Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
It does not take much to ascertain that there is something wrong in America – even a blind man can see it.
Everyone who pursues truth and justice can easily conclude:
We can do better!
The actuality is that Donald Trump is a failed experiment. This man lie, cheat and steal – past and present – yet he is perched on top of the American government structure and branded as the Leader of the Free World.
Not this one; not this time! This President lost his re-election bid on November 3, 2020 and has since pursued a “scorched earth” approach to damage the American democracy that rejected him. This January 6 insurrection – see Appendix B VIDEO below – was the product of a direct urging to “go down Pennsylvania Avenue and take back our country”.
People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Bible clearly shows that:
“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” – Luke 16:10 New Living Translation
Donald Trump “lied, cheated and stole” the little things entrusted to him over the years – businesses, education (as a student and as Trump University owner), marriages, foundations – we should not be surprised that he continues to do it now.
But this commentary is not about the failings of Donald Trump; it is about the failings of America. In a previous commentary – from November 14, 2020 – from the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean, this salient point was made:
Decision 2020 – It is what it is; ‘we are who we are’
The four (4) years of the Trump Administration was a “circus and he proved to be a clown”; there was one infraction after another. …
America has not changed! The 2020 Decision for the President of the United States (POTUS) has not led to any reformation or transformation – it is what it was. American has doubled-down on being America.This is a Cautionary Tale for Caribbean people, in the homeland and in the Diaspora. Many Caribbean people look to the US as a “city on the hill”, a role model for advanced democracies.
…
The election is over: Joe Biden defeated the incumbent Donald Trump at the November 3rd polling. He won, not by changing the hearts and minds of undecided people, but rather doubling-down on his base to get their electoral support; (Trump did likewise; this time with an even greater turnout than 2016, [5 million more votes]). The people in this country are still entrenched in their ideologies.
Surely, it is obvious here that the problem is the institutions of America, not just the individuals.
Surely, we can do better … here in the Caribbean homeland.
We presented this thesis before. It is only apropos to encore the thesis again … in this previous blog-commentary from June 30, 2015 with the title: “Better than America? Yes, we can!”. See that encore here-now:
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Go Lean Commentary – Better than America? Yes, we can!
Is America the “Greatest Country in the World”?
Perhaps this was arguable in the past? Today? Hardly … see VIDEO here; (excuse the profanity):
VIDEO: America, the Greatest? –
Published on Oct 21, 2012 – Jeff Daniels, who portrays news anchor Will McAvoy in the HBO Series “The Newsroom”, delivered a stunning, hard-hitting, accurate, and intelligent monologue/response when asked why America is the greatest country in the world. A sobering outlook on the state of the USA. (CAUTION ON THE ADULT LANGUAGE).
Even in the past when the “Greatest” label was arguable, it didn’t apply to everyone! America was the Greatest Country, maybe, if you were:
White, Anglo-Saxon, Rich, Male and Straight
But if you were any of the following, then God help you:
Black
Brown – Hispanic
Native American
Jewish
Catholic
Woman
Gay
Persons with Disabilities (Physical or Mental)
Slavic – Eastern European
Muslim
Communists
Atheist
Poor
Yes, building a multi-cultural society is not easy. The book Go Lean … Caribbean describes the challenge as heavy-lifting. America has failed at this challenge, hands-down. In previous blog- commentaries, many defects of American life were detailed, (including the propensity for Crony-Capitalism). See the list of defects here: Housing, education, job hunting, prisons, drug crime prosecutions, and racial profiling.
But despite this list and the reality of this subject, America tries …
This is an important consideration for the planners of Caribbean empowerment. The Caribbean, a region where unfortunately, we have NOT … tried.
The social science of Anthropology teaches that communities have two choices when confronted with endangering crises: fight or flight. The unfortunate reality is that we have chosen the option of flight; (we have no ethos for fighting for our homeland).
The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that no society can prosper with a high abandonment rate – reported at 70% for educated classes. The primary mission of the Go Lean book is to “battle” against the “push-and-pull” factors that draw so many of our Caribbean citizens away from their homelands to go to the US. While we cannot change/fix America, we can…
Lower the “push” factors!
The purpose of the Go Lean book is to fix the Caribbean, to be better than America. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to pursue the quest to elevate the Caribbean region through empowerments in economics, security and governance. It is the assertion that Caribbean citizens can stay home and effect change in their homelands more effectively than going to America to find the “Greatest Country in the World”. The book therefore asserts that the region can turn-around from failing assessments by applying best-practices, and forging new societal institutions to impact the Greater Good for all the Caribbean. This point was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these acknowledgements and statements:
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.
xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.
xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like … Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations… On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities like New York City, … Canada, the old American West and tenants of the US Constitution.
This is the quest of Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap, to reboot the region’s societal engines; employing best-practices and better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:
- 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 protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate challenges/threats to the region’s public safety.
- Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The Go Lean book stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:
| Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices | Page 21 |
| Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future | Page 21 |
| Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations | Page 24 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future | Page 26 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness | Page 36 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good | Page 37 |
| Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states/ 4 languages into a Single Market | Page 45 |
| Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines | Page 45 |
| Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy | Page 64 |
| Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion GDP | Page 68 |
| Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance | Page 71 |
| Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities | Page 96 |
| Planning – 10 Big Ideas – American Model: Kennedy’s Quest for the Moon | Page 127 |
| Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better | Page 131 |
| Planning – Lessons Learned New York City – Managing as a “Frienemy” | Page 137 |
| Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Turn-around from Failure | Page 140 |
| Planning – Lessons Learned from Indian Reservations – Pattern of Ethnic Oppression | Page 141 |
| Planning – Lessons Learned from the American West – How to Win the Peace | Page 142 |
| Planning – Lessons Learned from the US Constitution – America Tries – Each Generation Improves | Page 145 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy | Page 151 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs | Page 152 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance | Page 168 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract | Page 170 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice | Page 177 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security | Page 180 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage | Page 218 |
The threats of the repressive American past have not always been domestic; there have been times when American dysfunction have reached across borders, including Caribbean countries, and disrupted the peace and progress. This is an important lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering the history of “American Greatness”; the following previous blog/commentaries apply:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5506 | Edward Snowden Case Study: One Person Making a Difference |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4166 | A Lesson in History: Panamanian Balboa |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789 | A Lesson in History: America’s War on the Caribbean |
The Go Lean roadmap seeks to empower and elevate Caribbean societal engines to make us better than the American eco-system. Tall order?
Yes, we can!
According to the foregoing VIDEO (and Appendix [A VIDEO] below), other communities have done it. Consider Europe, all grown up now.
We can apply these models and lessons from these societies to obtain success. This vision is conceivable, believable and achievable!
Yes we can … make the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!
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Appendix A VIDEO – Comedic Commentary – Bill Maher: America Isn’t #1 – https://youtu.be/T8UqdPKbpWM
Uploaded on Jul 11, 2009 – Bill Maher rants on America letting people know we need to reclaim that title and to quit replying on old adages.
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Appendix B VIDEO – Katy Tur Breaks Down the Breach of the U.S. Capitol – https://youtu.be/AZsP4C2RRPo
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Posted January 7, 2021 – Katy Tur breaks down the events that unfolded during the official count of electoral votes, shares why Trump’s statement on the situation did more harm than good and explains why debunking conspiracy theories is a lost cause.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Stream now on Peacock: https://bit.ly/3gZJaNy
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