Coffins

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

I’m in the business of Global Transformation. I don’t necessarily like the negative connotation that goes along with the label of “non-profit” if that includes getting by with doing things in a secondary manner or living with second-class results. There is a whole world of the social sector conscience presently marching under the banner of “goodness.” These agents of change are creative, tenacious individuals with unshakable motivation, and they are desperately needed to propel the innovation necessary for our civilization to tackle our most serious ills.

It has become quite obvious that the needs are not going to be met by the paralytic hands of world governments. And, sad to say, many religious denominations and organizations have become as stymied by institutionalization and lockstep tradition as the most inadequate government. But the people who are becoming involved in this push for global transformation are setting aside visions of personal financial accumulation and the narcissistic lifestyles in order to experience the excitement of genuine worth-building adventures.

If there is a perfect antithesis to the terrorist’s impulse it is this swelling surge of the new global transformers bent on making this needy world better off through the power of goodness. They demonstrate the power of building things up and making things better off instead of blowing them apart! And they are addressing many of the underlying causes of today’s global instability like: sickness, causes of poverty, and lack of education.

I take courage and personal confidence in the fact that throughout history when the powers of evil and ignorance seem to be gaining an upper hand there are those dedicated and compassionate people who step forward and receive their marching orders to become agents of global transformation and never blink an eye at the cost that will be exacted from them.

While traveling through the war-torn countries of Congo and Angola I was reminded of the price that had been paid by global transformers of past generations. Our Cessna 208 circled over the huts along the Songolo River. As we landed on the grassy runway of Kajiji, the villagers ran out to greet us. The entire school of nurses showed up in their pink and white uniforms and starched white caps. As we unloaded the medical supplies from Project C.U.R.E., the native chorus began singing.

I was led to the hospital compound and a stately old stone house with a picturesque veranda that overlooked the river and south toward the hazy distant valley. While being served a lunch of bananas, rice, goat meat and bread made from manioc plant, my hosts related to me how in the early 1900s the people of the whole central African area were dying by the thousands. Then some people from England and America started coming, promising to help them get better. They were global transformers with incredible love and compassion. They were called Presbyterians and they accepted applications from people to go to the Kajiji area to see if they could discover the reason for the pandemic. The average stay of the young Brits and Americans was 11 months! They came to Africa, trying to discover as much as they could. They journalized carefully what they had discovered, sent the information back home, then succumbed to the illnesses themselves. Another wave of brave global transformers would come to take their places. Part of the agreement in order to go to Kajiji was to pack all their belongings in a wooden coffin when they traveled to Africa so that there would be a convenient way to ship their bodies back home for burial.

I probably won’t be required to pay such a price for my involvement as a cultural transformer, but I am proud to be included in the growing, compassionate army of wonderful and brave people who stand undaunted by risk or resistance when it comes to helping needy people all over this world become better off. 

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

 

Collaboration

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Be a champion by fostering a personal, corporate and international culture of collaboration.

As a lover of words, I am vexed when our culture experiences the defacing of a really good word. But I rejoice when that word triumphs and morphs back to its grandeur and greatness. When I grew up during World War II, the word “collaboration” had a certain shadowy grunge to it because it referred to a traitorous cooperation with the Nazi enemy in the 1940s. And now, collaboration has rightfully regained its dignity as an effective “buzz-word” in the world of business policies and relationships.

Collaboration is a recursive experience where two or more individuals or groups are determined to work closely together sharing knowledge and efforts in order to achieve a common objective. In a certain sense, all trade and commerce must include collaboration between parties for a deal to go together, even the simplest of barter transactions. But our world is becoming increasingly aware that with specialization, refined divisions of labor and readily available technology different parties can end up with comparative advantages in their special fields. That comparative advantage can be shared and leveraged into significant dividends through collaboration.

A couple of the business world’s most effective authorities on “Connection and Collaboration” reside right here in Denver, Colorado. Jan Mazotti, Editor-in-Chief of ICOSA Magazine, and Founder and Publisher Gayle Dendinger are fostering change around the world by encouraging and facilitating cooperation and partnerships among individuals, corporate entities, governments, charities and educational institutions. They are running a marvelous enterprise!

ICOSA not only promotes collaboration but also becomes actively involved in the process. Project C.U.R.E. has partnered with ICOSA locally and around the world. Gayle Dendinger and his principle business, CAP Logistics, are great encouragers and donors to Project C.U.R.E. In 2005, CAP Logistics and Project C.U.R.E. even shared Denver’s prestigious “Ethics in Business Award” founded by Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, ColoradoBiz Magazine and the Samaritan Institute.

One memorable occasion where Project C.U.R.E., CAP Logistics, and ICOSA collaborated was on a project in Afghanistan. Project C.U.R.E. was able to bring donated medical goods and expertise to the table but lacked the transportation detail. ICOSA and other organizations joined the effort and together we accomplished the desired goals where otherwise none of us would have been successful. The Mississippi Air National Guard flew one of their C-17 cargo planes to the Bagram Air Force Base in Kabul, Afghanistan loaded with all the goods. From there the donations were distributed to 14 Afghan cities in order to replenish 29 health care centers with medical goods. The lives of two Afghan children were saved with the medical goods within just hours of the plane being unloaded. That’s the power of collaboration!

People reach higher levels of performance by working together, and those leveraged relationships result in a synergy that reaches far beyond your own walls and capabilities. So, why keep trying to run your race all by yourself when you can join some equally passionate folks and together become champions of excellence through collaboration? 

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

Are You Mr. Browning?

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist


Experiences touched by divine providence reveal the intimacy of God.

Does God really care about the minute details of your life? Is he really in control of everything, some things or nothing?

For many years I traveled in the worst and most dangerous places on the face of this earth for as many as 250 days of each of those years. Anna Marie would drop me off at the Denver International Airport, and we were aware that it was very possible that with that kiss goodbye we would never see each other again. Some of the times I was most vulnerable were when I traveled alone into a third world country for the first time, depending on someone I never knew to be there to pick me up at the foreign airport.

From Singapore I boarded Malaysia Airlines to Kuala Lumpur. From Kuala Lumpur I changed planes to Madras, India. It had been agreed that I would be met in Madras, a metropolis of about 10 million people, by a "Mr. Browning.” I had been advised that arriving in Madras in the middle of the night would be extremely dangerous. He would be carrying a placard displaying my name and would be standing just outside the customs exit.

I was traveling with only two carry-on bags, so I went directly to immigration control, bypassing “luggage pick up.” I was one of the first to leave the secured area and was dumped into the crowded mass of Indian people waiting for the arriving passengers. It was well past midnight. The suffocating crowd included many beggars and lepers. My eyes raced across the crowd searching desperately for Mr. Browning and a placard bearing my name . . . no one. I was trying to be careful not to step on the lepers sleeping on the concrete walkways. As I got closer to the outer edge of the crowd, a small band of desperate-looking Indian teens in ragged clothes began to surround me covetously eying my two carry-on bags.

I had an instant flashback. My mind took me back to a safari in Kenya. Our guide was explaining to us how the cheetahs and female lions watched the eyes and behavior patterns of the gazelles or water bucks. The ones they picked out to ultimately attack were those perceived to have a flaw, or a weakness or lack of confidence. I thought to myself, "No way! If out of desperation you are looking for panic or lack of direction in someone's eyes you will have to find it in another victim's eyes." I confidently walked straight for an abandoned luggage cart and placed my two bags on the cart as if it had been planned for a year. I turned the baggage cart back toward the terminal and the crowd. There was another entrance to the terminal but it was blocked by Indian police. I pushed my way through the crowd and back into the security of the building. I searched the line again . . . no one!

The only thing predictable about desperate people is that they are unpredictable. I decided to stay in the building. "Where in the world was Browning?” I spotted an older Anglo-looking couple. I pushed my cart through the crowd right up behind the couple. I reached over a row of short Indians and laid my hand on the old man's shoulder. “Are you Mr. Browning?” I asked.

"No, I'm Mr. Selz, from Utah, U.S.A." “Well,” I answered. “I am Jim Jackson from Colorado; we are neighbors. I explained my situation to my new friend. “It doesn’t look like my party is here to meet me. This is my first time in this part of southern India. If no one shows up, where would you suggest I stay for the night?” Mr. Selz stroked his stubble-whiskered chin. “Be careful, but I think it would be good if you went to the Trident Hotel . . . that’s what comes to my mind.” With that exchange, the Utah couple found their arriving passengers and disappeared with them into the night.

I was trying to find a taxi driver who would accept my fare in US money, when I spotted a bus coming across the parking lot. “Trident Hotel” was written on the side. I ran over and stood in front of the bus until it stopped. “My name is Jackson, and I need a ride to the Trident Hotel.” As the driver was putting my bags into the bus, a young Indian fellow called him over to the side, and my ears flapped when I heard the name "Jackson." I knew that I was being set up. The young man came onto the bus where I was sitting, stuck out his hand and asked, "Jackson?"

I replied, "Are you Mr. Browning?" “No, but earlier this afternoon I made reservation for you at the Trident Hotel. Then he went on to tell me, "I knew if I waited for you to get on the Trident bus I would be able to meet you.”

“But,” I protested, “I didn’t know The Trident Hotel even existed until a few minutes ago when a stranger from Utah, US innocently suggested I might like the Trident Hotel. He could have suggested the Hilton Hotel. And what gave you the idea that you could wait out in the parking lot and watch me get on the bus when you had no clue as to who I was or that I would ever run out, stop that bus and get on? None of that is connected.” He kindly smiled at me, sat down and rode to the Trident Hotel with me. We both got off together and he walked me to the front desk and disappeared. It was after 2:00 a.m. when I settled into my room. On a small table next to the bed was an ornate basket of fresh fruit and biscuits. Even at that late hour, I ordered a fresh pot of hot tea and went over and over the details of the night in my mind. None of the events made logical sense. I fell asleep that night thinking, “I don’t pretend to know just how all these things work, but I am eternally grateful that God knows who I am and enjoys taking care of me.” Experiences touched by divine providence reveal the intimacy of God.

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

Parker Bros, Poker and the Myth

by Dr. James W. Jackson
Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Parker Brothers made millions of dollars marketing the table game Monopoly. It takes two to three hours to play a round of the game. Its history can be traced back to 1904 where it was developed as a teaching tool to explain the single tax theory.

Poker is a game where betting begins with some form of forced bet by one of the players. Each player is betting that the hand he has will be the highest ranked. Each of the other players must either match the maximum previous bet or fold.

Both games include one striking similarity . . . one player ends up with “more” only as another player ends up with “less.” They are “zero sum games.” The only way one can gain is at the expense of someone else. It is like an apple pie, if one person eats more another person gets less. Over the years many well-intentioned folks have swallowed this analogy as an axiomatic factor of life. If you have something it is because someone else does not. You took it away from someone else or you wouldn’t have more. It becomes very easy to deduce that the reason we have an abundance of poor people in the world is because we have a few other people who have grabbed a huge portion of the pie and left everyone else without. Before careful examination of the issue, I used to swallow that reasoning hook, line and sinker.

One day I was doing some research for a paper I was writing. The material I was reading raised the fact that the “three richest men in the world” control more wealth than all 600 million people living in the world’s poorest countries. I was tempted to embrace the obvious point, that the reason there are 600 million people in the poorest countries was because the three men had snagged all the money before it got to the 600 million. At that point I had to ask myself the realistic question, “How much additional money would those 600 million persons have in their pockets today had Bill Gates and his two other buddies not earned all that money?” I was forced to answer, “Probably not one additional penny,” because wealth is a different myth. It is not a clump of something . . . it is not a zero sum game. The gains of the winners are not simply products of theft. People can grow wealth if they are allowed to do so. People can create successful enterprise and thus create wealth and can enrich all who are associated with the undertaking. Production is the wealth. At the end of my research I was faced with a different question, “Just why have the 600 million people in the poorest countries not been able to produce more than they have?”

I have walked this world’s slums and have become acquainted with the locations of abject poverty. I wasn’t on a luxury tour bus . . . poverty was the location of my work for 25 years. I have been driven by the belief that something positive can be done to reverse poverty. Strong economies cannot be built on sick people. So, for over 25 years Project C.U.R.E. has been dedicated to taking health and hope to over 125 developing countries of the world.

A most delightful and encouraging phenomenon crossed my pathway while trying to deal with ingrained poverty. The United Nations declared 2005 the International Year of Microcredit. And in 2006 The Nobel Peace Prize went to Muhammad Yunus for his work providing microcredit to the poor.

The idea germinated in Bangladesh in 1976 with the Garmeen Bank delivering small loans at low interest rates to rural poor. The program became a popular tool for economic development throughout the third world and sparked a revolution in micro-entrepreneurship. The newly created enterprises generated employment and the efforts began to create and grow real wealth. Today 75 percent of all microcredit recipients worldwide are women who are now given a chance to establish a sustainable means of income. Growing the enterprises increases disposable income. That leads to more economic growth and development.

The new business owners of the micro enterprises don’t have more because someone else in the village has less. Others in the village, in fact, also end up with more. Everyone starts to become “better off.” What a glorious experience it is to see the power of debilitating poverty being reversed, and people who have been held down by governments and tradition being given an opportunity to become part of the solution rather than the problem.

Using “zero sum thinking” is acceptable at the Parker Brother’s Monopoly board or the challenging Poker table, but please, don’t succumb to the temptation of applying zero sum thinking to the economics of real life.

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