Defiant Imagination

Occupy love

I just stumbled upon this great film featuring Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics, in which he summarizes the motivation and organization behind Occupy Wall Street. It’s not about fighting the 1% he says. There’s no opponent. We’re all in this together. I found the following words particularly touching:

The loss of community, the loss of connection, the loss of intimacy, the loss of meaning. Everybody wants to live of life of meaning.

These words might sound overly theoretical or philosophical to some, but in recent years I’ve become more aware of the tangible effects of the lack of connection we all feel in our lives. When I went to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside during the Olympics, the social workers and community leaders who had to deal first-hand with the effects of addiction had this to say: the treatment of addiction is not all. What matters is the cause, and the cause of addiction can be found directly in the lack of sense of belonging, of community, of connection that is prevalent in western societies. The Downtown Eastside shows the darkest side of this sens of disconnect, but we all experience it at some kind of level. We should pay attention to signs such as widespread addiction issues, instead of treating them as collateral damage. And look for meaning, humanity, and connection in our lives.

Occupy Love has a website: http://occupylove.org/ where you can watch more videos about the OWS movement.

Richard Florida: the age of human potential

Richard Florida spoke at last month’s Economist Ideas Economy Event. He talked about smart kids in his old neighbourhood, wise advice given by Jane Jacobs, and why his last book is so good and its critics are wrong. Plus other things he explains much better than I:

Income inequality: a Slate.com series

Slate.com produced an excellent series this month about income inequality in the U.S. I haven’t had the chance to read it all, but learned a lot from the first article, which acts as an introduction.

For example, during America’s mini-booms of the ’80s and ’90s, “more than 80 percent of total increase in Americans’ income went to the top 1 percent.” While productivity increased by 20 per cent, “virtually none of the increase translated into wage growth at middle and lower incomes.”

Read more…

On giving

One of my last readings was Dambisa Moyo’s provocative essay Dead Aid. While I don’t feel qualified and knowledgeable enough to take a definitive position concerning the debate between international aid proponents and its detractors, I do feel that something has gone wrong in the relationship between developed and third-world countries.

The situation of dependence of third-world countries on foreign aid has been going on for far too long to remain healthy, and it has been leading to abuse in many cases (the example of the mosquito net, used several times by Moyo, is a good one. Mosquito nets manufactured by rich countries are then sent to poor ones out of good will, even though poor countries would gain more from manufacturing the nets themselves thanks to foreign investment.)

Reading Moyo’s essay has brought me to think about altruism and the act of giving. One thing I’ve learned from my trips to developing countries is that I had much more to learn and receive from the local population than the opposite. The reasons that motivated my trips had to do with a feeling of collective guilt that we try to address through aid. I do not wish to be in that position ever again, since I’ve come to think that it does more harm than good. What I’d now like to concentrate on, as far as international cooperation is concerned, is to foster mutual understanding and learning.

As for giving, I believe that many issues still need to be taken care of around me, even if I live in one of the richest parts of the world. I’ve thereby come up with a list of innovative ways to make good use of your money. Rule n°1: know where your money is going.

• Don’t focus on the material stuff only Journalism might be going through what might be its biggest crisis ever, but there will always be a need for reporting. Spot.Us gets readers directly involved in the editing process by allowing them to choose and fund the stories that they think are worth writing about. The website started out in the Bay Area and is now providing the same services for Los Angeles. If it works, this model could be brought to many other communities.

• Be picky With the growing success of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, we’re going to start seeing more and more online platforms that will facilitate the making of ideas and projects. Kickstarter acts as a fundraising platform for creatives who have a specific project in mind. For example, artists, photographers, filmmakers or writers can get help for their next book, film, or endeavour. Projects only receive fuding when the target amount has been reached, although this amount can go beyond expectations. In return, donors get involved in the creative process by staying updated and receiving little perks. A relationship can therefore be initiated between donors and receivers. Firstgiving is based on the same principles, but concentrates on charitable initiatives. Individuals can create a personal profile and raise money for the nonprofit of their choice. These platforms allow for donors to choose which project, among hundreds, suits them best.
  

• Be original If you have a lot (and I mean, a lot) of spare change you’re willing to give away for a good cause, the Globe and Mail can show you how . Their weekly column Giving Back, published each Saturday, features original ways of donating or raising cash. A soccer camp for kids with cancer, a community association, a specific research area, a student in need of a scholarship are example of recipients. Donations can amount to several thousand dollars.

• Invest in entrepreneurship I don’t want to rule out financial aid to developing countries entirely, as there are several kinds of initiatives I believe in. Microcredit is one of them, even though its efficiency is still subject to debate. Kiva acts as an intermediary between lenders and entrepreneurs in need of a boost for their business. Because you’re lending the money and expect to receive interests in return, receivers can keep a sense of pride that is lost in the traditional aid process.

As for me, I give a little bit each year to WBEZ Chicago Public Radio and WNYC New York Public Radio for my two favourite radio shows, This American Life and Radio Lab.

A visit to In Good Company Workplaces

A few months ago I found out about a unique coworking space in New York City. In Good Company caters exclusively to women business owners and provides them not only with an extremely convenient and elegant working environment, but also with valuable support and collaboration opportunities.

I visited the space last April during a trip to the city and had a chat with co-founder Amy Abrams.

How did you get the idea for In Good Company?

My business partner Adelaide Fives and I worked together for about three or four years in a consulting practice with women who were in career transition or women business owners who were experiencing problems. Over the years we found these women kept articulating the same challenges. They had this tremendous sense of not knowing anybody else who was doing this and when they had to see clients they didn’t have a place to meet them. We always wanted to give them a resource to solve this sense of isolation. We couldn’t find that resource so we decided to create it on our own. We thought that what these women were missing was a community of peers, and a place to work at when they needed it. A lot of good resources were getting lost because people didn’t know how to share them.
We knew we wanted to have a physical space and allow people to rent it when they needed it. That already existed, but the key component to what we wanted to do that was different was this sense of community. So we described ourselves as a community membership and a community workspace. In order to ever use our space you have to be a member of our community.

Read more…

Microloans work best when business skills are taught to receivers

A recent New York Times article looking at several examples of microcredit programs around the world notes that their efficiency is increased when business skills are also taught to the receivers. Small business owners thrive when povided with basic entrepreneurship skills and networking opportunities, which allow them to discover new approaches and ideas.