MORE EXCITING NEWS: Looking Forward to the New Book Better Off: How America Got Wealthy & You Can Too!

by Dr. James W. Jackson

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

We talked last time about why some countries are wealthy and some countries wallow in misery and poverty. On page 20 of the new Better Off book I use a couple of real-life examples.

A Tale of Two Countries

In the early 1980s, I embarked on one of my first international economic assignments in Zimbabwe, Africa. I was there at the invitation of prime minister Robert Mugabe—who later became president—and members of his cabinet. It didn’t take long to realize that Zimbabwe wasn’t the place for me. Civil war had not only claimed thousands of lives, but the government had also imposed a policy of forced redistribution of assets and property. However, I was there long enough to become well acquainted with the political and economic situation.

Formerly known as Rhodesia, the “bread basket of Africa,” Zimbabwe has a population of more than thirteen million people and boasts some of the richest farmland on the face of the earth. The country also has one of the finest railroad systems in all of Africa, as well as the world’s largest platinum reserves. In the past century, the Marange diamond fields were one of the greatest discoveries, but Zimbabwe is most famous for the great Zambezi River that flows over the majestic Victoria Falls.

Zimbabwe has everything imaginable to qualify it as one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But today it wallows in poverty. According to the Mundi index of gross domestic product (GDP), as of January 1, 2014, the per-capita earnings of the people of Zimbabwe amounted to just $600 per year. That’s $1.64 per day! Out of 228 countries, Zimbabwe ranks 227!1 Why?

Next, let’s consider a little spot on the globe called Hong Kong. More than seven million people inhabit this 400-plus-square-mile parcel of land bordering the South China Sea. Most residents emigrated to Hong Kong from Guangdong Province in China to escape conflict. In 1997, Great Britain returned Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, and it has remained under Chinese rule ever since.

Hong Kong possesses very little arable land and almost no natural resources, except for a shoreline sufficient for a port. As of 2013, the Hong Kong dollar was the thirteenth most traded currency in the world.2 The tiny administrative region has become one of the most important financial centers in the world, following New York and London,3 and is considered the epicenter for management, finance, Internet technology (IT), business consultation, and professional services.

Hong Kong has a well-developed transportation system and is lauded for the exquisite quality of life its residents enjoy. In fact, life expectancy in Hong Kong is one of the highest in the world—eighty years for men and eighty-five for women.4

Year after year, the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom has listed Hong Kong as the freest market economy in the world.5 The Mundi index of per-capita income ranks Hong Kong sixteenth in the world, with individual earnings at nearly $53,000 per year.6 That’s $145 per day, or approximately 90 percent more than the folks in Zimbabwe earn in a year.

Hong Kong doesn’t possess even a fraction of the natural and human resources available to Zimbabwe, and yet it’s one of the wealthiest regions on earth. Why?

The hunt for clues continues!

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

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www.jameswjackson.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

Only One Person

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

When I was thirty years old Anna Marie and I decided to give away all our accumulated wealth and start over. We decided to start listening to a different drummer and restructure our value system. I decided to “Give the Best of my life for the Rest of my life helping other people be better off.” That was the best business decision I ever made. That one decision set into motion unforeseeable consequences and an exhilarating adventure full of challenge and reward. That adventure took me to nearly every corner of this earth and taught me time and again, “To the world you may be only one person, but to one person you may be the world.”

One day my travels had taken me to Madras and Salem in the southern part of India. Project C.U.R.E. had promised to deliver donated medical goods to needy orphanages and medical clinics in the region. When I finished my agenda in India I traveled on to Singapore. My next venue was Hong Kong where I had meetings scheduled with a number of NGO leaders operating in mainland China. But in Hong Kong I had a most memorable meeting that absolutely had to do with neither governmental nor non-governmental agencies.

Upon arrival at the Hong Kong airport, I hailed a taxi and rode to the downtown Kowloon Hotel. Once settled into my room, I made my way to the dimly lighted restaurant and ordered dinner. Minutes later they seated a white-haired gentleman at the table next to me. He was trying to read the menu in the near darkness and he had forgotten his glasses. I knew exactly what he was going through. So, without saying a word, I took off my glasses, leaned across the chair and laid the glasses on his table. It caught him so by surprise; he stumbled all over himself thanking me for noticing his plight. He admitted that he was about to randomly point to something on the menu and hope for the best. We began to chat and when I had finished my dinner and was finishing my tea, he invited me over to his table.

My new friend lived in New Zea­land and was a successful businessman, coming to Asia often in his line of business. He had been buying and selling umbrellas for over twenty- seven years. He inquired about what I did, and I shared with him about Project C.U.R.E. He asked a million questions, and my answers kept getting more involved. He looked directly into my eyes and surmised, “You can’t do what you are doing without being a deeply religious man.” I told him that once I wasn't, but several years ago everything changed. That opened the flood gates of emotion for him.

He told me that just three weeks prior the diagnosis had been confirmed that he had can­cer . . . the same kind that had taken his mother within a span of 10 months after her diagnosis. They assured him that he would not have even the ten months to live. I went through two more cups of tea as I simply sat quietly and listened to him pour out his heart. He had it pretty well figured out what he was going to do with his business, but he painfully struggled as we discussed the effects his death would have on his wife and his grown children. “My wife begged me to not take this business trip to Hong Kong. But, I absolutely knew I had to travel from New Zealand to Hong Kong and check into the Kowloon Hotel. You reached over and loaned me your glasses . . . but you did more. You allowed me to use your vision and see through your eyes and discover hope and confidence and a future for my family.” 

I left the restaurant that night very humbled . . . just to think that God would bring one man from New Zealand and one man from Colorado all the way to Hong Kong in order to strike a match and kindle a flame of hope and encouragement in the heart of a needy traveler. “To the world you may be only one person, but to one person you may be the world.”

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