It's About Changing the System

“Broadcaster Ray Suarez expressed it eloquently when he said, ‘Nobody ever comes out and says they are in favor of starving children, or inadequate sanitation, or war and conflict. And yet they persist. So how is it that if no one is for these things, and everyone is against them, these problems continue?’”

I have to remind myself that many of the issues that exist within the world are systemic with stubborn persistence.  Tying back to the introductory post in this series, the hunger for solutions must be just as persistent, without undermining the complexity of the original issue.

Many societal problems are multi-dimensional, often requiring attention to multiple aspects. For example, providing clean water to rural communities in third world countries is simply a result of a combination of a lack of resources, education, collaboration, or even simply vision.  In another example, corruption within governments persists due to the nature of political competitions and campaigns, economic requirements from foreign partners, and a strained dependency on essential needs for the general populace. This complexity must be acknowledged to impart sustainability.

Due to its complexity, systemic change is also difficult to measure in numbers.  Therefore, it can be more effective to measure in stories.

Prove that clean water enables children to go to school. 

Prove that giving a businesswoman a small loan enables her son to train to become a local doctor.

Systems are complex, but the persistence in recognizing these complexities is continuing to provide progress.

Also, despite the complexity, God somehow knows and understands how all our lives are intertwined within each other and also knows the ways in which we interact with His world.  Therefore, we should bring our sufferings before him in prayer and allow Him to partner with us in fixing these systems. With the greatest Systems Engineer on our side, we should have full confidence in redemption.

This is post #1 of 10 in reaction to ideas posted on fastcoexist.com through Mark Cheng from Ashoka, an organization that provides venture capital to social entrepreneurs around the world. His ideas originate from his attendance at the Skoll World Forum in April 2013.