Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

The Happy Tutor is our proxy in a discussion about how the love of humans might actually result in building a better world for humans.

I have a stubborn idea that I know won't work. I once tried writing about it in the rhetoric of a politician because it only sounds plausible if it's in a voice you don't take seriously. So, here it is in PowerPoint format:

The Problem

Those who have the money to give got it by being the one's least like to give it

Business' Secret Prime Mover

It's not greed

It's winning!!!!

(Hence business's love of exclamation points)

Solution: Competitive Philanthropy

Every corporation competes to be the most successful at giving

But what is the metric of success? It used to be money, but...

The New Business Landscape

Despite corporations' best efforts, the Internet is affecting our culture

Internet teaches us to connect directly

Competitive Philanthropy in a Connected Market

Each corporation picks "do-able" projects that require direct connection

International aid groups and charities will arise to manage the projects

E.g., Oxfam builds water purification plants in central Africa for Exxon

The company shamelessly touts its own goodness in the voice of humility, tacitly trying to out-do its competitors

Action Items

Towns, congregations and online communities can do this, too: Let's start.

Get Marketing to work on naming and branding the idea

Elect a president with the Vision Thing

Look, I know this is impractical, implausible and naive. It would require a change in expectations: of course a big corporation will add "lifting up the world" to its mission statement. But, expectations are powerful.