60 years ago nothing made my dad, norman macrae, happier than sharing with readers of the economist, solutions 3 billion asians were finding to end poverty- dad had a special reason for such joy- he had spent his last days as a teenager navigating planes of bomber command around today's myanmar and bangladesh- dad knew that the poverty across the majority of the human race -who are continental asians - had been the unintended consequence of british colonialism and the worst corporation english capitalism ever propagated the east india company implememter of eg slave trading and opium as a currency
1977 related ref Rural Keynesianism by chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
The Economist's end poverty sub-editor and first journalist of the internet's entrepreneurial revolution
Before my father Norman Macrae died in 2010, he set up a small legacy for mainly student female journalist to visit bangladesh to help journalise how women had been empowered to build that nation born in 1971 tenth most populous and 2nd poorest in the world
HOW DID BRAC BUILD AN EDUCATIONAL ECONOMY
I was privileged to enjoy several meetings with sir fazle abed of brac- he was concerned because the nobel peace laureate muhammad yunus had his system confiscated by the government and quite frankly the way western educators and the microcreditsummit process launched (from 1997 onwards) by the clintons explained microfinance was in critical (systemic and exponential growth) ways the exact opposite of how brac truly empowered women to build the bangladeshi economy - far the largest girls empowerment system ever designed with the exception of China. Brac is the benchmark case at huge scale of how healthy and skills-educated societies grow a place across generations not vice versa.
Nowhere in the 75 years since world war 2 has there been a servant leader like Fazle Abed. Before dedicating 50 years to working with the poorest village women he had been the regional ceo for the shell oil multinational. Then at age 35 a cyclone killed half a million people all around him. He concluded that the oil business was meaningless compared with human development work, returned to london to settle up has affairs and to see his flat in Putney, and returned to bangladesh in 1972 with about 20000 dollars. Right from the start, Abed's idea was to maximise community capacity - firstly by peer to training of how to build the minimal village homes but in a way that would be monsoon proof and as far as possible cyclone proof. Because of his experience with global business he was trusted to organise bottom-up disaster relief processes local capacity building was different to the norm of a global relief agency flying in , doing the relief, and then flying out again. It also meant that BRAC's dna was always about skills training- its servant leaders did not see themselves as banker or administrators but coaches as well as inventors of microfranchise designs- the most effective and efficient way that villagers could make things or provide services including health and safety.
we visited bangladesh 15 times between 2007 and sir fazle's death in december 2019- to everyone he asked - will you form a coalition of hundreds of universities to be my legacy- a search we map at abeduni.com but it seemed to us something else needed journalising - his 5 decades merited 5 one-hour transcripts of a life in an hour of fazle abed - this co-blog aims to become such a repository -if you can help rsvp chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
100 times more tech every decade has changed everything - see von neumann alumni; BUT which universities and school systems are helping youth connect PRACTICE most needed for last mile sustainability everywhere children are born to sustainably co-create with;
| ..Can humnas design a world in which each next girl born has a good chnace to thrive?Clearly this question was not the purpose of the white men from Europe who from late 1490s set out to acquire places -in new world America via old world Africa and Asia...Scot Adam Smiyh can be read as both the last person to ask this question in would before engines (moral sentiments 1758) and first 16 yeras of engines (advantage of nations 1776) . (Adam's first disappointment was that Scotlan's land of engineer was unable to join in an united states of english speaking freedom- instead america decalred indepndenc leaving Scots ruled by London. iN 1843, Lomdon Scot James Wilson founded The Economist to renew Smith's question - could queen victoria start desiging empire of commonwealth instead of one starving the Irish, stuntiing the peoples of India etc/.The centenary autobiography of The Economist in 1943 recognises that root cause of world war was the then G* most powerful nations had not been addressing this question: when the war ended in 1945 the UN was foinded to have another go at asking this question as well as to reboot advanced economies.It can be argued that about 75 years later, digital UN2 as advanced by Guterres (with quest for digital cooperation beginning 3 months before his 10 year appointment when educatirs reviewing the first year of sdg4 saw a system with no hope of most youth's inclusion- humans didnt not just need goals but transformation of systems connecting every community) | Apps that share life critical knowhow multiply value in use unlike consuming up things. It beggars belief that essentially the same 8 empires that misapplied machines 1760-1939 have brought the world to the verge of extinction again by not valuing digital cooperation/learning economics even though we have had satellite coms since 1964 and von neumann 1951 briefed economist journalists on the world's most valuable question what (above zero-sum) good will peoples do with 100 times more tech every decade 1930s to 2020s.. | .. | You don't even need hi-tech to see how a billion asian women ended rural poverty 1972-1996. At fazle Abed's 80th birthday party a tent went up at brac's car park in dhaka with 5 subspaces - each was like a waxwork's stiry of a decade of progress so you couild see what added to what in what sequence (figures were actually made of paper mashier. We have filed the journey of the 30 greatest cooeprations womens webbed to end extrreme poverty here. Lets hope it reminds those lucky enough to be at the edge of every hi-tech under the sun that the most valauble purspoe (indeed all sustainability goals) needs to go deep into maos blueprinted by hand. Otherwise an algorithm is only as usful as what data it excluded. Abed died decembere 2019 just before guterers started to ask will un2.0and ed3 get digital cooperation right or are we condeming the younger half of the world to be the first extinction generation. | What would you do if you were a young economic journalist who had survived his last drays as a teenager as a navigator in allied bomber command burma campaign and in 1951 you meet von neumann in princeton and were instructed on the biggest journalistic scoop ever - train economic journalists to ask what peoples want to do with 100 times more tech every decade 1930s to 2020s | .I can tell you what my dad norman did, and some of his followers. Dad really liked Kennedy' two sixtoes challges: moon race mostly because staellite telecoms could one day connect all being to share life critical knowhow; and interdepence of a triad of human development - about a tenth out of atlantic 2.0 (ie america) about a tenth out of atlantic 1.0 west europe - over 65% out of pacifi ocean with perhaps 15% yert to identify which coastines to access world trade from (80% being shipped); meanwhile dad spent hos 1950s listening to what peopels wanted - eg as only journalists at borth of eu messina 1955; aged 39 the economits let dad sign one surbvey a yera so 1962 he chose peoples of japan and asia Rising; 1963 peopels of Russia; 1964 brazile and latin america...1969 rainbow alliance of usa;from 1972 dad was alarmed that nixon had taken dolar off gold standards - so he addeed in 40 year future survey focusing particulary=ly of new tech of finance, education and health; by 1976 romanno prodi was joining in translating the entrepeeuirial revolution worldwide communities would need... and from 1884 dad and I tuirned 40 yera futures into a book form - 2025 report listing sustainability deabliens and probable best first and last chnaces to globally and locally brainstorm solutions - of course alumnisat needed to bring down costs of millennails universities to near zero - the opposite of making colege studnts the biggest debt class. | While covid makes Asian networking a challenge, I mainly host meetings in ny (eg around Flatiron) or DC region or by zoom; i am interested in people who have a solution they want to mentor 1000 student community builders to apply; speed & scale- if app is really useful you soon get 1000 by 1000 alumni actions for sustainability -12 years ago my number 1 sdg hero started debating 100 times more effective universities and this matched my dad's life work at the economist so this is why- i now believe 1000 mentoring circles can be funded through NFTeds but only where endorsed by United Nations- could this fit with whatever you most want to share?? - more coming at www.alumnisat.com and friends' co-platforms of metacodes.com | welcome from chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk Who do you learn from most? 40 years ago - I co-authored 2025report.com - searching for world's partners in sustainability. After 9/11 I nearly gave up until my friends and I came across Fazle Abed and a billion Asian women's work since 1972. After 15 trips to Bangladesh here's a catalogue of extraordinary partners in sustainability and transforming education |
