be the change you want to see in the world

Is Bill Clinton the first (unofficial) President of the World? I mean, really. Where does a guy like Clinton go once he’s finished in US politics, having been taken out at the top of his game by the US Constitution? Well, first he has a heart attack, undoubtedly brought on by having nothing to do, sitting on a couch eating pizza watching George W. Bush on TV. Then he recuperates. Then he gets involved in a multi-national initiative like the response to the Asian Tsunami. Fresh from the insights gained throught that experience, he does what other Democratic Presidents have done (if they aren’t assassinated) and founds a global civil society organisation. Bill’s is called the Clinton Global Initiative.

Jimmy Carter did it and his Habitat for Humanity is a paradigm example of what global civil society needs to look like. Can Clinton do the same? I hope so. I don’t expect a world saviour, but I expect Clinton will show the difference between Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents. Can you imagine seeing George W. Bush out building houses for poor people five years from now? I didn’t think so.

Anyway, Bush-bashing aside, networks are replacing nations. They have done so on the economic side in the process known as globalization, and now they need to do so on the political side. This will happen first through the emergence of a global civil society with serious actors like Clinton leading the charge. It will happen equally at the grassroots level with social networking technologies allowing activists from all parts of the world to coordinate global actions.

Networks cross borders, but the globe is the current delimiting container. Our economy is now global. A side-effect is that our society is now global. Time to reflect that in our institutions.

Two things that frustrate me in life are wires and keys.

Wires spontaneouly tangle as I approach. Example: I neatly wrap my headphones and put them away, only to find upon retrieval that their are hopelessly tangled and deserve to be thrown across the room. Time and patience lost. Neatly wrapped computer cables always become entangled when out of view. Removing one USB device from its jack inevitably leads to a power shutdown and data loss.

Keys are no less irritating and conspiratorial. When carrying multiple items approaching a door, keys are always in the wrong pocket, or wrong hand and, as I fumble with them, they inevitably drop to the floor. If there are two keys that look the same, I pick the wrong one first and must switch. Time and patience lost.

Today I picked up my iPod and the wires had become entangled in my keys. As I pulled, the whole Medusian mess upset became tangled with other objects on my desk and they all wound up on the floor. I’ll remember not to leave them alone together again.

I for one look forward to the time of ubiquitous, standardized bluetooth and inexpensive biometric security. The time and patience savings of never having to think about wires and keys will be a great advancement - at least in my books.

Apple fooled everyone today. The technology media was buzzing with pre-release news and rumors about Moto’s Rokr phone, which is underwhelming, to say the least. 100 songs. Big deal. I’m sure Moto will have more to say on the subject. It does sync with iTunes and can access the iTunes Music Store, but it is a lackluster opening salvo in what will undoubtedly be a fun contest to watch, as cell makers integrate more and more functionality around music into their offerings.

Apple’s real news - the iPod Nano - is a truly amazing little piece of technology. It is utterly tiny and holds 1000 songs. It is featherweight and solid state. And the coolest thing about it is it is a real iPod, not like the shuffle, which doesn’t have a display. This little thing has a color display. It appears to do everything the big brothers do, except maybe work with iTrip, iMic and the like. It holds your files, your audiobooks, photos, whatever.

This new iPod nano is one of those truly irritating devices. It instantly makes my 20GB 3rd Gen iPod completely “old”. It was holding its own against the 4th Gen iPods, but now its just yesterday’s news. iPod is dead. Long live iPod.

The unforseen consequence of the disasterous response to Katrina may be an emboldening of the mass media in the US. Long cowed by successful and relentless accusations of bias, chronic underfunding of investigative activities, and wider and wider syndication of thinner and thinner content, the US media has suddenly found a voice. They are speaking out repeatedly and forcefully on the subject of Katrina and its aftermath.

The US media has found a voice because of two main factors. The first rests on the utter irrefutability of the culpability of government in the disasterous handling of the Katrina’s approach and aftermath. To quote George Tennent, “its a slam dunk” for every reporter covering the tragedy.

The second factor is more subtle. US media outlets have shied away from commentary on political topics for years, preferring instead to stage mock debates between practised and polished spin-meisters from the two main parties. This saves them from any accusation of bias while allowing them to say they still broadcast opinion. It is a shallow and meaningless way to debate politics in the US, and it fosters a culture of dueling talking points. Not a conversation at all but dual soliloquays, never actually meeting. The shudder-inducing horror of New Orleans has shaken on-the-ground reporters to the point where their tolerance for these mock debates and talking points has snapped.

Washington - “For God’s sake, are you blind?,” a woman shouts at the head of the federal emergency management agency (FEMA), Michael Brown.

“You’re patting each other on the back, while people here are dying.”

The woman is not a victim of Hurricane Katrina. She is a reporter with US television network MSNBC who is so affected by the misery she has witnessed she can hold back no longer.

We hope these same reporters will retain their nose for bullshit and begin to gain back some of ground the lost by the fourth estate in the last decade. If this well-founded sense of indignance were applied to politicians’ empty posturing around other burning issues, the people would be much better served.

The tragedy of New Orleans is a harbinger of one future of our global society. Globally, we are on precisely the same path as New Orleans was, prior to the arrival of Katrina. From the BBC:

The Bush administration, together with Congress, cut the budgets for flood protection and army engineers, while local politicians failed to generate any enthusiasm for local tax increases.

New Orleans partied-on just hoping for the best, abandoned by anyone in national authority who could have put the money into really protecting the city.

Today we live in a world where the dreams of the 17th century Bourgeoisie are fully realized. Business takes place with limited fetters and Kings and government do not meddle too much in the affairs of commerce. If anything, they are on the payroll.

Today, by their own request, business plants the crops of the future - the future of our children and grandchildren - and our capitulation to the legislative and regulatory demands of business is the sowing of the wind that will reap the whirwind.

The business-driven policies of leaders like Bush - tax cuts, deregulation, market forces - this is putting out fire with gasoline.

The inaction and neglect that led to the disaster was caused directly - not indirectly - by policies taken to appease the short-sighted requirements and needs of business. Not all businesses or business people, but most, and certainly the wealthiest. The voices of the new generation of business people - ethical, green, multiple bottom-line - are but whispers in Katrina’s howl.

So let us now learn. The next time someone tells you that government should get out of the way of business, remind them of New Orleans. Remind them that New Orleans was destroyed because government caved in to the demands of business, and business leaders. Government cut taxes, deregulated, cut budgets and waited for the trickle-down most of them don’t believe in anyway. In the case of the US, government went to war to protect the interests of the status quo and its reliance on cheap oil.

It should be clear now that Government needs to lead business in the right direction, and that business cannot take place unfettered. The short-term priorities of quarterly reports, annual stockholders meetings and futures markets make business leaders unreliable ministers for our global congregation. Public servants need to be our minsters.

To make this transition we need to make public service a more respected profession than business. We can do this by getting serious about electoral reform, campaign finance reform, lobbying regulations and adequate compensation for elected and un-elected public servants. We can do this by reforming our polity so its inherent structure reflects the cycles and time-scales of the problems it needs to address, not the problems and time-scales of business.

And we do all of this by getting involved and demanding a better result than the response to Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina