what happens when you mix the following ingredients?
- 1 teaspoon of "dont throw the baby out with the bathwater"
- 2 tablespoons of "tribal rules"
- I cupful of "its not just about the $ stupid!"
- and a sprinkling of "did you hear the one about the Teacher, the Pupil and the Minister?"
In order for us to achieve the Social Transformation that we need to ensure we have the mechanisms in place to thwart off another Global Threat to our Financial and Economic Well-Being we need to adopt C+.
This means Capitalism plus Educational Parity for all, Cultural Enhancement of Governance practices, Government Partnership ,Responsible Management that is not just focussed on Zero-Sum but Positive Sum, Leveraging Technology where possible and a Global Vision that is “compelling enough to impune sacrifice, stimulate innovation and hedge against expediency” (anon)
A great example of Government Partnership with community projects that with the right support will achive Educational Parity in NZ between 2016 and 2020, is the RAISE Pasifika Project.
The many complexities involved in trying to improve the educational outcomes in NZ requires not only systemic changes to occur but the willingness by all sectors of the community to own the process and lead the drive for change.
Currently, the NZ Government is talking about transforming the Educational outcomes for all students and to ensure that every student has the equivalent Literacy proficiency of NCEA level 2. The only problem with that is many Universitys only take students who have NCEA level 3.
If we really want to lift our standard of living and improve our economic outcomes, we must look raising the level of educational outcomes for all our students. Regardless of age, race, gender or socio-economic status.
RAISE Pasifika, a network of community, business and education practitioners who have successfully lobbied the Minister of Education to co-construct the Pacific Education Plan for the Ministry of Education, provides a bold and new way forward. Ensuring that these educational targets also marry into the Industrial targets and ambitions of the government are important to ensure a pathway to a career.
We have witnessed the remains of crumbling financial empires that failed primarily in their governance practices. An extract from the Kaupapa Maori Governance Literature review and key interviews by Mea Penehira and Co for Katos Limited in October 2003, supports my view that Traditional Cultures can contribute significantly to the governance practices of business. The researchers found that when it came to successful governance practices at tribal levels “those tribes that build governing institutions capable of the effective exercise of sovereignty are the ones most likely to achieve long-term, self-determined economic prosperity”
Umair Haque , points out that the “fundamental tenets of business must be challenged” Responsible management will ensure that the paramount objective of business is not just to make money, but to “enhance human well-being in economically efficient ways”. Corporate leaders should be made accountable for the ‘immediate and 2nd, 3rd order consequences of their pursuit of growth and profitability. Responsible management considers the firms customers as not only the people who purchase its products, but also “all those who are influenced by its actions”
All participants and users agreeing in the main to kerb the excesses of a time when governments were reluctant to reel in a system that for all its follies is still the best of a bad lot.
Finally, any advances in capitalism in the 21st century must be supported by leveraging from the benefits of technological advances. Technology allows us to produce more at lower cost, communicate faster and to an ever-increasing global audience and with continual Research and Development seek to push the outer limits of human endeavour.
I feel that any capitalistic model must be more than a cause celebre it must be heralded with fervour and immediacy.
Greed, avarice and hubris aside, one still has hope that we will be more “principled, socially accountable and fundamentally patient”
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