Imagine a very small island out in the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific. Imagine it being a very poor island with little to no industry and having been ravaged by previous settlers leaving the native inhabitants of the island nothing to show for it. Imagine the smallest town you can think of with one post office, one church, a small police station and one small school house. Now, imagine each of the above are in severe disrepair. You've imagined Banaba Island, part of the Republic of Kiribati.
Go ahead and look it up on Wikipedia or Google Earth. The island is only about 2 miles across and located 180 miles from the next closest island and almost 1,000 miles from any semblance of real civilization. The island was ravaged by almost 80 years of phosphate mining and has no real industry of which to speak. There are around 300 inhabitants of Banaba Island with the population decreasing slightly in the last decade. Let me be perfectly clear, this island has NOTHING.
So now imagine you are a billionaire. You are looking to spend money but not in the usual way. You are not into yachts or houses in the Hamptons or gold plated toilets. You want to do something creative, newsworthy and bizarrely educational. What better way to blow your dough than to invest in Banaba Island. Here's my crazy plan.
Much like the storyline in the book Pygmalion, later modernized in the movie My Fair Lady, it would be fascinating to see what would happen if you took a group of people who have nothing and suddenly give them everything. Would they adopt the change? Would they reject the assistance? Would they turn into couch potatoes and act like many American males living in their parents' basement? The possibilities are endless.
I would essentially give them everything they would need and which would be found in a modern, upper-class suburb. Everyone would have a spacious, comfortable home with full heating and air conditioning, excellent plumbing, insulation, and nice interiors. Every one's home would be the same so as not to differentiate between families or individuals. I would also upgrade all of the town's amenities. There would be a new post office, new community center, new church, new schoolhouse and a new medical center. I would also pave new roads between all key areas of the island, build a few large parks for recreation and construct recreational areas along the water's edge. There would also be a market where food, supplies and items for entertainment would be sold.
How would Banaba Island's residents earn the money to buy supplies and food? Everyone would be given a communications type job. It could be a telemarketing job or Internet monitoring. Everyone would do similar work and be paid a similar wage. This would ensure that all inhabitants would be just as well off financially as their neighbors. There could be no financial jealousy. This would all be facilitated by a modern communications center. All inhabitants would have access to full Internet, a wide variety of television and radio programs, and news from many different sources as well as full telephone access. Essentially they would be given all of the things a modern, middle-class American person would have access to.
This would all be supported by a fully trained staff. There would be top notch professionals in all fields to facilitate the needs of the islanders. There would be a doctor and support staff, a school teacher, trained security, hospitality workers for the community center, postal staff, communications staff and maintenance crew. These folks would likely have to be paid very well and do set stints on the island, 6 months at a time at close to 200% the going rate to account for the many months of isolation.
With all of that in place the real interesting drama unfolds. What becomes of the island inhabitants? One scenario is that they adopt a very modern lifestyle and with the high quality education and services they receive send kids out in the world to be professionals and make it in the wide world. Some might come back, have kids of their own and perpetuate the cycle and Banaba Island could become a bastion of greatness in the South Pacific. Another scenario is that they enjoy the modern lifestyle but do not appreciate it because it was handed to them. They let their houses fall into disrepair, the kids do not make the most of their education, staff is unappreciated and they fail to work hard to earn their living. Would a sense of entitlement set in so that they think they should continue to receive the best of modern life without putting any effort into work or maintaining the island?
I do not know enough about the people of Banaba Island to predict what the end result was. It sure would be fascinating to find out. You could even do a Truman Show like production to chronicle the lives and progress of those on the island. Typically, human nature shows itself to treat poorly what was not hard earned. It is the reason that people who win the lottery or athletes who make money from their physical gifts tend to spend money wastefully and end up broke when the money could last for generations. Those who make money by working hard and innovating tend to make the money last and spend it wisely. Perhaps that is why, as a freshly minted billionaire, I am spending my money in this fashion. Either result would be fascinating and could go a long way toward understanding true human nature.
Go ahead and look it up on Wikipedia or Google Earth. The island is only about 2 miles across and located 180 miles from the next closest island and almost 1,000 miles from any semblance of real civilization. The island was ravaged by almost 80 years of phosphate mining and has no real industry of which to speak. There are around 300 inhabitants of Banaba Island with the population decreasing slightly in the last decade. Let me be perfectly clear, this island has NOTHING.
So now imagine you are a billionaire. You are looking to spend money but not in the usual way. You are not into yachts or houses in the Hamptons or gold plated toilets. You want to do something creative, newsworthy and bizarrely educational. What better way to blow your dough than to invest in Banaba Island. Here's my crazy plan.
Much like the storyline in the book Pygmalion, later modernized in the movie My Fair Lady, it would be fascinating to see what would happen if you took a group of people who have nothing and suddenly give them everything. Would they adopt the change? Would they reject the assistance? Would they turn into couch potatoes and act like many American males living in their parents' basement? The possibilities are endless.
I would essentially give them everything they would need and which would be found in a modern, upper-class suburb. Everyone would have a spacious, comfortable home with full heating and air conditioning, excellent plumbing, insulation, and nice interiors. Every one's home would be the same so as not to differentiate between families or individuals. I would also upgrade all of the town's amenities. There would be a new post office, new community center, new church, new schoolhouse and a new medical center. I would also pave new roads between all key areas of the island, build a few large parks for recreation and construct recreational areas along the water's edge. There would also be a market where food, supplies and items for entertainment would be sold.
How would Banaba Island's residents earn the money to buy supplies and food? Everyone would be given a communications type job. It could be a telemarketing job or Internet monitoring. Everyone would do similar work and be paid a similar wage. This would ensure that all inhabitants would be just as well off financially as their neighbors. There could be no financial jealousy. This would all be facilitated by a modern communications center. All inhabitants would have access to full Internet, a wide variety of television and radio programs, and news from many different sources as well as full telephone access. Essentially they would be given all of the things a modern, middle-class American person would have access to.
This would all be supported by a fully trained staff. There would be top notch professionals in all fields to facilitate the needs of the islanders. There would be a doctor and support staff, a school teacher, trained security, hospitality workers for the community center, postal staff, communications staff and maintenance crew. These folks would likely have to be paid very well and do set stints on the island, 6 months at a time at close to 200% the going rate to account for the many months of isolation.
With all of that in place the real interesting drama unfolds. What becomes of the island inhabitants? One scenario is that they adopt a very modern lifestyle and with the high quality education and services they receive send kids out in the world to be professionals and make it in the wide world. Some might come back, have kids of their own and perpetuate the cycle and Banaba Island could become a bastion of greatness in the South Pacific. Another scenario is that they enjoy the modern lifestyle but do not appreciate it because it was handed to them. They let their houses fall into disrepair, the kids do not make the most of their education, staff is unappreciated and they fail to work hard to earn their living. Would a sense of entitlement set in so that they think they should continue to receive the best of modern life without putting any effort into work or maintaining the island?
I do not know enough about the people of Banaba Island to predict what the end result was. It sure would be fascinating to find out. You could even do a Truman Show like production to chronicle the lives and progress of those on the island. Typically, human nature shows itself to treat poorly what was not hard earned. It is the reason that people who win the lottery or athletes who make money from their physical gifts tend to spend money wastefully and end up broke when the money could last for generations. Those who make money by working hard and innovating tend to make the money last and spend it wisely. Perhaps that is why, as a freshly minted billionaire, I am spending my money in this fashion. Either result would be fascinating and could go a long way toward understanding true human nature.
Hai Majide
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment