Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Wednesday morning thoughts...........

"Don't expect a jolt.
There are no custom made plans.
Just guidance...........unrequested and unexpected."
Dr. Paul Brand
Greetings from Saint John New Brunswick. I've been attending an annual conference set up for Career Counsellors from around the province. One of the aspects I love about this little province is the bilingualism. Both english and french are spoken in sessions. Most meetings I will be attending with be a merging of the two languages.
Saint John is both ugly and beautiful at the same time. Steeped in maritime history, the buildings all have stories to tell. I've had a chance to walk along the piers and up and down the south end streets..........feeling an anonymous blending in with the people who live here. I've also had a chance to read. Away from access to a computer for a couple of days, my mind settled into "read mode" again.
The combination of reconnecting with colleagues whom I havent seen in a year, listening to (some) interesting speakers as they offer their take on life, walking in a new environment, meeting some street people by the market and reading the words of Paul Brand................I'm feeling full of new ideas to churn in my head.
And as they filter in........................I am jotting them down. Hopefully the ideas will transform into words to be posted here. Right now..............the seeds are germinating and I'm sipping tea.
Here's a tidbit that was shared yesterday.................
The money that the top 225 richest people in the world have acquired exceeds the amount that 47% of the population have acquired combined.
How can that be?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing bad can come from tea sipping and germination, I always say!

I have heard similar stats recently, and it is indeed ironic that if they so chose, the worlds richest could end world poverty with only about 4% of their wealth - so little they would hardly notice.

However, forcing some kind of surcharge on the rich would not sit well with me idealistically. Besides the logistical roadblocks for such a world-wide tax, I'm just not comfortable with forced morality. That is, I'm all for freedom of choice, small government and free markets wherever possible. The key, I believe, is to make this sort of compassion attractive, ideally morally so. However, it should not be too hard to pursuade them it is in their long-term interests.

Part of the problem, as I see it, it the short-sightedness of not just the US, but the West in general. At least those of wealth and/or in policy setting roles. Perhaps when the problems associated with world poverty, never mind domestic poverty, come home to roost, they will pay attention.

Did you know that a huge percentage of the worlds population lives on less than $2 per day. That's two US dollars - not some domestic equivalent. If they smoked (a luxury to be sure), they wouldn't have to worry about lung cancer - they couldn't afford it.

JP (mom) said...

Enjoy the conference, the connections with peers, the soaking up of information, the dialoguing ... a great time to get a different perspective on the work that one engages in on a daily basis! much peace, JP

awareness said...

eHi Mike. Good points. There was an article recently in the New Yorker about a meeting with Muhammad Yunus and a few multi-billionaires from the technology field (the names escape me now). It was apparent in the article that Yunus' story of creating a succesful microcredit program as a means to help people move out of dire poverty had an impact on these men. It has generated much discussion about how they can and want to take part in it. the article appeared about a month ago. If you're interested in reading it, email me and I will seek out more information.

I agree with you. As much as I believe that we need to look at community development and reaching out to individuals in need one person and one connection at a time, I believe we (or the powers that be) need to do the same with the wealthiest. It does come down to planting the right seeds with the right people..........allowing them a glimmer of another person's struggles.

Paul Brand writes about the responsibility of the people who work in the "frontlines"........whether it's in social services, politics or journalism.....whether it's the church or government.......the people who see and hear etc.....to share their stories with others.

$2 a day..............it's appalling. Not only that, it needs to change.

Hi Jane. It has been a good week of that. I will try to capture some of the new learning and experiences in another post. We often work in our own "silos" and do not get to talk shop with our peers. This province has cut back on all professional development costs, so we only have one chance a year usually to come together. We are a small group of consultants within a larger government structure, in two languages, around the province. It's important to feel connected.

The Harbour of Ourselves said...

It does need to change, but as long as the World Bank and IMF allow multinationals to dictate and run the world it won't - am particularly finding the patenting laws repulsive right now...