AT THE INTERSECTION: COMPONENTS OF PRODUCTION

by Dr. James W. Jackson

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

In economics the term utility refers to the satisfaction people get from the goods and services they consume and the activities they pursue, i.e. what it is that makes them happy. In order to understand how the system works, it is important to go back to the simple basics or starting blocks that are required to serve the interests of the people. There are four general categories of economic resources that are traditionally considered components of production: Land, Labor, Capital. and the Entrepreneur.

I suppose you could say that, “In the beginning” there were only two components of production: land and labor. Then the fellow doing all the labor, named “Adam”, figured it out that he would benefit greatly by taking a very sharp stone to kill the wild animal he was going to use for meat, instead of beating it or strangling it. He also enhanced the utility of the process by using yet a sharper stone as a knife to remove the hairy, tough hide of the animal before cooking it or trying to barter it to one of his buddies. At that point, he took a giant step into the position of the entrepreneur while also utilizing components of capital, thus making it four components of production rather than just two. Now back to the serious components of traditional economics.

LAND

By the term land economists mean nature, natural resources, the earth plus the heavens, and the seas. Simply stated, land is God’s gift to the children of men (Psalm 115:16). It is the untouched earth as we find it. That economic term includes everything on, above, and below the surface of the earth. It includes streams, lakes, minerals, forests, air, space, wild animals, plants, fossil fuels, and even rocks brought back from the moon . . . everything that man finds in his environment that is not a product of mankind’s labor.

Two things to remember about land and all things considered natural resources: First, they are found in nature and that no human effort has been used to make or alter them. Second, they can be used for the production of goods and services.

LABOR

The resource component called labor consists of the physical and mental talents of individuals used in producing goods and services. The services of airline pilots, teachers, welders, loggers, retail clerks, mechanics, professional football players, or rocket scientists are all included under the general heading of labor. Generally speaking, a person’s ownership in his or her own unique labor power is the greatest factor of production under that person’s command. That power is at the person’s disposal for exchanging in the marketplace for the many goods and services desired but not yet owned. The terms, free labor market or competitive labor market refer to a person’s being able to exchange or sell his labor power to the highest bidder on the one hand, and the bidder being able to exchange or purchase labor power at the best terms he can find.

CAPITAL

Capital is wealth intended to produce more wealth and is not yet in the hands of the consumer but still somewhere in the process stage of producing more wealth or income. In economic thought, capital, or capital goods includes all manufactured aids used in producing consumer goods and services. Included are factories, warehouses, distribution centers, transportation facilities, as well as items like stone knives, hammers, wrenches, drill presses, industrial robots, or other pieces of machinery. Economists refer to the purchase of capital goods as investments. Capital goods differ from consumer goods because consumer goods satisfy wants directly, whereas capital goods do so indirectly by aiding in the production of consumer goods.

The term capital as used by economists does not refer to money, but to tools and other productive equipment. Because money produces nothing by itself, economists do not include it as a basic economic resource.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

The entrepreneur takes the initiative in combining the resources of land, labor, and capital to produce a good or a service. Both a sparkplug and a catalyst, the entrepreneur is the driving force behind production and the agent who combines the other resources in what is hoped will be a successful business venture. The entrepreneur’s time, effort, and abilities invested do not guarantee any degree of success or profit. The risks may result in losses rather than rewards, and possibly, the entrepreneur will put at risk not only his or her invested assets but those of associates and stockholders as well.

But nothing happens without the entrepreneur . . . a special human resource who takes an idea and attempts to make an economic profit from it by combining all other factors of production. The entrepreneur is the individual who also takes on all of the risks and rewards of the business.

Students sometimes struggle with the concept of entrepreneur. It is a tricky word to spell and pronounce. It is a bit ironic that it was the French who attached the name that stuck to the functional concept, but it is a great word. For me, the easiest way to visualize and remember the function of the entrepreneur is to recall its simplicity. The only thing an entrepreneur really does is to take something of a lesser value from the economic system and place it back into the system at a higher value. That is all an entrepreneur does.

The primitive man simply took a common rock out of the system and returned it back into the economic system as a stone knife.

I feel blessed to be considered an entrepreneur. In our days of real estate development we performed a very simple and rewarding task. We took out of the economy struggling ranches that were not producing very much wealth and delivering almost no tax revenue to the county or state. We developed them into beautiful recreational and business sites in Colorado’s ski country and entered those sites back into the economy at a higher value.

When it was time to meet international needs for medical supplies and equipment for hospitals and clinics in lesser developed countries around the world, Project C.U.R.E. simply removed out of our economic system medical items of lower value, did a bit of enhancement and reinserted those medical items back into the international economy where they were desperately needed, and thousands and thousands of lives were saved in the process.

Wealth is generated from production. Poverty is perpetuated through non-production. It is very important for us to understand the utility that flows from the basic components of production: Land, Labor, Capital, and the Entrepreneur. 

Next week: Cultural Components 

 

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson's new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson  

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

www.drjameswjackson.com  

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

AT THE INTERSECTION: CULTURE AND ECONOMICS

by Dr. James W. Jackson

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

You and I live in a world of transformation. I predict that change is here to stay . . . unless something changes. My personal observations have convinced me that global transformation, national transformation, corporate transformation, domestic transformation, and even personal transformation take place at the intersection of culture and economics. Wherever the cultural factors of traditions, institutions, families, and individuals intersect with the economic production factors of land, labor, capital, and the entrepreneur, you can count on change.

It is exciting to see how the phenomenon of transformation takes place. Once you begin to recognize the function, you can better understand, and in some cases even predict, the associated behavior that results. When I was a kid, my grandfather used to tell me, “Jimmy, if you want to know why something happens . . . follow the money.” But I have discovered that if you really want to get a glimpse of why and how things happen you must follow that money trail down to the curbside of the intersection and observe what happens when the economic factors try to cross the intersection at the same time as the cultural factors.

In these next few articles, I am going to try to assume the assignment of presenting this facet of cultural economics so that we can better understand the idea of global, national, corporate, domestic, and personal transformation.

To begin, let’s establish some simple guidelines for our thoughts:

Traditional economics concerns itself with how we efficiently allocate and manage our resources—land, labor, capital, and the entrepreneur—as well as how we organize the production of goods and services. Economists collect this data and develop charts, or matrices, to project our conclusions into the future on the basic assumption that future reality will be an extension of past reality.

The subject of culture suggests an integrated set of behavior patterns learned by members in a society, but not necessarily inherited biologically. The behavior patterns, over time, become traditions that are passed on to future generations through institutions, family units, and individuals.

Cultural Economics is the branch of economics that concerns itself with the relationship of culture to economic outcomes. It studies how various aspects of human cultures interact with economic events, behaviors, and conditions. Ultimately, the study of economics is all about people with their needs, talents, abilities, propensities, and even their emotions of love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, and fear.

A given culture will influence the political systems, traditions, religious beliefs, the formation of institutions, and even the value we ascribe to individuals. Likewise, economic philosophies and systems have the power to affect and shape our cultures.

In the year 336 B.C., a twenty-one- year- old was placed on the Greek throne following the assassination of his father, Philip. Young Alexander of Macedonia had been schooled at the feet of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who had made Alexander aware of a world that was fragmented economically into countless little city-states. Each dominion had its own government, money system, army, and customs.

With Aristotle’s help, Alexander began to comprehend the high cost of fragmentation, and in the next dozen years Alexander the Great “conquered” the known world for Greece. He conquered it with such interesting subtleties that more often than not the countries in his path simply threw open their gates and welcomed him in. He brought with him security, protection, and fairness, and encouraged free trade within his new world based on a dependable metallic coinage of gold and silver. The genius of that economic enterprise and availability rested in the fact that it did not cost his constituents more out of their purses for those additional benefits, but less . . . a whole lot less!

Where the citizens had been paying as much as seventy to eighty percent in taxes to operate their fragmented city-states, Alexander reduced those tax rates to around fifteen percent. Little wonder that they threw open their city gates and welcomed him with open arms!

But, alas, with no more worlds to conquer, Alexander the Great died at the early age of thirty-three as a result of a wild drinking party. His obtuse generals decided to divide up the empire and, along with the insecure propensity of the Europeans and Asians, the populaces began to move back to a model of fragmented city-states, no longer unified by protection and a stable economy. The Greek empire began to crumble, but his dream lived on.

Two hundred seventy-one years later, Julius Caesar laid claim to the dream of Alexander the Great, overhauled it, and began to implement the “great experiment,” Pax Romana.

The global economy was not nearly as fragmented as it had been prior to Alexander, and the Greek Philosophy, literature, and ideas of democracy had done much to break down the barriers between the Greeks and the barbarians. Julius Caesar, like Alexander, began building his empire, not through brutal conquest but rather through economic and political liberation.

Five years after he had taken over Gaul, Julius Caesar entered Italy, where Rome opened her gates and welcomed him as her new champion and leader. He made the stability of the Roman currency so attractive, the mildness of Roman taxation so alluring, the openness of world trade and commerce so desirable that his empire expanded by the force of demand. He treated the conquered nations with such secure leniency that even if they could have revolted, they didn’t.

The economy began to grow, trade began to flourish, and the Roman Empire was established. Julius Caesar perceived that individual initiative and creativity that was rewarded produced more individual initiative and more creativity, thus a more stable and wealthy empire. He also perceived that exorbitant taxation squelched individual initiative and creativity.

Each of those classic examples includes major global transformation taking place expressly at the intersection of culture and economics. Let’s take a closer look at the factors gathered at the curbside of that intersection of culture and economics.

Next Week: Components of production

            (Research Ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

 

© Dr. James W. Jackson  

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

www.drjameswjackson.com

 

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

SUPPOSIN': BRIDGE BACK

by Dr. James W. Jackson

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

Note: “Thank you” to everyone who took time to read and comment on the fourteen recent Supposin’ postings. I was encouraged by your responses to the positive approach of looking into the future. Just maybe, some of the material will make it to the final book edit and not just end up on the floor of the editing room. Our readership on the different digital sites continues to grow. This is a great time in history to be alive! JWJ

While we were in the midst of learning about Cultural Economics, I took the prerogative to amble on a bird walk through the subjects of scarcity, choice, and cost. Based on my years of observation, my hunch has been that by making the predisposition of scarcity and shortage our lodestar of life we end up with an attitudinal blood type of B Negative.

On our little walk, I was eager for us to discover that the birds of hope are everywhere, and we desperately need to listen to them sing. That goes equally for the new generation coming on as for the passing generation headed out. I agree with Mark Twain when he said, “There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.” On the other hand, there is nothing so refreshing and stabilizing as a maturing generation of optimists.

I admit, while I was writing about all the hope and excitement resulting from the exponential growth of knowledge and information and the astounding miracles of new technology, I did receive some comments accompanied by raised eyebrows: “Don’t you see the mess our country is in?”

I am reminded of what Walt Disney used to say while he was attempting to build his dream of Disneyland: “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” The simple answer is, “Yes, I understand that the world of ours is in a mess and that civility is very fragile.” Of my own volition I chose to spend time in over 150 countries of the world. I chose not to travel as a tourist, but travel to the political and cultural hotspots staying in villages, and so many times in personal homes in Africa, India, the old Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, China, northern Pakistan, and the rest.

I tried to closely observe the personal and tribal customs, the local conflicts, the historic traditions, the economic practices, and to ask lots of questions of not only the government leaders, but also of the common people. Many of them became my personal friends who would confide in me when I pushed for hard answers.

I spent a lot of time in Russia and the old Soviet Federation as it was unraveling militarily, politically, economically, and culturally. I was there when the citizens of Ukraine stormed the poorly guarded armories and took weapons for themselves for their own protection. I also was made aware that really no one was successfully overseeing the watch care of the Soviet strategic weapons or military institutions of defense.

I learned that practically any military items could be purchased with the correct amount of currency and the right contact. I have also discovered that no one knows where all those rockets, bombs, missiles, and warheads have ended up.

I am not naïve regarding the possibility of losing all the exponential knowledge and information we have so marvelously stored on our incomparable computer systems and in the clouds. Nor am I blind to the fact that within the next thirty seconds we all could be jolted back into the dark ages without access to electrical grid systems, food delivery systems, information systems, communication systems, healthcare, transportation, or government services. None has a free hall pass or an exemption certificate tucked away anywhere for this one.

The U.S. Congressional Electromagnetic Pulse Commission, the Congressional Strategic Posture Commission, and several additional governmental entities have established that a direct nuclear attack on the U.S. is not necessary to wreak untold havoc on our entire population. All that is necessary is to detonate one nuclear warhead high above any part of our country. It would not be mandatory to even aim it in our direction . . . just straight up.

As the warhead detonates, the powerful electromagnetic pulse would generate the gigantic catastrophe. The nuclear warhead would not necessarily have to kill anyone immediately, because it would not need to explode on the earth’s surface. The concept behind the plan reminds me of what I heard the Marxist groups in Africa explain as the refugees were being herded to the refugee camps: “you don’t need to kill them all, simply force the fish to the lake and then drain the lake.”

An Electromagnetic Pulse attack would simply render as useless anything that used an electronic circuit or chip. Everything from a simple car part, to a pacemaker for your heart, to the complicated infrastructure running world banking and financing systems, to all the necessities that it takes to serve 300 million Americans, would likely be knocked out.

Our nation’s extreme vulnerability in this area makes the U.S. a very tempting target for this kind of attack. It would only take a small terrorist group or rogue nation to successfully carry out such an attack. It is estimated that it would take fewer people to carry out such an endeavor than it did for the hellish 9-11 mission. An innocent ship at sea carrying a forty-foot cargo container on the top deck would peel back a false top and become a one-time launch pad to send a small ICBM missile up with a stolen warhead to detonate somewhere between only thirty to three hundred miles above the earth. If the plan was to put the whole world back into the dark ages, it would take only four such innocent-looking ships strategically located at sea.

Mr. R. James Woolsey, former director of CIA is the chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Mr. Peter Vincent Pry is the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and served on the Congressional Electromagnetic Pulse commission. These men are so concerned about the devastating possibilities of such an attack that they finally went public with their concern in an article in Wall Street Journal in May, 2013. (1) (Recommended reading: One Second After, by William R. Forstchen, Ph.D., specializing in military history and history of technology)

The time that it would take to recover from a nuclear EMP attack has generally been estimated to be at least three years if the trauma were large enough to destroy large power grid transformers. Other estimates use twelve years for recovery time. With no money system intact, there would be a time of great economic failure. Whether this time of economic hardship is of short or long duration will depend upon the reaction of the people after the event. If the recovery period were long, civilization in the United States could reach a tipping point where recovery would become difficult or impossible.

In my opinion, the reason this destructive contrivance has not been utilized before now has to do with the character of our enemies. Those who would seek the demise of America want to not only capture the golden eggs of its wealthy civilization, but also inherit unscathed the goose that continually lays the golden eggs. If they are not careful, their greed could completely obliterate the goose in the process. And they know nothing as to how to create or restore the magic goose. They would rather wait and take it over from the inside and inherit the wealth-generating goose in good health.

Yet, another cast of rogues lusts not so much for the wealth of this nation, as for the introduction of a new era of world history, where with the timely aid of the EMP they could cripple America and allow for the marshaling of a major invasion of Israel and the grand and imminent ushering in of the 12th Imam, the Islamic messiah. I am certain that I have left out other viable options.

Yes, I understand that “this world of ours is in a mess, and that civility is very fragile.” I am aware that we extol and celebrate our history’s splendid periods of enlightenment, maybe not realizing that every enlightenment period has been preceded by an era of the dark ages. But where does that leave those of us who were born into this enigmatic era?

When the stakes are high and the matter of character of the players is in question, anything can happen. I have discovered that in times like this if you will feed your faith, your fears will starve to death. So, don’t let your fears choose your destiny by default. Get your own personal house and your valued relationships in order. Do what is possible, and then relax and get back to seeing how many other people you can help become better off. Seneca, the Greek philosopher observed, “Where fear is, happiness is not.” If my mind is focused on fear and angst, it is almost impossible to focus on my journey to fulfillment. I choose to keep on being happy!

With all that having been explored, I think it is time we get back to working on the exciting subject of Cultural Economics.

Next Week: Exploring Cultural Economics

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson's new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson  

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

www.drjameswjackson.com

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

SUPPOSIN' A LOOK AT PROGRESS Part 5

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 must admit, I am having an absolute hoot researching the prodigious discoveries and inventions that are taking place right before our eyes. The doom and gloom folks have almost blinded our vision from seeing this astounding progress in motion. We are not aware of what is happening, therefore, we are subtly being stripped of the joy and excitement of the remarkable adventure.

We have discussed how technology is breathlessly trying to keep up with the exponential growth of information and knowledge that now increases by the minute. Additionally, the progress is accompanied by affordability, because the price of the technology pieces keeps coming down through new concepts of mass production. Integrated circuits with super star chips that communicate by radio frequencies instead of electricity, smart phones that can perform from the palm of your hand what it took a building full of equipment to accomplish just months ago . . . all that, plus biofuels not dug from earth but harvested from the oil created by designer algae.

All things we have been discussing have everything to do with cultural economics. We are being able not only to observe the scientific breakthroughs— the effect of the exponential information and knowledge on our culture— but also, the behavior of the world citizens as the progress and adventures move forward. What an exciting time to be alive!

I hope you have been greatly encouraged through reviewing this litany of recent progress. There is presently so much going on that it is difficult to decide just what extraordinary examples should be included in our Supposin’series. It sometimes helps, however, to put things into proper perspective. But, before we finish our little detour, I feel that I must share with you two additional examples of recent progress.

Since my first hearing of the 3-D printer, I was hooked. “How in the world can they do that?” Carl Bass, Autodesk software’s creator, has successfully produced the latest generation of digital fabrication. In the past few years, while traveling through India and some countries of Asia, I marveled at the exquisite pieces of art produced with the precise aid of computer controlled lasers, cutters, and shapers. They were trimming away unwanted parts of the material, be it wood, steel, glass, jade, precious metals, ice, or coconut shells to create a breath-taking masterpiece of art.

The new generation of software, however, makes another aspect of fabrication available. Today, they don’t just whittle away what is not wanted; they also add to the project what is needed. The additive aspect of the manufacturing process includes the computer telling the printer to lay down successive layers of materials, such as steel, glass, plastic, or some new and unique composite into a precise computer designed shape.

Soon, the new 3-D printers will be as readily found in the shop, office, or home as the standard inkjet printers of today. When that happens, fabrication and manufacturing will change forever. Whenever something breaks you will be able to fabricate the spare part on your own 3-D printer. Either, you can design your replacement part or go to the internet and download the digital instructions to your own computer and it will instruct your 3-D printer to produce the desired product.

I am an antique car buff, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on my first 3-D printer. Can you imagine being able to simply make your own missing carburetor part or missing piece of trim with your computer and 3-D printer? You can let your creativity run wild. I suppose an astronaut could even remake a broken part of his spaceship while in mid- flight. And prototypes for yet-to-be-invented technologies will be made in a fraction of the time it now takes.

It is my understanding that the medical industry is not only presently designing and fabricating life-like prosthetic pieces with the 3-D printers, but also designing vital body organs for replacement parts. I recently watched a television presentation where they completed on their 3-D printer a complete human skull to be used as a replacement for a person’s crushed skull. Remarkable!

One unique function of the 3D printer is the ability to create new types of materials never before available by weaving and embedding unique substances into the fabrics to give them less weight but increased strength, flexibility, and resistance to outside elements.

I have saved my last example of astounding displays of progress to honor one of my childhood heroes, former president General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Atoms for Peace initiative of the 1950s. One of the most effective contemporary organizations dedicated to carrying out the Atoms for Peace dream is TerraPower. On TerraPower’s web page it speaks of one of the brightest minds in today’s world of exponential knowledge and information.

“Dr. Myhrvold shares the views of his peers at TerraPower that nuclear energy is the only proven generation source that can provide the large-scale, base load electricity needed to meet the world’s growing energy demands while combating global warming.”

Nathan Myhrvold and his Generation IV technologies are committed to offering carbon free energy to everyone in the world. Nuclear energy as an option of choice has never been stronger in preference than now. The energy industry is now seeing the error in our ways for having been led down a path away from the safe development of nuclear power. Forty years of continual bashing of the nuclear resource’s reputation and potential has also exponentially put us behind in the development of safe nuclear power. Hopefully, that bit of jaundiced manipulation has ended.

Nathan Myhrvold’s TerraPower teamed up with Bill and Melinda Gates and developed the Traveling Wave Reactor (TWR) that Myhrvold claims is the world’s most simplified passive fast breeder reactor. The TWR cannot melt down, has no moving parts, and can shut down its own reactors without human help or interference, The TWR does not require any nuclear enrichment operations, it requires absolutely no spent fuel handling, and requires no dangerous waste storage facilities.

The small scale nuclear reactor (SMR), about the size of a refrigerator, can be manufactured, assembled, and sealed at a safely controlled assembly plant. It is designed to run safely for fifty or more years, and then use its sealed case as its own safe burial casket. TerraPower and the Gates Foundation want to supply a build, bury, and forget, safe, and convenient power supply. This supply would not only be for cities and locales in America, but for the people in all the developing world who otherwise could never wait for dams, windmills, and electric distribution grids to be erected around the world to supply the energy needs.

The hotter burning Generation IV technologies make a whole lot of sense. It is possible to design the TWR’s small reactors to burn liquid fluoride thorium that is four times more available than uranium and does not produce any long- lived nuclear waste. Additionally, you could solve two problems at the same time, should you so desire. You could meet the fuel needs of the TWR, and at the same time, design it to burn up all the existing supply of old problematic spent fuel rods. “We could power the world for the next one thousand years just burning and disposing of the depleted uranium and spent fuel rods on today’s stockpiles.”

When the peddlers of doom, gloom, and fear are hawking their wares at the top of their lungs, it is prime time for the brave, forward- thinking, and creative folks to kick in and begin to articulate the message of hope, possibility, and abundance. Thanks, President Eisenhower for your dream to harness the power of the atom for peaceful purposes, I still like Ike.

And thanks to the thousands of brilliant inventers and scientist who are working hard to harness the mass of exponential knowledge and information now available to show us that things on this old world are not always as bad as we are led to believe. I cast my vote on the side of the exciting possibilities of the future.

Next Week: Bridge Back
 

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson  

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

www.drjameswjackson.com 

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