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Speaking of the profits to be made from designing more efficient solar panels, he says, “Somebody's going to make a million dollars figuring out a way to get those solar panels made and deployed in our hoods. I think it should be you.” (Ibid)
That is it in a nutshell: the greatest tool for lifting people out of poverty is the faith of those individuals within that community to not only believe that it is possible, but to take an active part in their own ability to invent, design, and build, and to create wealth and opportunity from within.
Like a tsunami, the credit crunch and bank meltdown has wiped the landscape clean of many established banks, investment houses and institutions. But, nature abhors a vacuum.
Where there is vacuum, there is also major opportunity. And that is the mindset that will uplift the nation in some of its poorest corners, opportunity.
Regardless of how an economy crumbles, there is opportunity for enterprising individuals. The problem is: identifying and making use of that opportunity.
Millions of entrepreneurs, inventors, craftsmen/women and businesspeople are going down the tubes, because this economy is antiquated and moribund. The challenge now is to identify and utilize emerging technologies with every means at our disposal.
No matter where it is located, or how bad the conditions under which its owner lives, a mind is truly a terrible thing to waste. Today’s challenge is to harness the ingenuity of the American people, no matter who they are or where they live and forge a new future with opportunity, justice and liberty for all.
The nation’s economic graveyard is already littered with the graves of the also rans. There is no telling how many more thousands of businesses will soon join their ranks, as credit dries up, businesses fold and entire industries teeter on the brink of extinction.
Emerging technologies, volatile environmental hazards, uncertain economic conditions and hostile geo-political realities have created the perfect storm for market havoc. In order to meet the challenges of the future we must tap the greatest resource the nation has –its people, for solutions, inspiration and constructive criticism.
We can use constructive criticism to fine-tune our new economy, to remold its flaws, improve its performance, and pave the way for a legacy of environmental sustainability. The challenge we face is to throw off the old ways of exclusion and arrogance.
We may well find the inventors of new technologies in the most unlikely of places. Hence, we must keep our minds open to the possibility that the solutions for energy dependence, global warming or economic stagnation may well lay outside of academia and Wall Street.
The little girl with corn rows dancing to the music in her head, the snaggle-toothed fifth grader in an “under-performing” school, or the angry young man who just got sentenced to five years in prison for robbing a convenience store, may have a technological miracle in his or her head. We don’t know where the future may lead us, but one thing is for certain. We have to be open to the possibility that innovation, inspiration and change come from the most unlikely of places.
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