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"It takes capital and entrepreneurship to create new firms and jobs, and in developing countries there is often a shortage of the latter, due to lack of education." -Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents Current foreign aid and development paradigms focus on establishing the institutional foundations on which promising economic growth can be built, and injecting much-needed capital into countries that lack a practicable starting point. However, there is little talk of entrepreneurship promotion. Part of this is due to local realities: there are many elements in these countries--both domestic and international--that are not conducive to entrepreneurial ventures. Microfinance systems are often subpar or ridden with such stringent requirements that an individual (or a group of individuals) without substantial financial resources never stands a chance to seize the type of funding needed to get a project off the ground. Moreover, few developing nations protect intellectual property or have implemented patent laws that would allow citizens the legal luxury of being able to hold on to their ideas. However, there are many barriers to entrepreneurship that could be eroded through educational programs. I'm not talking so much about skills. If the entrepreneurial mindset was the focus of a massive teaching cirriculum, it could go a long way to injecting change in the business climate of the developing world. We could help erode the perceived culture of dependency by preaching financial independence. We could promote domestic competition through individual businesses, or the formation of group ventures to rival the informal monopolies that dominate virtually every sector of third-world economies. We could teach the idea of savings--a concept that is nonexistant in many poor countries, which in turn could address one of the developing world's overarching problems--overpopulation and a lack of family planning. Now, the lack of capital and resources required to be fully entrepreneurial would still need to be addressed. But if we shifted our focus to what has made other countries economically dominant in terms of mindset--not just institutions--it could alter the entire global development structure, where foreign aid would provide that which education and training cannot. What if we developed an Entrepreneurship Corps to teach these things? The central players would not be young Americans vis-a-vis the Peace Corps. Rather, the Corps teachers on the ground would be trained citizens of that particular country, allowing them to promote entrepreneurship crafted to the realities of local business and cultural climates. Entrepreneurship is rampant in the third world--pass by any street vender from Botswana to Bangkok as evidence--but it's not fostered by the upper echelons of society, nor used as a catalyst in the formation of a middle class. If we could bring this mindset and these skills to developing countries, we may address the issues that the current development paradigm has failed to.

I saw her again, she who used to freeze my thought, yup... I saw her again, caught a glimpse of her gold hair, but sought refuge from her emerald look.... hmm... but only for a while (temptation is a bitch....). So When i looked directly into her eyes for some seconds, over some tables, people, prejudice and fear, no chilling wind went through my spine... funny, i went back to reality and a sip of beer. I realized, it is not her what I long: that she as a person and my feelings for her have faded away in time. What I long for is the sometimes vivid, and sometimes faded idea of my time with her, the idea of something long gone... nothing but a mere thought that traps me in the past... that gold haired and emerald eyed idea, and the dark black and red backstabbing feeling I get when I recall how it became an idea... is what holds me back in time and stands in front of the future, as she was not my last, but she is my first, my best and my worst, my only idea, the one that needs to be ripped off but won't. But no cosmic girl will come to recue. who will transmit on my frequency? I can only wait for someone to shake me again.

If we ever get some sort of central website for @US (one with functions for members), it'd be sweet if they included this google communication suite, of sorts... making the site not only a source of function (database searching, recruiting, file storage, etc), but also a community. Sign in, see who else is sitting online, and get to chat while you review apps! Rad! But really, I think it could act as a big building block towards developing an online @ US community. The site as a 'meeting place' as opposed to a function should perhaps be expounded on later, when I don't have tests and do have beer.

Log 150806: First team day initiated as per MC Learning Calendar 0706 at Scopa cafe on Cuba Street. Creativity in facilitation was discussed during consumption of heated cocoa liquids. Then proceeded to French cafe. Inactive premises. Ensconced in small cafe area of Matterhorn, fried starchy vegetables and marinated poultry was consumed. At this location, strengths and weaknesses of each individual were expounded and analysed for personal recognition and contribution to the development of said individuals. Status of assignment: In Progress. All in all, good fun!