The most important economic indicator is the level of household prosperity. And since the economy is not good unless it’s good for everybody, we should get the mean of all households, say, in the U.S. Also, since the chain is only as strong as its weakest link, we should get the mean of the lowest ten percent.
I’ve been thinking of Somalia. As it is, we spend a lot of money patrolling the shipping lanes around Somalia. For a lot less, we could breathe a little prosperity into the communities of Somalia, and make piracy a fruitless fishing expedition.
I’d like to drop off the components of a solar power station at various seaside communities of Somalia. Minimum ten locations. We should enclose pictures of what the assembled station looks like, as well as blueprints and diagrams of how to put it all together. There should also be the components of a system to desalinate salt water, which could be powered by the solar power station. Perhaps nine out of ten of these starter kits would be wasted, stolen, broken, or lost in some way. If only one became a working system, the great value and possibilities would be immediately obvious to the people of this and surrounding communities. We would respond by supplying new kits to former recipients who’d been unsuccessful the first time, as well as new communities near the successful community.
The overall health of the residents, as well as the quality of life would be greatly improved. Local agriculture would benefit, primarily household gardens, leading the way to household prosperity and overall community prosperity.
I love your blog! I agree that household prosperity is the most important thing, but think that solar power is overhyped. From my time living in india, I believe there are much more high impact, low cost ideas that should be tried first like solar cookers and non photo-voltaic solar water heaters. I also think that the best ideas tend to come from within a community itself. They have the best idea of what the needs are and what might work. My thinking that what is usually needed most is organization to build connections--connections to link people together horizontally within the community and to build a voice with those with more power outside the community.
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