The Blue.. Net

I love Jacqueline Novogratz's passion. It's always refreshing to hear about someone successful who genuinely cares for the well-being of others

Her story reminds me a lot of the same thoughts and reflections that I went through as a kid:

• Why isn't everyone equal?
• Why do some people suffer?
• Why are there poor people?

What about Africa? What about the homeless? I had so many questions and I couldn't figure out how to comprehend why the world was the way it was. Was God mean? Was there no God?

As a young child, my family spent the night before every holiday packing food for needy people in our local community. Fortunately my dad has always been the altruistic type, or better yet, a soldier that marches into the darkness of uncertainty. He is the first to get involved in every community effort and that has definitely rubbed off on me.

One night after we finished packing food for the needy, my dad sent me with the manager of the organization to deliver leftover packages to those who couldn't come pick up the food. Those people were either working their second or third job or taking care of their young kids. We would leave the packages on the doorstep, ring the doorbell, and drive away without forcing the recipient to be confronted by the donor (us).

Why? To spare them the embarrassment. It is a basic human biological need to provide for ones family and relatives and when unfortunate circumstances prevent that, it hurts and it causes emotional pain that may be more detrimental than the physical pain of poverty.

As a young middle schooler that day stuck with me and I could still bring up flashbacks when I think back about it. There were a few years of my life when I wanted to work for the peace core and I was so embarrassed because I didn't want my parents to think of me as a bum.

That is where Novogratz has really set an example for so many social entrepreneurs. The only sustainable way to make changes in poverty and the environment are by setting up finance to encourage entrepreneurs to create organizations that will be self sufficient.

Yes, these ventures might be riskier, but they need to be taken. And that is why I love Acumen and Jacqueline Novogratz.

To give you some perspective, we either pay for cheaper products now that degrade the environment and encourage corporations to take profits out of local communities or pay later for big environmental clean up projects and welfare.

Here's an example with dummy data that will explain what I'm trying to convey:
A kW from oil costs $5 to produce
A kW from Solar costs $10 to produce

Every 5 years there is a major spill which costs X Billion to clean up and has an unquantifiable cost of damage to the local ocean environment in that are and surrounding areas. If governments were to give $5 subsidies for solar (which some do) people would be indifferent and would likely have an incentive to purchase solar. In the long run the government would save money because if the fishing industry was severely crippled in later years we would see a loss in tax revenue all across the board from fishers to distributers to restaurants and the government would pay for it then.

I know we don't like to plan ahead, but we have to or we will have no way to pay our way out of trouble. Its either we invest cash now or we invest in that net. That darn blue net.