Jon Kalan's Blog
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What's My Cause?....
- Posted on 09.14.08
What's my Cause?
Thats tough. I mean, the ability of every person on this planet to have access to basic necessities and an opportunity for economic success is my hope in life. I guess that would include human rights, environment, community, health, and youth right there.
But what about Arts and Animals? I believe animals have the same rights as humans... I'm not a vegetarian but I do believe animals should be treated fairly, no matter if they are going to be killed anyways.
Arts? Art is what makes a culture thrive, it's what gives the people something to believe in, an outlet, something to distract and take them away from the day to day monotony life can sometimes bring. You cannot have a flourishing culture without the inclusion of art.
Well, I guess I'm for all the causes on this site. But if you ask me what I'm really passionate about, what really drives me, and what I really want to do in this world, check out this site -- www.nextbillion.net.
I am interested in social innovation, social enterprise, and bringing business opportunities to those who have nothing to lift themselves up with. To go more into depth, here is an abstract from a recent research project I completed, comparing business opportunities for the poor in India and China...
"At the base of the world’s economic pyramid lie four billion people, close to 60% of the entire world population, who all share common characteristics that put them into parallel situations of immobility, poverty, and dependency. They suffer from a lack of resources, an abundance of unmet needs, dependence on informal or subsistence livelihoods, and what is sometimes referred to as the bottom of the pyramid penalty- paying higher prices for goods and services than the rest of the economy due to limited access. Of these four billion people, 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day, and over 1 billion live on less than $1 a day, or what is known as extreme poverty. For most of the 20th century, the traditional approach to alleviating poverty in developing nations involved hand-outs, government sponsored poverty reduction programs, and doling out illustrious amounts of money into non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and aid work. While these approaches have exhibited some success over the years, their lack of sustainability and inability to address the root of the problem, the “traps” of the poverty trap, has created a space for a new route to poverty alleviation.
Twenty years ago, if someone had told you to look at the poor as a market, a $5 Trillion a year piggy bank of untapped potential, you might have looked at them in disbelief. However, investing in the Base of the Economic Pyramid (BOP), and the concept of market-based solutions to poverty and development have rapidly jumped onto the international development scene as one of the most effective and sustainable approaches to lifting people out of poverty. The model of investing in the BOP market has taken many forms, involving non-governmental organizations, governments and ministries, private companies and corporations, and a collection of hybrids projects. But at the core of every model is a focus on developing products and services that are affordable, accessible, and appropriate to those in the BOP. According to the World Resource Institutes “Next 4 Billion” report, those BOP strategies that are effective must achieve three key things: Localize value creation, enable access to goods and services, and utilize unconventional partnerships. The BOP approach has penetrated nearly every type of market, ranging from the health, information and communications, water, transportation, housing, energy, food and financial services markets
For the BOP, the mobile phone is an example of a single device that has changed their world. The value of connectivity that a mobile phone offers is immeasurable. Cell phones facilitate a two-way flow of information, which gives users the power to circumvent physical, economic and social constraints they may face. As opposed to spending time and money on transportation to speak to someone, or waiting days to receive important information from a government office, cell phones, especially text messages, provide a cheap and easy way to quickly connect. It can give farmers up to date world market prices for their crops, increase the efficiency of auto-rickshaw drivers by allowing clients to call them as opposed to waiting for a ride, and give up to date warnings and information on crises and natural disasters. In both countries, cell phones are made accessible to everyone through the use of prepaid sim cards, allowing users to recharge small amount of minutes through simple cash transactions on every street corner. This makes them both an affordable and accessible market based technology that is providing benefits to the BOP."
So thats my Cause. Along with saving the world, curing cancer, stopping global warming, and ending wars, I would just like to see the world better off when I leave than when I came into it....
Related causes: Animals, Arts, Youth, Environment, Health
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I can tell you are passionate about your cause. I really believe that the sustainability factor is vital to the human race. It is obvious now that our gluttony and greed will be the downfall of our own culture and maybe the human race. We put the need for the almighty dollar above the safety of our planet and the humankind. I love the BOP strategy and will share your message. Thank you for caring beyond the walls, fences, and oceans of our little realm.