TED Community » Manuel Aguilar

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I'm passionate about

Life

An idea worth spreading

As a civilization, the time has come to provide for the basic needs of the Base of the Pyramid, (those living on incomes of less than $3 per day), in an economically and ecologically sustainable manner.

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Alleviating Poverty, Energy and Education for the Base of the Pyramid, Astrophysics, Numbers, Anything else, mostly Everything

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Irrationality

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  A comment on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 23 2011: Dear all, As this conversation nears closing time, I wanted to thank each and every one of you for an amazing set of insights, suggestions and ideas about how to tackle this formidable problem. My own thinking has been greatly enriched as I hope so have yours and I'm eager to start putting these ideas into practice in my own work. It's beyond these 2000 characters to synthesize all that has been discussed but here is a synopsis of what some of the most prevalent themes - please excuse if I missed any:
  
  - Creating sustainable food and water sources
  - Increasing access to sanitation and communication
  - Universal respect for basic human rights and individual dignities
  - Universal access to basic educational tools and information
  - Training the poor in business and other self-improvement mechanisms
  - Community inclusion
  - Local economies based on sharing and collaboration
  - Opportunities to put one's skills and talents to good use
  - Transcending a consumption-based economic model
  - Focus on local and micro-based solutions
  - De-focusing monetary systems based on hoarding / ending fiat currency
  - Promoting lower birth-rates
  - Greater coordination between government, NGOs and private industry
  
  Once again, deep thanks to all that participated with these great insights. Surely these deeply-rooted systemic problems seem overwhelmingly large at times - but I wholeheartedly believe we will find a way out of them. This simple conversation is a testament to our collective power to generate and implement ideas to move forward. Human beings live in an abundant planet and universe, which makes abject scarcity an unnatural condition. The deepest overall take-away for me is that "well-being" and "wealth" are not purely monetary phenomena but more a result of our ability to productively and creatively express our uniqueness. In that spirit, let us go forth and make these positive changes in our own lives and our communities - the 1st step in shaping a world without poverty!

• A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 23 2011: And a great idea it is V Raj. Nelson Mandela said education is the most powerful tool one can use to change the world. I like the focus of taking personal responsibility to educate kids even outside one's sphere of immediate need, especially in destitute areas. So often, all kids really need is to have a seed planted in them that will eventually grow into a beautiful tree of self-attained knowledge - if we all took responsibility for a few kids, the world would change dramatically and quickly! Thanks for your thoughtful comments

• A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 23 2011: I'd like to echo this sentiment with a quote from the Dalai Lama: "Of the many problems we face today, some are natural calamities and must be accepted and faced with equanimity. Others, however, are of our own making, created by misunderstanding, and can be corrected. One such type arises from the conflict of ideologies, political or religious, when people fight each other for petty ends, losing sight of the basic humanity that binds us all together as a single human family".
  
  I really like your phrasing of different iterations of the Now, of which we are all stewards - working so that the Now ever flows into a constructive and joyful expression of our gifts.
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  A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 23 2011: Thanks for contributing Joy and no need to apologize! You bring up a good point that the pangs of scarcity are felt everywhere, not just developing countries. As a concerned citizen about this, living in a world, regardless of country, ruled primarily by large corporate interests - it always amazes me to think of examples of how little "capital" is needed to engender much "good" if it's spent wisely. Healthcare being a great example in the US - it is such an enormous issue with astronomical costs, that it is extremely difficult for parties to agree on any given course of action in spite of it being so fundamental to wellbeing. I think you hit the nail on the head with the community inclusion. This applies everywhere I believe, as we are ultimately a planet of human communities - not gigantic legal entities made up of average persons. Though it seems like a great problem - I am also optimistic given successful examples and platforms such a TED that we will work our way through this. Best wishes.

• A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 22 2011: Great point V Raj - application of Marxist theories have often created the antithesis of what they were "designed" to achieve. I agree completely that 100% literacy would be an enormous first step - amazing to think something relatively "simple" has proven so difficult to accomplish. Within a semi-"marxist" context, rather than equalizing goods and means of production - perhaps equalizing basic skills (literacy, etc) should be governing principle. I know it's easier said than done, but I also think universalizing basic skills is much less costly than doing it on a "means" basis. It seems the world is making strides in this - hopefully we are doing it at a faster pace than people being born outside this wider net.

• A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 22 2011: @David Hamilton: hahaha on the Chappelle quote! I understand more clearly what you meant now and you make a lot of sense. You summed up the desire for companionship and intimate/family support quite well, so no need to elaborate further. I do want to focus on one thing you mentioned that is crucial - and that is lowering birth rates. I believe this is a more complex issue than "sex being easily available" and much has to do with survival rates as well - regardless, I agree with your assertion that fewer kids in a household with more income streams would greatly increase wealth at the family level and sustainability on a macro level. Many efforts have been aimed at this, but by all data they have been scarcely successful in many areas. This ultimately, in the "macro end case" is in literally everyone's interests, no matter where you live on this planet, so let's hope we get a better handle on how to remedy this problem in areas where it's most needed.

• A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 22 2011: Wow!! This is amazing! Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention - I had never seen concentrated solar so powerful. I will definitely look into it.
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  A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 22 2011: Thanks for the great suggestions MB - Mr. McMurtry seems to have covered a lot of ground from the Wikipedia article, I'll be very interested to read his work.

• A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 21 2011: I agree that the issue of "entitlement" can be problematic when wages/assets/services are merely "assigned". In my own experience working with poor communities through a private entreprise - we very often encounter the issue that when people work to pay for something the inherently "value" it more and give it proper management and care, as opposed to things that were given freely and are often discarded/dismantled/sold for parts. One of the latest themes has been that of transparent and just governance, where rather than redistribute or reassign, the rules are simply built to remove artifical barries of entry (created by, say, oppresion) so that all can hope to prosper. I agree that training oneself and achieving mastery of skills and crafts is essential to our human expression and advancement and no cap should be set on that. I do think governance could be greatly reworked so that a vast number of people get the opportunity to develop a skillset beyond meager daily survival.
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  A reply on Conversation: In addition to increasing income, what else should poverty eradication include?

  Dec 21 2011: Interesting, and something that I have heard before. I can agree that we appear to be hard-wired to seek sex, or instinctual reproductive opportunities, and often go about it through displays of wealth. Nevertheless, I would disagree that this is always the "end goal" to becoming more effective - even on a purely economic basis, as the dimishing marginal utility after some "threshold" of wealth is achieved (and sex, under this model). There is also the large population of humans that continue to strive for self-improvement way past their reproductive stage. You do bring up a good point, however, that many of our incentives for self-improvements are externally/socially motivated, in addition to pleasure. Should pleasure reign supreme in the scheme of collective incentives?