Success

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Remember back to the high school American Literature class where you were assigned to read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words:

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

You were tracking fine through the “betrayal of false friends” stuff because your best friend had just been a real jerk before class.  But when you got to the passages of  leaving a “garden patch” or a “redeemed social condition” or especially the part of “one life breathed easier because you lived” the response was a smirk, a chortle and some rolling of the eyes! That was “SUCCESS?”

Then you left American Lit. class and went to the assembly where a high powered motivational speaker had been brought in to tell  you our space guys had just walked on the moon and the world was wide open for you to achieve, excel, get rich and be a success.  And you beat on your chest and said, “Sorry, Mr. Emerson, you ain’t cool.”

Personally, I like to excel and achieve. And I have done my share of wealth creation and accumulation. But I find myself smiling at me with a much gentler smile these days as I set aside each year the week of April 15^th to not only sign my tax returns but also dig out my lily patch from the Colorado snow. It’s a patch I carved out myself nearly 40 years ago that lies between the stone wall along the road and the sparkling mountain creek that runs through our property. It’s a wonderful garden patch.

There are also days now when tsunamis of overwhelming joy and contentment wash over my weary soul and make spring out of winter as I hear the simple “thanks” of a little Ethiopian girl in Addis Abba whose life was just saved with one of our donated pediatric surgery machines ... or the director of the University Medical Training Hospital in Brazil say, “Dr. Jackson, you have brought us millions of dollars worth of supplies and pieces of equipment but the thing that you brought that made the most difference was ... you brought hope to us.”

Mr. Emerson, sorry it took awhile to recognize and embrace your soft-spoken wisdom. I concede the debate to you and am thankful that I never forgot your words from that literature class.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson.

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

images: Drs. James W. and AnnaMarie Jackson

Wealth Rooms

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Snuggled up against the western borders of old Burma in the rugged front range of the majestic Himalayas, just south of the Bhutan and only a few miles from China, lay three orphaned sub-states of India. Because they are nearly cut off from the rest of India by Bangladesh, the territories of Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland are characterized by dangerous insurgency and wild independence. I traveled there to assess some needy hospitals and clinics.

While in the city of Kohima, Nagaland, my host took me to a village near his birthplace. Before the missionaries had come to the area, the residents had been ferocious headhunters. The sturdy ceremonial wooden gates of the village had been carved and painted with scenes of warriors carrying the heads of their tribal enemies as trophies. No longer do they hunt down their neighbors. Now, heads of bear, deer, straight-horned bucks, monkeys, and wild boars are displayed on the roofs, porches, and outside walls of the homes.

Just inside the door of each village dwelling was a special room that immediately revealed the earthly wealth of the owner.  Woven reed baskets nearly six feet tall were filled with rice, maize and other grains.  Ears of corn were draped over the rafters and cuts of meat were hung from racks to dry.

My doctor friend interpreted as I talked with an old village resident who told me that the entry areas were called ‘Wealth Rooms.’  “It is good to be considered wealthy because it lets everyone know that you are not lazy, but very productive. You care about life.  But the ‘Wealth Rooms’ serve an even greater purpose,” he told me. 

“Later in life, when a man becomes rich and his room is very full, he invites all the other village people to his house for a ‘Giveaway Party.’  All his friends and neighbors come and honor him because he had worked very hard, had been a good hunter and had lived wisely.”  At the end of the party the host goes to his ‘Wealth Room,’ takes the contents and divides them up among the other inhabitants of the village.  In return, the villagers confer on the man and his family great honor and influence and guarantee him a legacy of greatness and respect and take care of him as long as he lives.”

I had never before heard of “Wealth Rooms” and “Giveaway Parties.”  What a great way to move from “Success to Significance!” But I quickly agreed that the concept had certainly been established in heavenly wisdom.  It had been both refreshing and confirming to realize that, way back in the ancient Mongol history, some folks had it figured correctly: “Your greatness is always determined by what you give away from your ‘Wealth Room’ while you are still alive.”

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson.

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: mailto:press@winstoncrown.com

images: Drs. James W. and AnnaMarie Jackson

Helping the Unhealthy

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

In a rural village outside Salem, India, Dr. Siddharthan tried to persuade Shanthi that he could successfully perform the needed eye surgery on her young son and make him see for the first time in his life. “I will send Samuel Stevens to the village and pick up you and your son. He will bring you to the eye hospital. Everything will be fine. Can you imagine how happy your son will be when he sees his mother for the first time? And the whole village will rejoice when they see the great miracle.”

“No,” said Shanthi softly as she lowered her head and stared at the ground. "I want my son to see, but the people of my village will not hear of any such thing. They have warned me that if you put a new eye into my son’s head he will be forever cursed, I will be cursed and my other children will be cursed.” Shanthi began to shake with fear. “My villagers demand that they like my son just as he is … blind. They want to take care of him all of his life. When he needs them to help him walk or eat it makes them feel very good and important. They want him to depend on them forever. They will not allow me to bring my son to your hospital.”

It was decided by Samuel Stevens and Dr. Siddharthan, however, that the day before the surgery Samuel would drive to the village and try to persuade Shanthi to allow the surgery to take place on her son. I was invited to go with Samuel and meet Shanthi and the villagers. When we met with Shanthi she began to cry openly. The previous night she had a dream. She saw a man come and take her son away and later he brought him back to the village … and he could see! She had never seen Samuel before but he was the exact man who had come in her dream for her son. “I do not need to come with you” she said. I know that when I see my son again he will see perfectly!”
 

And indeed, when he returned to the village, he could see perfectly. Oh, what a day of celebration!

On my airplane ride back from Salem and Coimbatore to Madras, India, I began to search my own heart. “Are there people or situations in my life where I am encouraging unhealthy dependence?” The villagers wanted Shanthi’s son to stay blind because it made them feel good and needed. What a tragedy that would have been. Who or what in my life do I need to relinquish in order for someone else to become healthy.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson.

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: mailto:press@winstoncrown.com

images: Drs. James W. and AnnaMarie Jackson

I did something...I made YOU!

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

During one of my trips through Asia a friend of mine shared with me an intriguing episode:

"Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them, the holy one went down into deep prayer and cried, “Great God, how is it that a loving Creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?”

And out of the long silence, God said, “I did do something . . . I made you.”

I am curious as to how our inherited culture has allowed for us to so inconspicuously and gracefully slide out from under the regard for personal responsibility and engagement. I sometimes catch myself asking with an air of entitlement, “Why doesn’t somebody, or the government, do something about all these glaring problems?”

I love working with entrepreneurs, be they economic or cultural entrepreneurs, because they possess a refreshing disposition of personal accountability. The very concept of “entrepreneur” embodies the notion of personal responsibility and accountability. I love it when an individual citizen steps up and says, “Yes, I can do that. I can come up with a solution to that problem. I can fix that so that everyone else is better off.”

Perhaps, the best-known social entrepreneurs are Bill and Melinda Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and his wife. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds many worthwhile causes, particularly in the fields of disease prevention and education. The Gates generation decided to use the expertise they had gained from the business world in addressing the world’s most intractable problems: poverty, disease, inadequate education, and corruption in government. They had learned the principles and effectiveness of economic globalization. Goods and services could be invented in the intellectual capitals of the world. The raw materials of these goods could be drawn from many nations, manufactured in others, and shipped around the world. The whole process could be tracked with uncanny precision by software that could put factories in Macao into overdrive when inventory ran low in Dubuque.

Marketing studies based on data mining or focus groups improved the development of goods and services, making the marketplace ever more responsive to peoples’ needs. Why not apply the principles that made the global market place so efficient to the world’s most difficult problems? Instead of the temporary fix of most humanitarian programs, why not use the tools of technology and global commerce to mitigate, or even solve, age-old problems.

The essence of social entrepreneurship—as with all entrepreneurship—lay in the reallocation of resources so that everyone would be better off. Our Project C.U.R.E. business model, for example, uses overstock medical goods to improve the health care of developing nations. Our collection, shipping, and distribution operations are prime examples of how to use economic globalization for good. The wave of social entrepreneurship that came out of the 1990s was a wonderful development. It reestablished in the public imagination that a person could do well in business in order to do good deeds in the world. It also spoke to the issue that God made us with a most unique possibility of partnership and accountability in the pursuit of discovering answers for today’s overwhelming needs.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson.

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

images: Drs. James W. and AnnaMarie Jackson