Gen Y, you should be proud of yourself. You have become champions of Spreading the Wealth even though you might be entirely unaware you are doing it. For those of you who are serious about finding opportunities to Spread the Wealth, I invite you to comment on my blog (and either leave a way for me to contact you or email your thoughts to me directly at milena@quietthethunder.com) for a chance to win a copy of the book of the same title being released November 1st by Professor and Economist David Breuhan and join with me in the cause to bring prosperity and freedom to those around the world.
Distinct from volunteerism, which you are also doing without knowing it, Spreading the Wealth does not rely solely upon the mechanism of individual generosity, but upon satisfying individual want. So-called greed is actually good. By harnessing the power of the market for good instead of evil, Gen Y is revolutionizing how we do business and (allow me my sanguine moment here) how we will change the world. Gen Y's goal is to rid the world of Bernie Madoff's and replace them with more David Einhorns (read about this young, successful, Wall Street whistle-blower).
Unlike old school methods of spreading wealth that simply don’t work, (see Huey "Share the Wealth" Long), Gen Y is championing a new path. Today, the idea has been succinctly called, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), or, people, planet, profits. There is disagreement about how to achieve the TBL, but the fact it is on the radar is amazing and I hope to illustrate the Top 5 ways I see the TBL being played out, with Gen Y leading the pack, either in innovation, or early-adoption.
1.Whole Foods, Farmer’s Markets, and Food Co-ops
Gen Y does not care that Whole Foods is called Whole Paycheck. There is a good reason we are willing to pay a premium for our groceries. We are sick of animal cruelty, we have lost our families to cancer due to poor diets and lifestyles, and we embrace fair and free trade as a way to bring increased prosperity to people around the world.
We also buy local and buy in bulk via Farmer's Markets and Food Co-ops. Despite the nouveau-farm-girl vibe (and accompanying cowboy boots) of frequenting these earthy markets full of colorful characters and goods, it can be a bit of a pain to trudge to the market with our wagons and go home scratching our heads about how to cook the bushel of beets we bought 18 ways. But we do it because somehow we think that buying groceries from a store that inflates prices for union worker interests or exploits foreign labor to be against our principles.
2. Creative Commons
I know most of us are just happy creative commons exists to get some sweet images for our blogs, what we may not realize is that while we are benefitting ourselves, we are benefitting the original creator of the work - even if we get to use it for free. It's a little something known as the multiplier effect. The mere existence of creative commons means the likelihood of compliance with copyright and fair use laws has dramatically increased. Creative commons allows people to share and distribute their work while retaining control over how it is used, and indirectly, their chances to profit off of it should they choose. Their goal to "provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof. Many of us are happy enough to get page views, but we know, that if our stuff is good, eventually someone will want to pay for it.
Hubert, tastemaker and blogger at Frying in Vein comments,
You want to encourage content creation...I think this is where crowd-sourcing and community-driven initiatives help, but there needs to be some semblance of leadership to keep things going in the right direction. Build communities for artists to foster and sustain creation and let the communities champion those that really deserve to see commercial gain.
Gen Y is providing that leadership. Andrew Norcross adds, "[Creative commons has] given many artists the ability to find a channel to distribute their works, without a large barrier to entry."
3. Google, Twitter, Facebook, and even our very own Brazen Careerist!
Honestly, do I even need to elucidate on how these search engines and social networking sites are making or on their way to making mega-bucks by harnessing the power of connecting people AND providing crazy amounts of FREE VALUE while being funded by advertising dollars? Just think about it.
4. Kiva, Prosper, and other types of Micro-Finance
As a finance geek, micro-lending and person-to-person lending sites are quite possibly my favorite Web 2.0 innovation. While these types of financing schemes straddle the line between charity and investment, the ability for anyone, at any income level to take part and manage their own risk levels is pure genius. I can take $25 dollars, and lend it to a woman in Africa, this could mean the difference between her survival by allowing her to start a new business venture, while simultaneously earning me a return on my investment. I can do good for both of us at the same time.
But we have to work to keep these lines of communication and funding open, because the government is keen on shutting it down, since it's "unregulated" and growing at a super fast rate. The correlation between the two is obvious - when people are free to trade, unhampered by bureaucracy - they will, enthusiastically. It benefits everyone.
5. Product Development with Giving Built-in: (RED), Susan G. Komen
This is another no-brainer that deserves mention, but not much explanation. Products from iPods to yogurt are designed with good in mind. Bono and other celebrities have championed (RED), and companies from Dannon to Tampax have plastered pink ribbons on everything they sell to raise funds and awareness for a variety of important causes. I'm inclined to believe that if I were presented with two yogurt choices that I like equally, one sporting a cause and one not, I'd choose the cause, even at a premium. This is because Gen Y consumers have been educated by the market to think this way.
I think the most significant thing about the above examples is that none of them rely solely on volunteerism. They all harness the power of markets, and yes, even so-called greed through satisfaction of individual wants to make the world a better place.
Wow, I feel a group hug coming on, don't you? Don't forget to comment on my blog for a chance to win a copy of the book, Spread the Wealth: More Haves and Fewer Have Nots. Also, you may want to check out the A-list bloggers who will be contributing to a blog series later this month on Art and Avarice about "How to Spread the Wealth for Artists."
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