Friday, June 6, 2008

From Verbose and Loquacious to Quick and Clean

As the world gets smaller through various technologies fueled by globalization, we've got to begin to think on more than just one level. In addition to the $$$ that's to be made in emerging economies such as China, India and various bits of the African continent, we need to take a step back and make sure we're making sure to move forward with not only the monetary spoils of the gentrification of the world's westernizing settings, but with their social and environmental welfare in mind too. In an effort to win the Cold War weird rationalizations and compromises of our ideals during the lead to many failed policies; (some of which haunt us today both politically and militarily) and while we won that conflict, with forms of capitalism running all over the freeing world, we've still got some work to do.

Human development is something I take passionately. It's probably because I'm American and I recognize that traditionally, we're pretty good at it. In the following blog posts, I'm going to be talking about development in a way that I hope bridges the divide between the money grubbers and the tree huggers; between activists and the establishment. I look at places like Zimbabwe struggling to free themselves from tyranny via a peaceful electoral process, despite the Mugabe regime's obvious acts of deceit and cowardice and I think to myself: when they come through, when they vote them out, the people will be looking for the kind of government that supports them rather than exploits them but who knows what's to come next. The new regime will certainly open up trade but when that happens what will we do to ensure that the sort of process that made Mugabe what he is today won't happen again?

There are resources there that the world needs the market to develop. But in order to create a stabilized trading platform, the world's going to have to keep the social situation stable as well, which means unfettered exploitation of the lands are also a no-no. What we need is equilateral development; that is development adhering to the vaunted "triple bottom line."

The idea is that you can develop a city, tract of land, an economy, a business, even your household as if they were built on an equilateral triangle-- each side the same length as the next, each side being just as important as the next, yet each side having a crisp an clear separate meaning and yet all sides working toward your goal of development while allowing you to promote not only capital growth but social and environmental growth as well.

So welcome to Quick and Clean, where I try my best to limit the loquaciousness found in this post and present current perspective and opportunities for us to basically make a killing through equilateral development. Rather than it be quick and dirty, it's quick and clean.

D. De Freitas

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