The Three Billion. You can prosper them!
Dr. Yunus wrote a great article in Forbes magazine in 2010. In it, he discussed the state of the world, and how we could revolutionize and change that world!
"The single most important action that will change the world is the complete eradication of poverty. As I have often said, poverty is the absence of human rights. Over 3 billion of the world's 6.5 billion human beings live below the poverty line. These individuals do not have access to safe drinking water, food, shelter and clothing. "
https://www.forbes.com/2010/06/15/forbes-india-muhammad-yunus-social-business-opinions-ideas-10-yunus.html#3797dab66522
OK, so we see the problem: 3 billion people (out of 7.8 billion people now) are poor and lack the basics, all the things we take for granted: food, water, shelter and clothing. Some thinkers have looked at this more recently and say in 2020, we have 1.25 billion living in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day.
So roughly, 3 out of every 8 people worldwide, live in poverty or extreme poverty.
How does that concern us? We are basically a rich country, and yes, we have some people who have low incomes and lack basic things too.
Dr. Yunus tells us what he thinks the answer is, what will turn this situation around 100%
"The wonderful promise of social business makes it all the more important that we redefine and broaden our present economic framework to create the world that we all want." (Same article)
So basically, social business makes capitalism bigger and more compassionate, because social business recognizes that profit-seeking is only one part of a human being's life.
Do we want a world economy as we have it now, with 3 billion poor (1.25 billion earning less than $1 day, and 1.75 billion earning more, but not much)? Our choice is we can say NO.
We can build the economy, save the climate, and abolish poverty and unemployment, because we know deep down it is a very worthy goal.
Dr. Yunus believes that if we accept "poverty" as a given, we are missing out on how much those billions of people can give to the world.
" Everyone on this planet suffers personally when anyone's life is wasted. After all, the life that is wasted might have the potential to become the doctor who saves the life of my own family member, or the scientist who invents a device that will save the planet from global warming or the artist who creates a magnificent work of art that will enrich the lives of all of us. Why should we waste that opportunity?
The time is right. The technology is right. The climate is right. Let's take action, and replicate social businesses the world over. After all, what good is a beautiful seed if it is not scattered to the four winds?"
You can do this. You could have 6 locations, 4 in the US, one in the Caribbean and one in Europe or Asia or Australia.
Social businesses would maximize the economic powers and the gifts that all these billions of people have.
Dr, Yunus defines a social business as business that makes a profit but does not distribute the profit to the owners. "I define social business as a non-loss, non-dividend company dedicated entirely to achieve a social goal. All profits, or "surplus revenue," is ploughed back into the venture for expansion and improvement. In social business, the investor gets his or her investment money back over time, but never receives dividend beyond that amount. "
So as these types of businesses spread across South Dakota and the world, we learn a big lesson.
It's not about how many Cadillacs you can drive at the same time. It's about how many people you can prosper by building a social business that will serve them.
How many businesses left Mitchell because the out of state owners shut them down? Woolworth's, K-Mart, J.C.Penney, Shopko, the list goes on.
What if social business created 100, 000 jobs in South Dakota and 800,000 jobs in Minnesota. If they are well run, the jobs would stay.
Poor people across the world will be free once they have good paying social business jobs or are owners of social businesses or businesses.
If we abolish poverty, create many great paying jobs, and save the earth by creating a zero carbon emissions economy, then we can celebrate that every day!
We can do this!
Once we start doing this, success continues every moment. We will reach the day that we all dream of.
Dream big!
Comments
Post a Comment