Return From The Wilderness blog

Last week Catherine and I went and saw Lyle Lovett at Royal Festival Hall. I didn't want the show to end. Well crafted songs, a talented band and a sense of subtle humor made for a powerful and enjoyable show. At one point Lyle got laughs from the crowd when he said "I'm happy when what I say and the truth coincide". Well, I've been saying I'm going to return to blogging for a long time and now it has finally come true. Like the Lyle Lovett gig, I plan to deliver a quality, sometimes humorous blog worth checking out.

So, what better way to start than by focusing on some of the world's biggest problems?

For this post I asked a few friends to comment on themes from the economic and social development section of the UN web site. Thankfully I received 3 interesting responses from my friends Elizabeth, Rob and Martin.

Here's what's on their minds followed by my witty, insightful and modest perspective...

Elizabeth: I'm interested in the relationship between education of women/girls and lifting societies out of poverty. (Yes, the Three Cups of Tea idea.) "Feminization of poverty."

Me: Well, I do believe that empowering women and girls is a way to decrease the population rate, improve health of children and advance human rights. If we want thriving societies, girls need access to the same opportunities as boys and women deserve to be empowered in homes, communities, schools and work.

Speaking of health, I recently got involved with the ColaLife campaign to use Coca-Cola's distribution channels to send medicine and other "social products" to difficult-to-access parts of the globe (but where you can still get a Coke) to help reduce preventable health issues.

Rob: i guess my pick would be science, technology and productive sectors. i'm a technologist at heart, and i really believe that our power as a species is our ability to use and create technology. technology has caused a lot of our current problems, and i also believe that it can fix them as well. thankfully we have a president who now believes in science, and we can continue to push new technologies forward that can save us on this planet. some technologies that could have a huge impact if developed: solar energy, stem cells, nanontechnology.

Me: I used to believe that rock n roll's gonna save the world but now I get that it's more likely to be supercomputers and solar panels. Actually, I believe in the power of people to get us out of our messes and we just need the right tools. At UnLtd Ventures, I'm working with 4 finalists of The Big Green Challenge - a £1M prize fund for groups to help reduce climate change in their communities. The finalists use a variety of technologies for their projects related to wind, solar, water, recycled waste oil or rooftop gardens. No single approach is a magic bullet that will reduce climate change but collectively these technologies will do their part to help the planet be a hospitable place for humans to exist.

Martin: As I am in the energy field I vote for Sustainable development, human settlements and energy, though really that is 3 topics, ( Why do I think of Michael Myers: "The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire. Discuss." ) though they are related, but then the whole list is inherently related. And for really interesting topics regarding human settlements and energy you should talk about biofuels and the destruction of the crops of indigenous farmers in South America and what happens when the only fuel around are trees and the only food (fuel for people?) is made of dirt! The whole bruhaha regarding energy/oil/ coal has been the latest cause of wars and grief, but wait until we run out of water THAT is going to get some people fired up... As Mark Twain said.... "Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over."

Me: Apparently humans use 3 planets worth of natural resources. Since we have just the one planet that obviously puts us in serious natural resource debt. To balance things out, we need to live within our means. Reducing consumption, re-using and recycling materials and improving efficiency (turn off lights, better use of supply chains, etc.) are all part of the solution. I'm interested in and applaud Obama's energy and environment plans and think it's a good thing that the UK set up the Department of Energy and Climate Change. However, it's going to be critical that countries like China and India get on board with the sustainability agenda. As a side note, I've yet to see it but I hear good things about the film The Age of Stupid which looks at the consequences of not dealing with climate change while we have a chance.

To finish, I'll leave you with a verse from Lyle Lovett's "If I Had A Boat"

The mystery masked man was smart
He got himself a Tonto
'Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free
But Tonto he was smarter
And one day said kemo sabe
Kiss my ass I bought a boat
I'm going out to sea

More to come soon.