Economic Multipliers (183) Do you know what these are? They help CREATE wealth in systems. Good intent can be an economic multiplier or good processes are an economic multiplier (No. 2). ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ I have always wanted (especially young) people to be (and feel) lucky. If any person ever took time to read the bulk of the things I’ve written over the years, they’d probably come to some conclusions:
I’m going to describe a process from my youth that missed educational components that young people need to look for and if possible, ask for. As a grade school project in the early ‘70’s, a teacher helped our class start one of the first community paper recycling programs. Money was raised, a shed was built and the class collected papers. Local paper manufacturers could use the paper. Community recycling ultimately became ‘mainstream.’ The (truly excellent) teacher had a lot to cover in many areas and kids learn what they are tested on. The things we didn’t specifically learn (things adults knew, learned and/or did) related to this project are so important that I’m going to list them (because they are part of learning math, project planning, communication skills, how local resources are processed and their value, etc.):
Adults sometimes think we’re teaching kids into solving global problems as we tell them everything that is wrong with the world. What we may inadvertently be doing is overwhelming them (since the greater percentage of adults haven’t figured out a lot of the problem solving components either). We also may be limiting their ability to recognize and solve closer to home problems that collectively can help solve global problems – simply because we fail to include some pieces – the pieces that they more likely have some control over. Communities already have and are continually solving problems: What if we’re not adequately sharing all the local connections and success stories and how far we’ve come (so young people can better appreciate their existing world)? Since it’s not realistic to expect kids of any age to remember everything, it’s important to repeat the connecting concepts many times in many different ways for many different kinds of projects as they approach adulthood so they really do know how to change their worlds. Many community projects can take years to plan. National projects can sometimes take decades. As a test of your educational system, ask this: If a community needed a mid-sized footbridge over a small stream, would the young people graduating from high school (and/or local colleges) be able to pull the project together? If so, it’s likely that they have the requisite skills to build their future. If not, the ‘adults’ in their world have some work to do. For a mid-sized footbridge (while keeping track of man-hours):
If the youth of any community (in any nation) can figure out how to collectively build a mid-sized footbridge (or some other similarly small yet moderately complex project – see P.S.), they would be very surprised by all the other things they’d be able to figure out how to do. And, if young men and young women can figure out how to do it together (working together in respectful ways), there’s likely a 30+% advantage in that (in other areas of their lives). If they can figure out how to build in some middle age support (while making absolutely sure that the middle agers (parent types) know the ground rules tied to working together in respectful ways), there’s likely another 30+% advantage in that. And if they can figure out how to build in some much older age support (once again, while focusing on the ground rules), there’s likely a 100+% advantage in that (for some rather unusual reasons). The ‘advantage’ numbers can add up quite quickly when people figure out ways to work together in respectful ways. And, ‘funding’ seems to more readily show up and be available in communities where a critical mass of young adults are able to almost spontaneously figure out how to build some durable, economically beneficial project(s) that some other young adults might be able to use 100 years from now. ¤¤¤¤¤ P.S. Communities have all sorts of project needs. I chose a footbridge because the project description contains the greater percentage of elements that most ‘durable’ projects need. In my youth, there were many things (and people in the background) that I did not see when I looked at things (which were significant pieces of how things came into being and how they work today). They are easier to see if you know what you’re looking for. Many people over the years of all ages and in all walks of life have shared windows into their worlds. For that alone, I have been very fortunate. I hadn’t thought about the cable car for decades even though I’m always trying to figure out how to bridge divides. When I write that I have always wanted (especially young) people to be (and feel) lucky, I’m also saying that I want young people to know that they have the ability to collectively come together and create luck in the world. |