenient due to allergies of just a few people, or sometimes, just one. Consider this model here:

Title: Customers with Disabilities – Peanut Dust Allergies
Source: Southwest Airlines Website – Customer Service Policy; retrieved 06/09/2016 from: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/unique-travel-needs/customers-with-disabilities-pol.html

Because it is nearly impossible for persons who have an allergy to peanut dust to avoid triggering a reaction if peanut dust is in the air, Southwest Airlines is unable to guarantee a peanut-free or allergen-free flight. We have procedures in place to assist our Customers with severe allergies to peanut dust and will make every attempt not to serve packaged peanuts on the aircraft when our Customers alert us of their allergy to peanut dust.

We ask Customers with peanut dust allergies making reservations over the phone to advise our Customer Representatives of the allergy at the time the reservation is made. If the reservation is made via a travel agent, the Customer should telephone 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) afterward to speak with a Customer Representative. If the reservation is made via southwest.com, the Customer may advise us of the allergy on the “Southwest Airlines Payment and Passenger Information” screen by clicking on the link to “Add/Edit Disability Assistance Options.”

We suggest that Customers with peanut dust allergies book travel on early morning flights as our aircraft undergo a thorough cleaning only at the end of the day.

We ask the Customer with the allergy (or someone speaking on the Customer’s behalf) to check in at the departure gate one hour prior to departure and speak with the Customer Service Agent (CSA) regarding the Customer’s allergy. Please allow enough time to park, check luggage and/or receive your boarding pass, and to pass through the security checkpoint. Our CSA will provide the Customer with a Peanut Dust Allergy Document and ask him/her to present the document to the Flight Attendant upon boarding. If the Customer has a connection, the CSA will provide the Customer with two documents, one of which should be retained to present to the Flight Attendant on the connecting flight.

Our CSA will advise the Operations (Boarding) Agent so that service of packaged peanuts can be suspended for that flight. Our Operations Agent will notify the Provisioning and/or Ramp Supervisor to stock the aircraft with a sufficient supply of pretzels or alternate snacks. The Operations Agent will also notify the Flight Attendants of the Customer’s final destination and advise them that we cannot serve packaged peanuts until the Customer deplanes.

As some of our other snack items may contain peanut particles, peanut oil, or have been packaged in a peanut facility, Customers who have allergic reactions to eating/ingesting peanuts should read the ingredients on any packaged snack before consumption. Of course, all Customers are welcome to bring their own snacks with them.

Southwest cannot prevent other Customers from bringing peanuts or products containing peanuts onboard our flights. In addition, Southwest cannot give assurances that remnants of peanuts and/or peanut dust/oil will not remain on the aircraft floor, seats, or tray tables from the flights earlier in the aircraft’s routing.

In addition, Southwest Airlines cannot guarantee that a flight will be free of other allergens such as perfumes, lotions, cleaning solutions, etc.

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean wants to forge change in the Caribbean; we want to change the attitudes for an entire community, country and region. As depicted in the foregoing article, but on a larger scale, we want to ensure that one peanut allergy sufferer can be assured of best efforts to not deprive them of life and health. But this quest is more than just peanuts; it is the attitudes of the people. We need majority populations to sacrifice, however small or large, to allow minority populations every opportunity to participate fully in society.

Besides, how much of a sacrifice is it truly to forego peanuts … for a short period. There are other alternative snacks. This is the full definition of a reasonable accommodation.

The “peanut” is this case is truly a metaphor. The seriousness of the allergy – life-and-death – is representative of the seriousness for the rights of minorities in a community. But at the same time, peanut allergies have increased in western societies. Why? See VIDEO in the Appendix below. So for peanuts and other aspects of societal life, what may only be an inconvenience for the majority may actually be “life-and-death” for the affected minority. This is why the requirements for someone’s quality of life, should never be subject to a popularity contest. This is the Greater Good.

So the community ethos of the Greater Good must be tempered with the ethos of National Sacrifice. The Go Lean movement (book and blog-commentaries) posits that these new community ethos must be adopted by the Caribbean; they are undoubtedly missing. This is evidenced by the fact that every Caribbean member-state suffers from alarming rates of societal abandonment: on average 70% of college educated ones in the population have fled in a brain drain, while the US territories have lost more than 50% of their general populations). Why do people flee?

“Push and pull” reasons! “Push”, as in people fleeing to find refuge from abuses tied to their minority status, and “pull”, as in the perception (though many times false) that life is better on foreign shores.

The term National Sacrifice is defined here as the willingness to sacrifice for a greater cause; think “patriotism or love of country”. This spirit is currently missing, in that many in the community refuse to extend some reasonable accommodations so that others who may be minorities or differently-abled can participate in the out-workings of their community. As it turns out, “All For One and One For All” is also a recipe for forging successful communities.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); a confederation of the 30 member-states to bring change, empowerment, to the Caribbean region; to make the region a better place to live, work and play for all stakeholders (residents, tourists, visiting Diaspora and trading partners). This Go Lean roadmap also has initiatives (strategies) to foster solutions for the Caribbean youth. Any attempts to change Caribbean society’s community ethos (Greater Good and National Sacrifice) must start with the youth in order for the changes to be permanent. We are embarking on the effort to fix our Caribbean culture:

What is it that young people want in their society, so as to map a future for themselves at home: opportunity!

More specifically, equal access to opportunities – despite any minority status – to pursue their passions in life; whichever fields of endeavor they might pursue. This includes the strategies of education, jobs, entrepreneurial options, sports, and aspects of culture (art and music). Young people who cry, sweat, and bleed for their communities – embedding a desire to sacrifice for the Greater Good – are less inclined to flee. While these strategies are important, there is something else even more vital: a culture of inclusiveness; as follows:

Our community’s values, how we treat each other, our citizens, and stakeholders, and a healthy inclusive culture are more important than the elevation strategies executed.

Yes, when we make reasonable accommodations to be a more inclusive society, we invite “more people to the party” and elevate our society.

An African proverb brings a lot of solace to this discussion:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

This also corresponds with the next verse in the above Bible scripture:

“And if he finds it [the one errand sheep], truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.” – Matthew 18:12 – New International Version.

The purpose of the Go Lean book/roadmap is more than just the embedding of these new community ethos, but rather the elevation of Caribbean society. In total, the Caribbean elevation roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

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

The roadmap details the following community ethos, plus the execution of these strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to expand inclusiveness – to go together – and forge permanent change in Caribbean society:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact a Turn-Around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Enact a Defense Pact to Defend the Homeland	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Keep the next generation at home	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Implementation – Assemble – Incorporating all the *existing* regional organizations	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – Confederation Without Sovereignty	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities – With Reasonable Accommodations	Page 228

All in all, there are certain successful traits (community ethos) associated with populations that have endured change, like the Greater Good and National Sacrifice. These are focused more on deferred gratification; on the future more so than immediate impact.

No sacrifice; no victory.

Now is the time for all stakeholders – majority and minority – to lean-in to this roadmap for Caribbean elevation, as depicted in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. “We need all hands on deck” to make our homelands better places to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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Appendix VIDEO – Why Are Peanut Allergies Becoming So Common? – https://youtu.be/Mjr9h_QmdeM

Published on Oct 3, 2014 – Peanut allergies are becoming more and more common, and researchers are trying to find the cause. Trace is here to discuss this unique allergy, and how we might have finally found a cure.

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Civil Rights, Model, Transform

ENCORE: Role Model Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight – RIP

Posted on June 4, 2016 in Ethos, Social

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali.

The world now mourns the passing of this great role model; boxing legend Muhammad Ali is dead!

We all knew it would happen; he was frail, gaunt and semi-immobile; all of this combined with his muted speech – due to his end-stage Parkinson’s Disease. But the manifestation of the inevitable is still painful, grievous and depressing.

What a loss for the modern world! This is not just this writers view, but an opinion shared by many in the world. See sample tributes/quotes and a news VIDEO in the Appendices below.

The full measure of the man Muhammad Ali is now gone – he would go on to become known as “The Greatest,” and at his peak in the 1970s was among the most recognizable faces on Earth – but his undeniable impact on society continues. This legacy includes more than just the boxing ring or sports world, as his greatest fight was not in the ring, but rather the social injustice in the United States and in the US Supreme Court. The commitment, sacrifice and success of that fight make him a role model for advocates around the world, including those in the Caribbean, or wanting to elevate the Caribbean.

This most impactful “battle/fight” for Ali was detailed in a previous blog-commentary from March 21, 2014; it is being re-distributed here in the aftermath of Ali’s death on June 3, 2016. This blog highlighted another “actor” in the Ali-Supreme Court drama, someone behind the scenes but still able to make a huge impact on the case and this legacy, Kevin Connolly, a Clerk for one of the Supreme Court Judges.

The blog ENCORE follows:

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Go Lean Commentary

This story-line is retrieved from the movie “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” (2013). See the summary here:

In 1964, world champion boxer Muhammad Ali requested exemption from the military draft based on his religious beliefs. His request was denied and when he subsequently refused induction into the army, he was convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. His case eventually works itself up the Supreme Court. In their first conference after the case is presented, the justices decide by majority vote (5 to 3) to uphold the conviction and Justice John Harlan is tasked with preparing the majority opinion. He assigns one of his clerks, Kevin Connolly, to prepare a first draft but try as he might [Mr. Connolly] believes that the decision is wrong. His draft argues for overturning the conviction… eventually Justice Harlan agrees with him. The Justice must now find a way to convince his colleagues.
Source: IMDB – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2061756/?ref_=nv_sr_2

The review of this movie – The Atlantic Magazine – adds great insight and perspective. Consider here:

In 1960 Cassius Clay burst onto the scene – and burst is about the only word to describe it – he was an 18-year-old amateur boxer who lit up the Summer Olympics in Rome with his brashness and youthful exuberance, to say nothing of his breathtaking ability. (He easily captured the light heavyweight gold medal.) Clay turned pro a few months after the Olympics, and within two years, he became more of a media star than the reigning heavyweight champion, Floyd Patterson, or Patterson’s successor, Sonny Liston. From the beginning he transcended boxing, making bold predictions – usually correct – about what round he would stop his opponents in; his hilarious doggerel poetry was recited by school kids who had never seen a boxing match. He cut a record (a cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”), appeared in a movie (as a heavyweight contender who knocks out Anthony Quinn in the opening moments of Requiem for a Heavyweight) and, in February of 1964, shocked everyone but himself by whipping the fearsome Sonny Liston, a 7-1 favorite for the heavyweight title. Within days of his victory, though, he created an even bigger shock when he announced that he had become a Black Muslim and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. And that was just the beginning.

In 1965, he failed a mental aptitude test for the draft. But early in 1966 the war in Vietnam was escalating and resistance to it was gathering momentum, so the standards for induction were lowered and Ali was classified as eligible for the draft. His lawyer presented a letter to the draft board requesting deferment as a conscientious objector. Three days later, the request was denied, and in 1967 he was arrested, convicted of draft evasion, and stripped of his heavyweight title by New York and other powerful state athletic commissions. In 1971, his appeal was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Opinion polls at the time (1971) indicated that the vast majority of older whites believed Ali should have been sent to jail, while an overwhelming number of blacks and younger white college students, many of whom had gone to see Ali on one of his campus appearances, vehemently supported his anti-war stance. Public sentiment about Ali pretty much followed the same lines as public opinion on the war in Vietnam, and as more people turned against the war, more supporters flocked to Ali’s corner.

The Justices reviewing this matter included Thurgood Marshall, as the only black justice on the court at the time. But Justice Marshall recused himself from the case, having been the Solicitor General on Ali’s earlier conviction. [(The Solicitor General is required to argue in front of the court on behalf of “The People”)]. Justice Harlan, the responsible party for communicating the majority decision, delegated this task to Kevin Connolly, his chief clerk; [(the Justices are allowed up to 4 Clerks to do the heavy-lifting of researching and composing opinions on before of their legal “masters”)]. Mr. Connolly was convincingly idealistic in this case; his dogged pursuit of justice helped turn the Court’s decision around.

At the time Justice Harlan, who was dying of cancer and would resign from the Court later that year, became finally convinced of the sincerity of Ali’s religious and anti-war beliefs and, against the wishes of his close friend Chief Justice Burger, shifted his vote to even the balance at 4 to 4. [(There was no further testimony from Ali or supporters, just the ruminated logic of the clerk Connolly and the appeal of a better nature)]. He eventually made such a convincing argument to the other conservatives on the court that the decision became unanimous (8 to 0, with an abstaining Justice Marshall).
Source: Extractions from Allen Barra, The Atlantic Magazine. Posted October 4, 2013; retrieved February 14, 2014 from: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/10/muhammad-alis-most-formidable-opponent-was-the-us-supreme-court/280280/

The advocate in this drama is Kevin Connolly, the chief clerk for Supreme Court Justice John Harland. His steadfast commitment to justice prevailed, in the end. He saw the miscarriage of justice in the un-balanced application of the law for religious/conscientious objections for White ministers as opposed to Black Muslim adherents of faith. He wielded his influence on his boss, Justice Harland, who then influenced the remaining court – one man made a difference on this court, and eventually the world.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book posits that one person can make a difference in the Caribbean; that there are many opportunities where one champion can elevate society. In fact the book is a collection of 144 different advocacies, so there is inspiration for the Kevin Connolly’s and Muhammad Ali’s of the region to make their mark in many different fields of endeavor. The roadmap specifically encourages the region to foster the genius potential (Page 27) in their communities, forge leadership skills (Page 171) and pursue the Greater Good (Page 37). With the participation of many advocates on many different paths for progress, the Caribbean can truly become a better place to live, work and play.

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

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Appendix A – Quotes from around the world about the death of three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali
(Source: Retrieved June 4, 2016 from: https://www.yahoo.com/news/reaction-death-greatest-muhammad-ali-100712903.html?ref=gs)

“He’s the most transforming figure of my time, certainly. He did more to change race relations and the views of people than even Martin Luther King. It was a privilege and an honor for me to know him and associate with him.” — Bob Arum, who promoted 26 of Ali’s fights.

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Ali, Frazier & Foreman we were 1 guy. A part of me slipped away, “The greatest piece” — tweet by George Foreman, Ali’s opponent in the “Rumble in the Jungle”

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“Muhammad Ali is a legend and one of the world’s most celebrated athletes, the fighter who ushered in the golden era of boxing and put the sport on the map. He paved the way for professional fighters, including myself, elevating boxing to become a sport watched in millions of households around the world” — Boxer Oscar De La Hoya, who won titles at six different weight classes.

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“We lost a giant today. Boxing benefited from Muhammad Ali’s talents but not nearly as much as mankind benefited from his humanity. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Ali family. May God bless them.” — Boxer Manny Pacquiao, a champion in eight weight classes.

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“Passing the Olympic torch to Muhammad to light the cauldron at the Atlanta Games in 1996 was the defining moment of my career, and a memory I will treasure forever, as much as any of the medals I won. As Olympians, our role is to inspire others to achieve their dreams, and no person has ever lived that role more than Muhammad Ali.” — swimmer Janet Evans.

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“Without question his legacy is one that he defied the odds because he stood up for what he believed in and when he was put to the test he took personal harm rather than go against his beliefs and what he stood for.” — Don King, promoter of “Rumble in the Jungle” and “Thrilla in Manilla.”

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“We are proud to call Ali not only a member of Team USA, but an Olympic champion. With unparalleled grit and determination, he left a legacy that will continue to inspire generations of Americans for years to come.” — Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

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“Hillary and I are saddened by the passing of Muhammad Ali. From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again. We watched him grow from the brash self-confidence of youth and success into a manhood full of religious and political convictions that led him to make tough choices and live with the consequences. Along the way we saw him courageous in the ring, inspiring to the young, compassionate to those in need, and strong and good-humored in bearing the burden of his own health challenges. I was honored to award him the Presidential Citizens Medal at the White House, to watch him light the Olympic flame, and to forge a friendship with a man who, through triumph and trials, became even greater than his legend. Our hearts go out to Lonnie, his children, and his entire family.” — President Bill Clinton.

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“He was an athlete who touched the hearts of people across the globe, an athlete who was engaged beyond sport, an athlete who had the courage to give hope to so many suffering illness by lighting the Olympic cauldron and not hiding his own affliction. He was an athlete who fought for peace and tolerance – he was a true Olympian. Meeting him in person was an inspiration. He was a man who at the same time was so proud and yet so humble.” — IOC President Thomas Bach.

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“Muhammad Ali was not just a champion in the ring – he was a champion of civil rights, and a role model for so many people.” — tweet by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

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“Rip the greatest of all times in many different ways” — tweet by world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

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“He sacrificed the heart of his career and money and glory for his religious beliefs about a war he thought unnecessary and unjust. His memory and legacy lingers on until eternity. He scarified, the nation benefited. He was a champion in the ring, but, more than that, a hero beyond the ring. When champions win, people carry them off the field on their shoulders. When heroes win, people ride on their shoulders. We rode on Muhammad Ali’s shoulders.” — Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and longtime friend of Ali.

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“HBO is honored to have known Muhammad Ali as a fighter of beauty and a man of principle. We experienced the joy of working with him in support of initiatives he passionately cared about including, most importantly, his never-ending desire to teach tolerance and understanding of others to all people.” — HBO Sports.

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“Muhammad Ali transcended sports with his outsized personality and dedication to civil rights and social justice. He was an inspirational presence at several major NBA events and was deeply admired by so many throughout the league. While we are deeply saddened by his loss, Muhammad Ali’s legacy lives on in every athlete who takes a stand for what he or she believes.” — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

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“Muhammad Ali has not only been a sports legend but also an outstanding man, whose values transcend his fantastic boxing career. We will always remember him also for his full commitment for the values of equity and brotherhood. We’re proud he started his unique sports career winning the Olympic gold medal in Rome 1960, a story that still emotions me very much. He’ll be forever ‘The Greatest’ to all of us.” — Rome 2024 bid President Luca di Montezemolo.

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“Ali was not afraid of anything. He made up his own rules inside the ring and out, and he told the world that is how he acted even (if) they didn’t like it … He was suspended for political reasons, he was arrested, he lost, he once boxed 12 rounds with a broken jaw, but he always came back. We learned from him that victory is the ability to stay on your feet after everyone else has raised their hands and given up.” Yair Lapid, head of Israel’s centrist Yesh Atid party and a former amateur boxer.

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Appendix B VIDEO – Muhammad Ali Dead at 74 – https://youtu.be/G9JRWAkUn7E

Published on Jun 3, 2016 – Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has died. The 74-year-old had been increasingly frail after being hospitalized several times, most recently for respiratory issues.

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Arts, Civil Rights, Model, Obituary, Sports

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Referendum Outcome: Impact on the ‘Brain Drain’

Posted on June 2, 2016 in Government, Social, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

The book Go Lean … Caribbean seeks to elevate society in the entire Caribbean homeland. The book, serving as a roadmap with turn-by-turn directions, seeks to transform – remediate and mitigate – the engines of regional economics, security and governance. This means optimizing justice institutions to ensure “liberty, equality and justice for all”.

Here’s a question for the Caribbean in general, and considering the subsequent news article, the Bahamas in particular:

Do minorities have any rights if the majority do not accord them?

Bahamas Parliament – House of Assembly – Nassau

This is a serious issue!

This relates to the June 7th, 2016 referendum in the Bahamas. The measure listed 4 bills for constitutional amendments relating to Gender Equality, designed to correct some inequities in the legal structures of the country. The following summaries apply:

BILL 1: Would allow a child born outside of the Bahamas to a Bahamian mother and a non-Bahamian father to have citizenship.

BILL 2: Would allow a foreign man married to a Bahamian woman to seek citizenship.

BILL 3: Would allow an unmarried Bahamian father to pass his citizenship to a child born to a foreign mother.

BILL 4: Would end discrimination based on sex.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahamian_constitutional_referendum,_2016 )

Update June 8, 2016: The Referendum failed in every constituency and every precinct. The ‘No‘ Vote movement succeeded overwhelmingly; see a related article here.

Like most societies, there are males and females, majorities and minorities. So an even more grave issue is brought to mind:

Human / Natural Rights of Men versus Women and Majorities versus Minorities

The Human Rights premise is: for those people who are not treated equal in a society, their rights should NOT be dependent on some popularity contests among the majority. No one should have to seek someone else’s permission to be happy. This is easier said than done, as our Caribbean is notorious for repression for those who do not conform with the majority.

This commentary asserts that natural rights / human rights should be accorded, no matter the results of some referendum.

The disposition of the Bahamas “lay in the balance” from this referendum. What message has been sent to the world: inviting or disinviting?

The book Go Lean … Caribbean addresses these issues, from the perspective of economics and nation-building. This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); the purpose of which is to elevate Caribbean society, for all 30 member-states. The book stresses the need to guarantee human rights protections for all Caribbean people (Page 220), recognizing that the region is diverse in ethnicities and cultures.

Can’t we all just get along?! – Rodney King 1994

If we fail to try, or send the wrong message as to our inclusiveness, we suffer a dire consequence – “brain drain”. This is also the strong point made by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation in the following news article:

By: Neil Hartnell, Business Editor, The Tribune Daily Newspaper
(Source: Posted May 6, 2016; retrieved June 2, 2016 from: http://www.tribune242.com/news/2016/may/06/referendum-outcomes-brain-drain-impact/)

The upcoming constitutional referendum’s outcome could have far-reaching consequences for the Bahamian economy and its ability to reverse the “brain drain”, a senior private sector executive warned yesterday.

Edison Sumner, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, told Tribune Business that the four Bills that Bahamians will vote on have profound implications beyond gender equality.

Depending on the outcome, Mr Sumner said the referendum may impact the Bahamas’ ability to retain – and attract – the ‘best and brightest’, including future generations of entrepreneurs and managers, given that it would affect how citizenship is bestowed.

“The Bahamas already complains, as does the region, about there being a ‘brain drain’,” he told Tribune Business, referring to how many college and university graduates elected to remain abroad after completing their studies.

Most cited the lack of opportunity, and economic diversification, as the reasons behind this choice, but Mr Sumner warned that this trend could be exacerbated depending on which way Bahamians vote.

The Bills, as designed, will enable a child born outside the Bahamas to automatically become a Bahamian citizen at birth if either of the parents was a Bahamian citizen at birth.

They will also “enable a Bahamian woman married to a foreign man to secure for him the same entitlements to citizenship that a Bahamian man married to a foreign woman already has under the constitution”.

The Bahamian father of a child born outside of marriage will be able to pass on his citizenship to that child if the third Bill is approved by the electorate, while the fourth Bill effectively enshrines gender equality as a fundamental right under the constitution.

Mr Sumner said that, viewed strictly from an economic and workforce perspective, the Bills would eventually have major ramifications for the Bahamas’ ability to expand its labour and entrepreneur pools, plus its attraction for investors.

Making it easier for children born to Bahamians in the circumstances outlined by the Bills to obtain citizenship/status, he added, would be key to ensuring these people became positive contributors to the Bahamas’ economic development and growth

“Those born to a Bahamian parent outside the outside the country, or born outside marriage, may find themselves in a precarious position where they are not Bahamian, and have no more entitlement to become Bahamian,” Mr Sumner explained.

“We want to retain as much of our intellectual capital in the Bahamas as possible to help us grow the economy, the education system, the infrastructure of the country.

“It has to be one of those situations where they must see the benefits in coming to the Bahamas, getting their citizenship here, and helping to build the country and the economy.”

Mr Sumner also warned that Bahamian employers needed to “pay attention” to what happens with the Bills and the referendum, given that the outcome might impact employee workplace relations and hiring practices.

Given that the constitution “trumps all legislation”, he added that the Employment Act, Industrial Relations Act and other labour legislation might be impacted by the referendum.

So voting wrong on the referendum could exacerbate the “brain drain”? Yes! Justice for all? No!

Public referendums are a product of a democratic process. But there is something else more important: rule of law or a constitution. This normally defines the moral code by which a society is to judge “right from wrong”. For many Caribbean nations, their constitutions embed principles from the Judeo-Christian principles – from the Bible. But does that mean they are “Christian nations”. Just consider the comments of one of the founding fathers of the Bahamas, Arthur D. Hanna. See VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Hon. A. D. Hanna debunks the “Christian nation” myth – https://youtu.be/0q0o2-4t3UI

Published on Nov 15, 2014 – Founding Father, framer of the constitution and former Governor-General Arthur Dion Hanna makes it abundantly clear that the Bahamas is NOT a Christian nation. (recorded at the Bahamas Historical Society, 13th November, 2014)

A Christian character is preferred for the individual; a “Christian nation”, not so much. A Christian nation would impose orthodoxy and dogma, prohibiting gender equality and establishing men as the “head” in their families and communities; plus a Christian nation would prohibit the activities of the LGBT communities, due to the religious orthodoxy. This orthodoxy premise often lead victims to flee their homeland to find refuge abroad, exacerbating the “brain drain” further.

So what principle would be recommended for a Caribbean nation or the region as a whole? The Go Lean book (Page 37) answers: the Greater Good:

“It is the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

The Go Lean book (Page 20) advocates for all of the Caribbean the community ethos of the Greater Good – “fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society”. But respect for the sovereign territories of each member-state mandates that we respect the individual laws enacted there. (Though we can use peer-pressure to foster change).

The Go Lean/CU roadmap employs a tactic of a “Separation-of-Powers between CU federal agencies and Caribbean member-state governments”; so the limitations of national laws in a member-state does not have to override the CU. The CU constitution would apply to the installation of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and Self-Governing Entities (SGE) that operate in controlled bordered territories like campuses, industrial parks, research labs and industrial plants.

This roadmap brings hope to assuage the Caribbean orthodoxy.

The CU – applying the Greater Good principle – would facilitate the regional 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, specifically in EEZ’s and SGE’s.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, with the appropriate separation-of-powers, to support these engines.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that CU controlled territories – like EEZ’s and SGE’s – can be strategic, tactical and operationally efficient for elevating Caribbean society and mandating “justice for all”. These sites can serve as peer pressure on the rest of the region. These points are pronounced early in the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12), including these statements:

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

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

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

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

The subject of optimizing justice institutions and the “truth and consequences” of justice failures have been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8099	Caribbean Image: ‘Less Than’?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7989	Political Transformation results in “free money”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7628	‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ – Inevitable for the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7490	Push Factor: Interpersonal Violence / Domestic
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784	Push Factor: Caribbean Unjust LGBT Treatments – ‘Say It Ain’t So’!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5304	Mitigating the Eventual ‘Abuse of Power’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4840	Caribbean Orthodoxy: Jamaican Poll – ‘Bring back the British!’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4240	Bad Policy – Immigration Policy Exacerbates Productivity Crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2994	Justice Strategy: Special Prosecutors … et al
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2709	Caribbean Study: 58% Of Boys Agree to Female ‘Discipline’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=695	Help for Abused Women Depicts Societal Defects

The Go Lean book itself details the economic principles and community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to mitigate the “push and pull” factors that imperil our Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Privacy –vs- Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Witness Security & Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Trade Federation with Proxy Powers of a Confederacy	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and Foster Local Economic Engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Protect Stakeholders with Vigorous Law-and-Order measures	Page 45
Tactical – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice Department	Page 77
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives	Page 103
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the EEZ – Security – Interdictions	Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Security and Justice	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid – For oppressed minority groups	Page 115
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Measures for the Rich and Poor	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Law Enforcement Oversight	Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Law & Order needed for progress	Page 142
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership	Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220

The Caribbean is comprised of males and females, majorities and minorities. Everyone must be afforded every opportunity for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But “push and pull” emigration factors are real and important considerations for the Caribbean. The standards of justice – or lack there-of – have and can contribute to the “push” factors for people abandoning their homeland.

The foregoing news article depicts the crisis for the Bahamas.

The strong references to “brain drain” in the foregoing article and this commentary indicate that many in the community have felt oppressed or repressed, and have thusly “taken their talents to South Beach” or South New York, or South Toronto, or South London, etc. Since we need our talented human resources to build-up our own communities, we must examine all the debilitating factors – societal defects – in our homelands. We need to do better. The Caribbean in general and Bahamas in particular needs to send this message to the world that in our homeland, the legal premise must be:

… liberty, equality and justice for all.

The Go Lean … Caribbean roadmap seeks to employ strategies, tactics and implementations to dissuade the societal abandonment, invite the Diaspora to repatriate and further to recruit empowering immigrants to join us in our quest to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Bahamas, Civil Rights, Diaspora, Gender

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Venezuela: Watching a ‘Train Wreck in Slow Motion’

Posted on May 31, 2016 in Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Watching Venezuela now is like watching a “train wreck … in slow motion”.

Didn’t we just see this recently … in a land far-far away – Greece? If the Venezuela parallel with Greece continues, we will be able to accurately predict that “things will get worse before it gets worse!”

This is not just an academic consideration for Caribbean stakeholders, as Venezuela boasts a vast coastline on the Caribbean Sea; they also share a border with one Caribbean member-state, Guyana, and supplies the region with a lot of its oil. And just recently with its PetroCaribe initiative, Venezuela was one hope to help eradicate poverty in the Caribbean. But now Venezuela is having a tough time protecting its own self from the pangs of poverty.

Many people are now waking up – inside and outside Venezuela – to the harsh realities that a Failed-State is emerging in our neighborhood, right in front of our eyes. Unfortunately, we – the Caribbean – are all too familiar. Consider here how Venezuela’s political institutions are crumbling:

The opposition parties refused to collaborate with the governing officials
Riots in the streets
Assassinations of government officials
Economy in shambles
Currency in disarray
Cupboards and store shelves are bare – see Photo above
Basic government services – social contract – are not being executed
External parties – UNASUR – are coming in to intercede

See the news article here conveying this harsh reality in Venezuela:

Title: Venezuelan officials, opposition meet mediators over standoff
By: Ernesto Tovar

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan officials and opposition foes have held separate secret meetings in the Dominican Republic with a group of ex-world leaders seeking a way out of political crisis, officials said, as an ex-military reserve leader was shot dead.

Representatives of both sides of Venezuela’s political standoff met former Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, former Dominican president Leonel Fernandez and Panama’s ex-president Martin Torrijos “in recent days” under the auspices of the Union of South American Nations, UNASUR, to seek a “framework for a national dialogue,” the organization said in a statement.

The mediating former leaders found “a desire for dialogue on both sides,” for which new meetings were proposed to “agree on an agenda that meets the requirements of each party and a method for engaging in national dialogue,” the statement said.

The meetings were the initiative of President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez tweeted, saying the effort “promotes peace, respect for the rule of law and the defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The main center-right opposition group Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) said in a statement that its conditions for the talks were the holding of a referendum over Maduro’s recall, freeing political prisoners, allowing exiles to return and “an end to prosecutions for political persecution.”

The opposition is also calling on the government to allow international relief supplies of food and medicine into the country and seek to end a crippling economic crisis “generated by official corruption and an economic model that is spreading misery.”

The three former leaders also held talks with Maduro and the opposition under UNASUR auspices in Caracas two weeks ago.

Publicly, the two sides could not be further apart.

MUD which blames Maduro for the economic crisis, accuses the electoral authorities of dragging their feet in processing their petition for a referendum on removing the socialist leader from office.

Although a survey last month showed 68 percent of Venezuelans want Maduro to leave office and to hold new elections, he has said the referendum drive has “very little support.”

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but its economy is reeling from the collapse in global crude prices.

Venezuelans are experiencing severe food and medicine shortages compounded by the world’s highest inflation — almost 190 percent in 2015, which the International Monetary Fund predicts will balloon to 700 percent in 2016.
Source: Yahoo/AFP Online News – Retrieved May 29, 2016 from: https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelan-officials-opposition-meet-mediators-over-standoff-020940920.html?nhp=1

Yet still, there are a lot of lessons for the Caribbean to consider from this crisis – a “crisis is a terrible thing to waste” declares the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 8). As a region with past and present Failed-States, we must not fail to discern these lessons.

For starters, there is a super-national organization that Venezuelan stakeholders are able to escalate to for mediation, the Union of South American Nations – UNASUR according to the Spanish-language acronym. A super-national organization – for mediation and conflict resolution – is also the goal of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). In both cases, the goal is to model the European Union. See details and VIDEO of the UNASUR organization in the Appendices below:

The UNASUR organization, as described below, is part of the Latin American integration movement, combining the efforts of the Andean Community and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). This should be the primary strategy for mitigating Failed-State status in South America. While Venezuela is a sovereign state, they can still be held accountable to their neighbors in UNASUR; this would be a product of peer pressure and the threat of sanctions. Too bad this integration movement is not complete in its construct, as this would have been most effective in stopping this “slow motion train wreck”.

In fact, in the 2004 South American Summit, representatives of these twelve South American nations participated:

Members of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN): ^{1 L}
- Bolivia ^M
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Peru
Members of Mercosur: ^{2 L}
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Other members:
- Chile ^{1 2 L}
- Guyana ^C
- Suriname ^C

¹ These countries are also considered to be associate members of Mercosur.
² These countries are also considered to be associate members of the Andean Community.
^C Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state
^L Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) member state
^M Accessing member to Mercosur
Source: Retrieved May 31, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_South_American_Nations

The leaders of these countries announced the intention of modeling the new community in the mold of the European Union, including a unified passport, a parliament and, eventually, a single currency. The then Secretary General of the Andean Community – Allan Wagner – speculated at that time that the advanced union like the EU should be possible within the next fifteen years. Based on these experiences in Venezuela, this integration movement is a “day late and a dollar short”.

The actuality of Venezuela is more than just a cautionary tale for the Caribbean, it is also a Caribbean problem. In addition to the presence of Caribbean Community member-states of Guyana and Suriname, many aspects of Venezuelan life parallel those of the Caribbean in general and in specifics – see these previous blog-commentaries:

Mono-Industrial Economy

Majority of consumer goods imported and pricey

Close proximity with other countries, not suffering this failing status

Long legacy of bad community ethos regarding fiscal responsibilities

Validation of regional criticism

High societal abandonment rate

Large Diaspora abroad

Challenge of security / public safety

Incompetent governance

Being at the brink of disaster, at the precipice, is perhaps the only time communities are willing to reform and transform. This reality is what inspired the book Go Lean…Caribbean to serve as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The events of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis was the trigger for the composition of this book. Will Venezuela now use this crisis to forge change for its society?

Will the Caribbean forge change by just “observing and reporting” on Venezuela? There are many lessons to learn and the Caribbean community is urged not to ignore. The lessons learned, and codified in the pages of the Go Lean book can now be enhanced with the examination of the realities of Venezuela. This examination must consider the reality of the economic, security and governing aspects of Venezuelan society and the resultant consequences on their neighbors.

Like the UNASUR initiative, the Go Lean roadmap calls for a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean into a Single Market of 42 million people so as to leverage the governing burden across a separation-of-powers: a federal government and member-state government. This allows a new response to national crisis (economic, security and governance). This vision is at the root of the Go Lean roadmap, embedded in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 – 13):

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

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

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

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

The following details from the book Go Lean … Caribbean are the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to effect the turn-around of the Caribbean societal engines – to learn from failing communities (like Greece and Venezuela):

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Money Multiplier	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 Member-States into a Single Market	Page 47
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the stability of our mediums of exchange	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Dissuade further Brain Drain	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Federal Government versus Member-States	Page 71
Implementation – Assemble all Member-States	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up – Relationship with Venezuela	Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Planning – Ways to Model the European Union	Page 130
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – The Global Financial Crisis	Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Cuba – Marshall Plan Tactic for Failed-States	Page 236
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti – Marshall Plan Tactic for Failed-States	Page 238
Appendix – Caribbean Failed-State Indicators and Definitions	Page 271

Unless mitigated, Venezuela will become a Failed-State. We hope that the country, and their South American neighbors can secure their society to assure peace and the protection of human rights.

We also have near Failed-States in the Caribbean: Think: Haiti, Puerto Rico and Cuba; plus a host of countries just slightly behind them. We have to foster our own turn-around strategies for our region.

Venezuela is out of scope for the Go Lean roadmap; our quest is to reform and transform the Caribbean. The roadmap declares that the responsibility for fixing the Caribbean though must fall first-and-foremost on the Caribbean, its people and institutions. The effort is not easy; the Go Lean book describes it as heavy-lifting. But the returns will be worth the investment. This is true for Venezuela … and the Caribbean.

This is the goal of the Go Lean roadmap: to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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.

———————-

Appendix – Union of South American Nations – UNASUR

The Union of South American Nations (USAN; Spanish: Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, UNASUR; Portuguese: União de Nações Sul-Americanas,UNASUL; Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties, UZAN) is an intergovernmental regional organization comprising 12 South American countries.

The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on 23 May 2008 – [legally completing the integration between the Andean Community and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) nations] – at the Third Summit of Heads of State, held in Brasília, Brazil.^[7] According to the Constitutive Treaty, the Union’s headquarters will be located in Quito, Ecuador.^[2] On 1 December 2010, Uruguay became the ninth state to ratify the UNASUR treaty, thus giving the union full legality.^[8][9] As the Constitutive Treaty entered into force on 11 March 2011, UNASUR became a legal entity during a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Mitad del Mundo, Ecuador, where they had laid the foundation stone for the Secretariat Headquarters.^[10] The South American Parliament will be located in Cochabamba, Bolivia, while the headquarters of its bank, the Bank of the South are located in Caracas,Venezuela.^[2]

On 4 May 2010, at a heads of state summit held in Campana, 47 miles north of Buenos Aires, former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner was unanimously elected the first Secretary General of UNASUR for a two-year term.

Structure

At the moment, the provisional structure of the UNASUR is as follows:

A permanent Secretariat is to be established in Quito, Ecuador. The Secretary General, with a two-year mandate, is to be elected on a consensual basis among the Heads of State of the member states. Former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner was designated the first Secretary General on 4 May 2010.^[20]
The presidents of the member nations will have an annual meeting, which will have the superior political mandate. The first meeting was in Brasília (Brazil) on 29–30 September 2005. The second meeting was in Cochabamba (Bolivia) on 8–9 December 2006. The third meeting was held in Brasília on 23 May 2008.

The Presidency Pro Tempore, is exercised for a one-year period on a pro tempore basis by one of the heads of state of each UNASUR Member State, the succession following alphabetical order. The first leader to occupy this position was Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. According to Decisions Reached in the Political Dialogue^[21] which was signed during the First South American Energy Summit.
The ministers of foreign affairs of each country will meet once every six months. They will formulate concrete proposals of action and of executive decision. The President of the Mercosur’s permanent representatives committee and the director of the Mercosur’s department, the Andean Community’s general secretary, the general secretary of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) and the permanent secretaries of any institution for regional cooperation and integration, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization among others, will also be present at these meetings.
Sectorial Ministers’ meeting will be called upon by the presidents. The meetings will be developed according to Mercosur’s and CAN’s mechanisms.
On 9 December 2005, a special commission was established in charge of advancing the process of South American Integration. It consists of 12 members, whose function is to elaborate proposals that will help the process of integration between the South American nations.

An Executive Commission, which was created by the II CSN meeting, was transformed in the Political Commission or Delegates Council, according to Decisions Reached in the Political Dialogue.^[21]

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

APPENDIX – VIDEO – UNASUR – https://youtu.be/rNjkr7y8-Kc

Published on Apr 16, 2016 – The Union of South American Nations, or UNASUR, marks its ninth anniversary this Sunday, April 17 with a 12-kilometer race in Ecuador with the aim of “bringing the regional body closer to the people.” The UNASUR Secretary-General Ernesto Samper resumed in a few words what the bloc is all about: “To promote peace, democracy and respect of human rights, as well as a Latin American integration. http://multimedia.telesurtv.net/v/una…

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Greece, Model, Venezuela

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ENCORE: Memorial of ‘National Sacrifice’

Posted on May 30, 2016 in Ethos, Government, Social

Miami, Florida USA – This blog/commentary is an ENCORE of the original blog from January 15, 2015. This is being re-distributed on this Memorial Day 2016, a US holiday set aside to remember the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country, the United States of America. The memory of these ones is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

Fight or Flight – The original commentary below was not a glorification of war, but rather an acknowledgement of the National Sacrifice necessary to forge change in a society. Our Caribbean needs more of a National Sacrifice ethos, rather that the propensity to flee – the current attitude – at the earliest signs of distress. We must rather, fight for change!

—————————————–

Go Lean Commentary

The term National Sacrifice is defined here as the willingness to die for a greater cause; think “King/Queen and Country”. This spirit is currently missing in the recipe for “community” in the Caribbean homeland.

To be willing to die for a cause means that one is willing to live for the cause. Admittedly, “dying” is a bit extreme. The concept of “sacrifice” in general is the focus of this commentary.

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean wants to forge change in the Caribbean, we want to change the attitudes for an entire community, country and region. We have the track record of this type of commitment being exemplified in other communities. (Think: The US during WW II). Now we want to bring a National Sacrifice attitude to the Caribbean, as it is undoubtedly missing. This is evidenced by the fact the every Caribbean member-state suffers from alarming rates of societal abandonment: 70% of college educated population in the English states have left in a brain drain, while the US territories have lost more than 50% of their populations).

The book Go Lean…Caribbean opens with the acknowledgement that despite having the “greatest address in the world… the people of the Caribbean have beat down their doors to get out”, (Page 5).

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); a confederation to bring change, empowerment, to the Caribbean region; to make the region a better place to live, work and play for all stakeholders (residents, visitors, businesses, organizations – NGO’s and governments). This Go Lean roadmap also has initiatives to foster solutions for the Caribbean youth. The Go Lean book posits that permanent change for Caribbean society will only take root as a result of adjustments to the community attitudes, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. This is identified in the book as “community ethos”; and that one such character, National Sacrifice is sorely missing in this region.

Any attempts to change Caribbean society’s community ethos must start with the youth.

At no point should it be construed that this commentary is advocating sacrificing young men (and women) on the altar of the God of War. But rather, this commentary laments the missing ingredients of wholesale commitment to any national cause. Thusly, the recommendation is for conscription/draft (Appendix B) into a National Youth Service (NYS) program for the Caribbean. Take it one step further and make the Youth Service program regional in its scope rather than “national”; with applicable exemptions for:

military/police enrollments
student/research deferments (at regional institutions)
religious/missionary assignments
medical/disability exceptions

This quest relates a commitment so vital to a community that everyone should be willing to sacrifice and lean-in for the desired outcome. This Caribbean effort is not new to the world; it is currently being championed by a Washington-DC-based global Non-Government Organization (NGO) branded the Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP). Much can be learned from analyzing their successes … and failures. See details here:

Innovations in Civic Participation – NGO – Leaders for Youth Civic Engagement (Retrieved 01/15/2015):

Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) is a global leader in the field of Youth Civic Engagement. ICP envisions a world where young people in every nation are actively engaged in improving their lives and their communities through civic participation. We believe that well-structured youth service programs can provide innovative solutions to social and environmental issues, while helping young people develop skills for future employment and active citizenship.

ICP carries out its mission through four main activities:

Incubating innovative models for youth service programs;

Creating and expanding global networks ;

Conducting research and publicizing information on youth civic engagement, especially national youth service and service-learning; and

Serving as a financial intermediary to support program innovation and policy development.

In addition to these activities, ICP regularly consults with its extensive network of over 2,500 academics, policymakers, program entrepreneurs, and other leaders in the field on program and policy work.

Contact Information:

Innovations in Civic Participation
P.O. Box 39222
Washington, DC 20016
202-775-0290

http://www.icicp.org/about-us/

A quest for a National Youth Service has previously been advocated in Sub-Saharan Africa (see Appendix C). There, the NYS was designed to explore the potential to foster youth employability, entrepreneurship, and sustainable livelihoods. This effort stemmed from an existing tradition of NYS programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, which were originally designed to cultivate a sense of national identity and mobilize skills for development in post-independence nations; (see Appendix A). Today, NYS programs operate in the context of a deepening regional youth unemployment crisis, which averages over 20 percent, according to African Economic Outlook. NYS programs engage hundreds of thousands of young people each year and have the potential to equip them with strong civic skills and prepare them for employment and livelihood opportunities.

Despite its potential as an economic strategy, little is still known about how effective NYS programs are at increasing youth employability in Africa. But there is no doubt for the commitment to community that is forged from these efforts. Young people cry, sweat, and bleed for their community, embedding a desire to sacrifice for the Greater Good.

This corresponds with the Bible precept: “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving” – Acts 20:35

There are NYS programs already deployed or proposed for these Caribbean member-states, (though many have been snagged or stalled):

The purpose of the Go Lean book/roadmap is more than just the embedding of new community ethos, but rather the elevation/empowerment of Caribbean society. In total, the Caribbean empowerment roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

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

The roadmap details the following community ethos, plus the execution of these strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to forge permanent change in the region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact a Turn-Around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Enact a Defense Pact to Defend the Homeland	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Keep the next generation at home	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers Between CU & Member-States Governments	Page 71
Implementation – Assemble – Incorporating all the *existing* regional organizations	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – Confederation Without Sovereignty	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from the West Indies Federation – Military Units	Page 135
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Manage Federal Civil Service	Page 173
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth	Page 227
Appendix – 30,000 Federal Employees	Page 299
Appendix – Previous West Indies Integration – Caribbean Regiment	Page 301

Previously Go Lean blog/commentaries have considered historic references and have also stressed fostering the proper and appropriate community ethos for the Caribbean to prosper; and reported on the repercussions and consequences of bad ethos. The following sample applies:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2830	Bad Ethos: Jamaica’s Public Pension Under-funded
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2809	A Lesson in Bad Community Ethos : East Berlin/Germany
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480	A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297	A Lesson in History – Booker T versus Du Bois – to Change a Bad Community Ethos
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531	A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago – World War I – Cause and Effect in Community Ethos
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=841	Having Less Babies is Bad for the Economy – Need People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=623	Only at the Precipice, Do Communities Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=353	Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=228	Egalitarianism versus Anarchism – Community Ethos Debate

All in all, there is a certain community ethos associated with populations that have endured change. It is a National Sacrifice, a deferred gratification and focus on the future. Any losses of privileges are appreciated by the entire community, not just the affected individual or family member. This is the purpose of the US Memorial Day Holiday on the last Monday in May, honoring the military service of all our men and women in uniform, their families at home, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in dying for their country. A quest to unite the country in remembrance and appreciation of the fallen and to serve those who are grieving is a good way to forge a community ethos of National Sacrifice.

See VIDEO here of a community’s great honor to a slain soldier:

VIDEO: Sky Mote: Community Honors a Fallen Soldier from El Dorado County with a Hero’s Welcome – http://youtu.be/MVQORRQvTpU

Published on Aug 17, 2012 – Starting with a Marine Honor Guard carrying the transfer case containing the body of Staff Sgt. Sky R. Mote of El Dorado, CA, upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Sunday Aug. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana). Then continuing with the great Welcome Home the community gave. His family will never forget!

Though this Fallen Soldier is mourned and missed, his sacrifice is duly acknowledged, appreciated and honored in his hometown. This community spirit creates a value system for public service and National Sacrifice.

The US is not the only country that memorializes their war dead. Those countries that do, experience less societal abandonment. The British Commonwealth of Nations (representative of 18 Caribbean member-states) shows likewise homage to their Fallen Soldiers. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for maintaining the war graves of 1.7 million service personnel that died in the First and Second World Wars fighting for Commonwealth member states. Founded in 1917 (as the Imperial War Graves Commission), the Commission has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries, and maintains individual graves at another 20,000 sites around the world.^[107] The vast majority of the latter [however] are civilian cemeteries in Great Britain. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_War_Graves_Commission).

The former British colonies did not adopt this National Sacrifice value system. As most Caribbean (notwithstanding the US Territories) member-states do not even have a (work-free) holiday to honor the sacrifices of those that fought, bled and/or died for their country.

No appreciation, no sacrifice; no sacrifice, no victory. It is that simple!

It is the recommendation of this blog/commentary that all Caribbean member-states should mandate a civilian conscription service for their citizens (1 year between ages 18 and 25); it is common for a confederation – the CU for the Caribbean – to marshal a multi-state, allied military force. Then the CU should facilitate a complete eco-system of engaging the conscripted NYS participants to serve and protect the people and resources of the Caribbean. After which, the communities should show proper appreciation and honor to those that make these sacrifices for “King/Queen and Country”, from all conscription services: military service, public and civilian.

(Many times school teachers and administrators are lowly paid; their service to their country is a great sacrifice).

Veteran-style benefits should thusly be considered for all these “national” servants. This commitment from the community would go far in forging deep loyalty within the citizenry, thus mitigating quick abandonment of the homeland.

There is a separation-of-powers between the CU federal agencies and Caribbean member-states, so the CU would have no authority on how member-states manage, appreciate or honor their civil servants; unless some CU grants/funding apply. But for CU personnel, the practice will be institutionalized to recognize the service of long-time civil servants (active or retired) and their sacrifices. So for any human resource that die in the line of duty, the funeral processions will be filled with pomp and circumstance, much like the foregoing VIDEO.

“The [servants] who perform well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard …” – Bible 1 Timothy 5:17

Now is the time to lean-in to this roadmap for Caribbean change, as depicted in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. All the mitigations and empowerments in this roadmap require people to remain in the homeland. No people, no hope! A community ethos, a spirit or attitude of sacrifice for the Greater Good is a great start to forge change; no sacrifice, no victory.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——————-

Appendix A – ICP Studies and Results

Overview of the National Youth Service Landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa

National Youth Service Project on Employability, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa: Synthesis Report

——————

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

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

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

National Service is a common name for mandatory or volunteer government service programmes. The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes. Compulsory military service typically requires all citizens, or all male citizens, to participate for a period of a year (or more in some countries) during their youth, usually at some point between the age of 18 and their late twenties. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_service)

——————

Appendix C – National Youth Service Corps in Nigeria
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is an organisation set up by the Nigerian government to involve the country’s graduates in the development of the country. There is no military conscription in Nigeria, but since 1973 graduates of universities and later polytechnics have been required to take part in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program for one year.^[1] This is known as national service year.

“Corp” members are posted to cities far from their city of origin. They are expected to mix with people of other tribes, social and family backgrounds, to learn the culture of the indigenes in the place they are posted to. This action is aimed to bring about unity in the country and to help youths appreciate other ethnic groups.

There is an “orientation” period of approximately three weeks spent in a camp away from family and friends. There is also a “passing out ceremony” at the end of the year and primary assignment followed by one month of vacation.

The program has also helped in creating entry-level jobs for many Nigerian youth. An NYSC forum dedicated to the NYSC members was built to bridge the gap amongst members serving across Nigeria and also an avenue for members to share job information and career resources as well as getting loans from the National Directorate Of Employment.

The program has been met with serious criticism by a large portion of the country. The NYSC members have complained of being underpaid, paid late or not paid at all.^[2] Several youths carrying out the NYSC program have been killed in the regions they were sent to due to religious violence, ethnic violence or political violence.^[3]

A series of bomb and other violent attacks, especially in the North, rocked the country’s stability in the period preceding the 2011 gubernatorial and presidential elections. Most common of these attacks was perpetuated by the Islamist extremist terrorist group called Boko Haram. “Boko Haram” means “Western education is a sin” in the local hausa dialect in Nigeria. The group “Boko Haram” is against western education and wants to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria’s northern region.

Worst hit were National Youth Service Corps members, some of whom lost their lives.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Service_Corps)

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Diaspora, Model, Security, Transform

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Caribbean Image: ‘Less Than’?

Posted on May 26, 2016 in Ethos, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Picture this: The year is 1954, America is faced with a decision:

“Do we tear down the status quo and liberate 20 million African-Americans from a “Less Than” life or do we leave ‘well enough alone’?

If this question was a referendum, how do you think the American people would have voted … in 1954?

No doubt, the decision would have overwhelmingly aligned with words and expressions like “No!”, “Leave us alone”, “It has always been that way“, “this is our country“, “Go home Niggers“, etc.

This is not just a “what if” scenario. This really happened! But not as a proposition to the whole country of the United States to contest; no, only for 9 men to consider – the Justices of the US Supreme Court. The end result: Unanimous … in favor of change.

This commentary is a discussion on image, the facts and fiction of being a minority in a majority world or being an immigrant to a foreign country. This anecdote is related in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, in its Epilogue entitled “The Greater Good”. The book details this experience:

Future Focus – Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
This was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court’s (between 1953 and 1969, when Earl Warren served as Chief Justice) unanimous decision (9–0) stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”. As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment). This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement.

This landmark ruling created chaos for nearly 60 years; the animosity created was real and every aspect of American society was affected. (Most legislative assemblies in the southern states passed resolutions and sanctions condemning the Supreme Court decision, though the federal law superseded all state legislations). Cities and urban areas suffered from white flight, where white Americans fled the cities to move out to the suburbs to avoid the integration of urban schools; with their flight went their capital and tax base. Many American cities have still not recovered, for example Detroit filed for Bankruptcy in July 2013 after suffering the pangs of distress from this white flight for 60 years.

So why would the learned men on the Supreme Court make this unanimous ruling and caused so much havoc on American life. Were they not wise, could they not “read the writing on the wall”? The answer is an emphatic No! They knew the real beneficiary of their judgment would come later. Their wisdom was strewn from the experience of modern society waging two world wars, the last of which was just concluded 9 years earlier. They saw the rampage, saw of devastation of 60 million deaths around the world and appreciated the wisdom that a downtrodden people would not stay down, that they would rise and revolt, that they would risk their lives and that of their children to pursue freedom. The Warren Court knew that the status quo of race inequality could not continue, but in order to effectuate that change would take writing-off an entire generation (or two). That time had come, the generation was now (1954); but the hope was with the next generation, and so the curative measures started with the children of that day, so that inevitably, future generations would inhabit an America that would not judge its people by the color of their skins, but rather the content of their character.

The issues pronounced here in the Go Lean book highlights an important factoid: de jure versus de facto…

de jure = according to law
de facto = in reality

As a result of the 1954 Supreme Court’s decision, the de jure policy of the US was that of racial equality. But in reality, that decision didn’t manifest on the streets for the everyday man. The facts did not change the fiction, racism continued to dominate the American eco-system, even today. The aft-mentioned 20 million African-Americans in the US were viewed, treated and labeled as “Less Than“.

Don’t agree; think this is all fiction, speculation or propaganda?! Consider this VIDEO:

VIDEO – Would you want to be treated like blacks? – https://youtu.be/RwA_4OamFhI

Published on Jan 19, 2016 – Every white person who wants to be treated how blacks are in this society stand up. [For this white audience, no one did.]

This is a relevant discussion for a Caribbean consideration, as 29 of the 30 member-states have a majority Black population; (St. Barthélemy is the only exception). So the Caribbean Diaspora and their legacies residing in the US – the Migration Policy Institute reported in 2012 that the numbers may be as high as 22 million – fits into the Black-and-Brown demographic. Unfortunately, every year that transpires, more and more Caribbean residents flee to foreign shores, like the US. The same report continues:

… the Caribbean population in the U.S. has surged more than 17-fold over the past half-century. But three-quarters of “Caribbeans” in the country arrived during the last two decades of the 20th century.

Why would they leave their beloved homelands? And what is their experience when they do leave and immigrate to the US?

The Go Lean book delves into the reasons for emigration. It identified them as an equation of “push and pull” factors. These factors highlight reasons that people want to get-away from “home” and seek “refuge” in these foreign countries. “Refuge” is a good word; because of societal defects, many from the Caribbean must leave – think LGBT, Disability, Domestic-abuse, Medically-challenged – for their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. In addition, the lure of a more prosperous life in the US (and other destinations) drive the “pull” side of the equation. This aligns with the facts: there is always some doing better, and always some doing worse.

But what truly is the experience when these ones arrive in America?

Answer: Less Than!

The experience of new Caribbean Diaspora members is that their work ethic is appreciated by employers; they are welcomed for the mass of blue-collar or menial jobs. White-collar ones, not so much. Then there is the language challenges. Many Caribbean islands speak Creole-derivatives of European languages of Spanish (Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico), French (Haiti and the French Caribbean islands), Dutch (Suriname and 6 islands – ABC and SSSIslands). These ones must come to the US and be classified as “English Speakers of Other Languages” (ESOL) for education and employment purposes. As for the English-speaking Caribbean, the consistent experience is one of a foreign accent; broken English spoken with a Caribbean “sing-song”. All in all, language fluency may be challenging.

This is the reality for the Caribbean Diaspora; they may find themselves invisible in the socio-economic relevance of American life; this is more fact than it is fiction. Is it surprising that this “Less Than” experience is preferred to enduring life at home in the Caribbean? This conveys the extent of the Caribbean defects.

An example of Caribbean “Less Than” is evident in the experience of dreadlock hairstyles. Those sporting this hairstyle are just immediately under-valued; treated as “Less Than“.

This is real talk about “Less Than“. This is not a reference to the de jure of American life, but rather the de facto. (Similar experiences are reported from the Diaspora communities in other countries, like in Toronto, Canada and London, England). The purpose of this commentary is to draw attention to the Go Lean book. It serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). One goal of the roadmap is to lower the “push and pull” factors that lead many residents in the region to abandon their Caribbean homeland for American (or Canadian or European) shores. Another goal is to improve the image of Caribbean people, at home and abroad. We must target the societal defects and fix them. The Go Lean/CU quest is to reform and transform our region so that we may prosper where we are planted in our Caribbean homelands, so that our people do not have to leave to become aliens in a foreign land, to be ridiculed for their skin color, accents, and hairstyles (dreadlocks). This goal is detailed in the Go Lean book, presented as the prime directives, as follows:

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

The Go Lean roadmap calls for many changes and empowerments. There is so much we learn from the American experience, past and present. One paramount lesson: basic rights should not be subject to a public referendum. One group (minorities) should not have to seek the permission of another group (majority) to be happy. There should be a recognition of fundamental rights, above and beyond any national opinion polls.

Another important lesson we learn from the American experience is that the image associated with a minority group can be reformed and transformed. Look at the African-Americans populations; now it is considered politically incorrect to hold racist views or to engage in racist activities. The President of the US is actually an African-American. Image or brand management works, if there is someone (or something) working “it”.

The CU is not slated to be a national government, but rather a confederation of national governments (and overseas territories); so the CU does not feature sovereignty; it features the functionality of a Trade Union, capable of promotional activities and peer-pressure on domestic and international stakeholders. The CU/Go Lean effort is to cajole, prod and incentivize these individual member-states to embrace the protocols of international human rights mandates. The CU/Go Lean roadmap calls for fundamental human rights to be codified in regional treaties. These mandates would correspond to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, which declare that:

… civil, economic and social rights should be asserted as part of the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. – Go Lean book Page 220

There would be no place for any sub-group within the Caribbean population to feel as “Less Than” while at home.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap does not seek to reform America (or Canada or Europe); that is out-of-scope for our movement. Our quest is to reform and transform the Caribbean only. But we do try to manage impressions and images that these regions consume of Caribbean people, life and culture; we must accentuate the positive (promotion) and dissuade the negative (anti-defamation).

Domestically, there are many defects of Caribbean life that the Go Lean movement seeks to address. Right now internationally, these more advanced democracies, (US, Canada and Europe) may only consider us as parasites, but we would rather be recognized as protégés. This is a matter of image. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 13) with many statements that demonstrate the need to remediate Caribbean communities and enhance the Caribbean world-wide image:

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.

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 the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, pre-fabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.

It goes without saying that every Caribbean member-state would prefer to keep their people – especially their educated work force – at “home” to prosper in the homeland. But this is not the de facto reality. It is no small task to assuage this crisis. The Go Lean book describes it as heavy-lifting; the book provides real solutions, detailing a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the region, member-states, cities and communities economic prospects. See this sample here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Facilitate Job-Creating Industries	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – High Multiplier Industries	Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Self-Governing Entities	Page 80
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean	Page 118
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Caribbean Image	Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories	Page 244
Advocacy – Ways to Impact British Territories	Page 245
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Dutch Territories	Page 246
Advocacy – Ways to Impact French Territories	Page 247

It is the quest of every Caribbean leader to minimize the size of the Diaspora. They wish …

… but wishing alone will not accomplish this goal – there must be real solutions to the “push and pull” realities. One member-state alone may not have the leverage and/or economies-of-scale to effect the needed reform. This is why the regional scale is different … and better. This is the purpose of the Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap: to compose, communicate and compel regional solutions back in the Caribbean homeland to lower the “push and pull” factors.

This subject – “push and pull” – was examined further in other related Go Lean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7866	Switching Allegiances: Athletes move on to represent other countries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	Role Model Frederick Douglass: Single Cause – Death or Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151	The Caribbean is Looking for Heroes … ‘to Return’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5759	Bad example of Greece – Crisis leading to abandonment of Doctors
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5088	Immigrants account for 1 in 11 Blacks in USA
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4613	The ‘Luck of the Irish’ – Past, Present and Future of the Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547	Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2251	The Reality of Names of Caribbean people
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2025	Image of the Caribbean Diaspora – Butt of the Joke
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433	Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of tertiary educated to brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We *Don’t* Want from the US – Discrimination of Immigrations

Fact and Fiction

So is an 8-ounce glass with 4-ounces of water half-full or half-empty?

This is the reality of fact and fiction on image.

Mathematically, 4 is half of 8. But the “full” or “empty” label is the perception, impression and image to the beholder; as in:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The Caribbean has a lot to work with. But our “glass is not empty”! We have been recognized as “best in the world” in certain circles. We feature the best …

… winter vacations, best cruises, best foods, best music, best festivals, best cigars and best rums. In the dimension of humans as opposed to destinations, we have some of the greatest athletes in the world. In these respects, we are not “Less Than“. We can argue to be the best address on the planet. But we cannot ignore our dire societal defects and deficiencies.

With some measure of success with the solutions at home, and communicating the facts and fictions of Diasporic life, we should be able to reduce the size of our Caribbean Diaspora, repatriating many to return to the homeland. Even more so, we should reduce the “push and pull” factors that lead many to abandon the region in the first place. The Caribbean entertains 80 million visitors every year; we are associated with the image of a great place to ‘play’. We now need to complete that visual: a great place to live, work and play.

Yes, we can!

So are we “Less Than” ?

Not here … at home. Our Caribbean region is actually comprised of a diverse array of cultures, races, religions and languages.

So “say it loud” …

We are Black … and proud.
We are White … and proud.
We are Indo-Caribbean … and proud.
We are Chino-Caribbean … and proud.
We are mixed races … and proud.
We are Caribbean … and proud!

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

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Civil Rights, Diaspora, History, Image

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How Local Economies Benefit From Small Businesses

Posted on May 23, 2016 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

This sentence about small & medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) in Puerto Rico speaks true for the rest of the Caribbean:

According to government data, 95 percent of companies … are SME’s with 50 or fewer employees, and they employ around 25 percent of the jobs on the island.
Caribbean Journal Online News Source – Posted 06/12/2014; retrieved 06/13/2014 from: http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/06/12/puerto-rico-governor-signs-bill-on-small-medium-sized-enterprises/

Small and medium-sized firms constitute the economic landscape of Caribbean life. They must be cuddled; it is what it is!

The purpose of the book Go Lean … Caribbean is to elevate the economic engines in the region, to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The book serves as a 5 year roadmap to foster new empowerments and economic opportunities for the region, with the goal of creating 2.2 million new jobs. To be successful, we must focus on the landscape – and realities – of small businesses, considering that they may constitute 95 percent of the business community.

In previous blogs-commentaries, the reality of BIG businesses are fully explored: the good, the bad and the ugly:

While there is a constant vigil against Crony-Capitalism, there is the pragmatic realization that Direct Foreign Investors (DFI) tend to be large corporations.
The Caribbean wants DFI.
The Caribbean does not want plutocracies – dominant corporate entities with abusive behavior.
Minority businesses tend to be minor businesses.

This commentary stresses jobs and entrepreneurship, features of the prime directives described in the Go Lean book. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) with the charter to facilitate jobs. These prime directives are defined by these 3 statements:

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

How can small businesses fit in this mission? How can small enterprises succeed and compete against BIG multi-national corporations? Can they succeed? Yes, they can!

So says one of the largest banks in the US, Bank of America. They have provided a proven formula for small businesses to succeed … in competition with the rest of the world. Consider their details here:

Title: How Local Economies Benefit From Small Businesses
Posted by: Touchpoint in General Business on May 5, 2016

Studies show that when consumers spend money at a small business, their purchases have a ripple effect that spreads through the local economy. Big box or national chain stores might appear to make a bigger impact, but downtown merchants anchored in the community often provide more benefits overall. From keeping more money in the community to providing competitive deals, local economies thrive when neighborhood businesses are supported.

Click on Images to Enlarge
Bank of America – Community Economic Education Campaign. Posted 05/5/2016; retrieved 05/13-/2016:
https://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/community/running-your-business/general-business/blog/2016/04/22/how-local-economies-benefit-from-small-businesses

It is important to note that the quest to “cuddle” small businesses likely do not involve Crony-Capitalism, as small enterprises do not wield much power. (Collectively, as in the Chamber of Commerce, the influence peddling may be more impactful).

So how can small businesses fit in with the prime directives to elevate Caribbean society?

The Go Lean roadmap anticipates the job multiplier effect. It is necessary to confederate the 30 member-states of the Caribbean region to optimize the local economic engines. This means enhancing existing industries like tourism, offshore banking, specialty agriculture; plus also creating new industries for the region like Automotive manufacturing, Ship-building, “Pre-Fab” Housing and Frozen Foods. These activities are designed to create 461,900 new jobs. The remaining of the 2.2 million jobs – 1,732,125 – are created as a result the job multiplier effect; (in which every direct job can indirectly impact multiple jobs in the economy). This is where the reality of small businesses fit into the mission to elevate the Caribbean.

According to the opening quote, 95% of the new companies will be small or medium-sized firms – with 50 or fewer employees. This is the source for the majority of new jobs.

But with the reality of the BIG multi-national corporations, how can small enterprises compete and succeed against them?

Efficiency and effectiveness is the key to “leveling the playing-field”. One leveling strategy is the use of technology. This does not mean that small businesses must buy-own the technology. No, not, in this year of 2016! It is only necessary to use the technology, other people’s technology. See this VIDEO from the same Bank of America for their offering of Account Management services, in conjunction with specialized software from Intuit’s QuickBooks®; (who partners with over 18,000 banks):

VIDEO – Account Management for Small Business from Bank of America – https://youtu.be/C3qX4oTOIcw

Published on Dec 15, 2015 – With Account Management from Bank of America you’ll get more control over your small business banking accounts plus seamless integration with QuickBooks®.

According to this VIDEO from Bank of America, there are obvious back-office enhancements for online banking systems; (other banks provide similar solutions). It is the full expectation that local Caribbean banks will launch similar products. This is a mission of the Go Lean roadmap; to provide greater stewardship (“new guards”) – setting the bar higher – for the regional banks and business communities. The roadmap commences with a Declaration of Interdependence, pronouncing the need for regional integration (Page 11 – 14) and a new technology eco-system to foster a better economic future. The declarative statements are as follows:

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

xxi. Whereas the 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.

xxv.   Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. …

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

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

Change has now come to the Caribbean. In a previous blog-commentary it was explained that the driver of this change is technology and globalization. The Caribbean region cannot only consume the innovations being developed around the world to support small businesses; we must develop and innovate ourselves. The bottom-line for our development must be the “bottom-line” for the community, the Greater Good. The Go Lean roadmap identifies an example of the ICT advancement: the emergence of cloud computing, as similarly depicted in the foregoing VIDEO. This is the strategy of forging a Cyber Caribbean with many outsourcing/in-sourcing deployments for regional governments, institutions, businesses and consumers.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap is designed to foster ICT developments in the Caribbean region, with the motives of job-creation. This requires a full-vertical strategy: identifying the human resources / skill-set development, incentivizing high-tech start-ups and incubating viable companies. These points have been detailed in many previous Go Lean blog-commentaries; consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7847	PC industry swoons, as cloud and mobile devices dominate
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7806	Skipping School to become Tech Giants
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7646	Going from ‘Good to Great’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6422	Microsoft Pledges $75 million for Kids in Computer Science
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	The new Tourism Stewardship: e-Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6151	3D Printing: Here Comes Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5840	Security Concerns: Computer Glitches Disrupt Business As Usual
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5435	China Internet Policing – Model for Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4793	Truth in Commerce – Learning from Yelp
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4381	Net Neutrality: It Matters Here …in the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3974	Google and Mobile Phones – Here comes Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881	Intelligence Agencies to Up Cyber Security Cooperation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3152	Making a Great Place to Work®
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3187	Robots help Amazon tackle Cyber Monday
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2126	Computers Reshaping Global Job Market
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=689	‘eMerge’ Conference aims to jump-start Tech Hub
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=308	CARCIP – CariCom Initiative – Urges Greater Innovation

The primary ingredient for a Caribbean ICT strategy is Caribbean people. There is no need to create new computers, just new computer programs. There is no need to create banks, just deploy online banking. There is no need to create new accounting software, just configure existing software like Intuit’s QuickBooks with Caribbean “particulars”. This is the conceivable, believable and achievable goal for Caribbean stewards to help foster local small businesses, to include them in this regional elevation plan – see VIDEO in the Appendix below. The Go Lean roadmap describes the need to reform and transform the community “will” as a community ethos – national spirit – to promote entrepreneurship.

The Go Lean book envisions the CU – a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean chartered to do the heavy-lifting of elevating the Caribbean economy – to empower (and cuddle) small and medium-sized businesses. The book details the economic principles and community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster a dynamic business environment in the Caribbean. See sample list here:

Economic Principles – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Economic Principles – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Economic Principles – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Close the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 48
Strategic – Core Competence – Getting better at what we do best	Page 58
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy – New High Multiplier Industries	Page 68
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) – Facilitating local business	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – State Department – Shepherding NGO’s and Cooperatives	Page 80
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Education Department – e-Learning Promoter	Page 85
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Labor – Promoting excellence and On-Job-Training	Page 89
Implementation – Assemble CPU and www.myCaribbean.gov	Page 96
Implementation – Steps to Improve Mail Services – Logistics for local commerce	Page 108
Implementation – Ways to Deliver – Embrace of Project Management Arts & Sciences	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Cyber Caribbean	Page 127
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 Impact Cooperatives	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Events – Example of multiple small businesses	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Transportation to jobs	Page 234

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs declare that the Caribbean needs to learn lessons from organizations in other communities, especially banking entities that promote small businesses. The foregoing VIDEO provides a sample/example.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people, businesses, institutions (i.e. banking) and governmental entities, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This roadmap will result in economic opportunities throughout the region, for small, medium-sized and large businesses and trading partners – domestic and foreign direct investors.

Overall, with these executions, the Caribbean region can be a better place to live, work and play. As demonstrated by this discussion on banking systems supporting small businesses, there is a lot of economic activity – 95 percent of all new companies – in the small business arena. The practice of incentivizing, “cuddling” and incubating small businesses must be earnestly engaged by stakeholders in the Caribbean region, especially those taking the lead. This is not easy; this is heavy-lifting, part of the process to elevate Caribbean society. But the heavy-lifting is an investment, for immediate returns, to benefit the Greater Good. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean…Caribbean now!

—————-

Appendix VIDEO – The single biggest reason why startups succeed – https://youtu.be/bNpx7gpSqbY

Published on Jun 1, 2015 – Bill Gross has founded a lot of startups, and incubated many others — and he got curious about why some succeeded and others failed. So he gathered data from hundreds of companies, his own and other people’s, and ranked each company on five key factors. He found one factor that stands out from the others — and surprised even him.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gross_t…

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Transformations: Civil Disobedience … Still Effective

Posted on May 14, 2016 in Economics, Government, Implementation, Social

Go Lean Commentary

This commentary has previously identified African-American Abolitionist Frederick Douglass as a role model for the Caribbean, despite the fact that his advocacy was 150 years ago. His is quite the legacy:

“Those who profess to favor freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” – Frederick Douglass

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean recognize the contributions of role models who used civil disobedience to reform and transform their societies, Frederick Douglass included. The book specifically details (Page 122) these other advocates:

Mohandas Gandhi	Indian Independence
Dr. Martin Luther King	African-American Civil Rights Movement
Nelson Mandela	South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid
Cesar Chavez	Migrant Farm Workers in the US
Candice Lightner	Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

The quest to transform society, as accomplished by these foregoing named advocates, is familiar to the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This book asserts that the societal engines in the Caribbean (economy, security, and governance) are deficient and defective and need to be reformed and transformed to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. This is commentary 4 of 4 from this movement on the subject of transformations: how to move our region from the deficient-defective status quo to the undisputed title of “greatest address on the planet”. All these commentaries detailed transformation issues, as follows:

Perfecting our Core Competence
Money Matters – “Getting over” with “free money”
Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) – Delivering the Future
Civil Disobedience … Still Effective

The Go Lean book details the quest to transform the Caribbean; it features a how-to guide, a roadmap for elevating the region’s societal engines using effective tactics like civil disobedience.

Civil disobedience has been effective in the past … see a related history here:

Title: History of Mass Nonviolent Action

Source: ACT UP – AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power – Civil Disobedience Training – Retrieved 05-22-2016 from: http://www.actupny.org/documents/CDdocuments/HistoryNV.html

The use of nonviolence runs throughout history. There have been numerous instances of people courageously and nonviolently refusing cooperation with injustice. However, the fusion of organized mass struggle and nonviolence is relatively new. It originated largely with Mohandas Gandhi in 1906 at the onset of the South African campaign for Indian rights. Later, the Indian struggle for complete independence from the British Empire included a number of spectacular nonviolent campaigns. Perhaps the most notable was the year-long Salt campaign in which 100,000 Indians were jailed for deliberately violating the Salt Laws.

The refusal to counter the violence of the repressive social system with more violence is a tactic that has also been used by other movements. The militant campaign for women’s suffrage in Britain included a variety of nonviolent tactics such as boycotts, noncooperation, limited property destruction, civil disobedience, mass marches and demonstrations, filling the jails, and disruption of public ceremonies.

The Salvadoran people have used nonviolence as one powerful and necessary element of their struggle. Particularly during the 1960s and 70s, Christian based communities, labor unions, campesino organizations, and student groups held occupations and sit-ins at universities, government offices, and places of work such as factories and haciendas.

There is rich tradition of nonviolent protest in this country as well, including Harriet Tubman’s underground railroad during the civil war and Henry David Thoreau’s refusal to pay war taxes. Nonviolent civil disobedience was a critical factor in gaining women the right to vote in the United States, as well.

The U.S. labor movement has also used nonviolence with striking effectiveness in a number of instances, such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) free speech confrontations, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) sitdown strikes from 1935-1937 in auto plants, and the UFW grape and lettuce boycotts.

Using mass nonviolent action, the civil rights movement changed the face of the South. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) initiated modern nonviolent action for civil rights with sit-ins and a freedom ride in the 1940s. The successful Montgomery bus boycott electrified the nation. Then, the early 1960s exploded with nonviolent actions: sit-ins at lunch counters and other facilities, organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Freedom Rides to the South organized by CORE; the nonviolent battles against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); and the 1963 March on Washington, which drew 250,000 participants.

Opponents of the Vietnam War employed the use of draft card burnings, draft file destruction, mass demonstrations (such as the 500,000 who turned out in 1969 in Washington, D.C.), sit-ins, blocking induction centers, draft and tax resistance, and the historic 1971 May Day traffic blocking in Washington, D.C. in which 13,000 people were arrested.

Since the mid-70s, we have seen increasing nonviolent activity against the nuclear arms race and nuclear power industry. Nonviolent civil disobedience actions have taken place at dozens of nuclear weapons research installations, storage areas, missile silos, test sites, military bases, corporate and government offices and nuclear power plants. In the late 1970s mass civil disobedience actions took place at nuclear power plants from Seabrook, New Hampshire to the DiabloCanyon reactor in California and most states in between in this country and in other countries around the world. In 1982, 1750 people were arrested at the U.N. missions of the five major nuclear powers. Mass actions took place at the Livermore Laboratories in California and SAC bases in the midwest. In the late 80s a series of actions took place at the Nevada test site. International disarmament actions changed world opinion about nuclear weapons.

In 1980 women who were concerned with the destruction of the Earth and who were interested in exploring the connections between feminism and nonviolence were coming together. In November of 1980 and 1981 the Women’s Pentagon Actions, where hundreds of women came together to challenge patriarchy and militarism, took place. A movement grew that found ways to use direct action to put pressure on the military establishment and to show positive examples of life-affirming ways to live together. This movement spawned women’s peace camps at military bases around the world from Greenham Common, England to Puget Sound Peace Camp in Washington state, with camps in Japan and Italy among others.

The anti-apartheid movement in the 80s has built upon the powerful and empowering use of civil disobedience by the civil rights movement in the 60s. In November of 1984, a campaign began that involved daily civil disobedience in front of the South African Embassy. People, including members of Congress, national labor and religious leaders, celebrities, students, community leaders, teachers, and others, risked arrest every weekday for over a year. In the end over 3,100 people were arrested protesting apartheid and U.S. corporate and government support. At the same time, support actions for this campaign were held in 26 major Cities, resulting in an additional 5,000 arrests.

We also saw civil disobedience being incorporated as a key tactic in the movement against intervention in Central America. Beginning in 1983, national actions at the White House and State Department as well as local actions began to spread. In November 1984, the Pledge of Resistance was formed. Since then, over 5,000 people have been arrested at military installations, congressional offices, federal buildings, and CIA offices. Many people have also broken the law by providing sanctuary for Central American refugees and through the Lenten Witness, major denomination representatives have participated in weekly nonviolent civil disobedience actions at the Capitol.

Student activists have incorporated civil disobedience in both their anti-apartheid and Central America work. Divestment became the campus slogan of the 80s. Students built shantytowns and staged sit-ins at Administrator’s offices. Hundreds have been arrested resulting in the divestment of over 130 campuses and the subsequent withdrawal of over $4 billion from the South African economy. Central America student activists have carried out campaigns to protest CIA recruitment on campuses. Again, hundreds of students across the country have been arrested in this effort.

Nonviolent direct action has been an integral part of the renewed activism in the lesbian and gay community since 1987, when ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was formed. ACT UP and other groups have organized hundreds of civil disobedience actions across the country, focusing not only on AIDS but on the increasing climate of homophobia and attacks on lesbians and gay men. On October 13, 1987, the Supreme Court was the site of the first national lesbian and gay civil disobedience action, where nearly 600 people were arrested protesting the decision in Hardwick vs. Bowers, which upheld sodomy laws. This was the largest mass arrest in D.C. since 1971.

Political Analysis
Power itself is not derived through violence, though in governmental form it is usually violent in nature. Governmental power is often maintained through oppression and the tacit compliance of the majority of the governed. Any significant withdrawal of that compliance will restrict or dissolve governmental control. Apathy in the face of injustice is a form of violence. Struggle and conflict are often necessary to correct injustice.

Our struggle is not easy, and we must not think of nonviolence as a “safe” way to fight oppression. The strength of nonviolence comes from our willingness to take personal risk without threatening other people.

It is essential that we separate the individual from the role she/he plays. The “enemy” is the system that casts people in oppressive roles.

Civil disobedience is still effective today!

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to empower societal elevation (economics, security and governing engines) for the Caribbean region. This roadmap focuses on the political transformations and the practical transformations to elevate the Caribbean region, individually and collectively. But as identified in the foregoing quotation from Frederick Douglass, power is never ceded … without demand. It takes agitation, plowing up the ground, “thunder & lightening” and struggle. Those in power in the status quo will do what all “men” in power try to do: keep it!

The required transformation for the Caribbean may very well take some acts of civil disobedience, challenging the dysfunctional economic status, perhaps even with economic boycotts, sit-ins, general strikes, picket lines, marches and messaging campaigns.

There are effective role models for this as well. Consider here the very recent experience of the University of Missouri Football team:

Amid escalating protests over complaints of racial bigotry at the University of Missouri, the school’s football team said it won’t play until the University President resigns or was replaced. These football players threatened to go on strike. At least 30 players with the support of their coach made the demand. They wanted University President Tim Wolfe to resign for allegedly failing to confront racial tensions at the school.
Commentary: Mizzou Football And The Power Of The Players

Posted November 18, 2015; retrieved May 22, 2016

Members of the University of Missouri Tigers football team – after threatening civil disobedience – returned to practice Nov. 10, 2015 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo. – Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

AUDIO Podcast – Commentary heard on NPR’s Morning Edition – http://www.npr.org/2015/11/18/456360331/commentary-mizzou-football-and-the-power-of-the-players

It’s accepted that thePresident of the University of Missouri stepped down in a racial dispute only when the football team threatened not to play a game. The players showed us again — surprise, surprise — how powerful is football, and let’s throw in basketball, too, throughout our bastions of higher education.

It would have cost old Mizzou a million-dollar penalty had it forfeited. It would have cost the players next to nothing, because the NCAA rules they must be amateurs and risk serious injury for the love of the game. Ironically, for once, having nothing to gain actually strengthened the players’ hand.

The particular racially insensitive issues at Missouri and those that’ve produced protests at other colleges have nothing to do with sport, but, on the other hand, it’s worth noting well over half of the football players who bring in the big money in the big-time conferences are African-American. The percentage of minority basketball players is even higher.

The Go Lean book relates that the experience of Frederick Douglass and other advocates assert that one man or one woman can make a difference and impact his/her community, country and the whole world. Now we must add the student-athletes of the University of Missouri to that podium of role models for us to emulate.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap is designed to motivate the people, institutions and governmental leaders of the Caribbean, regional stakeholders, to make an impact – by the use of civil disobedience if necessary – on the region’s societal engines corresponding with these 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.

The focus of the previous commentary, Frederick Douglass’ legacy, is relevant for our life and times and the Go Lean prime directives. Notice the parallels: The institution of slavery was initiated for economic purposes; it took civil disobedience in the form of a civil war to assuage. In addition, there was no consideration to security principles for the enslaved population. But for the consideration of the Go Lean book, the subject of consideration is one of governance, the need for technocratic stewardship of the regional Caribbean society; how to reform and transform it. This point of governance against the backdrop of civil disobedience was pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these declarations:

Preamble: As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny. … whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

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

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

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

The Go Lean book stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to reform and transform the eco-systems of Caribbean society and apply the lessons learned from other advocates. The book details the following:

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 – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Developing genius in many endeavors, i.e. Sports	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states / 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Failed States Marshall Plan	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Advocate for Human Rights	Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Lessons Learned from Occupy Wall Street Protests	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220

Civil disobedience lead to political transformation and practical transformation. Protest movements, with civil disobedience activities, have effectively reformed and transformed societies in the past, present and no doubt, the future. Scattered through the pages of history, many times protest leaders have become political leaders. Consider Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Lech Walesa of Poland.

Previous Go Lean blogs presented other lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering protest movements from history; the following previous blog/commentaries apply:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	Frederick Douglass: Role Model for a Single Cause
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221	‘Street naming for Martin Luther King’ protests unveils the real America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7204	‘The Covenant with Black America’ – Ten Years Later
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7103	COP21 Protest – ‘Climate Change’ Acknowledged
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6720	A Lesson in Protest History – Principle over Principal During War
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2907	Local Miami Haitian leaders protest Bahamian immigration policy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2633	Book Review: ‘The Protest Psychosis’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1918	Philadelphia Freedom – Successful Protest and Fight for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1683	British public sector workers strike over ‘poverty pay’

The words of Frederick Douglass echo loudly through the ages (19th, 20th and 21st centuries). Reform and transformation only comes with a struggle. This is because “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

This reality applies doubly for the Caribbean!

The Caribbean region is in crisis – all 30 member-states! But this crisis would be a terrible thing to waste. We must use this crisis as a motivation to transform the region. Motivation alone will not bring change – the powerful ones in the status quo will not give up power willingly; they will not accept change willingly. There must be struggle, employing tactics like civil disobedience! As conveyed by Frederick Douglass, we “cannot get the rain without thunder and lightening”. The Go Lean movement – books and blogs – call for rain, and calls for “thunder and lightening”. The movement calls for forging change – transformations – through approaches like the Fun Theory, Sales Process, Power of Music, Food Therapy, and Risking Too Much to Lose.

Once we succeed in transforming the Caribbean societal engines, we must then ensure the changes are permanent! The Go Lean book declares that for permanent change to take place, there must first be an adoption of new community ethos, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. The roadmap was constructed with the primary community ethos of the Greater Good, not a political nor profit motive; but rather a commitment for the “greatest good for the greatest number of people”.

Now is the time for all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this Go Lean regional solution. With this roadmap, the Caribbean can transform to a better society; a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future

Posted on May 13, 2016 in Government, Implementation, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

“The stone the builders reject has become the chief cornerstone” – The Bible; Luke 20:17

Now in the days of email, postal mail has become inconsequential; affectionately called “snail mail”. Governments around the world provide the overhead of postal operations, though they are mostly unprofitable and sneered upon. There are some exceptions however …

Germany’s Deutsche Post
SwedenPostenAB
Finland’s Netpost

… these feature some of the business models in postal services that have become impactful to their local communities. From the best-practices gleaned from these above countries, the model of the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) was forged. The CPU is a subset of the roadmap defined in the book Go Lean…Caribbean; this is the mission for physically and figuratively delivering the future. This roadmap, for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), focuses on the political transformations and the practical transformations to elevate the Caribbean region, individually and collectively.

The Go Lean book details the Germany, Sweden and Finland experiences (Page 99) in contrast to the US Postal Service (USPS). The USPS is not the model for the Caribbean to emulate. The Go Lean book describes the USPS as a failing enterprise. Previous Go Lean commentaries have identified better role models for the CPU: logistics/e-Commerce giant Amazon in the US, and Alibaba in China. These companies provide logistical solutions to their marketplaces; the same as the CPU can deliver the logistical solution for the Caribbean’s modern commerce. This model can transform Caribbean society: its people and institutions. The USPS is an old-dying model; the CPU, on the other hand, is a new, transformative model. See the VIDEO here that relates the disposition of the USPS as an enterprise.

VIDEO 1 – US Postal Service Faces Big Changes Amid Struggle to Deliver on Profitability – https://youtu.be/Lnjfua5wY5U

Uploaded on Dec 5, 2011 – The likelihood that a stamped letter could reach its destination by the next day will be virtually eliminated due to billions in U.S. Postal Service cuts announced Monday. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe joins Gwen Ifill to discuss the cuts and what’s next for the postal service and its customers.

This is commentary 3 of 4 – from the movement behind the Go Lean book – on the subject of transformations: how to move our region from the deficient-defective status quo to a new status, the undisputed title of “greatest address on the planet”. All these commentaries detail these issues, considering:

Perfecting our Core Competence
Money Matters – “Getting over” with “free money”
Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) – Delivering the Future
Civil Disobedience – Still Effective

The Go Lean book details this quest to transform the Caribbean; it features a how-to guide, a roadmap for elevating the region’s societal engines of economics, security and governance. It leads with economic issues, not political ones! But as established previously, there must be political transformations before practical transformations can take place. In order to explore the benefits of the CPU practical transformations – a consolidation of all existing postal entities – must take place in the region. This is a heavy-lifting task. Imagine the management and staff of those agencies in the member-state governments; they now become a part of the CU Federal Civil Service.

See Appendix below for the list of the National Postal entities – all members of the Universal Postal Union – that constitute the 30 Caribbean member-states.

The Go Lean/CU plan calls for this consolidation on Day One/Step One of the implementation of the roadmap, during the Assembly phase. This requires the type of political transformation that involves every stakeholder in the community: residents, businesses and institutions. But this effort can be communicated as a “labor of love”, with very little down-side. What is at risk? The rejected, ignored, expensive postal operations that is currently a drag on member-states resources. It is time now for these rejected entities to be the cornerstone of the Caribbean transformation.

To the everyday man on the street, he will see changes … on the street. There is the need for formal street names and house numbers. For all the regional member-states, except the US territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, there is no mail door-to-door delivery. With the CPU business model, the streets will be structured as a marketplace with grid numbers and postal/ZIP codes, and with pick-up and delivery.

The focus of the CPU is not just to deliver postal mail, but rather to deliver logistics … and the future. Just like Amazon and Alibaba do so much more than just sell merchandise online, the CPU will facilitate a complete eco-system for Small-Medium-Enterprises (SME’s) to thrive in the region: finding customers for their wares and collecting payments. This is key to growing the regional economy to $800 Billion.

The CPU is designed to deliver the Caribbean’s future for Global Trade and Electronic Commerce. These activities have greatly impacted many societies around the world – think China – elevating their economic engines. The CU/CPU will employ technologically innovative products and services 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.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including the consolidation of the state-ran postal operations.

The VIDEO here demonstrates the theme from the Go Lean book, that one organization-institution – like the CPU – that facilitates e-Commerce can optimize the societal engines in the region and impact the transformation of the homeland. The facilitation role will include the attendant functions of order entry, payment settlement, inventory fulfillment, marketplace hosting, customer service contact center and mail pick-up/delivery.

VIDEO 2 – What is E-Commerce? – https://youtu.be/nxSDHBdsWqA

Uploaded on Nov 19, 2011 – What is E-Commerce?
This video provides an explanation of e-commerce, trends in online business, and how the internet has revolutionized the modern marketplace. It also identifies key factors responsible for e-commerce’s continued success.

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to change the entire eco-system of Caribbean commerce and the interaction with postal operations. This vision is defined early in the book (Page 12 & 14) in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:

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

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

In a previous Go Lean blog, this commentary described how …

“… email and text messages have replaced “snail” mail in advanced economy countries for personal written communications. Electronic Bill Presentation & Payments (EBP&P) schemes are transforming business-to-consumer interactions, and electronic funds transfer/electronic commerce is the norm. So [Internet & Communications Technology] (ICT) must be a prominent feature of any Caribbean empowerment plan. This is why creating the CPU and the Caribbean Cloud (www.myCaribbean.gov) is “Step One / Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap. This is the by-product of assembling regional organs with multilateral cooperation and a separation-of-powers. The roadmap also includes establishment of the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB), as a cooperative among existing Central Banks, and its facilitation of electronic payment schemes so as to enable the region’s foray into electronic commerce and trade marketplaces.

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the best practices for the delivery of the CPU and trade marketplaces in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequence of Choice Lie in Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Strategy – Customers – Citizens and Member-states Governmental	Page 47
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – How to Grow the Economy to $800 Billion – Trade and Globalization	Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Postal Services	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Interstate Commerce Administration	Page 79
Implementation – Year 1 / Assemble Phase – Establish CPU	Page 96
Implementation – Anecdote – Mail Services – USPS Dilemma	Page 99
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change – Group Purchase Organizations (GPO)	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Optimize Mail Service & myCaribbean.gov Marketplace	Page 108
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media	Page 111
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – # 8 Cyber-Caribbean	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade – GPO’s	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce	Page 129
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Black Markets	Page 165
Advocacy – Ways to Manage the Federal Civil Service	Page 173
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201

Issues related to the CPU business model have previously been detailed in these Go Lean commentaries, listed here:

Skipping School to become Tech Giants

The Future of Money

How to address high consumer prices

Truth in Commerce – Learning from Yelp

Net Neutrality: It matters here … in the Caribbean

Robots help Amazon tackle Cyber Monday

Role Model Jack Ma brings Alibaba to America

Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping Global Job Market

Amazon’s new FIRE Smartphone

Grenada PM Urges CARICOM on ICT

Increasing trade is a successful strategy for growing the regional economy; this will undoubtedly mean increases in jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. The CU/CPU/Go Lean plan is designed to foster and incubate key industries for the goal of transforming and elevating the regional economy.

But any transformation to the Caribbean societal engines must be permanent! The Go Lean book declares that for permanent change to take place, there must first be an adoption of new community ethos, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. The roadmap was constructed with the primary community ethos of the Greater Good, not a profit motive and not a nationalistic motive; but rather a commitment for the “greatest good for the greatest number of people”.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions (like Postal Operations), to lean-in for the changes in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is a Big Idea for the region, that of a Cyber Caribbean effort (Page 127), in which trade marketplaces play a major role. This roadmap is not just a plan for delivering the mail; it is also the delivery of the hopes and dreams of generations of Caribbean stakeholders; it is about delivering the future: a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

—————–

Appendix – Universal Postal Union (UPU) Members, as of 2009

Country	Governmental authority	Regulatory authority	Designated operator
Antigua and Barbuda			Antigua Post Office
Aruba^{[N 1]}			Post Aruba – for Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the Dutch SSS Islands.
Bahamas^[2009]	Ministry of Public Works and Transport	None	Bahamas Postal Service
Barbados^[2009]	Ministry of Home Affairs	None	Barbados Postal Service
Belize	Ministry of Public Utilities, Transport, Communications^[2]		Belize Postal Service^{[N 2]}
Cuba^[2009]	Ministry of Informatics and Communications	None	Empresa de Correos de Cuba
Dominica	Ministry of Public Works, Energy and Ports^[4]		General Post Office (GPO)^{[4][N 2]}
Dominican Republic^[2009]	Ministry of Public Works and Communications	None	Instituto Postal Dominicano (INPOSDOM) (Dominican Postal Institute)
France^[2009]	Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment	Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation Authority (ARCEP)	La Poste for Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Barts and St Martin
British Overseas Territories			Anguilla Post Office^[7] Bermuda Post Office^[8] BVI Post^[13][14] Cayman Islands Postal Service^[15] Montserrat General Post Office^[18] Turks and Caicos Post Office ^[21]
Grenada			Grenada Postal Corporation^[2]
Guyana			Guyana Post Office Corporation
Haiti			Office des Postes d’Haiti
Jamaica			Postal Corporation of Jamaica
Netherlands	Ministry of Economic Affairs	OPTA/Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM)	PostNL for some of the Dutch SSS Islands (Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten)
Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla			St. Kitts & Nevis Postal Services
Saint Lucia			Saint Lucia Postal Service
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines			SVG Postal Corporation
Suriname			Surpost
Trinidad and Tobago			TTPost
United States	United States Postal Service^{[N 5]}	Postal Regulatory Commission	United States Postal Service for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands

Source: Retrieved March 12, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_postal_entities

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Transformations: Money Matters – ‘Getting over’ with ‘free money’

Posted on May 12, 2016 in Economics, Government, Implementation

Go Lean Commentary

Here is a fact we have learned about transformations: there must be political transformations and practical transformations.

The Go Lean quest is to transform the 30 member-states in the Caribbean region. We are not the first …

… and we guarantee that we will not be the last.

So there are good, bad and ugly lessons for us to consider from other societies at other times. Take the recent example of Iraq. This is one of the lessons we have learned from that society: the practical transformation is easier than the political transformation. After the regime change by the United States in 2003 – a practical transformation – the country had a very tough time forging a stable society … because they could not succeed with the required political transformations. This is heavy-lifting, requiring collaboration, compromise and consensus-building. Iraq is not so homogeneous; they have sectarian discord, multiple ethnic groups that compose the country: Shiite, Sunni, Kurds, Yazidis and others; different religions, races, ethnicities, languages, values and goals.

The dysfunctions created voids in leadership, administration and security. Enter ISIS!

This experience relates that one benefit of getting the political transformation right is some assurance of peace and security.

Another benefit: Money!

Once political transformations transpire, the opportunity emerges to acquire free money. Again, consider Iraq:

On November 20, 2004, the Paris Club of creditor nations agreed to write off 80% ($33 billion) of Iraq’s $42 billion debt to Club members. Iraq’s total external debt was around $120 billion at the time of the 2003 invasion, and had grown another $5 billion by 2004. The debt relief will be implemented in three stages: two of 30% each and one of 20%.^[133]Source: Retrieved May 11, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq#Economy

This point aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean, which asserts that the societal engines in the Caribbean (economy, security, and governance) are deficient and defective; in some cases we even feature Failed-States (think: Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and others). The book posits that the region can improve and make our homelands a better place to live, work and play.

How? One way we can “get over the hump” of transformation is to acquire Free Money… as much as possible.

This is commentary 2 of 4, from the movement behind the Go Lean book, on the subject of transformations: how to move our region from the deficient-defective status quo to the undisputed title of “greatest address on the planet”. All these commentaries detail these issues, considering:

Perfecting our Core Competence
Money Matters – “Getting over” with “free money”
Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) – Delivering the Future
Civil Disobedience – Still Effective

The Go Lean book details the quest to transform the Caribbean; it features a how-to guide, a roadmap for elevating the region’s societal engines of economics, security and governance. It leads with economic issues, not political ones!

It recognizes that while political transformation is heavy-lifting – requiring collaboration, compromise and consensus-building – economic ones are a little easier. Show up in any community with a boatload of jobs and people will line-up around the corner to transform and accept the jobs … and any dependent conditions. (Free Money always comes with conditions!)

This is the Go Lean quest … but first, we acquire all the “free money” possible. (There should be no entitlement attitude to Foreign Aid).

A previous blog related how the community of Haiti was granted $500 million in grants-aid for the 2010 Earthquake; the money was collected and administered by the American Red Cross … but very little of it reached it’s target destination in Haiti. The assertion is that we must take the lead for our own administration and stewardship.

Build it, and they will come. – Movie Quotation

The Go Lean position is that if we put the technocratic processes in place, we will benefit from a lot of available grant-aid monies. These “free” monies can help us to “get over the hump”, to succeed with the needed transformations in our society; see VIDEO here:

VIDEO: Foreign Aid 101 – https://youtu.be/s0Ps0UIY2Xc

Published on Mar 4, 2014 – Everything you need to know about U.S. foreign aid in 3 minutes, i.e. foreign aid is only less than 1 percent of the US federal government’s budget.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation for the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). As a federation or federal government representing all 30 member-states, the prime directives of this roadmap is the cause of elevating society by addressing these 3 focus areas:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance, including efforts with non-governmental agencies, to support these engines.

The samples and examples of so many other societies provide us with role models for how to procure grant/aid for our cause; see photo here.

Source: “Foreign Aid Explorer website”. Foreign Aid Explorer. USAID. Posted July 27, 2015.

Continuing with Iraq, that country was able to procure a lot of grant/aid/loans from different international sources; see here:

Foreign aid to Iraq has increased to handle reconstruction efforts.
In 2004 the U.S. Agency for International Development was responsible for awarding contracts totaling US$900 million for capital construction, seaport renovation, personnel support, public education, public health, government administration, and airport management. The World Bank committed US$3 billion to US$5 billion for reconstruction over a five-year period, and smaller commitments came from Japan, the European Union, Britain, and Spain. Russia canceled 65 percent of Iraq’s debt of US$8 billion, and Saudi Arabia offered an aid package totaling US$1 billion. Also, Iran has been accused of giving some monetary support to individual political parties. Some US$20 billion of US 2004 appropriations for Iraq were earmarked for reconstruction. Effective application of such funds, however, depends on substantial improvement in infrastructural and institutional resources. Because Iraq’s international debt situation had not been elaborated in 2005, for the foreseeable future US funds are expected to pay for capital investments in rebuilding.
Source: Retrieved May 11, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_aid_to_Iraq

We can, and must, do better in the Caribbean, compared to Iraq, a country still in disarray. We are able to be more accountable, transparent and productive with grants/aid that we receive. The Go Lean book fully anticipated this strategy, as Page 115 cited:

The Go Lean/CU roadmap provides the scale and the means by which to plan and act for our Caribbean emergencies and natural disasters… But … the Caribbean must not be perennial beggars; we do need capital/money, especially to get started.

CariCom -vs- the Caribbean Union
The conclusion of consultants hired to advise the CariCom [(Caribbean Community Secretariat)] confessed that the Pact’s tacit strategy is to exploit the international donor community. The CU represents a break from this “Rich Man-Poor Man-Beggar Man-Thief” stance, and leans in to the alternate ethos of “Butcher-Baker-Candlestick Maker”. The CU vision is a Trade Federation that earns its keep thru trade and industriousness. In the Federation roadmap, the CariCom is re-constituted to the CU in Year 3.

In the Caribbean, we need grants/aid … to get started, to “get over the hump”; then we want to be able to stand-alone as a mature democracy – a regional Single Market. We need the initial help to optimize all 3 societal engines: economics, security and governance:

The economic help we seek should be viewed as seed money, so that we can sow in the fields of our marketplace, and later reap bountiful harvests. See Appendix VIDEO below.
The security help will allow us to foster a regional homeland security apparatus of our own; there is the specific need for military “hardware”; (think watercrafts, helicopters, and unmanned aerial drones).
For governance, we need technical assistance; the focus here is more on “software” or intellectual property, to provide better shepherding to the federal government, member-state governments and non-governmental organization (NGO) so as to execute the roadmap.

The following list from the Go Lean book is a sample of the strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies of the Go Lean/CU roadmap related to the quest to foster more international aid:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Customers – Member-State Governments	Page 51
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers	Page 71
Anecdote – Turning Around the CARICOM construct	Page 92
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government	Page 93
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed	Page 132
Planning – Lessons Learned from the West Indies Federation	Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Credit Reporting – Improve Debt Management	Page 155
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Revenue Sources … for Administration	Page 172
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176

The Caribbean can truly be a great place to live, work and play. With the proper structures, we can qualify for a lot of ‘free money’, but free always comes with conditions and strings. That makes us dependent, not independent; we maintain a status of a parasite, not a protégé. This is why the strategy in the roadmap is not to depend on Foreign Aid for the long term, but rather to tease and tempt the people and institutions in the region to conform and acquiesce to behavioral changes needed in the community. Consider this as a “carrot and stick” motivation:

Comply and get the money
Non-compliance and future money is taken away

Remember, political transformations versus practical transformations…

… many politicians are arrogant, dogmatic and defiant; but when the budgets do not add up, they begrudgingly become willing to be practical and pragmatic. Math rules … over mania. Consider this:

There is a current issue in some Caribbean member-states where there is the need to correct constitutional deficiencies for gender equality; (the Bahamas in particular has a public referendum slated for June 7, 2016). One strong motivation is the compliance with the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Future foreign aid and grants are tied to the successful execution of these constitutional reforms.

Previously, Go Lean blogs commented on transformations, identifying the status in Caribbean member-states; as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7963	Being a ‘Good Neighbor’ – Like Puerto Rico needs right now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7198	State of the Caribbean Union
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6231	China’s Caribbean Playbook: Helping Transform the region
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4360	Dreading the ‘Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’ and planning for better
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2953	Funding Caribbean Entrepreneurs – The ‘Crowdfunding’ Way
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2887	Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2435	Latin America’s Korean dream – A Model of a Rebuilt Economy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2359	CARICOM calls for innovative ideas to finance SmallIsland development
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1965	America’s Naval Security – Model for Caribbean Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554	Status of Forces Agreement = Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1193	EU willing to fund study on cost of not having CARICOM
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	Canada’s assessment: All is not well in the Caribbean – willing to help
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=816	The Future of CariCom
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451	CARICOM deliver address on reparations – Looking for Free Money

There is a community ethos that fosters the building of effective economic engines, deploying an efficient security apparatus and organizing governing stewardship. It is called the Greater Good! The Go Lean roadmap describes any continuation of a dependent attitude, or expectation of entitlement to foreign aid, as “parasite” but the mature, independent attitude as “protégé”. So this roadmap calls on the Caribbean region to be collectively self-reliant – interdependent – both proactively and reactively.

Transformations …

… any transformation to the Caribbean societal engines must be permanent! The Go Lean book declares that for permanent change to take place, there must first be an adoption of new community ethos, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. The roadmap was constructed with the primary community ethos of the Greater Good, not a profit motive, not a perennial-beggar motive nor a nationalistic motive; but rather a commitment for the “greatest good for the greatest number of people”.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——————–

Appendix VIDEO – What’s Wrong With International Aid? – https://youtu.be/xNfOnqf5g6Y

Published on Oct 15, 2012 – Bran Dougherty-Johnson and Jennifer Holt designed the animated clip for Building Markets. Hatfarm produced the sound design.
Category: Nonprofits & Activism

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Debt, Foreign Policy, History, Transform

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