Here you can find everything related to the design, economics, science, technology, philosophy, and politics behind the movement towards the creation of a more sustainable, equitable and prosperous world. The motto here is ”Invent. Invest. Implement.” Why? Because I believe that solving seemingly intractable problems requires that we put our minds (Invent), our money (Invest) and hands (Implement) to work in the direction of our goals.
Don’t Forget the Green Collar Entrepreneurs
Written on 11/23 at 04:49 PM by Andy Posner
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I wrote this article for the Huffington Post. It can be seen in its original context here.
Van Jones and others have so successfully argued for green collar jobs--defined by Green for All as a job that does something for the planet, pays family wages and provides opportunities for upward mobility--that the term has become ubiquitous among politicians, environmentalists and social activists. This should come as no surprise, particularly in the current economic climate: after all, who can argue against creating more jobs for American families, jobs that also enhance our infrastructure, national security and environment? In fact, President-elect Obama recently announced a plan to create 2.5 million jobs over the next two years, and many of those will certainly be green collar.
But lost in all the talk of green collar jobs is the fact that there is a significant portion of the target population--low-income, people of color, the unemployed and underemployed--who want to be green collar entrepreneurs. For example, roughly 25% of the people that graduate from a green job training program in my hometown of Providence, Rhode Island want to start their own business. According to Mark Kravatz, who runs the program, the enthusiasm among these entrepreneurs is inspiring; they see how green can be good for them, their family and their community, and they want to get in on the game. So what’s the problem? Simply put, they have little to no options for accessing the capital they would need to make their idea a reality.
My 24th Birthday
Written on 11/16 at 10:41 PM by Andy Posner
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Poetry & Musings Blog
Last Friday, November 14th, I turned 24 years old. It’s hard to believe that another year has passed, another number tacked on to my age. This year my mom came out to visit from LA, and to celebrate we went out with a small group of friends--Mike, Adria, their daughter Siena, Michele, Nora, Marie-Laure and Mark--to an all vegetarian restaurant called the Garden Grille. The food and company were great, and though the festivities were far less ostentatious than last year, the occasion was nonetheless enjoyable. My mom only stayed from Thursday night to Sunday morning, and the time went by fast. Unlike last year (when the temperature was in the 30s) it was surprisingly warm, although rain and fog limited the amount of time we spent outside. More photos after the fold.
Something Profound is Transpiring
Written on 11/05 at 01:10 PM by Andy Posner
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Last night, as I watched the election results come in and it became clear that not only was Barack Obama going to win but that he was going to win handily, I couldn’t help but feel as though something profound was transpiring. For the last 8 years whenever I have craved the inspiration of historical moments and rhetorical flourishes, I have had to find succor in the speeches of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and the other great orators and leaders that have inspired not only Americans but also the World.
But when Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver, and said the kind of things in his speech that one dreams of hearing politicians say, I knew that something profound was transpiring. Still, I, like so many in this country, was afraid that Obama would not win. In the final stretches of the campaign he had every nasty tactic in the book thrown at him--accusations of socialism, of “palling around with terrorists”, of being “not like you and me,” etc. So when 11:00 PM rolled around last night and Obama’s electoral votes were well over 300, all I could do was blink away tears and wait for this new breed of leader to come and give his acceptance speech.
Joe Hill vs. Joe the Plumber
Written on 10/20 at 11:42 AM by Andy Posner
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In last week’s third and final presidential debate, John McCain spent a considerable amount of time talking about “Joe the Plumber.” Joe is a guy that met Obama on the campaign trail, and who confronted him about the fact that his tax policy would “penalize” him if he were to buy the business he works for and see a dramatic rise in his income, because Obama’s tax plan calls for tax cuts for people that earn below $250,000, and tax increases for those that earn more. Now the amazing thing is that, for a lot of people, Joe’s complaint rings true even though they will most likely never earn more than a quarter million dollars a year. As I starting thinking about this bizarre dynamic, it occurred to me that we’ve heard from a lot of Joes during this campaign: Joe six-pack, Joe the Plumber and Joe Biden. But there’s another Joe we haven’t heard about--most likely because he died over a century ago--but whose story, immortalized in folk songs, has a lot to say about the state of the country and its potential for greatness.
A lot of you will have heard of Joe HIll because Joan Baez often sang, and probably still does sing, about his life. To put it briefly, Joe Hill was a songwriter, labor activist and union member, who was framed for murder and then executed by firing squad in November of 1915. In the version of the song about his life that Joan Baez sings, the lyrics go as follows:
A Great Speech Confronting Racism Against Obama
Written on 10/14 at 12:05 PM by Andy Posner
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Here is a speech by Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO. It’s just a moving, simple, short, powerful speech. I highly recommend watching it. Things are happening in this country. Obama’s ascendency is forcing our country to confront itself.
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A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States?
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Tonight, the Oneness of Things
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My Challenge to America: Don’t Ignore Gore’s Speech
I wrote this article for the Huffington Post. The article can be seen in its original context here
Last Thursday Al Gore gave a speech, the full text of which can be read…