Your Culture or Your Money

When students were asked, "How has your community changed over the last 10 years?", students came up with the following list:

Photo: Class brainstorm on shifting culture in their communities.

This exchange framed a class discussion around the definition of an 'asset'.  Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series of books, has said that the difference between the rich & poor is that the poor spend their lives buying assets which are really liabilities because they do not understand the difference, while the rich spend their lives acquiring things which are truly assets.

This is certainly true for the middle class in developing nations.  For example, if your income were to stop, most people would not be able to continue making they mortgage payments (and so would likely lose the house), whilst a positively cash flowing rental unit would keep putting money into your pocket. 

Therefore your primary residence, which the bank tells you is your greatest asset, is actually potentially your biggest liability.

According to Kiyosaki, properly defined: an asset feeds you, a liability eats you.

This simple definition of assets vs. liabilities can be a powerful tool for the consumerist middle class single-mindedly striving towards accumulating enough income and assets to elevate their standards of living, and could also be a powerful tool in helping families, organizations and communities manage their finances better.

However, it is too narrow a definition to be useful in the context of working towards ending poverty.

This definition of assets is framed by and perpetuates the prevailing capitalistic view of the world - one in which gross income (or GDP) is the primary indicator of a person's (or country's) overall well-being, and people are reduced to hedonistic accumulators & consumer.  It does not allow for any other paradigm.

If we limit ourselves to this definition then we deny ourselves the opportunity to account for the many other factors which contribute to healthy, thriving communities.  We deny ourselves the opportunity fully embrace the richness of reciprocal experience that is human culture, where people flourish most when given opportunities to create, contribute, collaborate, and celebrate.

Photo: Ifira Island keiki.  Are we born into this world focused on 'accumulation' and 'consumption'?

Instead, we can take this a step further and expand upon this definition to allow room for culture to evolve (adapted from Rosemary Morrow's 'Earth User's Guide to Permaculture'):

Photo: Reclassify your assets.

 

Degenerative Assets.
The more I use these, the less I have of it / the more I need of it.  Worse yet, the more I use this, the more it harms me / my community / my ennvironment.  Most items ('stuff') prized by consumerist culture falls into this category.

Generative Assets.
I can use these to make / create / modify / enhance me / my community / my environment.  Some of the things which fall into the first category could instead become 'generative' if used differently (ie using fossil-fuel powered equipment to create earthworks which pasively harvest water and rebuld soils).

Regenerative Assets.
I can use these, and they will multiply over time if properly cared for.  Biological resources, and many of our natural resources fall into this category.  If we were to focus on creating / developing / accumulating this type of asset, we take care of future generations while taking care of our own needs.

Knowledge-based Assets.
Ethical knowledge leading to self-reliance is the only asset class which can offer an unlimited yield; we are limited only by our creativity, our imagination, and our ability to apply knowledge.  When knowledge is framed by an ethical structure which values care of the earth, care of people,and stewardship of resources, it can result in actions & practices which are beneficial to all.

 

 

Food Security and Food Culture

Photo: Mongolians work new potato fields in Zavkhan Province (2010), and are learning to grow vegetables because changing weather patterns are rendering ancient grazing patterns obsolete.

 

“Food security has been defined as ...access by all people at all times to sufficient food for an active and healthy life.

  Food security includes at a minimum: the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and an assured ability to acquire food in socially acceptable ways (without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing and other coping strategies for example).”

  [(Online), Dieticians Association of Australia, www.daa.asn.au (2006.)]

 

Food Culture refers to how we experience our food – from field to plate – and how it impacts our health, happiness, and sense of community. 

Perhaps the best way to explain the impact of food culture upon our wellness is to think of the way you feel, hear, smell, taste, and see another culture when you experience it through their cooking; so much of our cultural values are expressed in the way we grow, prepare, and share food.  Indeed, most of our major holidays and celebrations are centered around the experience of sharing a meal.

Food culture and food security are closely linked: threats to one affect, and are affected by the other.

A society which marginalizes the importance of celebrating and enjoying its food, also marginalizes the importance and richness of the living systems which support and create food.

The ‘fast food culture’ of modern society has distanced most of us from this richness of experience, with sobering results.  The Slow Food movement was spawned out of a response to the globalization of food production, and promotes sustainable food production by small local businesses to preserve and celebrate local and traditional food cultures.

A society which celebrates the importance and richness of its food culture, creates resilient, happy communities: there is much data to indicate that average reported happiness is consistently lower in countries with a pervasive fast food culture [such as the USA] than in countries such as Cuba, which embrace and celebrate a locally produced, organic food system.

When a community is unable to provide for its own food needs, individuals are disempowered, despair sets in, and food aid must be imported.  The community must be rebuilt with the knowledge and practical skills to produce enough of their own food to meet their needs, or a cycle of dependence can develop.

Agricultural yields are arguably at higher levels than ever in recorded history, yet in our world today, 1 out of 7 people will fall sleep tonight without access to enough food to lead an active and healthy life.

A solid understanding of food culture and food security issues are important to a wellness practitioner because it will equip you with a foundation to act on a local scale, and know that you are improving the wellness of humanity on a global scale with your contribution.

"Stupidity is an attempt to iron out all differences, and not to use them or value them creatively."

- Bill Mollison -

The long-term impacts of the modern conventional food system, which has only been in existence for the last 40 years or so, are only now starting to become more apparent.  Obesity levels and diet-related disease are at epidemic levels in the developed world, regional economies are being drained of their livelihoods by big agribusiness, while social and environmental impacts are being reported on by filmmakers, journalists, bloggers and other activists all over the world.

Once we understand the limitations and challenges created by the conventional food system, we can begin to identify opportunities to flourish within, while operating from outside the system: first, by producing enough of our own food to meet our survival needs, then to generate sufficient surplus to share in our local communities. 

It is here than we can access markets most efficiently, here that we can develop our most loyal customers, and it is here that the economic activities of our enterprise will make the most difference, because money will be cycled around local suppliers, distributors, and sellers to ehance and strengthen our community.

Photo: PermablitzHI, a vibrant community of people who share common needs and goals.

‘Market’ does not mean ‘places where we can sell crap’ to a permaculturist.  Instead, we view ‘markets’ as a vibrant community of people [think of your local farmer’s market], who share common needs that we can help to meet.

When we can identify and meet these needs responsibly, ethically, and sustainably then we are rewarded with surplus cashflows to reinvest into our people, our enterprises, and our community. 

For example, we can look for local heritage varieties of crops that have adapted to growing conditions in the area, and develop a niche demand for varieties that are unavailable on supermarket shelves because they may not be suitable for long-term transportation or storage. 

Or, we can look for high-value crops that can be integrated into our polycultures, increasing the biodiversity and resilience of our system, while increasing the diversity and resilience of our economic yield.

Photo: Hana Farms, an example of a Regenerative Enterprise, cycles economic energy back into the community it serves.

 

Only when when our enterprise is able to competently serve the needs of our local community, should we look to developing our system to generate further surplus.  We expand our operations and systems organically, by careful observation, continuous improvement, and constant adaptation to changing long-term trends; and always, always conduct ourselves with respect to the ethics of permaculture, which underpin all of our work.

It is vitally important that we look at what our land offers us, rather than impose our will upon the land.  For example, deciding arbitrarily that ‘I want to grow chamomile’ because there may be a market for it would not be in alignment with the permaculture ethic of Earth Care, while paying our employees less than a living wage would violate our ethical principle of People Care. 

Finally, hoarding all of our profits and not re-investing surplus back into our local communities not only serves to isolate ourselves from our basic need to connect meaningfully with other human beings around us, it would not honour the third ethical principal of permaculture: Resource Share.

 

______________________________________
by Matthew Lynch
'Essays on Permaculture and Wellness'

Lessons learned from Investment bankers and Brazillian billionaires (Day 23)

Photo: (L to R) - Tilyeubek Ye (ADRA-Mongolia), Matthew Lynch (The Asia-Pacific Center for Regenerative Design), and Dorgsurren 'Doc' Khoo (ADRA-Mongolia), at sunrise on the Barrens of Bayan Ulgii.

One of the first lessons I opened up our class on Regenerative Business was this: Never trust an Investment Banker.

I may have to retract that statement and make an exception; good Investment Bankers, ones with functional consciences even, do exist (and, I might add, could be worth their weight in gold).

Thanks to my beautiful new Kazakh fox hat (a gift from the graduating class of Bayan Ulgii's inaugural Permaculture Design Training course), and a strange twist of fate, I find myself sitting next to half of Mongolia's Mexican population on the plane to Beijing, a casually dressed, elegant young man by the name of Oscar Mendoza, who also happens to be the COO of Mongolia's first boutique investment bank: Frontier Securities (Frontier assisted with the first  IPO of a Monoglian-owned mining company, possibly creating Monoglia's first member of the Forbes 400 List and paving the way for other Mongolian companies to follow suit).

Apparently, there's no better icebreaker than a big fluffy hat which looks like an animal has wrapped itself around your head, because Oscar is impressed with the spectacle of my attempts to stuff the oversized furball into the overhead compartment above his seat, and we strike up a very interesting, and diverse conversation ranging from mining, agriculture, NBA All-Star weekend, the foreign investment climate in Mongolia, our respective homelands, Robert Kiyosaki, our current projects, Bank of -Evil- America, former Bank of America employees we know who are now involved in charitable work to atone for their time spent working for Bank of America, sustainable economic development, the amazing potential of the human mind, tsu-te-tse, and oh yes (I told you it was a diverse conversation): Regenerative Business.

Photo: Oscar Mendoza, half the current Mexican population of Mongolia and Co-COO of Frontier Securities.

I'll spare you the details of our rather schizophrenic conversation (which I can assure you, made perfect sense to the both of us, and was highly entertaining, even if only to ourselves), and share a quick story that Oscar told me about one of his billionaire acquaintances:

Our conversation stumbled onto the topic of Robert Kiyosaki's definition of an asset: something which feeds you.  Oscar Mendoza, (who must be at least somewhat financially savvy to have landed a job which requires him to work on deals containing so many zeroes the numbers sound nonsensical, almost Suess-ical), Co-COO of Mongolia's first and finest boutique(i) Investment Banking firm, commented: By the way I agree with Kiyosaki, even though every bank will probably tell you otherwise.

He went on to tell me about his billionaire acquaintance, a very wealthy and ambitious, self-made Brazillian man who runs one of the world's largest Oil and Natural Gas companies (OGX).  This man makes no secret of his desire to become the world's wealthiest man, and in the course of his dealings one evening, Oscar took it upon himself to suggest to gentleman that it might be quite a task to knock of the Mexican gentleman who sits above him on the Forbes 400, a billionaire who made his fortune in Telecom - he would be pretty difficult to knock off because his business model basically requires him to do little more than sit back and collect his revenues, now that the money has already been spent on building the infrastructure which runs everything.

In comparison, the Oil Business requires huge amounts of money to research & discover a viable oil field, then even more money to develop & tap the field to create productive wells, and more money to extract, refine & deliver the final products. 

The Brazillian billionaire smiled, leaned in a little closer and said I'll tell you my little secret: 

When I want something to happen, every night before I go to bed, I spend 30 minutes in my thinking room, where I think in detail about exactly how everything will look when it's done.  They said I couldn't build the largest shipping port in Brazil; but I did.  They think I'm superstitious and crazy, and can't believe that it could possibly be so simple.  They say I can't be the richest man in the world; we'll see.  But I tell you this: my simple little secret, it works.

So there you go.  Maybe it really is that simple: Think, and grow rich.

To think is to create. 

Thoughts are things. 

Mind over matter. 

We get what we focus on.

However you want to phrase it; think I'll give it a try.  ...I'll let you know how it works out.

 But McBean was quite wrong. I’m quite happy to say.
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day.
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches.
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether
They had one, or not, upon thars.
   - From Dr Suess' 'The Sneetches' -
 

 

Oh, and in case you were wondering... the man he was telling me about, the Brazillian billionaire? 

His name is Eike Batista.

Look him up - maybe you can even try out his little secret for yourself.

 

__________________________________________

(i) Unlike the big boys (Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merril Lynch and the like), employees of most boutique investment banking firms live and work in the communities they serve, and therefore have an additional layer of accountability which simply isn't present with the big boys; when you live and work in a community, relationships are at stake, and you are physically present to deal the consequences of your actions, for better or worse, face-to-face. 

Regenerative Business in Bayan Ulgii (Day 17)

 Theme Song for the day: 'Money', by PInk Floyd.

 

Photo:Regenerative Business is...

Today we played a game called: 'Let's Lend Money to Matt. 

But first, the morning was spent in lecture-format, to lay a foundational understanding of the Principles of Regenerative Business:

  1. Only buy Assets which regenerate themselves.

Photo: Petrol pumps are perceived as a high-value asset, however are costly to run and maintain.  A pump powered by renewable energy (such as a solar or RAM pump) would be examples of regenerative assets.

   2. Business is a Team Sport.

Photo:Creating support systems for your business increases your available resources to tackle challenges and capitalize upon opportunities.

  3. Invest Profits into your Community.

Photo: Investing in the community the business operates in cycles energy back into the people who support the business in the first place, creating a positive feedback loop which can increasingly flourish over time.

  

Students were then asked to pretend they were a bank, and I was a customer seeking a small loan from them to start a business.  Their bank (and the loan they would give me, if they decided I was qualified candidate) was based on their pooled savings, and so what kind of questions did they have for me?

•   What kind of business? (I'm gonna sell tour packages of Bayan Ulgii Province)
•   What is your business plan? (I'm gonna sell a lotta tour packages!)
•   Where will your business be located? (Above the pub, of course.  For networking and public relations purposes.  Of course.)
•   Show us your SWOT! (...as in Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats-Analysis).
•   Have you sought permission from the authorities?  (Yes, of course...)  ...Prove it.
•   How much money will you make? (One MILLion Dollarrrrsss!!.....(in your best 'Dr. Evil' voice))
•   How much money are you making right now? (Ummmmm..... not so much?)
•   Well then what can you give us for security? (Well... I have this eagle ring you might like....??)
  

The game was presented farcically, and students had a lot of fun interrogating their poor Instructor (who just wanted a small loan of 1,000,000 MNT (approx $10,000 USD), after all!), coming up with the novel idea of requiring me to marry a local suitor (named Gugan, remember her from the design briefs?) of their choosing in order to ensure i) that profits would be cycled back into the local community, and ii) that she would sort me out if profits were not cycled back into the community (Mongol-Kazakh women are very strong).  Quick learners, and crafty dealmakers too!

The entire exercise was designed to give students an interactive lesson to utilize the principles discussed in the morning sessions, to demonstrate how to teach financial literacy with an engaging experience, and -to see if I could actually get them to lend me the money- to facilitate the process of forming individuals into a Self-Help-Group (SHG), which will form the basis of the project's microfinance initiative.  Studies of sustainable SHGs in India indicate that groups which are savings-based (ie lend their own money) are more likely to succeed and flourish(i).

Beneficiaries will form informal support groups based on needs, proximity to each other, and personalities - especially as so much infrastructure (root cellar + passive solar greenhouse + drip irrigation system) will be built over the summer of the first year.  Learning curves will be steep in the first two years (training will be mostly hands-on, learning by doing, while in winter months theoretical 'debrief' lessons can be facilitated), and beneficiaries can accelerate their learning by sharing information, lessons learned, and resources.

Only when a family's basic needs are met, and a surplus in crop production is achieved can we shift our focus to developing microenterprise; however, the foundation for credit co-operatives and SHGs can be laid as early as Year 1, when informal support groups form to self-organize working bees and information sharing sessions.  Seed-saving groups (which are necessary to ensure the sustainability of any aid & development initiative so that beneficiaries are independent from having to purchase seed each to year to grow a crop) can grow into seed-banks, which can then grow into savings & loans SHGs as the group's needs evolve.

Leadership, membership, and systems (the three key factors in the sustainability of SHGs)(ii) can be nurtured to grow and dvelop from these informal support and seed-saving groups.

The step from saving seeds together is not a huge leap to saving money together; the seeds for regenerative economic development can be sown through permaculture design.

Photo: Words of wisdom from Bill Mollison.

 

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(i) 'Sustainability of Self-Help Groups in India, part I - Do India's Self-help Groups Provide Value for Money?', by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), 2007

(Ii) 'Sustainability of Self-Help Groups in India, part II - Designing SHG Programs for the Long Term' , by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), 2007

 

Regenerative business v1.0 [Bayan Ulgii SEAL Project 2011]

via slideshare.net

Draft 1.0, 'Fundamentals of Regenerative Business' learning module for SEAL Project 2011.

This session will be taught to Heads-of-household Beneficiaries and ADRA-Mongolia Field Staff, to lay the foundational understanding of creating and running a business which strengthens its community by cycling energy and money into its local markets.

Concepts are presented and explained via slideshow & lecture, then will explored and discussed during subsequent group activity, in which students will design their own Self-Help Group or Credit Co-operative Enterprises.

The final version will be translated into Russian, as the Kazakh residents of Bayan Ulgii are fluent in this language from 'Socialism Times' (as locals refer to the Soviet regime).

image: Permaculture Principles applied to Business Fundamentals.