20201106: World We Imagine Part 1
Hmmm, the directions for the first part of the assignment state that we're supposed to think like a "global citizen" and brainstorm some ways we can contribute to the improvement of our world. I think I'll try and apply a stream-of-consciousness approach to the blog post. Hopefully, it's easier than Joyce to understand!
Allow me to start by listing some concepts that I care about:
- social equity
- fairness
- truth
- environmental sustainability
- financial freedom
- financial education
- microfinance
- global citizenship
- ...and the spread of these ideals to the greatest number of people possible
I pick "financial education". Having a better educated and financially stable population in the United States might prevent us from electing a demagogue again. If a large enough number of people can learn the importance of building and sticking to a budget, making regular savings/investment deposits, avoiding credit card use, etc., maybe they won't be so easily fooled by economic lies.
There are already some resources for the under-served segment of the population that I mean to help. The reason why these earlier initiatives have failed are two-fold. First, the public is "targeted" by advertisers. We are constantly barraged by images of consumerism and la dolce vita. Instant gratification is worth sacrificing future financial stability is the lesson we are constantly getting. Self-control and sacrifice have their place, but there are psychological and chemical factors that factor into the impulse purchase.
Second, the realities of contemporary life make saving money difficult. It's expensive to live in an American city. Rural America is better, but the opportunities to make more money are also more limited. It is difficult to think about saving 10% of each paycheck, if you're living paycheck to paycheck. I'm not sure I can do anything about inflation and production costs, but maybe...
How do I make learning about money more fun/interesting? How do you reach people? I think The Blue Sweater offers some insight here. Jacqueline ran into this sort of problem in Rwanda when she worked with the charity bakery. Saleswomen were stealing. They were taking extra product, not reporting how much they took, and pocketing the sales. While it took her months, Jacqueline stopped the theft by 1) instituting stronger inventory controls and 2) getting employee buy-in.
How do I convince people it's in their own best interest to save money long-term? What I'm really talking about is a change in thinking, a different perspective. This kind of shift takes time and it must be done in increments. I think the S.M.A.R.T. goals template might be useful here.
Along side the financial education, my process will include incremental goal-setting. How best to package my education? People respond best to examples of people like themselves succeeding in the given task. Hmmm, I'm going to have to think more about this one.
Hi Dennis,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great read, and it is so evident why both of us were placed in the same group. I really like how you listed out all of the concepts that you value while ultimately narrow down to one- financial education. I believe promoting financial education will change the lifestyle of so many individuals. However, it is a hard task to accomplish, as you mentioned. I’m not sure if there is a dominant strategy in this case. I think a lot of people tend to be visual learners; Therefore, if you can keep that in mind while taking advantage of the social media platforms today by promoting effective money management through posts, blogs, or videos. I have no doubt that these lessons will reach a wide range of audiences and ultimately change the mindsets of many individuals.