A recap of Social Capital Markets Conference 2009

I attended the Social Capital Markets Conference a few weeks ago and wrote an article which originally appeared on Mother News Network

Here's the the text of the blog = go to the original on MNN to get the links and the video.

I attended the second Social Capital Markets conference last week in San Francisco, a sold-out conference of the leading minds in evolving our use and investing of capital to heal, and evolve the manner in which we live on the planet. To quote the SOCAP organizers:

Our financial system has been rocked to its core. Belief in profit-driven motives as the sole metrics of performance has been fundamentally shaken. Our perceptions of risk have been forever altered. And our economy is shifting toward a new foundation.

What is that “new foundation” of which they speak?

Traditionally, investments are made with one, and only one, measure in mind -- how much money does the investment return? With the advent of what is now called “social capital” other factors have been introduced into the equation.

Woody Tasch, leading thinker in this movement, states in his recent book Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money had this to say:

Socially responsible investing, mission-related and program-related investing by foundations, venture philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, local economies, consumer demand for organics and green products – these are the first stages of a more profound fiduciary realignment. Some of these initiatives remain incremental and ambiguity laden. Others are indicators of more fundamental, tectonic shifts along the boundaries of for-profit and nonprofit, shareholder and stakeholder, global investor and local citizen.

Woody states it clearly. Yet the issue remains -- how do you MEASURE the progress in all of the non-financial dimensions? From the “sole metrics of performance” to something more inclusive of the factors essential to well-being?

For example, one of the key methods that we gauge the success of our economic activity is through the measures GNP and GDP. But to meet the Earth’s challenges, these outmoded ways of measuring the “product” of our economy have to be reexamined. They are out of touch with our finite supply of natural resources (or natural capital) upon which our economic growth depends.

One of the key challenges of such indices is they can not be considered sustainable because they do not account for depletion of either human or natural capital. Consider statement of the late Robert Kennedy on what GNP does not measure:

The Gross National Product includes air pollution and advertising for cigarettes, and ambulances to clear out highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors, and jails for people who break them. GNP includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and nuclear warheads ... and if GNP includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend.

One of the key aims in the “social” capital space is to define new measures, new metrics to determine the “non-financial” impact of any economic activity or any investment. Here's a video of SOCAP founder Kevin Jones explaining more about social capital markets:


I learned of one such effort at the SOCAP Conference which is a collaboration between Acumen Fund, B Lab and Rockefeller Foundation which created measurement tools that for the first time provided performance indicators for measuring an investment’s social and environmental impact, called IRIS (Impact Reporting and Investment Standards).

In the last few years, a proliferation of investment dollars has been allocated to funds and enterprises seeking to generate social and/or environmental impact as well as a financial return. The sector has grown to over $50B in total assets and the pace of new investment grew by an average of over 35 percent over the past five years until the middle of 2008.

Close to 150 organizations are providing approximately $4 billion in capital and services to small and growing businesses in developing countries. And areas like clean tech and socially responsible investing have seen double-digit growth year-over year, despite challenging economic conditions. Within the next 10 years, impact investing has the potential to grow to about 1 percent of total managed assets, which would result in about $500 billion of capital channeled toward social and environmental impact.

In addition to creating standardized ways of measuring impact, the collaboration has also generated software tools and data gathering collaborations amongst a wide range of impact driven investment groups.

This effort has created a framework for measuring social and environmental performance based on a set of common indicators and definitions which can be applied in many contexts, beyond investing and money.

It is efforts like these which are the building blocks that are fundamental in recalibrating the thinking of the actors in our economy. In order to develop a new economic paradigm, we have to know where we are, and where we are going, and to be able to communicate and measure this. By incorporating new thinking into civilization’s economic activity, true costs, benefits it will become much more obvious what needs to be done to steer our system toward well being and sustainability for all of our Earth’s inhabitants.

Failure of the green movement - and an opportunity...

Last night I had drinks with a very successful NY Investment Banker who is a vegan, a philosopher, and has a rather liberal point of view. Ironically, he is an analyst and expert in the field of the fossil fuel industry. We discussed much about our common concerns, interests, etc. And our interest in meeting with and learning from every viewpoint, and world view. He shared with me that some of his clients actually believe that the world is less than 5,000 years old, even though such clients deal in a commodities (oil and gas) which they understand must take more than 5,000 years to create.

We agreed that it would be easy to write such people off, yet there are many many mindsets on the planet which are very, very different worldviews.

Surprisingly - it appears that the environmental movement has not entirely gotten that over the last few decades.

After thinking about this for the last day, I told a friend over dinner tonight that I believe that the environmental movement has failed to effectively "pierce the veil" of the worldview of mainstream culture. Earlier he and I met with a long time, very successful activist who's organizations materials explained that the group had reached over 2 million people over the years. Granted - that is a very successful effort. Yet considering we have 6 Billion people on the planet, his group has just scratched the surface.

Jurian Kaamp, editor in Chief of Ode Magazine wrote an article this spring which points to a key issue - we're not speaking the language of the masses.

He wrote about that we need to communicate with all different types of value systems and cultures around the globe in very different ways. He also shares that Ken Wilber's integral world view is an excellent roadmap for success:

He writes:

Take global warming, which Wilber describes as “the first issue that affects everybody everywhere on the planet. [Former U.S. Vice-President] Al Gore is saying that the entire world needs to change its behavior. But he says so in a language that is perhaps understood by 20 percent of the world population. Gore assumes that people will respond from rational self-interest based on sound science, but that’s the least of the motivations of the majority of the population of the planet.”

Other cultures, Wilber argues, may respond to the threat of global warming from different values. African cultures are dominated by feudal clans, he says, so they may adopt environmental and energy policies when these are phrased in a language that relates to how they may benefit their clans. Similarly, Hindus may change their behavior to honor Gaia rather than in response to rational self-interest. “Al Gore has to ‘language’ his message in at least four different value structures to get, say, 80 percent of the world behind him,” Wilber says. “Anything less than that will simply not work.”

According to Wilber, politics, too, could benefit from an integral approach. Take the classic conflict between conservatives and liberals over welfare. Liberals argue that people are poor because of lack of government support; conservatives argue that people are poor because of lack of family values and work ethic. In Wilber’s vision, both are right. It isn’t “either/or” but “both/and.” His ideal government approach: “‘We will do everything to help you but at the same time we want you to do everything to help yourselves.’ We need to find the way to reach out to touch all dimensions, interior capacity and external capacity. We need to recognize where you can help yourselves and where you need help.”

It's another version of the age-old adage - put yourself in another's shoes. Yet in order to be effective in sharing the urgency of the world situation, we must enter the mindset of others in order to reach them.

As mystics and shamans have said for generations - order to wake someone out of their dream, you have to enter into it first, join them and gently guide them to wake up to a new reality.

The sound of the new - living economy...

Local Economy, Local Currency and the Local Multiplier Effect

Yes Magazine just published some articles on Local Currency and the benefits they have for local and regional economies...the article states:


Local currencies can help a community counter some of the problems with conventional money. For example, bank-issued currency tends to flow toward the money centers for investment. If you shop at a chain store, the profit gets whisked out of town and into the corporate coffers and then, often, to the speculative market. A local currency stays in the community, encouraging local business and trade, adding value to local products and services, and supporting the local infrastructure.

Reliance on national currency means being at the mercy of the national credit situation. As we’ve recently seen, credit constriction can paralyze local economies. Despite the availability of goods and the need for business, when there’s no money, consumers don’t buy. Stores don’t sell. Start-ups can’t get a toe-hold. An alternative currency gives people another way to buy, sell, lend, and borrow. If the community creates its own currency, local business can go on even if the supply of national currency dries up.

At the most basic level, currency functions as a means of exchange (I give you a dollar and you give me an ice cream cone), a unit of value (a dollar, pound, etc.) and a store of value (you can hold onto a dollar as it maintains its worth). It’s also a source of information about relative value, and about what is needed to keep trade flowing, for instance, by adjusting the supply of money or the exchange rate so that those in other markets can afford your goods.

With local currency, a community can meet currency needs that the national tender isn’t fulfilling. If the idea seems fanciful, there are models up and running—some for many years.

Amma, Indian Saint Endorses Earth Charter's Principals

Well known and regognized Spiritual Leader Amma (AKA Mata Amritanandamayi) formally endorsed the Earth Charter Principles as part of her mission.

From the MA Center Website:

The Earth Charter—a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful world—has been translated into 40 languages and signed by more than 5,000 organizations. The charter started as an initiative of the United Nations in 1987 and was finalized in 2000 as a civil-society project. On July 7, 2009 in New York, Amma also added her signature to its list of endorsees.

Steven Rockefeller, who coordinated the drafting of the charter by consulting representatives of the world’s major religions, was on hand to welcome Amma to New York and to request her to endorse the Earth Charter’s principles. The Earth Charter’s ethical vision proposes that environmental protection, human rights, equitable human development, and peace are interdependent and indivisible. Steven Rockefeller is the son of former United States Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller and fourth-generation member of the renowned Rockefeller family.

“What a great blessing it is to be here tonight in the presence of Amma,” Rockefeller said. “I would like to extend deep thanks to Amma… for her very gracious offer to endorse the Earth Charter. In addition I would like to express heartfelt thanks to Amma for being a spiritual and social leader who, through love for all people, her teachings, her many humanitarian good works and her educational initiatives and her work on behalf of the environment is helping us make that transition to the better world that is envisioned in the Earth Charter.”

Rockefeller continued, “When I think of Amma and her life of devotion and service, I see a shining example for all of us of the spirit of reverence, compassion and care. … Amma, all of us associated with the Earth Charter Initiative want to share with you our deep gratitude for the light and joy you have brought into the world.”

Also on hand to welcome Amma to New York were M.S. Singh Puri, Ambassador & Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations since March 2009; and Upendra Chivakula, a member of the New Jersey General Assembly and State Office.

2012 Investment program....

Question from a client today: "So, what are the Mayans Investing in?"

A: Hmmmm....

Mountaintop Coal Removal - Bad Math!

Simply put, it is has been widely recognized by thinking people around the nation that Mountain Top Removal mining for dirty coal is bad.

Scott Badenoch, CEO and Co-Founder of Creative Citizen recently wrote in his article for MNN

"Mr. President, it is your duty as a citizen of this planet to put an immediate and irrevocable moratorium on Mountaintop Removal today. Go to Appalachia and see for yourself. There is no time to waste; there is no compromise. Human lives and nature’s mountains are at stake."

It's mysterious that our own Obama administration continues to look the other way.

Hmmmm... well perhaps it is creating JOBS and making MONEY for the coal industry.

Hmmm... money, jobs. Hot commodities in this greed plagued economy.

Well how much money?

A recent article by Rob Perks published on NRDC's blog cites a study that the money math just doesn't pencil out.

The article states:

Consider that coal mining costs Appalachians five times more in early deaths as the industry provides to the region in jobs, taxes and other economic benefits. This is according to a new study which finds that coal is more a curse than blessing for the region.

"Coal-mining economies are not strong economies," said West Virginia University researcher Michael Hendryx, who co-authored the study. He added that coalfield communities "are weaker than the rest of the state, weaker than the rest of the region, and weaker than the rest of the nation."

According to the study, the coal industry generates a little more than $8 billion a year in economic benefits for the Appalachian region. However, the conservative estimate of coal's costs -- in terms of the value of premature deaths attributable to the mining industry across the Appalachian coalfields -- comes to $42 billion.



"Natural resources such as forests and streams have substantial economic value when they are left intact, and mining is highly destructive of these resources," the study says. "For example, Appalachian coal mining permanently buried 724 stream miles between 1985 and 2001 through mountaintop removal mining and subsequent valley fills, and will ultimately impact more than 1.4 million acres.


"Coal generates inexpensive electricity, but not as inexpensive as the price signals indicate because those prices do not include the costs to human health and productivity, and the costs of natural resource destruction."


"In response to this and other research showing the disadvantages of poor economic diversification, it seems prudent to examine how more diverse employment opportunities for the region could be developed as a means to reduce socio-economic and environmental disparities and thereby improve public health.

"Potential alternative employment opportunities include development of renewable energy from wind, solar, biofuels, geothermal, or hydropower sources; sustainable timber; small-scale agriculture; outdoor or culturally oriented tourism; technology; and ecosystem restoration," the study says.

"The need to develop alternative economies becomes even more important when we realize that coal reserves throughout most of Appalachia are projected to peak and then enter permanent decline in about 20 years."

This is just a case for bad math, bad economics. Why does this continue? Who's watching the henhouse here?

These are questions that many are pleading the Obama administration to address.

Let's all hold the space that Mr. Obama will actually lift the rug, see the dirt and get out his calculator.

Then he has only one choice - end MTR.

And to drive the point home - here is a testimony from RFK Jr. at the end of 2008 which states the issues as clearly as I have heard.

The End of Money and the Future of Civilization by Thomas Greco, Jr. - Chelsea Green

Thomas Greco is author of many books on money, debt, currency, etc. His latest book The End of Money and the Future of Civilization by Thomas Greco, Jr. - Chelsea Greenclarifies the money mystery, origins of money and provides some clear pathways for improvements to our economic system.

"Throughout the world today, local communities are struggling to main­tain their economic vitality and quality of life. The reasons for this are both economic and political, and are largely the result of external forces that are driven by outside agencies like central governments, central banks, and large transnational corporations. In brief, decisions made by others outside of the community are having enormous impacts on life within the community. Be that as it may, it is possible for communities to regain a large measure of control over their own welfare and to ameliorate the effects of those exter­nal forces by employing peaceful approaches that encourage human solidarity and are based on private, voluntary initiative and creativity."

The key solution he proposes is a concept known as "alternative currencies" or "complimentary currencies" which actually have a long history and widespread use currently.

Platforms for Collaboration - Article in Stanford Social Innovation Review

I have been doing alot of thinking about the power of co-creating, collaborations, community economics, mimicking "the web of life" in organizational development, etc. as key factors in helping get our civilization out of the mess we have created for ourselves.

I read in the What is Enlightenment? Mag that collaborative behavior is the hallmark of evolution in our society.

David Korten wrote "Using magnetic resonance imaging to take portraits of brain activity, scientists have found that during laboratory excercises that the experience of forming a cooperative alliance with another person produces a storng positive response in the pleasure center of the brain - rather like eating chocolate or engaging in good sex."

A New York Times Article describes the experiments in greater detail.



Stanford Social Innovation Review just published an article by Satish Nambisan, associate professor at Renssaelaer Polytechnic Institute. "Platforms for Collaboration"

His recent book "The Global Brain: Your Roadmap for Innovating Faster and Smarter in a Networked World." outlines the keys for corporations to work with stakeholders inside and outside the enterprise to bring new ideas and products to market.

It begins with

"Some of the brightest ideas for social change grow in the spaces between organizations and sectors. Yet few organizations have systems that make collaboration happen. To foster innovation, organizations need to develop places where they can come together and work creatively—that is, platforms for collaboration. In this article, a management expert identifies three kinds of collaboration platforms—exploration, experimentation, and execution—and then outlines what organizations can do to put these platforms to work for them."

In the article, expert Satish Nambisan discusses the importance of understanding the different platforms of collaboration - Exploration, Experimentation and Execution.

Exploration - Define Core Problems, connect with problem solvers
Experimentation - Develop Solution Prototypes, test prototypes in near-real-world contexts
Execution - Build and disseminate solution templates, Help Adopters adapt to system-wide changes

Additionally he articulates the basic ingredients for collaboration platforms:

KEY INGREDIENTS:

A NETWORK-CENTRIC PERSPECTIVE

Organizations must be able to:
- play supporting roles, rather than controlling the innovation processes
- adapt to the potentially conflicting goals of other partners
- embrace nontraditional partners
- leverage network resources and facilitate two-way flow of ideas and solutions

MODULAR OR PLUG AND PLAY EXPERTISE
- deploy specialized expertise in diverse contexts both quickly and cost-effectively
- integrate expertise with that of partners

A PORTFOLIO OF SUCCESS METRICS
- agree on measures that reflect all stakeholders' concerns
- define project goals in ways that subsume organization-specific goals

What difference does it make where you buy your cup of coffee?

This video from the "Mile High Business Alliance" reveals the power of local economy!

Bootstrapping a business for growth.

As a financial advisor, I frequently get calls from entrepreneurs seeking capital for their emerging or expanding companies. Although venture capital is of great interest to me, it is outside the scope of the work I do for my clients.

Even so, I find the whole process of creating companies, and financing their growth to be a very interesting and important process to understand.

I came across a whitepaperfrom a firm called Kennet Partners titled "Bootstrapping Your Business for Success - Knowing When and How to Approach VC Firms."

The brief whitepaper addresses the questions I often get asked. And is a good read for most entrepreneurs seeking capital, and common sense on growing their companies.

Food, Inc. the latest from Participant Productions

Just last night I attended a private screening of "Food, Inc." from Participant productions. The movie did a very good job of presenting the challenges, and opportunities for change in the way we create food - through the industrial food system. Some of the film told the story of meat production as shown in the entertaining classic short film "The Meatrix" by Free Range Studios.

It surprises me how ignorant many environmentalists and "conscious people" are of the health and environmental impacts of the food choices we make.

From the movie trailer: "...you have a small group of multinational corporations who control the entire food system from seed to the supermarket. This isn't just about what we're eating, this is about what we're allowed to say,it's not just our health that is at risk... They don't want farmer's talking - they don't want this story told..."



What to do?

Buy organic.
Know where your food has come from, and how it was prepared.
Shop at a farmer's market or local food co-op.
If you must eat meats - eat less, eat organic.
Educate yourself on the industrial food system, talk about it.
Change the way you eat.
Eat consciously.
If you must eat fish - eat Marine Stewardship Council approved seafoods.
Vegetables and fruits? Avoid the foods with the most amount of chemicals - find out on www.foodnews.org
"Don't eat anything you see advertised." - Michael Pollan said in the interview below.

You'll be healthier, and the planet will too!

Michael Pollan, author of "Omnivore's Dilemma" and featured in Food, Inc., was interviewed on Democracy Now.

Van Jones talks to Progessive Christians...

A couple of months ago I attended the benefit dinner for "Progessive Christians Uniting" where Van Jones, Obama's special advisor on green jobs, enterprise and innovation gave the keynote.

I especially liked the parts of the conversation where he asked all Christians to consider the role of their faith in creating the "problem." His comments encouraged deep reflection of our interpretation of the tenets of the Christian faith, in light of the current environmental crisis, and how such reflection can change the way we relate to Nature.



Part 2



Green genius blogger Karl Burkhart of Greendig shot these videos and posted them on MNN.

Banking regulators stress Test Overview

Federal regulators conducted a study to determine the health and viability of banks based on scenarios over the next two years. From that they determined how much capital banks would need in the event of a significant worsening of financial and economic conditions with an intentionally stringent view. Read overview here.

Food Not Lawns... How to Turn Your Yard Into a Garden and Your Neighborhood Into a Community

Gardens of gratitude is a community event to plant vegetable gardens all over the Los Angeles Region to inspire people to take out their lawns, plant organic food gardens. Reducing their footprint, water usage, etc. Just like the "victory gardens" of the WWI & WWII the current effort is to inspire people to grow their own food. Yet today there is not a "war effort" to support, nor is the effort being initiated by the national government... personal gardens are no less important.

I just planted my own garden with one of my neighbors in a plot of dirt next to my apartment building last weekend - tomatoes, squash, kale, rasberries, herbs. A true pleasure - brought neighbors together to have a pleasant afternoon - and even inspired some other residents of my building to start a garden of their own on a different part of the property where there are just weeds.

What fun!

From their website: "Everyone can have a garden. Grow herbs in your kitchen, a potted garden on your balcony, a fruit tree in the front yard, or replace your whole lawn with an edible food forest. Growing food can also help you cut your water usage dramatically, very important in our Mediterranean climate. Our resource page is full of guides to help you plan edible estates big and small. We can even help supply volunteer labor and the know how. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to come up with the design and materials for the garden (subsidized gardens are available for low income projects). Help us meet our challenge by signing up your site today!"

If you're in the LA Region (or not) start your own garden next weekend and plant for our collective victory!

If you like to read - I suggest you check out "Food Not Lawns International" a blog connected to the book of the same title as this blog post published by Chelsea Green Publishing.

I like the quote on the Chelsea Green Website for the book :'"Food Not Lawns is radical (rooted), subversive (underground), and seeded throughout with treasures that will sprout into savory, beautiful flowers. Don't just buy this book: Read it. Don't just read this book: Do it. Grow a garden. And let the weeds grow; they're good medicine."—Susun Weed, Wise Woman Herbal Series

S0 - bottom line. Don't bother with the book, just rip out grass and plant a vegetable garden!

Image from Wikipedia commons

Want to start a business in Gardening?

See this video:

Interview On Air America

This is a link to an interview of Greg on Air America. Listen now!

Earth Policy News - "Plan B - Mobilization to Save Civilization"

Want to read Earth Policy Institute's book "Plan B 3.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization" - but just don't have time.

Here are the "cliff notes"

in the form of an excellent slide show on their website.

The Gospel of Consumption

Most of us are unaware that we are religious fundamentalists - market fundamentalists... in the "religion" of traditional economics. The values of the current economic system are rarely in question of us operating in the global economic system. Many of us rarely consider whether or not concepts of limitless growth, ruthless competition, more stuff and other "fundamentals" of today's business environment are even up for question.

And most of us don't think twice when we hear that, according to modern economic thinking, that our primarly role in society is limited to a role "consumers" - mere functionaries in vast economic machine for the "growth" and the accumulation of money. And to boot, when we hear the growth of the economy we may not consider what is growing, and at what cost. More? Always good? At what cost?

Hmmm... Did the Beatles really have it right? "Money Can't Buy You Love."

Whether we like it or not - most of us are programmed through a barrage of media to have the appetite of simply having more cool stuff over quality of life, whether it be time for self improvement, with friends, family, and other forms of "quality time." In other words, according to a recent article by Jeffrey Kaplan in Orion Magazine, to some extent you can't live in this civilization without being indoctrinated, or at least heavily saturated with the "Gospel of Consumption."

Kaplan speaks of the reality that technology and industry were created to provide for our basic human needs, and enjoyment of life - anyone remember "the pursuit of happiness"?

Once machines make enough stuff, turn them off, and go live - was the basic thought behind Kellog's 6 hour work day in the 20's...

Then something changed - the "marketplace" turned Kellog to pursue something else - Money. More work hours, to make more stuff, to make more money. Workers were shifted to an eight hour work day... and quality of life was reduced for the workers.

"As far back as 1835, Boston workingmen striking for shorter hours declared that they needed time away from work to be good citizens: 'We have rights, and we have duties to perform as American citizens and members of society.' As those workers well understood, any meaningful democracy requires citizens who are empowered to create and re-create their government, rather than a mass of marginalized voters who merely choose from what is offered by an “invisible” government. Citizenship requires a commitment of time and attention, a commitment people cannot make if they are lost to themselves in an ever-accelerating cycle of work and consumption."

"We can break that cycle by turning off our machines when they have created enough of what we need. Doing so will give us an opportunity to re-create the kind of healthy communities that were beginning to emerge with Kellogg’s six-hour day, communities in which human welfare is the overriding concern rather than subservience to machines and those who own them. We can create a society where people have time to play together as well as work together, time to act politically in their common interests, and time even to argue over what those common interests might be. That fertile mix of human relationships is necessary for healthy human societies, which in turn are necessary for sustaining a healthy planet."

"...Our modern predicament is a case in point. By 2005 per capita household spending (in inflation-adjusted dollars) was twelve times what it had been in 1929, while per capita spending for durable goods—the big stuff such as cars and appliances—was thirty-two times higher. Meanwhile, by 2000 the average married couple with children was working almost five hundred hours a year more than in 1979. And according to reports by the Federal Reserve Bank in 2004 and 2005, over 40 percent of American families spend more than they earn. The average household carries $18,654 in debt, not including home-mortgage debt, and the ratio of household debt to income is at record levels, having roughly doubled over the last two decades. We are quite literally working ourselves into a frenzy just so we can consume all that our machines can produce."

"Yet we could work and spend a lot less and still live quite comfortably. By 1991 the amount of goods and services produced for each hour of labor was double what it had been in 1948. By 2006 that figure had risen another 30 percent. In other words, if as a society we made a collective decision to get by on the amount we produced and consumed seventeen years ago, we could cut back from the standard forty-hour week to 5.3 hours per day—or 2.7 hours if we were willing to return to the 1948 level. We were already the richest country on the planet in 1948 and most of the world has not yet caught up to where we were then. "

"Rather than realizing the enriched social life that Kellogg’s vision offered us, we have impoverished our human communities with a form of materialism that leaves us in relative isolation from family, friends, and neighbors. We simply don’t have time for them. Unlike our great-grandparents who passed the time, we spend it. An outside observer might conclude that we are in the grip of some strange curse, like a modern-day King Midas whose touch turns everything into a product built around a microchip."

Read the entire article here.

photo Orion Magazine taken by Photograph: Brian Ulrich

The Future of Money - a book for today written 8 years ago...

The following entry is a cut and paste from a website that reviewed Bernard Lietaer's book which came out 8 years ago. As many are beginning to wake up to the reality that conventional economic theory is crumbling under the current crisis - and we just need to redesign our financial system from the bottom up.

Ideas expressed in the book - now out of print - are very timely and valuable fodder for the new economic paradigm emerging.

Of note that he uses the same phrase "global casino" as Hazel Henderson when referring to the global financial system.

It's time to create complimentary currencies everywhere - to support our collective well being.

"The Future of Money:
Creating New Wealth, Work, and a Wiser World


by Bernard Lietaer

The following bullets are reality-checks extracted from The Future of Money (published in January 2001, also available in German from http://www.futuremoney.de), illustrating the dramatic changes we face in the near future.


Your money's value is determined by a global casino of unprecedented proportions: $2 trillion are traded per day in foreign exchange markets, 100 times more than the trading volume of all the stockmarkets of the world combined. Only 2% of these foreign exchange transactions relate to the "real" economy reflecting movements of real goods and services in the world, and 98% are purely speculative. This global casino is triggering the foreign exchange crises which shook Mexico in 1994-5, Asia in 1997 and Russia in 1998. These emergencies are the dislocation symptoms of the old Industrial Age money system. Unless some precautions are taken soon, there is at least a 50-50 chance that the next five to ten years will see a global money meltdown, the only plausible way for a global depression.
The Information Age has already spawned new kinds of currencies: frequent flyer miles are evolving toward a "corporate scrip" (a private currency issued by a corporation) for the traveling elite; a giant corporation you never heard of is issuing its own "Netmarket Cash" for Internet commerce; even Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, foresees "new private currency markets in the 21st century."
Exorbitant compensations are paid to the very few at the top: it started with movie stars and sports heroes, and has now spread to top lawyers, traders, doctors, and business leaders. In the 1960’s CEO’s salaries were only thirty times greater than those of the average worker, compared with two hundred times today. Is this the dawn of a society where "Winner-takes-all" or a short-term last gasp of the transition out of the Industrial Age?

1,900 local communities in the world, including over a hundred in the US, are now issuing their own currency, independently from the national money system. Some communities, like in Ithaca, New York, issue paper currency; others in Canada, Australia, the UK or France issue complementary electronic money.
The value of barter transactions — exchanges which do not use any money as medium of exchange - totaled almost $6.5 billion in 1994 in the US and Canada, and is increasing three times faster than normal exchanges. The magazine "Barter News" covers the industry’s development and now has 30,000 subscribers. It estimates the total barter worldwide at $650 billion in 1997, and growing at an annual rate of 15%.
All of the above is part of an irreversible process of change in our money system and our societies. We are now in a transition period, an interval of great risk but also of great opportunity. The risks are not only financial, some of the emerging money technologies could create a society more repressive than anyone of us thought possible. More importantly major opportunities are also becoming available: now more than ever it has become possible to address some of the most critical issues of our times, such as enabling more meaningful work, fostering cooperation and community, even realigning long-term sustainability with financial interests. None of this is theory, real-life implementations have pragmatically demonstrated such results. Combining these innovations can make available a world of Sustainable Abundance within one generation.

Specifically in Europe, the traditional ways to handle unemployment are increasingly failing. In areas with high unemployment, people have already demonstrated that living conditions can be significantly improved by creating their own complementary currencies instead of just relying on welfare. Surprisingly, it is in fact not the first time that such solutions have been successfully implemented in the Modern world. During the 1930’s many thousands of such initiatives were operational in the US, Canada, Western Europe and other areas affected by the Depression. Complementary currencies could become a key tool to buffer a region from the shocks caused by failures and crises in the official money system. Finally, this approach is a win/win for both locally owned businesses and society at large.

The degradation of the environment due to short-term financial priorities can similarly be addressed with pragmatic money innovations. Short-term thinking is shown not to be due to human nature, but to the prevailing money system. It is also possible to reverse this process, by using a currency designed specifically for multinational trade and contracts which would make long-term thinking a spontaneous process, focusing the attention on long-term sustainable solutions without the need for regulations or taxation. Historical precedents have proven such results, some of them lasting over several centuries."

Reforming the Global Casino - advice from an Economic Sage

Hazel Henderson has been a hero of mine since I saw her speak in 1989 at an environmental conference...

She recently released a piece on the current financial crisis entitled "MORE ADVICE FOR SUMMITEERS ON REFORMING THE GLOBAL CASINO" in which she underscores the core of the problem: the flaws in the fractional reserve banking system upon which our entire financial system is built...

I excerpt here-
"The 800-pound elephant still not acknowledged is the need for monetary reform of fractional reserve banking itself, which allows banks to create most of a nation’s money-supply as debt – out of thin air. Restoring the right of democratic nations to coin their currency directly (as required in the US Constitution) is now essential, particularly in the USA where debt is now crushing every sector and the Federal Reserve along with the Treasury are now printing money in clear sight of taxpayers. In Britain, there are many such proposals for reforming the Bank of England, including those of the New Economics Foundation, banking experts James Robertson and those of Canada's Committee on Monetary and Economic Reform (www.comer.com). The American Monetary Institute has introduced a bill in the US Congress to achieve the gradual change needed in our banking system (www.monetary.org).

The market-fundamentalists abetted by the economics profession and the Bank of Sweden have waged a 30 year campaign to portray economics as a science. They succeeded in persuading the Nobel Committee to set up a $1 million prize in the 1960s with the late Milton Friedman of the laissez-faire Chicago School as its early recipient. This so-called Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel is now being criticized by many, including Nobel's heir, lawyer Peter Nobel, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan (2007), myself and many mathematicians including Ralph Abraham, Benoit Mandelbrot and other scientists. Too many of these subsequent Bank of Sweden "Nobel Memorial" prizes have been awarded to laissez-faire economists, particularly those whose research purported to prove (using specious mathematics) why central banks must be free of all political control – even by the most democratically elected governments. Today we see central bankers out of control, printing money, awarding favored treatment to large banks, reckless insurance companies like AIG, and claiming the privilege of secrecy. The US Federal Reserve Board even refused Freedom of Information requests by Bloomberg, Fox News and other media with questions as to which companies have been so favored and by how much. Now that the US Treasury is at last disclosing where the first $350 billion of TARP funds went, perhaps the Fed will follow suit.

More fundamentally, the failures of global monetary systems are rooted in the expansion of human knowledge and innovation as we transition from the early fossil-fueled Industrial Era to the cleaner technologies of the information-rich Solar Age (see figure 2). Just as the gold standard failed to provide enough “bandwidth” for all the growth, innovation and new communication and transactions of the Industrial Age, so today’s money circuits cannot provide enough bandwidth for the greatly expanded communications and trading of today’s growing Information economy (see figure 3)."

Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy

Just got this from EnlightenNext Magazine - hilarious, and true... worth the 5 minutes.

"In a recent appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, stand-up comedian Louis C.K. offered a poignant and hilarious wake-up call when he pointed out one of the tremendous ironies of our time: the fact that, in the midst of the most highly evolved and technologically sophisticated civilization in human history, we still often overlook our incredible privilege and manage to feel strangely blasé about it all..."

The world's rich pouring money into "green" deals

Many of the global wealthiest people are making investments into industries and causes considered green. The Times posted a list of some of the largest investments in green done by mega wealthy along with associated article.

They're pouring money into the usual suspects like wind power, renewable fuel, renewable energy, solar power, electric cars, packaging, etc.

Yet I'm particularly delighted by funds flowing into some notable categories oft underlooked by the typical VC and Wall Street mindset which are very encouraging developments:

Hansjörg Wyss Switzerland £6bn Open spaces conservation
Dennis Washington USA £2.7bn Conservation
Alicia and Tannetta Fentener van Vlissingen Holland £2.4bn Conservation
David Rockefeller USA £ 1.7bn Sustainable agriculture
Nicky Oppenheimer S Africa £1.5bn Wildlife conservation
Ted Turner USA £1.2bn Wildlife conservation
Morris Kahn Israel £350m Environmental protection
Gordon Moore, founder of Intel, £1.8bn in biodiversity
Felix Dennis,UK £500 Tree planting

Go here for the entire list and get all the details on the players and their investments...

Real Wealth is well being.

A recent Truthout.org article called "Beyond Scarcity: Reinventing Wealth in a Progressive Society" shares different perspectives of wealth.

The article points out different definitions and understandings of wealth -

"Wealth is Well-being

Wealth is seen as the well-being of individuals, society and the earth. Wealth is already present in nature; it is not "created." Clean air and water, strong communities and fertile soils are inherently valuable because our well-being depends on them - independent of markets.

In this view, to "do good" is a form of wealth preservation. We can see this with a form of common wealth that we all depend upon - the air we breathe. The logic works like this:

1. Wealth is anything that creates well-being.

2. Clean air increases well-being, so it is a form of wealth.

3. Dirtying the air reduces well-being, so it is a loss of wealth.

4. Keeping the air clean is preserving wealth.

Put another way, as progressives we recognize that even the hardest working person will starve if there is no food. Conversely, we believe that the Good Life is about more than money (beautifully depicted in this video by Free Range Studios)."

Here's the video - which narrates the classic story I heard first from my first spiritual teacher Swami Muktananda.

Essential Bucky Fuller at the Whitney....

Green Stimulus Package - details from Green Dig!

Karl Burkhart creator of the excellent blog "Green Dig" -outlines some of the high points of his article on MNN - "The Green Stimulus Package Decoded"

* The Department of Energy’s appropriation jumps dramatically upward, from a typical $2 billion annual budget for EERE (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) to $14.4 billion. With this increased funding comes a dramatic shift in DOE operations. Normally, that $2 billion is used mostly to cover R&D. No money goes out for implementation except for a few grants. Now the DOE will distribute the money to grant applicants directly, adding their decades of expertise to on-the-ground implementation.

* Finally the restrictive $2000 cap was removed from an existing law that provides a 30 percent tax rebate for building owners installing solar systems. The cap made the bill almost irrelevant, and lifting it is expected to dramatically spur adoption of solar. It also is broadened to include other systems like geothermal.

* $7 billion will go directly to upgrading and retrofitting federal buildings to higher levels of water and energy efficiency. This is geared towards rapidly creating green jobs.

* $6.5 billion will go into revamping the nation’s energy grid. Right now the U.S. is a 21st century civilization powered by an early 20th century electrical grid (metaphorically it’s a bit like having our freeway system paved in dirt). This appropriation will upgrade the grid to allow the expansion of intermittent power sources like solar and wind, though there are some skeptics.

* $22 billion in tax breaks spread over 10 years (not counting accelerated depreciations) will give companies an incentive to implement EERE.

* $60 billion in load guarantees will be run out of DOE backing the expansion of new energy companies. The federal government becomes 10 percent backer of the loan, providing a reduced interest rate, much like a T-bill. Some of this will go to emergent technologies like nuclear and cellulosic biomass and, yes, “clean coal.”

* $4.2 billion for block grants for EERE inside the DOE’s $14.4 billion. Half of this money, $2.1 billion, will go right to the states for community development awarded based on population and will include local and tribal government projects (casinos excluded!). The other half will be competitively awarded, with priority given to projects that incorporate energy efficiency and include broad coalitions, such as groups of cities.
* Ways & Means repaired another tax problem that prohibited taking the renewable energy tax credit if other sources of funding, like county financing, were received. Congressman Mike Thompson succeeded in spearheading he reversal of this IRS ruling.


There are some additional moneys coming down the pipeline, most notably…


* The Clean Counties Grant Program. Here NOCa was highly effective working with decision makers on the Hill to incorporate a special program inside the upcoming Energy Bill (not part of the Recovery Bill). The grant program is a huge victory in breaking down the barriers between technologies. Normally, if an applicant wanted to do both solar and water conservation, they would have to apply twice to two different entities. Now the grant will no longer be segmented by technology, but rather be fundable as an integrated whole.

* $3.2 billion for qualified environmental conservation bonds awarded at the county level based on population.

* Senator Waxman is hard at work on a Clean Air Bill that is expected to come up for a vote in the Spring. Details are not yet available, but it is widely expected that a cap & trade system will be put in place, allowing renewable energy producers to raise additional funds by selling carbon credits to manufacturers who will now be subject to a cap on their greenhouse gas emissions.

The problem with single issue movements - ECONOMICS

Wendell Berry wrote this article in Resurgence Magazine on the shortcomings of single issue movements a number of years ago - yet it applies.

"Essay : In Distrust of Movements by Wendell Berry
The movements which deal with single issues or single solutions are bound to fail because they cannot control effects while leaving causes in place."

In it he describes some of the core challenges to any single issue movement...

He lays out some conditions:

"... My first condition is that this movement should begin by giving up all hope and belief in piecemeal, one-shot solutions...

My second condition is that the people in this movement (the mtewiid) should take full responsibility for themselves as members of the economy.

...My third condition is that this movement should content itself to be poor. We need to find cheap solutions, solutions within the reach of everybody, and the availability of a lot of money prevents the discovery of cheap solutions...."

And I especially like his comments in support of local economy:

"If it is unreasonable to expect a bad economy to try to become a good one, then we must go to work to build a good economy. It is appropriate that this duty should fall to us, for good economic behaviour is more possible for us than it is for the great corporations with their miseducated managers and their greedy and oblivious stockholders. Because it is possible for us, we must try in every way we can to make good economic sense in our own lives, in our households, and in our communities. We must do more for ourselves and our neighbours. We must learn to spend our money with our friends and not with our enemies. But to do this it is necessary to renew local economies and revive the domestic arts."

Bottom line - the entire article is worth the read.

Report "High Road or Low Road - Job Quality in the Green Economy"

A report analyzing job quality in the new green economy.

The report outlines the challenges and opportunities faced in uniting labor interests and environmental stewardship. There is an opportunity in creating jobs that are good paying and improve quality of life and environmental performance.

"There is a significant ray of hope amid the current economic gloom: it goes by the name of green jobs. ACer several years of calls by advocacy groups for major public investments in a clean-energy revolution, the federal government now appears ready to include large sums for projects involving renewable energy, mass transit, energy efficiency and modernization of the nation’s electrical grid in the massive economic recovery and reinvestment plan being devised by Congress."

"Agenda for a New Economy From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth"

I'm looking forward to getting David Korten's New Book - "Today’s economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. However, as David Korten shows, the steps being taken to address it – including pouring trillions of dollars into bailouts for the Wall Street institutions that created the mess – do nothing to deal with the reality of a failed economic system. It’s like treating cancer with band aids. And the financial collapse now in the public spotlight is only the tip of the iceberg. The system’s social and environmental failures may ultimately be even more destructive."

"Korten identifies the deeper sources of the failure: Wall Street institutions that have perfected the art of creating phantom “wealth” without producing anything of real value. Its major players engage in speculative trading, buy into asset bubbles, create debt pyramids, and engage in predatory lending practices. Their seeming success created an economic mirage that led us to believe the economy was expanding exponentially, even as our economic, social, and natural capital eroded and most people struggled ever harder to make ends meet."

What others are saying about Agenda for a New Economy

The story behind the book

Our hope lies not with Wall Street, Korten argues, but with Main Street, which creates real wealth from real resources to meet real needs. He outlines an agenda to liberate the latent entrepreneurial energies of Main Street from Wall Street’s deadly grip and bring into being a new economy—locally based, community-oriented, and devoted to creating a better life for all, not simply increasing profits. It will require courageous and imaginative changes to how we measure economic success, organize our financial system, even the very way we create money. Korten outlines a challenging, but practical agenda summarized at the end of the book in his version of the economic address to the nation he wishes Barak Obama were able to deliver.

Korten’s intention is not to offer final answers, but rather to provoke discussion of options that powerful interests prefer not be mentioned. These interests devised the system that has brought us to the brink of ruin. It’s time to turn away from the Wall Street system of phantom wealth and return to an economy firmly rooted in the long-term health of people and the planet.

Contents
Preface

Gort Cloud - New book: building businesses through the network....

Here's the highlights from the book's website:

Looks interesting!

"Brand expert Richard Seireeni interviewed over two dozen "ecopreneurs" from a broad range of industries - home improvement, transportation, household products, food and beverage, energy, real estate, finance, and fashion. The collective experience of leaders such as Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm, Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, and the grandsons of Dr. Bronner, as well as other green experts, are a rich source of wisdom for green businesses getting off the ground or for any business aiming to improve its environmental performance."

"The result of these interviews is the discovery of "The Gort Cloud" - a term coined by the author that describes the vast and largely invisible network of NGOs, trendspotters, advocacy groups, social networks, business alliances, certifying organizations, and other members of the green community that have the power to make or break new green brands."

"Integrating The Gort Cloud into brand development and marketing strategies is critical to the success of any aspiring green brand. This "green community" can supply technical assistance, venture capital, the first line of core customers, and tremendous "echo effect" in getting the word out quickly and inexpensively."

"Creating a cause, building credibility, developing a simple and compelling message, identifying core customers and sales channels, deftly playing the green alternative media, and fending off second-to-market competitors are all required to build a green brand. How these skills are put into practice will vary for each business, but Seireeni's research points toward a set of shared characteristics and basic tenets that every business can use to build a credible and successful green brand."

Image from website as well.

Corporate Responsibility as Innovation Engine

CSR is increasingly driving corporations to change - and innovate!

I found it of interest that Stanford Social Innovation Review posted this on their site.

A letter to Obama... from a visionary.

I couldn't agree more!

From a visionary and true supporter of brilliance - wherever it lives...Duke Stump:

"Dear Mr. President

Kudos!

Your emergence as President of the US has given new meaning for living the extraordinary. Stoked you made it. Now the hard part - igniting a nation to focus on what could be versus what is.

I know your busy, but I simply wanted to offer up five quick thoughts for you to consider as you continue to build out your green team:

1. Call it Team Humanity and awaken us to the real essence of the green movement

2. Adopt Life’s Principles to inform your strategy

* Build from the bottom up
* Self-assemble
* Optimize rather than maximize
* Use free energy, cross-pollinate
* Embrace diversity
* Adapt and evolve
* Use life-friendly materials and processes
* Engage in symbiotic relationships
* Enhance the bio-sphere

3. Develop a Northstar (i.e. vision) for 2020 in a way that we are incredibly inspired and greatly empowered because we see our place and our contribution in the journey.

4. Break the rules that bind. Add an Anthropologist, Biologist, Humanist and representation from Gen Y (affectionately referred to as Generation WE) to the team.

5. Cite Buckminster Fuller frequently and often so that his teachings and principles will be optimized.

Good luck!

Live, love & laugh,

Duke

PS. I think it would be great if you built a local CSA farm on the White House lawn. Cool?"

Social Investment Forum's recommendations for Obama

The trade association of which I am a member "Social Investment Forum" has made a list of recommendations for the Obama administration as to corporate social responsibility and socially responsible investing.

The recommendations are part of a larger document and the basic points are here:
"The socially responsible investment community urges the Obama Administration to:

• Establish clear parameters and effective regulations for the financial system and
stimulate transparent assessment of financial as well as environmental, social, and good governance factors;
• Enhance access to the corporate proxy ballot so that long-term shareholders have a say in the nomination of corporate directors and in protecting shareholder value;
• Support corporate responsibility or sustainability reporting by public companies;
• Restate the consensus view that fiduciary duty may compel fiduciaries to consider
environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors;
• Assert global leadership in combating climate change, including through tax incentives and significant public investments in clean energy technology, energy efficiency, and green collar jobs and training;
• Take a critical look at lending policies and create more accountability in the lending marketplace;
• Create more opportunities for financially struggling homeowners to restructure their mortgages, helping them stay in their homes and out of foreclosure;
• Endorse legislation that provides for socially responsible investing options in the federal government’s retirement plan;
• Create an Office for Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility to enhance and
coordinate interagency CSR activities, allowing the federal government to become a
state-of-the-art leader in CSR across its vast domestic and international arenas of
influence."

Resilient Cities...

This an excellent presentation full of information for the renewing of our cities in teh face of peak oil, climate change, economic crisis.

Obama!

Terra TRC - A white paper on a very sophisticated alternative currency

This White Paper is right on track - as it is the essence of the vision of Terra TRC developed by Bernard Lietaer and Jacqui Dunne, who are some of the visionaries behind this innovative currency.

Here's what they write on their website to articulate the essence of their Terra TRC strategy:

"The Trade Reference Currency (TRC) TM is a new currency privately issued by the TRC Alliance, with a built-in circulation incentive that could play a significant role in getting the world out of recession. Its unit of account is the Terra. It would systematically stabilize the effects on the business cycle and re-align financial interests with long-term sustainability."

"Without the Terra

"The experience for Business in particular is:

"More expensive and riskier international activities
Deeper and longer recessions worldwide
Non-standardized and expensive counter-trade deals
Irresolvable conflict between the short-term financial demands of their shareholders and long-term sustainability
Massive losses of jobs"

Top Ten Greenwashes of 2008

Here are the top 10 greenwashes of 2008 according to Green Home.

Secrets of Collaborative Leadership - an article by Andy Manle

My friend Andy Manle wrote this piece on Arcwire.com based on an event that I attended.

Sustainable Consumption report

Since a majority of our economy is driven by the consumer - how do we maintain economic growth in the old paradigm and not consume our planet's resources to nothing?

Hmmm... something to consider.
Download this report which discusses the issues of "Sustainable Consumption - Facts and Trends"

Los Angeles: The History of the Future = from the visionary behind Ithaca Hours

Many people may not be aware that years ago in the eighties the Paul Glover - the creator of the well known complementary currency, Ithaca Hours and Ithaca Hours Online, was an activist in Los Angeles!

He was instrumental in creating "Citizen Planners of Los Angeles." It looks like he was very much ahead of his time with his vision "Los Angeles: A history of the Future"


His website states:

"Los Angeles has four awesome powers:

- There is such potent soil under the pavement that this county was the greatest garden in the United States, the top food producer of all counties, between 1910 and 1950.
- The sun shines on this place 290 days yearly. A growing season 350 days long permits continuous harvest.
- Our ten million people can work together. Skins all shades of night and smoke, of soil and wood, of fire, seashells and sand cluster and mix on the plain. We resent and love and hurt and help each other. We are magnificent.
- Water under this desert gives half the amount now used countywide. The ocean desalted is an endless supply.

How do we begin to employ these strengths to create a fruitful, self-reliant city, a sensual city worthy of excellent people and land? How do we prove the region's resources can sustain us?

The first work of citizen planners would be to redesign Los Angeles as boldly as government and industry do: to plan transformations with solar technology and orchards like commerce plans with highways and realty. We would plan broadly enough to coordinate regional use of our resources and flexibly enough to rely on initiatives by individuals and neighborhoods."


I agree!

Twitter Democracy = Mobilize.org

I have been thinking for a while about making a project to rewrite the Constitution and Bill of Rights to be relevant to our time together in this country today.

Naturally the heart and spirit of the documents are vital and present, I believe that engaging citizens in the process on a wiki page will invite deep and thoughtful civic engagement.

I posted my thoughts on twitter about 10 days ago: "Rewrite wikipedia style - Constitution 2.0? Bill of Rights 2.0?"

And on Twitter - godemocracy just started following me and on their tweets I found out about a group working along the same lines with people 12-32 years old:

From their website:

"Mobilize.org is an all-partisan network dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people to increase our civic engagement and political participation. We work to show young people how public policy impacts our lives, and more importantly – how we can impact public policy

"Our Theory of Change "

"Our theory of change starts with the individual citizen identifying problems at the local, state and national levels. Once problems are identified, citizens must engage in conversations searching for innovative solutions to the problems they have identified. Mobilize.org seeks to take the individual actor past the deliberation stage, enabling members of the Millennial Generation to implement their solutions. Through the success of citizen-generated initiatives, Mobilize.org's end goal is to institutionalize citizen-generated solutions as a staple of American governance at all levels."


"...With over 220 Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneurs on college and high school campuses and in communities across the country, Entrepreneurs organize around issues that are important to their local community."

"This is what democracy smells like" - students protest and demand SRI - in "1960's version 2.0"

A recent article in cited a student protest where students of "New School" in NYC where students occupied a university building and demanded the school's president quit over a number of issues.

The protest ended this week:

An article states: "Kerrey also agreed to allow students the use of the Fifth Ave. building, 'until a suitable replacement is secured and instituted, which would include the reinstallment of suitable library and study space.' The school president also agreed to provide new library space in The New School’s Arnold Hall and 7,000 square feet of quiet study space in the school’s Sheila Jackson Galleries by the end of the spring semester.

The six-point document also granted student participation in establishing a committee for socially responsible investing; gave the University Student Senate 'the ability to communicate with the student body freely' — something they said they had previously not been allowed — and granted access for a student senate representative to attend meetings of the school’s board of trustees.

'We weren’t being radical, we were being reasonable,' Emmad explained. 'We were simply trying to defend our school.'

As 4 a.m. approached, the ebullient crowd walked to Union Square. After two nights and a day inside the cafeteria, one participant, riffing on a chant from earlier in the day, said, 'This is what democracy smells like.' Then someone turned on a boom box and students began dancing.

After a peaceful climax to 32 hours of occupation, it seemed like the dawn of the 1960s Version 2.0."

How the bailout is supposed to work? Or is working?

Hmmm.... check out this image. click to enlarge

Indian Farmers Using Coke and Pepsi as pesticides

Watch this Video

Schwarzenegger tells U.N.: Green rules help markets

Schwarzenegger tells U.N.: Green rules help markets

POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - Green regulations will help both the environment and ailing economies, California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told a 187-nation U.N. climate conference on Monday.

"Of course, there are some people who say that we can't afford the fight against global warming while our economies are down," he said in a video message on the sidelines of the December 1-12 U.N. meeting in Poznan, western Poland.

"But the exact opposite is true," he said.

California, which is the world's fifth biggest economy on its own, has been leading other U.S. states in the fight against climate change.

"The green rules and regulations that will help save our planet will also revive our economies," the governor aid.

The Poznan talks are reviewing progress toward a new global pact to fight climate change meant to be agreed at the end of 2009 in Copenhagen. The talks have been overshadowed by the global financial crisis.

Schwarzenegger also said he would attend the Copenhagen talks to support U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.

The Poznan talks are a step on the way to agree a new worldwide climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it runs out in 2012. The United States is the only industrialized nation that has not ratified the Kyoto treaty.

President George W. Bush said Kyoto was unfair because it did not set caps on emissions by emerging nations like China and India and he reckoned it would be too costly for the U.S..

Obama has promised much tougher action on fighting climate change and intends for the U.S. to be more involved in environmental efforts when he takes over the presidency in January.

(Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Matthew Jones)

My Vision For America

Just posted this as my vision for America on change.gov

MY VISION FOR AMERICA
12 / 08 / 2008 12:13 AM

Our country's culture is thriving and well with education, spirituality, healthcare, leisure and commerce in alignment with the natural systems upon which we all depend for life.

Our healthy culture thrives with every person inspired by integrity with each other as we live recognizing interdependence and collaboration as the basis of our success.

Our green economy is a model and blueprint of regenerative economic activity which actually restores healthy ecosystems and natural habitat for plants and animals.

Our reverence for each other and all life is the basis for our system of ethics, our thriving green economy, and our culture's message to the other inhabitants on our Planet Earth.

America has renewed and restored it's Golden Destiny to serve the betterment and evolution of life on the planet."

Please input your own vision for America - www.change.gov

Wealthiest man in the world Bill Gates started out Dumpster Diving...

According to AnneAlexander of www.ecospace.cc:

"Tuesday was the birthday of the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, born in 1955 in Seattle. When Gates was in 8th grade, the Lakeside Mothers Club had a rummage sale and used the money to get computer equipment for the school. Gates and his friend Paul Allen got swept up in the excitement of this new technology. They rummaged through dumpsters at the nearby Computer Center Corporation to find notes written by programmers, and with that information, they wrote a 300-page manual. In 1975, they started Microsoft."

"This is a modern day example of the “diamonds in your backyard” concept, shared by Russell Conwell (1843- 1925), an American minister, lawyer, writer, and outstanding orator, in his book, Acres of Diamonds."

"According to Wikipedia, “The central idea of Acres of Diamonds is that one need not look elsewhere for opportunity, achievement, or fortune — the resources to achieve all good things are present in your own community. This theme is developed by an introductory anecdote, told to Conwell by an Arab guide, about a man who wanted to find diamonds so badly that he sold his property and went off in futile search for them; the new owner of his home discovered that a rich diamond mine was located right there on the property.” "

"Gates and Allen got their start dumpster diving in their own neighborhood. They were following their passion."

"They didn’t get distracted by the next “bright, shiny object” and lose their interest in computers. Moving onto the next thing too quickly is a common tendency in entrepreneurs. They get fixated on the next “bright, shiny object” that comes along, sometimes aborting the development of a current project. “Surely,” they say to themselves, “this amazing new (fill in the blank – product, program, guru, etc.) will mean my true success!” And they forget the diamonds in their own backyard."

"Maybe it’s time for you to do a little digging to rediscover the wealth buried in your own “backyard” - your community, your true talents and passions."

"Maybe it’s time to go dumpster diving in your own business, your relationship, your network. Without any doubt, there are many diamonds there, waiting patiently for you to pick them up, dust them off and bring them to a world crying out for them."

"We need your brilliance, and it’s not “out there.” It’s as close as your heartbeat. Let me know what you find."

"Anne Alexander helps small green business owners grow their businesses. Find out how at www.GrowYourGreenBusiness.com"

The Latest from Billionaire George Soros on Financial Crisis

I just finished George Soros’ latest book “The New Paradigm for Financial Markets – The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means”

He just wrote an article on his thoughts for the New York Times Review of Books – which is a great summary of the thinking outlined in his book and update on his ideas.

The article is of interest if you want to learn of Soros’ basic ideas on markets, financial theories, etc. and his views of how regulation should be moderated by a new paradigm of financial thinking which he calls “reflexivity.”

"The misconception is derived from the prevailing theory of financial markets, which, as mentioned earlier, holds that financial markets tend toward equilibrium and that deviations are random and can be attributed to external causes. This theory has been used to justify the belief that the pursuit of self-interest should be given free rein and markets should be deregulated. I call that belief market fundamentalism and claim that it employs false logic. Just because regulations and all other forms of governmental interventions have proven to be faulty, it does not follow that markets are perfect."

The ultimate moment of the breakdown of market fundamentalism was when Greenspan admitted that he was wrong in his pursuit of free market fundamentalism which allowed this bubble to get out of hand. MSNBC Reports, "Badgered by lawmakers, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan denied the nation’s economic crisis was his fault on Thursday but conceded the meltdown had revealed a flaw in a lifetime of economic thinking and left him in a 'state of shocked disbelief.'"

Soros is clear that regulation is necessary - yet in the current situation he is cautious of the pendulum swinging too far the other direction.

Here’s a link - and here are last two paragraphs:
“Since the risk management models used until now ignored the uncertainties inherent in reflexivity, limits on credit and leverage will have to be set substantially lower than those that were tolerated in the recent past. This means that financial institutions in the aggregate will be less profitable than they have been during the super-bubble and some business models that depended on excessive leverage will become uneconomical. The financial industry has already dropped from 25 percent of total market capitalization to 16 percent. This ratio is unlikely to recover to anywhere near its previous high; indeed, it is likely to end lower. This may be considered a healthy adjustment, but not by those who are losing their jobs.”

“In view of the tremendous losses suffered by the general public, there is a real danger that excessive deregulation will be succeeded by punitive reregulation. That would be unfortunate because regulations are liable to be even more deficient than the market mechanism. As I have suggested, regulators are not only human but also bureaucratic and susceptible to lobbying and corruption. It is to be hoped that the reforms outlined here will preempt a regulatory overkill.”

My friend Dan Krimm responded to this and I thought he said it so well - I'll post his comments:

Cool. So, "reflexivity" amounts to a sort of feedback loop between
perceptions and reality (along the lines that some political elites
characterize as "perception *is* reality"...). Sometimes that feedback is
corrective, but sometimes it is self-reinforcing.

In other words, the financial system is rife with highly nonlinear
dynamics, and thus not reliably equilibrium-seeking. (This is what
Nicholas Nassim Taleb was getting at in his 2007 book "The Black Swan".)

Taleb points out at one point in *his* book that fully 50% of the gain in
the market over the last several decades can be isolated to *ten individual
days*. He points out that this violates the assumption that the randomness
of the market is "Brownian random-walk" randomness that tends to fit a
Gaussian bell curve (so-called "normal distribution" underlying
conventional statistical tools used for conventional risk analysis --
outliers are supposed to be unimportant in influencing the mean). On the
contrary, the variability in the market is self-scaling in a much more
extreme manner, like earthquakes, along the lines of Benoit Mandlebrot's
"hyperbolic scaling distributions" more commonly called "power-law
distributions" (where outliers can make a huge difference in the mean).

The fact that all the risk analysts were using an abjectly false assumption
about the distribution of variation in the market was one huge contributor
to the cluelessness in recognizing the potential for and strategically
avoiding this magnitude of disaster.

In short, market analysts have assumed that all the oddities of market
jumps are anomalous and external in origin. (Otherwise, as Soros points
out, the market would be assumed to reach equilibrium.) But in fact, this
nonlinear effect is internal in origin.

As the economists would say, not exogenous, but rather, endogenous.

I really hope that people in the market get this message loud and clear,
and the sooner the better. The orthodoxy is what got us into this mess.

And Alan Greenspan was "shocked, simply shocked"...

The solution: rein-in the nonlinear dynamics with smart regulation. Cap
the degree of risk leverage. Regulate things that look and behave like
insurance (credit default swaps) like other forms of insurance. Require
information transparency (trails of origin) in derivative securities, so
you can actually trace the behavior of the elements that comprise them.

Why do we care if some investor gets hit by the risk they take on, however
unwittingly? Because we are all invested in it, in the end, through
multiplier effects. The stability of the economy is a public good, and the
public deserves to protect itself collectively by regulation that
illuminates and contains risk.

It is patently unfair to society to privatize the upside while socializing
the downside.

Dan

B of A - stops financing Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.

Yesterday, RAN celebrated a great victory! Bank of America posted a new coal policy on its website announcing that it will phase out financing of mountaintop removal coal mining!

Here's the commitment in their words:

"Bank of America is particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through mountain top removal in locations such as central Appalachia. We therefore will phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal. While we acknowledge that surface mining is economically efficient and creates jobs, it can be conducted in a way that minimizes environmental impacts in certain geographies."

Rainforest Action Network was largely responsible for the action:

They state - "Since we launched our "No Coal" campaign against Bank of America and Citi last October, one of our central demands has been that they stop providing support for mountaintop removal coal mining. We applaud Bank of America for taking this important step to reduce its financing of dirty coal. But we also need to keep the pressure on them -- as well as on Citi and other banks that finance coal -- to ensure that they continue to curtail financing for dirty energy and start funding the future through energy efficiency and renewable energy."

RAN is one of the most effective environmental groups, dollar for dollar and has brought about a tremendous amount of change in corporate America.

RAN ON!