I am a financial adviser and my primary interest is in the area of ethical practice and socially responsible investments. However, more generally, I am interested in helping to create a world where the focus is community. I believe that we must think globally and act locally. We must shift our mindset to think of ourselves as citizens of the world, rather than of a specific country. 

Our earth is a fragile bubble of air floating around the sun, we must protect the  resources of our small island, and we must insure that we find ways to recycle the toxic waste that we have created. We have no other options. The concern of many regarding national security is best answered by eliminating poverty, developing human capital through universal educational opportunities for men and women, and by creating an environment were artists, poets, and other creative people can flourish and lift the human spirit through their art.

Community to me means people working and cooperating with each other.  I believe it is important to be respectful of other cultures and peoples, to be open to learning, and to think critically.  I believe that government has a responsibility to provide security to its  inhabitants so that they have the basics of life: affordable housing, medical care, enough to eat, a secure retirement,  jobs, a minimum wage that is adequate for the basics of life. Education should be free through the university level. We need to build a society focused on peace and universal prosperity, instead of war, destruction, and the obscene enrichment of few individuals and corporations. We need to tap into the human potential that is wasted when people have to struggle with poverty. The billions of dollars that are wasted in fighting wars against our neighbors should be spent on finding ways to reduce global warming, provide jobs, housing, fund education, medical care, social security, public transportation, to develop sustainable systems that will provide us the energy we need without polluting the earth, our water systems, or the air we breathe.

The mantra of "privatization" and the market fundamentalism of  "free markets" preached by some economists have proved to be failures. It is not sound economics to consume our natural capital without replacing it. That is precisely what we have done and continue to do with each barrel of oil that is extracted from the earth, and with each ton of coal that is mined.  A different world is possible, and I salute Paul Hawken and those who have made this website a reality. I believe that we will reach a critical mass and that a paradigm shift will  occur in how we think about  the world and about our place in the world. I only hope that it does not come too late for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and for the sake of the generations that will follow.