We Need More of This, Fast.

The CEO of Starbucks is being mentioned in the New York Times for a proposal to use his coffee houses as a conduit for small business financing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/opinion/nocera-we-can-all-become-job-creators.html

This is a really great idea, and I think its worth mentioning for a few reasons.

First and foremost, the acknowledgement that we are in a jobs emergency that is not a transient, temporary condition, but rather the start of a crisis that has the potential to drastically alter this country for generations to come. Unemployment is nearly 1 in 10 people out of work at the moment, and there is no reason to expect it will get better anytime soon. Occupying Wall Street is a good outlet for frustration towards economic disparity that seems to grow with every passing day, but it won't bring back the jobs that seem to be disappearing at a similar rate. We as a country need fresh ideas and real leadership, or we may soon find ourselves in very uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory with no clear way back. We simply don't have time for politicians to showboat, posture and drag their feet as we head into the next election cycle.

Microlending has proven to be a big success overseas for community development, especially in Southeast Asia, what's to stop it from working here in the United States? In my opinion, Mr. Schultz's plan could benefit from two significant modifications. First, donate local, invest local. Starbucks should keep a majority of the investments in the regions from which they originate. If I donate $5 in Tucson, Arizona, I don't want $4 going to Flint, Michigan. Creating this principle of investing locally will play to the civic part in all of us, and make us realize that we are stakeholders in our communities. I believe this will encourage a much greater volume of donations. Second, the money needs to not be massively leveraged as proposed. We need to learn from the financial crisis of the last decade, not repeat it. Looking to the example of microlending in other countries, the process can work without leverage - small loans can have a huge impact, and repayment rates are historically very good.

A related idea would make a good open source project, or technology startup. Many are familiar with the website kickstarter.com for funding small projects, taking this concept and applying it specifically to civic engagement could be really interesting.

The conclusion of this article is what grabs me the most:

"With the government and banks unwilling or unable, it’s time we took matters into our own hands. At this point, who else can we count on?"

This type of self-reliant attitude is inherently American, not Republican or Democratic, and one we need to collectively rediscover before its too late. We can't wait to be saved, we have to save ourselves.

Rebooted.

I've tried to write on a semi-regular basis in the past with no great success due to laziness and lack of free time.

This begins the 2011 incarnation of the annual failed attempt at doing so.

Historically I've run my own Wordpress, but no longer care enough to make the effort.

After seeing the cool video released by the Blogger team at SXSW, and realizing that I know the people to poke with a stick if it goes down/gets slow on a first name basis - it seemed as good as time as any to do the Google thing to do and dogfood Blogger.