re: the davos question

this evening, after work, i was trolling around youtube and i came across a curious number of featured links to a subject entitled “the davos question”.  the davos question refers to a challenged issued by the world economic forum to answer the question, “What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?”  now, asking this question is a little like asking “what one thing would you do that would solve all the world’s problems and fulfil all of your wildest dreams and desires” – it’s an impossible challenge that has no reasonable answer that could possibly be satisfactory.  however, it does challenge one to think of the possible responses, and the myriad range of answers could all eventually go to a combined policy that could result in some real and effective change in the world.

being the megalomaniacal ego that i am, i spent the rest of the evening pondering the question, “if i were the supreme ruler of the planet, what changes would i make to the way things currently are, to try and fix the problems that i see out of my window, while maximizing freedoms and potential for development for all the nations of the world.”  not the original question, i realize, but a way of addressing the challenge that makes sense to me (and a way out of having to choose just ONE thing to get the world back on track).  here’s what i’ve come up with:

• make oil companies not municipalities responsible for infrastructure maintenance costs:  in toronto over the weekend, we had a hundred cars involved in multiple crashes due to inadequately managed infrastructure.  to prevent loss of property and life, someone has to ensure that these systems are maintained and upgraded.  it seems to me that the oil companies, more than anyone else, prosper in direct proportion to the number of vehicles on the road, and therefore, it should be their fiscal responsibility, to ensure that those thoroughfares are safe and well-maintained;
  
• cap personal net worths at $100 million: this will never fly in a million years.  but it seems to me that about $100 million should be enough money to satisfy the most ambitious of entrepreneurs, and anything else should be gravy that can be redistributed to those on the planet who are still in need;
  
• allow the trading of stocks and commodities to happen monthly rather than daily: our global economy is volatile only because it is so highly speculative and reactionary.  can you imagine what would happen if companies and industries could plan their development and act on foreseeable impacts rather than worrying on a day-to-day basis how every single decision would impact the next day’s trading volumes and prices?  again – this will never happen, but i think it’s a fantastic idea;
  
• ban motorized personal conveyances: this one pretty much speaks for itself.  i long for a day when the only motorized vehicles i see on the roads are public transportation and emergency vehicles;
  
• license children/parenting: a fundamental human right – the choice to have offspring.  but with the population of the planet escalating out of control, with modern medicine keeping everything with a pulse unnaturally animated, one has to ask how the planet can sustain a perpetually doubling population;
  
• mandate materials reclamations centres in industrialized centres:   i would love it if all the scrap heaps and junkyards of the world could be converted into useable, available sources of raw materials for future use.  or for star destroyers.  we will totally need star destroyers once the colonization of space begins in earnest;
  
• convert municipal infrastructure amenities (eg. steeetlights, traffic signals) to solar power: the skies of every urban centre that i’ve ever been to are star-less due to the profusion of streetlights and lamps that turn night into day.  we have the technology to relieve that drain of energy from our consumption of non-renewable energy sources.  let’s just do it;
  
• invest in research for alternate forms of combustible fuels (eg.  methane, ethane): natural gas is a great way to cook and heat.  it can be manufactured, collected and stored and employing it has a positive impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases.  we need to get on this, so that i can get a wok and stir-fry more effectively than i can with an electrical stove-top element;
  
• provide tax incentives for personal expenditures in renewable energy including solar, wind and geothermal energy: if you must live on an acreage and have all that available land and sky, you should at very least be self-sufficient now that technologies exist for you to do so.  i will come and hook you up myself, for a modest fee;
  
• invest in solar or fuel cell technology on a home-sized scale: if these can be used to drive a car, then they should be good to run a house;
  
• mandate minimum area living spaces in condominium dwellings; these urban structures can be efficient and viable solutions to pressures to urbanize, but they must be humane alternatives to urban sprawl
  
• tax deleterious products that are non-renewable: we already do this, but the levies on such products could help to offset the costs of starting up many of these other initiatives.

i’ve supplied all of these suggestions from the hip and with virtually no deeper research than my university training and a few google searches.  i wonder what smarter, more educated, more insightful people than i have come up with?  i guess we’ll find out shortly when the WEF releases its responses to the davos challenge.

- g

song of the day for ruling the world: everybody wants to rule the world, tears for fears