Go Lean Commentary
Face the truth, the “little one” is often invisible and ignored …
… but a Bible prophecy gives hope that the small inconsequential one can someday become significant and actually have a voice that is heard by the “powers that be”. Here is that prophecy from the Bible, from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament); it is a great inspiration:
A little one shall become a thousand, And a small one a strong nation.- Isaiah 60:22 New King James Version
Here is another great directive from The Bible – this time from the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament), from Act 8:6:
And the people with one accord G3661 gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
“One Accord”, in this case, does not refer to the vehicle from the Japanese Auto Company Honda …
… rather, it refers to the Art & Science of speaking in unison. This harmonizes with the source Greek word that is used in the above scripture: Homothumadon, which means “with one mind, with one accord, with one passion”.
This is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) of the planners for a new Caribbean. This was enunciated in the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean as a necessary engagement for the 30 member-states of the Caribbean region. Now more than ever, we – all 42 million people in the region – need to speak with one accord, one voice and one passion.
The average population for these territories is not the arithmetic formula of 1.4 million people or (42,198,874 divided by 30). No, the truth is, there are 4 Big Islands, the Greater Antilles of Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti & Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico and Jamaica that have the majority of the population (11.2, 9.0 + 9.5, 4.0 and 2.8 million respectively). While the remaining 26 member-states only total 10 million people; some member-states (15) are so small that they only have 100,000 people or less. (All these figures are as of 2010 and published in the Go Lean book, Page 66).
So the small one can become a strong nation by speaking in unison, with One Voice One Accord.
This is entry 4-of-6 for the March 2020 monthly series from the movement behind the Go Lean book. This submission asserts that there is the need to reform the Foreign Policy of the Caribbean member-states, and further that the voices emanating from 30 different member-states now only sounds like noise. What we need instead is one melodious sound. This is why it is important for the region to speak with One Voice One Accord.
How is this possible, considering that there are 4 different languages and 5 different colonial legacies? The answer is heavy-lifting; but alas, we have the sample-example of a successful execution by the European Union with 28 countries and 15 languages. See how the Go Lean book related this:
| The Bottom Line on EU Foreign & Security Policy The European Union (EU) has its own foreign and security policy, which has developed gradually over many years and which enables it to speak – and act – as one in world affairs. Acting together the 28 member countries have greater weight and influence than if they act individually, following 28 different policies. The EU’s common foreign and security policy has been further strengthened by the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which created the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. At the same time, it created a European Diplomatic Service – the European External Action Service (EEAS). |
How about a Caribbean Diplomatic Service? Yes, we can.
Where as the Europeans developed their unified voice “gradually over many years”, our Caribbean must have our unified voice immediately. We must not settle for the luxury of “gradually over many years”. No, we have an urgent-emergent situation transpiring in the region where we need to be One Voice One Accord now. This urgency-emergency relates to the Coronavirus that is rocking our region and the whole world. See this chart of Coronavirus incidences in the region:
Title – Coronavirus cases in the Caribbean as of March 21 at 1 pm
Confirmed Caribbean coronavirus cases as of today, March 21:
Source: Retrieved March 23, 2020 from: http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com/content/coronavirus-cases-caribbean-date-11
China, South Korea, Iran, Italy have individually engaged in unifying their voice for consistent leadership in this Coronavirus battle. Now, we have many Caribbean nations that have been afflicted – people have died – but we need the rest of the world to respect our policies and decision-making. There need not be any guessing as to whether Caribbean nations are open or closed. We need the full region to “shelter-in-place” everywhere and close our borders. We need to allow this crisis to pass, with minimal contagions, so that we can quickly re-open to a disease free environment.
Remember, the Cruise ships in our waters as well.
There is much for us to learn by studying the success and failure of other peoples. Right now today, there is a lesson for us to contemplate from the American metropolitan area of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, where the population is 7,690,420 (according to the U.S. Census Bureau‘s 2018 population estimates,[4]) across a 13-county region. The 10 urban-suburban counties, despite having their own economic, security and governing engines, now need One Voice One Accord, in their management of the Coronavirus crisis; see this news article here:
Title: Dallas County judge to Collin County: Keep people at home
Sub-title: Clay Jenkins’ admonition comes on a day when North Texas tallies 100 more coronavirus cases. Dallas County had a seventh death, and Denton County recorded its first fatality.
On a day when more than 100 coronavirus cases were reported in North Texas, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins gave a blunt message Thursday night to counties that haven’t enacted shelter-in-place orders, singling out Collin County, which has told residents to stay home but told businesses to stay open.
“We need those in our region who have not moved to heed the scientific advice to do it now,” Jenkins said. “Every day we wait costs lives.”
Dallas County was the first in the state to announce a shelter-in-place order, which went into effect Monday night.
Jenkins said he and his counterparts in the 10-county area took part in a call Thursday with Jim Hinton, the chief executive of Baylor Scott & White Health System. Collin County was the only county that didn’t participate, he said.
Hinton told the county judges that “the only way we can keep people safe and not overrun our hospitals is [to] shelter in place,” Jenkins said at a news conference Thursday evening.
…
Jenkins said he’s taking on the issue of regional cooperation more bluntly “because every day gets us closer to that day when we don’t have enough hospital beds.”
“I don’t want us to get there,” he said.
Asked about the call with the hospital executive, Hill said it was accurate that he didn’t participate but that he had participated in two other calls with county judges Thursday that Jenkins didn’t take part in.
“We need regional cooperation right now in North Texas,” Hill said. “And I urge Judge Clay Jenkins to reconsider his position.”
…
See the full news article here: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2020/03/26/dallas-county-reports-56-new-coronavirus-cases-7th-death/ retrieved March 26, 2020.
This commentary details the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for the Caribbean, that of having a unified voice on the world scene. This is only possible if we were a unified Single Market; then we will have the size – 42 million people – and leverage the whole region as a single entity; this is much better than any one small member-state “making noise alone”. There is an actual advocacy for this purpose in the Go Lean book; see here some of the specific plans, excerpts and headlines from Page 102, entitled:
10 Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up
| 1 | Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market Confederation Treaty: Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) The CU is modeled after the EU and will allow for the unification of the Caribbean region into one market of 42 million people across 30 member-states, thereby creating an economic zone to promote and protect the interest of the participant trading partners. The CU’s Office of Trade Negotiation currently liaisons with foreign entities to secure better trade deals for the region; under the CU the first goal is to secure the Exclusive Economic Zone status, from the United Nations, for the territory between the islands. In addition, the CU treaty will allow for a collective security agreement of the Caribbean nations so as to ensure homeland security and negotiate better foreign relations with neighboring powers. |
| 2 | Speaking with one voice Acting together as the CU, the 30 member countries will have far greater weight and influence than if they act individually, following 30 different policies. The CU, in speaking for 42 million people, brings huge cost savings to the member-states by providing economies-of-scale for representative personnel and offices in foreign countries. The CU will not only perform diplomatic services, but economic ones as well. There is the need for collective bargaining with the Cruise Line industry. Then extending beyond the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), the CU will function as a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) to garner savings for the member-states; and also create a revenue stream for the CU. |
| 3 | CU Security Pact |
| 4 | US Relationship The CU’s biggest neighbor is the United States, plus two member-states are US Territories. Plus, many of the Caribbean Diaspora live in the US. Therefore any serious foreign policy initiative must start with Washington, DC. The CU will staff an office in Washington to act as its legislative liaison (lobbyist) arm. The US also grants foreign aid to many CU member-states. The goal is to aggregate and streamline US aid to the region through the CU. |
| 5 | US Immigration Policy and ICE Policy-wise, the CU advocates repatriation and “drying up the brain drain”. But there are factions in the US that want to liberalize immigration and allow more foreigners to relocate to the US. On the other hand, there are factions that want to tighten US policy and secure the borders. The US agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) do exert some efforts to patrol the Caribbean region, as many illegal immigrants to the US use Caribbean pathways. The CU will advocate for more collaboration and intelligence sharing with ICE and embed CU personnel in tactical engagements. |
| 6 | Canada Relationship |
| 7 | EU Relationship |
| 8 | Mexico Relationship |
| 9 | South American Relationship |
| 10 | Intelligence Gathering and Analysis |
This quest for One Voice One Accord for the 30 Caribbean member-states is one of our Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG). The full catalog of the series for this month – under the BHAG theme – is listed as follows:
- BHAG – The Audacity of Hope – Yes, we can!
- BHAG – Regional Currency – In God We Trust
- BHAG – Infrastructure Spending … finally funding Toll Roads
- BHAG – One Voice – Foreign Policy and Diplomatic stance
- BHAG – Outreach to the World – Why Not a Profit Center
- BHAG – Netflix, Hulu, CBS, Peacock ==> Caribbean Media
The subject of One Voice One Accord is familiar for this movement behind the Go Lean book. In addition to the direct references in the 2013 book, there have a number of previous Go Lean commentaries that elaborated on this theme; consider this sample list here:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=18243 | After Hurricane Dorian, “Regionalism” new appreciation |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17250 | Way Forward – Caribbean ‘Single Market’ for Voice & Media |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15858 | Network Mandates – One Voice – for a New Caribbean |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15521 | A Plan for Caribbean Unity – Finally for Tourism |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15245 | Righting a Wrong: Re-thinking CSME |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14718 | ‘At the Table’ or ‘On the Menu’ |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090 | Introduction to Europe – All Grown Up and Unified |
The goal of this Go Lean roadmap is to reform and transform the 30 member-states of the Caribbean, individually and collectively as One Single Market – One Voice One Accord. This is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, but this is conceivable, believable and achievable.
The Coronavirus crisis is not the first challenge to the global, regional, national or local well-being. We guarantee you that this will not be the last; we must simply be prepared or On Guard for any threats to our society. This is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap; this CU effort may be our best solution for protecting and promoting our society. We therefore urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this roadmap. The CU Trade Federation is not the first attempt to unify the Caribbean region for a regional Public Health stance; no, there is CariCom and their related agencies; see the Appendix VIDEO below. The Go Lean movement have always maintained that CariCom is inadequate for Caribbean integration; it does not even include Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Island, the French or Dutch Caribbean territories. In fact, CariCom only includes 15 million of the 42 million in the region; this is truly inadequate, so we recognize it only as a First Step for regional integration.
The Go Lean roadmap for the CU Trade Federation and all its embedded agencies is better … and timely for what we need right now and for the future.
Despite the challenges to our status quo, due to this COVID-19 Coronavirus crisis, this 2013 published plan is the Way Forward for Caribbean society. This is how we will make our homeland a better place to live, work, heal and play. 🙂
About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:
- Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
- Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
- Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.
The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.
Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!
Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):
ix. Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for health plans to consolidate premiums of both healthy and sickly people across the wider base of the entire Caribbean population. The mitigation should extend further to disease management, wellness, mental health, obesity and smoking cessation programs. The Federation must proactively anticipate the demand and supply of organ transplantation as developing countries are often exploited by richer neighbors for illicit organ trade.
xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.
xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accidence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.
Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.
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Appendix VIDEO – CARICOM One on One – Interview with CARPHA’s Dr James Hospedales – https://youtu.be/865DWo7OKp0
Dr James Hospedales of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) speaks with the CARICOM Secretariat’s Jascene Dunkley-Malcolm on Measles and Immunization
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