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Archive for August, 2012

New Plateaus Spotlight: Daystar University, Nairobi, Kenya

29 Aug

New Plateaus is about interesting people, places, and ideas. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to get it all of this in one story. This article is about education, the history of East Africa, and how a Minnesota-connected university is doing their part to develop a continent.

I met Pat Mahin last winter when I worked at an Italian restaurant. One night we catered a benefit dinner for a foundation helping disabled children. It was a nicely dressed crowd out for a good cause and a good time. Pat really stuck out among his fellow guests despite him being a White, 60-something, thin, clean-shaven man with glasses—for he was wearing something like this:

Pat in Africa wearing the attire I saw him in that night in Edina.

Before I even had a chance to ask if he’d like beer, wine, or soda, I had to ask about the get up. He gladly shared that it was East African attire. This, of course, led to further questions, and I soon discovered that Pat Mahin worked for Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya. Opening up this can of worms, and me having to get back to work (Pat was thirsty) we scheduled a time to meet again.

Not long after this benefit dinner, Dr. Timothy Wachira arrived in Minnesota. He had hands to shake, places to visit, and good news to share. Dr. Wachira is the Vice Chancellor (we say President) of Daystar University. As Daystar is a Christian college, Wachira was meeting and greeting congregations to spread the word of the school’s progress and success and to offer thanks for their support. Concluding Wachira’s American tour, Mahin arranged for all of us to meet at the offices of Daystar U.S.—Daystar University’s fund-raising arm—where he works as the Manager of Projects and Church Relations.

I arrived at their suite on the third floor of what was once the Edina Middle School. Mahin showed me around the offices before leading me to the conference room. There I noticed a large bulletin board on the back wall because of all the young, smiling African faces pinned upon it.

Soon Dr. Wachira entered the room, a middle-aged Kenyan with mustache, glasses, and friendly face. More than a friendly face, he had a friendly heart and was generous to offer me time this morning—the last of his three-week American stay. We were also joined by the Executive Director of Daystar U.S., Dr. Kathleen Johnson, a middle-aged woman with a short, blonde haircut and the look of a leader.

Here was the trio:

We sat down and began. But before we talked Daystar, we talked Kenya and Wachira.

 

Kenya is a mass of land about 20% smaller than Texas which lies square on the equator in the region of East Africa:

Though at this tropical latitude, its coast and elevated inlands means, “Kenya has one of the best climates in Africa”, said Mahin. The capital, Nairobi, is an 8 hour drive from the coast.

Kenya began, like so many modern African nations, as a territory of European rule. In 1963 Kenya gained independence from the British Empire. Over the years, this has been met with challenges from within by group repression, government corruption, and violent outbursts. In 2010, though, a new constitution was approved to worldwide acclaim, etching into stone the ideals of ethnic and gender equality, recognition of environmental issues, a re-defining of the three branches of government, and interestingly, some love for the younger Kenyans: one needn’t be 35 anymore to run for president. Any adult is eligible. J Academically, Kenya now offers 14 private schools as well as the giant, public University of Nairobi with a University of Minnesota-like 54,000 member student body.

Perhaps most notably, though, Kenya has developed to become East and Central Africa’s largest economy, with projections suggesting continued growth into the future. Boosted by rapid expansion in telecommunication and financial activity over the last decade, the service sector now contributes 62 percent of GDP; the agricultural sector, though, employs a whopping 75% of the workforce.

Kenya, accordingly, is East and Central Africa’s hub for financial services—and this predominantly takes place in Kenya’s heartbeat, Nairobi:

Nairobi, Kenya

Over the last 100 years, the capital has swelled from a railroad outpost to become the cultural, banking, and social hub it is today. The city had just half a million people in 1969; now it has a population of 3.1 million. That’s a lot of people. And despite the development of an ever-growing suburban middle-class, money hasn’t kept up with population; Nairobi is noted for its five populous  slums. Though not dangerous, according to Mahin, they are dirty and very cramped:

Though with still a ways to go, Nairobi and Kenya are leaders in a developing Africa. As such, they make the appropriate setting to continue our tale of Timothy Wachira and Daystar University.

Timothy Wachira was born in 1957 in a village of 1,000 outside Nairobi. Residents lived in humble dwellings without electricity or plumbing in a country that wasn’t yet a country. One advantage of colonialism was that school was offered to most children. About three-fourths of them in Wachira’s village attended primary school. Wachira was advantaged more so in that, his father being a school teacher himself, he grew up in a home that stressed the importance of literacy and learning a skill to make a better life. His family also had enough money to send Wachira to a boys-only boarding school.

After primary school the separation between those who would/wouldn’t attend school drastically grew as only 20% of primary school graduates went on to secondary school, said Wachira. Space, competition, and cost contributed to the low numbers. Four years of it was followed by two years of high school. And for Wachira and a few ambitious others, college after that.

While grateful for his opportunities to learn, Wachira also admitted the shortcomings of education in a colonized environment. “Education was not education”, he said firmly in his Kenyan accent. He went on to say that schools were in place simply because the British needed a labor force, and that schools were shaped to provide accordingly. A different motivation, however, was seen from the schools run by the missionaries. Their goal was to help as many Kenyans as possible understand the Bible. The difference Wachira saw between the two Western motives, then, was that colonizers didn’t want everyone to be educated (not every job requires literacy) while the missionaries did.

Another effect of colonization was language. Wachira was educated in an English school system—as children in Kenya are today. In fact, English is the national language of Kenya today; Swahili is the dominant local tongue. With English acumen and a degree from the University of Nairobi, Wachira moved to Liverpool, England and earned a masters in Veterinary Medicine. Not quite finished yet, he went back to Nairobi for his doctorate.

As a professor and researcher, Wachira taught at his alma mater, the University of Nairobi and traveled to Australia and back to the United Kingdom to work for the African Medical Research Foundation. He then went on to shape schools, working in 2004 to transform St. Paul Theological College outside of Nairobi from a seminary to a multidisciplinary school. Today it is known as St. Paul’s University in Limuru. And to bring us up to the present, and back to the focus of this story, in 2010 Wachira became Daystar University’s Vice Chancellor.

 

Daystar started in 1964 as a non-denominational Christian communications company by a couple from Portland, Oregon named Don and Faye Smith and their South African partner, Motsoko Pheko. Don Smith had a PhD in Communications and recognized the need not just to witness Christianity to Kenyans, but to take a page from the modern service movement and teach Kenyans to witness to each other. (And now, today, it’s Kenyans teaching Kenyans how to witness to and serve other Kenyans and beyond.)

So in 1974, Daystar bought land in Nairobi to establish a campus downtown. The success of this school allowed (and required) them to expand. Soon after the downtown location was started, they built on a 300 acre plot 27 miles outside Nairobi where Daystar University’s main campus is today.

Growing in size and reputation, Daystar attracts Africans from all over the continent, and through the years has accumulated quite a list of graduates. “Right now there’s 12,000 graduates from Daystar in Africa, in 40 different countries”, said Mahin. Wachira added that they currently enroll around  4,400 students from 20 different nationalities. Many of Daystar’s graduates have gone on to some impressive positions: an employee at the BBC Africa, a head of World Relief Africa, a VP of Compassion International, and Kenya’s Minister of Communications.

The two-campus university uses its original downtown location for night classes and the back-to-school crowd. And at the main campus is where all the unmistakable signs of college life are: dorms, cafeteria, extra-curriculars, and sports (theirs are soccer, rugby, and basketball) with which they compete with area schools. I never asked about fraternities, but they are a dry campus.

Most of students of Daystar are local Kenyans, and English is the language used in class though a “lot of students come from French speaking countries”, said Mahin. These countries include the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Burundi, and this brings us back to the faces on that bulletin board in the conference room:

These glowing portraits represent Daystar’s intra-continental reach as well as their ability to offer students in need scholarships to attend:

Not every student at Daystar is African, either. South Korea has a modest population of exchange students as do American colleges, Bethel and Northwestern of St. Paul, Minnesota. We Minnesotans, then, are graced with the presence of some of Daystar’s students in return. And according to Wachira, an American from Oregon is enrolled at Daystar not just as an exchange student, but as a normal, full-time undergrad. Perhaps this student was drawn to the price tag; $5,800 covers everything for a year at this private school. But though cheap by American standards, that’s very expensive for most Africans.

From sponsors abroad, about 100 students at Daystar are currently on scholarship. When Daystar began, the whole school was dependent on donations from Americans; now they stand on their own as a center for learning—for Africans, by Africans. And more than just economic and enrollment growth, Daystar University also has achieved remarkable academic expansion. Smith founded what began as a communications school to help teach and create church leaders. Today, communications remains as its strength. “That’s their sweet spot” , said Mahin. But Daystar has expanded its academic breadth and depth to include 29 majors and nine graduate programs—including a PhD in, yep, communications.

Areas of expansion include majors in business and  economics, social sciences, performing arts, languages, and math and science. In fact, Daystar recently won a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to study leishmaniasis, a parasite transmitted by sand flies.

Expansion, however, has not diluted the school’s original and main purpose. Rather, it has distributed it throughout its many different disciplines. Its “sweet spot”, the idea of becoming leaders by way of service, remains at the core of the Daystar beat. “When graduates come across the stage and get their degree, they also get a towel”, said Mahin.

This symbolizes Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, of being a servant leader:

Daystar graduate with her diploma and towel

The Daystar niche, and a significant shift from most American studies, is to have students ask, “How does this knowledge help my people?” said Wachira. One good example is well-known alum Christine Nguku. She was a well-paid anchor on television, but resigned from her job to start a radio station in her home community.

In a continent known for its difficulties in political leadership, Daystar tries to shine as a place to transform Africa. “Send young people to Daystar, learn the values of Christ, and they will avoid the corruption pitfalls,” said Pat. Besides service, Pat also gets the vibe of gratitude. As he’s travelled to Daystar over the years, young men and women from all over Africa have greeted him with enthusiasm, telling him, “Please tell the people of America thank you for helping to make my dream come true!”

Here in the U.S., this is precisely what Pat Mahin does, traveling to churches to share the mission with new congregations and maintain relationships with current donors. He says it’s rewarding to help a bright child, who never could have afforded it, have a chance to get their college degree. And he loves to show the donors this reward—either with pictures, video…or even in person. “I organize trips to go to Daystar to show the campus and the graduates to the visitors so they can see directly what the graduates are doing in the society and how they are transforming Africa.”

 

to new plateaus,

-Brandon

 

If you want to find out more information about Daystar, visit their university website: http://www.daystar.ac.ke/  or their fund raising website: http://daystarus.org/.

If you or your congregation are interested in donating to the Daystar mission, call Daystar U.S. at 952-928-2550 or email Pat Mahin at pat@daystarus.org.

 

  

 
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Good News/Bad News–for only $1

27 Aug

The capability and popularity of dollar store retail outlets say a lot about the times we live in.  And while one says something bad, the other is good. So enjoy this good news/bad news post, and as I usually prefer, we’ll start with the bad so we can end on the good: )

It’s not ideal that people would be forced to go to these bottom-dollar outlets. No one wants to sacrifice quality when buying office supplies, food, medicine. Of course not everyone in the dollar store is strapped–some just like a good deal. And others like to spend as little as possible so they have to do as little as possible. But certainly many folks who ordinarily might splurge at their Target are seeking out new ways to cut back so find these outlets very helpful.

During the height of the recession, McDonalds and their attractive Dollar Menu helped them not just to stay afloat, but to actually grow. A Forbes.com article from February of ’09 read: “At a time when recession-weary Americans are cutting back,McDonalds is holding onto its consumers and showing growth.”

We can give props to these dollar prices and the companies that provide them. For they help provide people with what they need during the times when money is scarce. But still, their success means, of course, that money is scarce.

Now for the good news:

Math homework? Doing our taxes?

 

Okay, so this purchase might not brighten a lot of people’s day. You buy one of these recognizing that though it saves a lot of pencil and paper, it still means numbers and thinking. Ugh! But it’s one thing to see a greeting card or cough drops at the dollar store and another to see this.

Yeppers; waiting for my Grandma this past weekend as she bought dollar hairspray at the Dollar Tree at the Mall of America, this calculator stopped me in my tracks. How the heck can this be only one dollar!?

The marvel that is the modern global supply chain has been fawned over many times, but that’s because it’s worth repeating. We take its remarkability for granted, so a little maintenance toward appreciation is nice from time to time.

I won’t get into how a calculator works, because frankly, I don’t know much about chips and transistors and mother boards. But I do know that there is some computation involved and that this item can do quite a bit of it. On top of the technology is the creation of rubber buttons and plastic housing; there’s the plastic packaging, cardboard backing, and the printing on it. Then is gets the assembled, packaged, and delivered. And apparently all this can be completed and sent to a retail outlet, which pays rent and an employee to ring it up, and it still makes a profit at the cost of one dollar!

How?!

There’s a classic essay called I, Pencil written by Leonard Read in 1958. He breaks down all the people and processes involved to make the simple pencil. The market, reacting to the needs and wants of the consumer, has all these unknown parties–from miner to logger to rubber tree guy in SE Asia–working together so Little Johnie can do multiplication tables. Read it here: I, Pencil

I, Pencil talks about all those involved with making a pencil. I’d imagine all those involved with a calculator to be greater. When the world works together, through the power of commerce, much is dispersed in incredibly ways. Some will counter that there are sweat shops involved and un-fair trade rubber. But though working conditions are important concerns, they belong in another article, and they don’t take away from the mind-boggling machine that is the global market.

to scientific calculators for a dollar,

to new plateaus,

-Brandon

 

 
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Problem Solved? #2 Meat-eating

23 Aug

I like meat; you like meat. Most everyone likes meat. But there are problems with being carnivores: scarcity, price, and (scoff if you must) there’s that whole moral issue.

Back in May, I introduced a series here on New Plateaus called “Problem Solved?”. These posts take a look at current conundrums in our world and introduces revolutionary ways to solve them. Take drunk driving: today we struggle to find that line in the sand between how much to punish/prevent the problem. For all that we do, though, people still drink and then drive.

So the solutions proposed in this series aren’t adjustments to the lines in the sand; they’re ways to get rid of the sand. How do you solve drunk driving? Eliminate driving–via self-driving cars. The article here in May was about the struggle to coax organ donors due to kidney shortages.

Today’s piece is about meat.

Meat isn’t cheap; meat harvesting can be controversial. And usually reducing one of these problems means an increase in the other. Sure, chicken can be affordable, but you know those poor fowl lived in some pretty foul conditions.

Besides, no matter the conditions, the amount of land and energy needed to harvest meat is substantial–much more so than the amount of land needed for plant foods. If you buy into the concerns of carbon output on our climate, raising all this livestock can be even more worrisome. But even if you don’t, raising a thousand head of cattle is a huge ordeal that consumes much land and food. And demand is rising, because while meat is considered a luxury in poor countries, some of these populous places (China, India) aren’t so poor anymore–and they like meat, too.

It’s also hard to eat an animal without killing it.  A carnivore killing an herbivore is as natural as it gets, and I don’t think anyone has a problem with killing an animal for one’s survival. Most are also okay with eating meat simply because it’s healthy and tastes good. (I do this everyday.)  We’re far past the point where we need to kill animals to survive. What this is really about is being able to enjoy meat. And if I can get the satisfaction of eating meat without killing an animal, than isn’t that preferable?

(I’m excluding hunting and fishing from this discussion as the solutions proposed don’t substitute the excitement from these activities–nor are they meant to.)

If we needn’t kill the cow, than why do it?

So what’s the solution to our growing appetites and alerted morality?–more watchful regulations on animal treatment as we increase harvest volumes? New ways to grow livestock faster and fatter?

Na. Let’s get rid of the sand: eliminating the need for livestock altogether, in two ways: growing meat without the animal; and the creation of meat substitutes that taste identical to the real thing.

First, here’s this piece from CNN, highlighting the technology of being able to take cells from, say, a cow, bringing these cells to a lab, and creating muscle. After some time and cell division, you’ve got beef. This is actually related to the solution I mentioned in May to the human organ issue. The CNN article reads:

“Hungarian-born Gabor Forgacs, of the University of Missouri, is a specialist in tissue engineering, working to create replacement tissue and organs for humans. He realized the same technology could be used to engineer meat for human consumption.

He became the first scientist in the United States to produce and publicly eat some of his tissue-engineered meat, at the 2011TEDMED conference. His company, Modern Meadow, has already attracted a number of investors since being launched in 2011.”

Of course in its start-up, this meat is not cheaper than getting it the old-fashioned way, running about $100/lb. But like all technology, should expect to drop in price in time.

The second method, from this article from Slate, touts the accomplishments of a company called Beyond Meat. Their fake chicken strips taste so real that vegetarians thought they were accidentally given the real thing. After eating them for a few meals, the author forgot he wasn’t eating the product of a living creature.

Beyond Meat’s “chicken”

 

Raising livestock in the way we’re used to is traditional and cultural. And for me, eating meat is psychologically soothing. I feel like a meal’s incomplete without meat; and I’d feel shorted if it was fake. But after being in China where the slaughter of animals is in your face, it’s hard for me to ignore the price paid for that meat-eating satisfaction.

If we can get to a point–via growing lab meat and/or creating identical substitutes–where killing an animal isn’t necessary or even just cost-effective, then I think we “get rid of the sand”. Instead of debating about how to treat animals humanely, about how many chemicals is too much to inject into a cow; we simply get rid of the need to use animals at all.

 

to New Plateaus,

-Brandon

 

 
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Charity and the Little League World Series

20 Aug

A Little League team from Uganda is the first ever from Africa to reach the final tournament at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. For these boys, it’s a whole new world: the crowds in the stands, the national media, the luxury of their lodgings.

Baseball back in Uganda

Along with their countryfolk behind them, the team from Uganda had the continent of Africa cheering them on. In fact, many in America were also in attendance at Williamsport to cheer on the underdogs. And they became media darlings over the weekend with the New York Times, and countless other outlets covering them.

Ugandan boys signing autographs

They had a lot of attention, but they had few possessions. It all resulted in a heart-warming tale of reaching out to those who have less, and also brought out some truths behind why we give.

These boys came with the shirts on their backs and little else. Other teams took notice.

“…the Ugandan kids don’t even have flip-flops. They have nothing,” said the club from New Castle, Indiana. They expressed this to their families back home. A Facebook campaign was started; phone calls were made. “We’ve probably had 50 people donate,” said a New Castle photographer, Mike McKown. 2000 articles of clothing were sent over.

According to PennLive.com, “The other 15 teams in the series have expressed interest in donating used equipment to the team to take home.”

This was a wonderful story. But I had to ask, “why now?” These boys had been living without much their whole lives. Plus, hearing the parents’ concern that these boys don’t have adequate sportswear, I thought about the kids in Haiti who eat dried mud to stave off hunger.

It seemed inconsistent.

Americans famously donate more than any other people, but I guess it takes a trigger. It takes exposure. It’s easy to see the lack when your son is wearing top-of-the-line shoes and their sons use borrowed ones. Stories, images, even video of people’s poverty by itself is often not enough. Once it’s right in front of us, though, we open our hearts.

And once you get the giving bug going, people really catch on.

 

to new plateaus,

 

-Brandon

 

 
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Minnesotan Mensches

15 Aug

Idea Mensch is a simple premise: help nascent entrepreneurs by bringing them together and having them listen to presentations by not-so-nascent entrepreneurs–those who’ve “broke through” and can tell their tales of inspiration, ingenuity, and insight.

I was alerted to one of these events right here in Minneapolis Monday night. It wasn’t a large event, maybe 60 people sitting in chairs in a large office space near downtown. To my surprise, most of the people I met were manning hopeful Internet start-ups. One middle-aged gentlemen with a black-haired comb-over and cool cross around his neck was crossing his fingers about a social network for Christians to send and receive prayer requests. Another young woman, Sarah Young, started RockYourBlock.com, a site for teenagers seeking work and those who need them. She was one of the speakers, in fact.

Sarah Young

Sarah started the night off with the entrepreneurial gusto that often exemplifies these types. I’m jealous, actually. A roomful of people that I’m in front of means that many more to impress. To these speakers, it seemed to simply mean that many more people they’d get to engage. It’s those differences I like to learn from.

Emily Torgrimson presented her story of starting Eat For Equity (EatforEquity.org), a non-profit that organizes meal socials to raise money for chosen causes.

Emily Torgrimson eatforequity.org

Both women revealed that undeterred nature of the successful entrepreneur. Emily’s story is particularly compelling. She lived in a female housing complex at college and decided to cook a meal with a Cajun theme for Hurricane Katrina relief. The 25 women in the house invited people and around 100 showed. That was the start of it all. Since then, Emily’s been organizing a monthly meal and it’s gotten to the point to where NBC’s Today Show even featured them.

All this from a simple deed, an idea that you or I or most anyone could’ve had. For most, though, when faced with the idea–the pressure of cooking, the fear of no one coming, and the temptation to just chill out and watch a movie instead– would’ve won the day. That’s the difference right there. You can almost pinpoint those moments that make all the difference, that push the stone over the hill to get things rolling; to feel secure enough to step out into the exposure of being the person responsible for an event, an organization, a movement.

Or a product.

Sid Tincher, inventor of the Swirly Gig

If one presenter Monday night was the black sheep, it was inventor Sid Tincher. Sid’s a middle-aged woman with dark, wavy hair. Her story is the quintessential “everyday inventor” tale. She presented like she was having a conversation with the crowd–an informal, aw shucks manner. Sid’s a musician and simply came up with the idea of needing a place to put a drink when she played guitar and sang. So she went home and created a coil that connected along side a microphone stand. She got a manufacturer, brought them to Guitar Center, saw them sell out quickly, and now has them in many outlets. Her invention has been used on the Grammy’s!

Swirly Gig:  swirlygig.com

If Sid was the quintessential inventor, Dana Severson was the quintessential entrepreneur. The 30-something, blonde-haired gentleman from the northern suburbs told of his earlier years of tryingly holding a job. This wasn’t for lack of skill or work ethic, but because he saw himself as a cog helping make his boss money. Why was he spending all this time making someone else rich?

Dana Severson

I tell ya, in all my years having different jobs, I’m not sure if that thought ever crossed my mind. I’ve typically been happy just to get a paycheck! But so is the attitude shift from me to Dana. God bless ‘em. Because he took this outlook and found his way into journalism jobs I’d personally be thrilled to have. To Dana,though, this was just a means to an end.

After owning and selling a bar, he decided to jump headfirst into an idea that long teased him. Eventually, Wahooly.com was born, a website for well-known, talented people to team up with start-ups. The start-up, of course, loves the help; the expert hopes to make some money if the start-up takes off. With this journalism know-how and go-for-it-all ethic, Dana got press from some of the biggest business and tech outlets in the country. His site had 25,000 users before it was even created.

So is the roller-coaster ride for the go-getters out there. It was fun to witness, look into the lives, and see through the eyes of these presenters. Even the 20-something young man who sat in the seat to my right impressed me. I thought I was Mr. Techie,  Tweeting throughout the presentations. This recent college grad was shaming me by pulling out his MacBook Air, finding all the websites being talked about the presenters, adding them to his database, and connecting with the presenters via social networks all before he even had a chance to shake their hands. Oh, and he’s got a start-up of his own. (Oh, and he has a day job at Boston Scientific.)

Wired to be wired.

I had the chance to speak with Dana afterward. I shared with him my admiration for his style. I said that most people are happy to be employees, to get their paychecks on Friday, that some even look forward to tax day because it means a refund. He just shook his slightly, by friendly, asking why would you look forward to seeing how much money you overpaid to Uncle Sam? It was a good point; one blatantly clear to a man with his outlook.

Lastly, I got a chance to correspond with the Idea Mensch (IdeaMensch.com) creator, Mario Schulzke. A German immigrant at 16, he, too, had a bright idea and has seen it through. He made the phone calls, organized the events, and got on the road for this series that sees him and his crew of four visiting all 48 states in the continental U.S. The days prior saw them in North and South Dakota and Iowa. Yesterday was Wisconsin. Today, not sure.

Mario Schulzke, from Plettenberg, Germany said: ‘The best advice I can give people is to start.’

On a shoe-string budget, he drives to the next location with the firm belief in what he’s doing–just like all the others who presented this night.

to New Plateaus,

-Brandon

 

 

 
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The Rich pt. 3: Mitt Romney

13 Aug

When sizing up President Obama with his Republican contender, I’ve compared their backgrounds, experience, and ideologies. Liberal/Conservative; private sector/public sector; Republican/Democrat. But have we thought about Romney and Obama’s leadership from a biological point of view? No, not Black/White. Alpha/Beta. Like a Boss, written by National Review editor Kevin D. Williamson, makes this case.

New Plateaus is not a political blog. It is a place to learn something fresh, to see the world or a particular issue in a novel way. Politics is not excluded, and today is such an example.

I guess it’s been the jeering toward Mitt for being out of touch, for being awkward on the mic, for being a Mormon, and for being rich that’s taken all the attention. And as a nice way to cap off our discussion of the rich, we’ll stick with it for one more paragraph, because Mitt, himself, provides a brackish twist:

Last week I wrote about differentiating the rich between those who are so because they’ve provided a service to many and increased the wealth pie for all vs. those headline-grabbing handful of rich who’ve gotten that way by exploiting others. This latter has been the light in which Anti-Romnians have caste the candidate. His defenders, though, point out the productive services his company, Bain Capital, has provided. I guess there’s an inevitable graying between the exploitative and productive. And we’ve found a representative in the Republican candidate.

Moving on, and regardless, the article in the National Review thinks Mitt should flex his wealth like the Alpha male he is.

Here’s an excerpt:

“You want off-the-charts status? Check out the curriculum vitae of one Willard M. Romney: $200 million in the bank (and a hell of a lot more if he didn’t give so much away), apex alpha executive, CEO, chairman of the board, governor, bishop, boss of everything he’s ever touched. Son of the same, father of more. It is a curious scientific fact (explained in evolutionary biology by the Trivers-Willard hypothesis — Willard, notice) that high-status animals tend to have more male offspring than female offspring, which holds true across many species, from red deer to mink to Homo sap. The offspring of rich families are statistically biased in favor of sons — the children of the general population are 51 percent male and 49 percent female, but the children of the Forbes billionaire list are 60 percent male. Have a gander at that Romney family picture: five sons, zero daughters. Romney has 18 grandchildren, and they exceed a 2:1 ratio of grandsons to granddaughters (13:5). When they go to church at their summer-vacation home, the Romney clan makes up a third of the congregation. He is basically a tribal chieftain.

Professor Obama? Two daughters. May as well give the guy a cardigan. And fallopian tubes.”

Rhetoric aside, the points are intriguing. Do you buy them? Does Romney being a supposed Alpha male influence your vote? Williamson at the National Review thinks it will, adding that elections aren’t really about policy or the economy, but about us voters looking for a chief for our tribe. And as a counterpoint to conventional wisdom, states that Americans really do like rich people.

This article stresses biology and wealth–and how Romney is the better of Obama because of each. Here it is in full, though there is a paywall currently up for it: Like a Boss

I know this is controversial stuff, but I did find it opening up new corners of thought. I hope you can agree. :)

to new plateaus,

-Brandon

 

 

 

 
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Selective Recognition and the Greek Financial Crisis

10 Aug

Continuing from the last post, we look at the most recent example of bonafide financial turmoil: Greece.

In Wednesday’s article, I shared how when it comes to economic or political themes, people are selective with their perspectives. We talked about rich people and how some people only see the wealthy as fleecing the public for their own gain. On the other hand, others view rich folk as deserving of their rewards because of the growth and service they provide. We saw that recognizing this split in perspective goes a long way to understanding why and how two groups can be at odds while fighting the same enemy: Occupiers and Tea Partiers both are mad at Wall Street, but one sees capitalism’s failure while  the other, Washington’s. One wants to use government to reach a little deeper into the rich’s pockets; the other wants to lesson government’s role.

Now let’s look at Greece. And we can do so through the eyes of these same two groups. The Occupier-type points their finger at what they notice: tax evasion by the rich or controlling powers from continental and world banking institutions.

Watch out, dude’s got an umbrella!

The New Yorker stated a year ago:

“Explanations of how Greece got in this mess typically focus on profligate public spending. But its fiscal woes are also due to a simple fact: tax evasion is the national pastime…It makes the system unduly regressive, since the rich cheat more.”

Referring to the all the violent protests, Zach Zill at SocialWorker.org writes, “Greek workers are right to resist efforts to make them pay for a crisis caused by bankers, business executives and politicians.”

Meanwhile, the Tea Party-type notices the unsustainable public spending, the necessity to cut back, and thus, the perceived oddity of the protests when its the protester’s own country that’s threatened if spending cuts aren’t made.

Each side points out that which gets their goad. The important part is to notice our tendency to lock into a certain perspective. It’s great to notice a cause to a problem, but why not notice more than one–from varying angles?

Ideology.

We come to the table already with a specific tint on the world shaped by our ideology, and we view the issue through this lens which filters out the data that doesn’t fit.

This is basic stuff, but it’s also easily abandoned. A new plateau is to recognize the merit to various perspectives and recognize our own selective attention to that which is convenient to your ideology.

 

Beyond this, I emailed Greek economic analyst, and Athens native, Robert G. Danon who writes at rgdanon.blogspot.com and whose Twitter is rgdanon. I wanted a better understanding on Greece: the reason for their money mess and the protesters’ anger. In response to my inquiry, he wrote (with my writing in parentheses):

“Over the course of the last three decades we had to a large extent a socialist government run by PASOK with a manifesto of deficit spending and promises of increased electoral public employment in exchange for votes. The centre-right NEW DEMOCRACY party also lay claim and embraced this modus operandi, effectively condoning this behaviour.

“This was effortlessly carried out as Greece was the beneficiary of very low interest rates courtesy of the Euro, and the party euphoria that ensued having no regard to the longer term structural imbalances prevalent throughout this period. Equally, massive transfers of wealth occurred to help the periphery catch up with the core. (I’m honestly not sure what this last statement means.) It goes without saying that this money did not find a home in productive investment but rather in excessive consumption, lavish living, and Swiss and local bank accounts. Europe turned a blind eye as it was in many ways easier.

“At some point Greece had to pay the ferry man. Lending seized and the Troika (the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank) imposed its lending conditions. The problem is this bloated Government sector of…public servants has never been cut to size, a large part of which earn excessive salaries, a large part of which is totally redundant and of course is being maintained at the expense of the private sector, which in neglect, is being asked to pay an ever increasing share of taxes. It is self-evident that this process has a dead end and we have reached it.”

Got all that?

Great.

have an awesome weekend!

-Brandon

 

 
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Eat the Rich

08 Aug

Are you mad at rich people? Do you respect them? The class warfare debate is as alive as ever, and an article in the New York Times stirred the coals with this piece. It says that France’s new Socialist President, François Hollande, is eyeing a 75% income tax for French citizens who make over $1.25M a year.

This is music to some folks’ ears, but to others the music sounds more like the theme to Jaws. It’s a matter of perspective, dependent on how you see the rich. Indeed, there are different ways to get to “the top”, and herein lies the disconnect in reactions to this news.

And this disconnect is very polarized today.

Tough economic times (caused in large part by some rich people) has the less-wealthy eyeing the more fortunate with scorn and jealously. The scorn for the rich’s irresponsible actions; the jealousy because as families scratch for food money, rich folk can wonder which color their new Mercedes should be.

And in a time when the rich and the poor are also being more polarized, it’s no surprise, then, that all the rich get categorized as the enemy: the 1%. But while some rich get to be so at the expense of the middle and lower classes, and while they do leverage their governments to create the rules in their favor, this doesn’t define the majority of millionaires out there.

For most rich people, their wealth is an indication of  how hard they work, what they do with their money, and the resultant growth they generate to the economy and job market. A salesman gets a 10% commission and sells a ton of product; an inventor creates a device that makes life better for others; a business owner expands and can now offer jobs to more workers. These folks are the lifeblood of an economy. And as they increase the size of the pie, they should be rewarded, and we should be thankful for them because our eight-hour work day in an air-conditioned office, enough extra money to by iPads, and the resources to provide education and a social safety net wouldn’t be there without them. Laborers make the economy go, but these rich are responsible for seeing it elevate from the agricultural to the industrial to the electronic.

A protester wouldn’t have the luxury of spare time and extra money to take off of work and buy the paper and markers needed to make and hold up his sign:

To take this thinking further (and what may sound crazy in these economically trying days), it would actually benefit a country to tax these rich folks less. Let these doers, these job creators, these wise investors, keep more money because they’re doing a wonderful job with it–certainly a more efficient job than government has the removed capability to be.

But people who don’t like the rich either don’t understand this or only focus on those rich folks who get rich at the expense of others. It’s understandable people conflate the two, but know there’s a big difference between a Goldman Sachs exec, and say, John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods. And the irony is that while taking your frustrations out on the rich, you’re going to harm all the rich, and this will include taking away resources from those who use them best for all. It’s cutting your own nose to spite to your face.

Mackey (left) has created thousands of jobs. Lloyd Blankfein (right), CEO of Goldman Sachs, played a big role in the financial crisis then got billions in bail out money.

The idea is to grasp this difference.

Our inability to do so allows this sloppy idea that it’s simply the rich vs. the poor.  The bourgeoisie vs.  proletariat. It’s simplistic and inaccurate when both the poor and rich work together as they do so often. It’s incomplete to see the rich as all Goldman Sachs types; similarly, it’s incomplete to exclude them when considering the upper class. Both the rich-defenders and the rich-haters are right in their own way given what they’re focused on. We can broaden our perspectives to include both truths.

When doing so, we see that our common concern is in eliminating the ability for the “bad” rich folks from fleecing the poorer. Eliminate the enabling laws, prosecute those who steal, use the power of organized labor to stand up to abusive bosses, and have sensible regulations for working conditions. In other words, stop doing what’s been done so much in U.S. history: using government to help allow the bad rich to thrive.

to new plateaus,

-Brandon

 

 
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The New Loch Ness Monster Sighting

06 Aug

Do you believe in monsters–or aliens, or ghosts…

A neat image surfaced in the media on Friday. (That’s not all that is said to have surfaced.) That attractive monster from Loch Ness was sighted–but in that oh-so-teasingly way that cleanly continues to divide the believers from the skeptics.

Reading about it, both sides have lots of ammo. There have been countless hoaxes–from Bigfoot hoaxes to the Lake George Monster Hoax to those crop circle jokers, to well, other Loch Ness Monster hoaxes.

On the other hand, there have been many, many sightings that are, supposedly, not hoaxes.

Here’s the latest:

The “back” of this creature was said to slowly sink back into the water.

Who knows?

What’s interesting, I think, is our fascination with such legends.

Believers in the Loch Ness Monster are aided by their intrigue of something more to this life than meets the eye. Most people, I think, have this fascination, and when invested in a particular legend can really stick to it. It doesn’t mean they’re wrong, but a lot of people have been susceptible to false beliefs as exemplified above.

It’s not just creatures, either. This expands into beliefs of epic scale. If you believe in aliens, then you might believe they’ve visited Earth. Some believe that life on Earth started as an alien experiment. Others believe that Reptilian people live among us today–seriously. Others yet have succumbed to the false belief that the end of the world was to happen already.

Such things offer answers for that which we can’t explain–or that which simply has no clean-cut explanation at all, i.e. when the world’s going to end, the ruling order of the human race (Reptilians), and how we got here. It has a relief component, as well, adding a dimension to life so as to not take too seriously the events that occur in the world before us. It also reminds me of the movie, The Matrix, and the observation  within it: that all but a few walk around without a clue of what’s really going on.

None of these urges are abnormal at all–and you can’t blame people for looking for answers–though some do have manifestations that are a bit interesting.

How about you? What do you make of this photo? How about aliens, ghosts, or Reptilians?

to new plateaus,

-Brandon

 
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Women in Underwear: American Style

03 Aug

Images are constantly used to make a statement. Sometimes, however, there’s more than one statement being made–and that’s the case below.

And instead of offering just one take, let’s encompass the multiple ways this picture can be seen.

 

 

What’s your initial reaction?

Mine was that the image is both a slight against rail-thin super models and a statement saying that women can be thicker and proud of how they look. (Included in this reaction was the surprise of just how skinny those top girls are when compared to the bottom ones.)

But then crept in an interruption to that sentiment. I looked at the heading about the bottom women: Real Beauty. It then seemed to be saying that it’s not just acceptable to be bigger, but something to be proud of. It had me wondering if this campaign wasn’t from Dove chocolate rather than Dove soap.

The third takeaway was offered by friend, Natalie. She found the whole conversation odd because no matter whose side your on in this “contest” you’re on the losing side, because we shouldn’t be contesting who’s better. And she added that “real women don’t have to strip down to their underwear.”

Either way you look at it, it offers a nice exercise in how one image can trigger different reactions. On Facebook, commentors range from the “you go girls!” to the “look at those sickly, skinny models” to the “why are we proud of being fat?” And yet, from all this, I did have an over-arching reaction encompassing these various responses: How American

How American it is to combine elements of women’s desire to be skinny, others’ plus-sizedness, celebrating being bigger, and pitting the two against each other in a half-naked contest.

 

 

 
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