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No solution is so effective as providing income to the poor. Whether in the form of food, housing, health services, education or money, income is an excellent antidote for deprivation. No truth has spawned so much ingenious evasion.

John Kenneth Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty, 1977

The philosophy of this Foundation is, in essence, very simple. Safe and secure employment as a direct solution to poverty, famine and disease.

So where does safe and secure employment come from? How do we help foster an environment where meaningful and secure jobs can be created?

Trade alone doesn't do it - the production of things to be traded does though.

Agriculture alone doesn't do it - An agricultural economy alone is no more than a subsistence-oriented production. Any transformation to a highly efficient large scale mechanized agricultural production, merely reduces employment opportunities for most and creates an island economy where a few benefit at the expense of the many.

An agro-industrial economy where post processing adds value steps starts to create work - however that requires an industrial base if it is also to avoid becoming an island economy. The industrial base being the key to safe and secure employment for the most.

The source of the employment and prosperity seen today in developed economies is not a secret - it is the sum of technological capabilities that have been invented and developed since the start of the industrial revolution. This store of knowledge is no one’s private property - most of it is accessible to anyone who can read. The rest is accessible to anyone who can achieve an appropriate degree of skill and understanding.

That statement could be seen as a simple truth or a wonderful oversimplification of the reality - depending very much on the understanding of the person judging it. Curiously the reaction is very much generational - with the older members who were part of the technological revolution which created the "tech" world we live in now seeing it as a simple truth - and the younger members now involved in modern industry seeing it as an oversimplification. The older guys counter with the observation the younger guys have become too specialized to see the big picture - while the younger guys point out they have had to simply to deal with the way all has developed and the resulting diversity and sophistication of process etc.

Trying to be impartial, one could make several observations to conclude they are both right - and perhaps use those observations to find a balanced path to an achievable industrial development able to provide needed goods, a sustainable trade balance and providing a significant level of employment. read more