Its been some time since I last posted on this blog, but this does not mean that I stopped thinking about how to help my little country achieve some progress on the burning issue.....you know which!
A group of Greek-Cypriot businessmen (4-5) has come together looking for an equal number of Turkish-Cypriot peers in order to arrange an all day facilitated forum meeting. The meeting agenda will replicate a Young Presidents Organization Forum Retreat and the goal will be for the participants to get to know each other in-depth and start developing some trust....see where that will lead us.
If you know any Turkish Cypriot business persons that might be interested please comment on this blog or send me an email at mmichael@inspiracapital.com
Until next time....hopefully it wont take as long as it took this time to add an entry.
mm
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, November 03, 2008
Seeing Differently
Introduction
Survival and Happiness seem to be the two main goals of the living world on planet earth. Some people might argue that reproduction is right up there also, however this paper will concentrate on the first two only. We humans (can’t talk about animals and plants ) do not seem to be doing extremely well on either of the two lately. Consequently we might want to consider changing something! A precondition to effect change is to first realize that one is needed. Once the realization sinks in then someone or some people need to decide how they will attempt to course correct.
A critical question that relates to this is : who exactly should feel responsible to steer the world in the right direction? Should we look for an answer at the individual level, should we look for communities, countries, nations, International Organizations to step up to the plate and bring happiness and fulfillment to the world? As usual the answer of difficult philosophical questions with two extreme options probably lies somewhere in the middle. A top-down approach should meet a bottom-up approach and thus include everyone on the planet. The attempt of this article will be to examine everyone’s potential (groups and individuals) to support the drive for positive change. In doing this we need to create a way to measure progress. Progress can be defined in financial terms and in achievements of the people as individuals or as members of a larger group such as a country.
Back to defining our full potential though. What does that mean exactly? Will we ever? Is it a destination or a journey? The answer is there is indeed a destination that can be defined, and if we arrive together as humanity a “game-changing niveau” will be reached.
Hierarchy of needs
If the basic needs of humans are not fulfilled then we will not find time to evolve and reach our full potential or course correct. Check out the two graphs below from Dr. Jan Callebaut one of the founders of the Censydiam Institute in Belgium (currently a Synovate Business Unit):
I apologize for the bad quality of the visuals. If you leave me a comment with your email address I will send to you a clean copy as a pdf.
Survival and Happiness seem to be the two main goals of the living world on planet earth. Some people might argue that reproduction is right up there also, however this paper will concentrate on the first two only. We humans (can’t talk about animals and plants ) do not seem to be doing extremely well on either of the two lately. Consequently we might want to consider changing something! A precondition to effect change is to first realize that one is needed. Once the realization sinks in then someone or some people need to decide how they will attempt to course correct.
A critical question that relates to this is : who exactly should feel responsible to steer the world in the right direction? Should we look for an answer at the individual level, should we look for communities, countries, nations, International Organizations to step up to the plate and bring happiness and fulfillment to the world? As usual the answer of difficult philosophical questions with two extreme options probably lies somewhere in the middle. A top-down approach should meet a bottom-up approach and thus include everyone on the planet. The attempt of this article will be to examine everyone’s potential (groups and individuals) to support the drive for positive change. In doing this we need to create a way to measure progress. Progress can be defined in financial terms and in achievements of the people as individuals or as members of a larger group such as a country.
Back to defining our full potential though. What does that mean exactly? Will we ever? Is it a destination or a journey? The answer is there is indeed a destination that can be defined, and if we arrive together as humanity a “game-changing niveau” will be reached.
Hierarchy of needs
If the basic needs of humans are not fulfilled then we will not find time to evolve and reach our full potential or course correct. Check out the two graphs below from Dr. Jan Callebaut one of the founders of the Censydiam Institute in Belgium (currently a Synovate Business Unit):
I apologize for the bad quality of the visuals. If you leave me a comment with your email address I will send to you a clean copy as a pdf.
The two illustrations shown here suggest that it is a luxury to look for spirituality and reaching our full potential when the main concern is: will I find something to eat today? This in-turn suggests that if all of us are to be working toward reaching our full potential as humanity, the stronger should help the weaker catch up. This would represent a combination of a bottom-up and a top-down approach. First people that “get it” – and can afford to - help their families/communities/ countries reach their potential by participating in “cause driven movements” or government, and then these countries help other countries/governments to help their people fulfill their basic needs so that they can also enjoy the “luxury” of spirituality.The Individual
Let’s start with bottom-up. How can an individual help drive positive change?
Here is a continuum for you to consider:
Individualist --- family focused --- community focused --- country focused --- Global Citizen
Here is another one:
Global Citizen --- Patriot --- Nationalist --- Jingoist---Fascist
Here is how the two can be combined:
What is Patriotism’s role in reaching our potential as members of a nation, and as citizens, as inhabitants of the planet Earth, as life forms of this universe?
Patriotism, even though conventional thinking has it as a very positive state of mind, sits on the crossroads of divisiveness if you look at the illustration above. Being a patriot is a thing of the past in the author’s humble opinion. In today’s evolutionary stage of our planet there is no place for patriots. Being patriotic is a very dangerous state of mind that can lead to conflict. It is hypocritical for Christians to say they are Christians and at the same time to support the existence of an army in their country under the guise of patriotism. If turning the other cheek is what defines Christianity then how can any Christian argue that a country needs an army (I only mention the Christianity as an example I am sure the same hypocrisy exists in other religions/states)?
Having said all that we should not confuse patriotism with being proud of our heritage and culture. Diversity is a positive element and it needs to be maintained. To be a global citizen does not mean to live in a “flat” World. It means to be able to accept each other’s culture and heritage and at the same time steer towards a convergence of ideas when it comes to achieving our full potential.
So is being patriotic an anathema for “world positive change”? Ekhardt Tolle the author of “New Earth” is telling us along with many other enlightened (in my opinion) humans that on our planet we are all one. He also says that unless we realize that and come together the earth is doomed to destruct (global warming, weapons of mass destruction, hunger, disease etc.). The answer to the patriotism question is: we should avoid terms/emotions/states that separate us. We should enter a new era that will help us get to a “New Earth” the way Ekhardt very eloquently describes in his book. We should use new terms instead, that make the old obsolete and guide us toward a new direction. We can talk about and explore universal consciousness, universal love, peace and global prosperity.
The Country/Nation
In the absence of a “Planet Leadership Committee” (or a Planet President) for now let’s consider the Country/Nation level the “top” in a top-down approach. For the distant almost non-existent possibility for this write-up to be called a scientific paper let’s try to objectively define a country and a nation. A nation is people who share the same nationality, language, history (to some extend). Now there is “race” that is not clear if it should be one of the elements that characterize a nation and there is also “religion” which more and more is distancing itself from being one of those elements. Some times a nation is bigger than a country and sometimes a country is bigger than a nation. This fact makes the attempt to define them more difficult, but let’s try to also define the term country and then see if we can bring the two definitions together. A country is a geographic location defined by borders with other countries or international waters/ground. With the exception of international waters and maybe the north and the south pole i.e. Antarctica every other spot on the planet earth is part of a country. A country is usually occupied by its citizens with the exception of guests (tourists and workers) and illegal immigrants (this is for you Lou Dobbs J).
We should also look at some examples on both sides of the coin. The USA, the former Soviet Union, Great Britain, former Yugoslavia are (or have been) countries that included citizens from more than one nations. The flip side is the Greek Nation, the Germanic Nation, the Armenian Nation, the Turkish Nation, the Arabic Nation exist in several countries each and not just in the form of minorities but some times as whole different countries.
Since the lines are so blurred and since the languages of the world use the two terms in an interchangeable way do we really want to attempt and draw a clear line that differentiates a country from a nation?
Before this question is answered and in order to make things even more complicated than they are let’s talk also about a number of opposite trends in our world:
- Globalization is an economic phenomenon that connects countries through the existence of multinational companies in them.
- Federations like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia are breaking up to accommodate the wishes “of ethnic groups” which is another way to say “of nations”.
- The countries in Europe are coming together as the European Union with the intent to build a new federation which could end up becoming a …..Country!!!
Now that we have defined what a country is let’s get back to the top-down approach. Let’s take Greece as an example of a country. Request permission to side-track a little here! Thousands of years ago Greece used to be the center of the then known civilized world on earth. The Hellenic spirit has been one of the foundations of the western world on our planet since then. Today Greece is among the poorest European countries (not counting the ones that were behind the iron curtain two decades ago) . No world renowned scientific discoveries, nor music or art for that matter have Greece as their origin. Some literary success with 2 Nobel Winners (Seferis and Elitis) but that can hardly be called equal or even close to what the Ancient Greeks (more than 2000 years ago) or other countries/nations have produced in recent times.
Here is an example on how a country can go top-down in order to drive all its citizens from the bottom-up. Once this is done the country would then qualify for top-down support of another country (i.e. its leaders could help other leaders of countries). Let’s use Greece and four main areas that have been neglected and where Greeks have demonstrated total lack of leadership: Education, The Economy, International Cooperation and the Environment. This is an attempt to explain my point of view using own experiences.
For a non-Greek reader the following four paragraphs might appear irrelevant – in which case – feel free to skip to the next dotted line – with the exception of the text in bold letters!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Education
Four days of study of known philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Hops, Machiavelli and Socrates at an executive seminar of the Aspen Institute organized by the Young Presidents Organization in the Czech Republic were enough to make me wonder more intensely than ever: how could the Greek education reach such low levels. What has happened during the last 2000 years to Greece? During these full four days during which Managing Directors, Presidents and CEOs of companies from 8 different countries discussed philosophy and “Values Based Leadership” myself and another fellow Greek felt real shame to be Greeks. You know why? I refused to believe it at first but the company executives (YPO members) from the other countries knew more about the Greek philosophers than we did. The involvement of the Greek Church in running the state was not helpful in this respect. It is incomprehensible why the Greek state has rejected and still is the brain products of great Greeks philosophers. One could almost say that we Greeks are ashamed of Socrates, Thales, Plato and Aristotle and so many other timeless giants of philosophy. Two Pakistani fellow YPOers and an Indonesian had more hours of Greek philosophy at school than the two Greeks in the room. The important point here is the lacking curriculum at the Greek schools and not the nationality of the people who knew more than we did. If you compare the Greek schools with those of other developed countries (and some times developing countries) you can easily come to the conclusion that instead of being taught judgment, how to think, how to ask questions and how to find knowledge we get dry information/facts. Our scores reflect our ability to learn by heart like parrots. The Greek author Nicos Demou (who wrote the book “the misfortune of being a Greek”) fully agrees with the thoughts expressed above (or rather I agree with him…he said it firstJ)! The bottom line is Church and Religion have no place in interfering with the political systems and the way governments are run. Churches become hypocritical when they start amassing wealth and when they tolerate the existence of an army in the countries where they exist. Also when they interfere with the education system in order to block free thought then they enslave their host countries and disallow them to progress and reach their full potential.
The Economy
Dubai and Singapore are two great examples of countries (one is an Emirate and the other is a country to be more specific) that Greece (or Cyprus) could mimic with success. What both of them have managed to do is to create knowledge based economies. Both small in size (like Greece) one with rich resources (trying to not be as dependent on oil as currently) the other without. Their common denominator: both managed success with leaders who saw themselves also as CEOs rather than just politicians. The President of a country like Cyprus with a GDP of US$ 18 Billion can be compared to the CEOs of Sara Lee, Staples and Whirlpool who have annual sales around US$ 18 Billion. There are company CEOs out there such as those of Wal-mart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Chevron and General Electric who manage annual budgets of US$ 200 to 350 Billion. These are companies which in terms of annual production are by 10-20 times larger than a country like Cyprus. Proven business practices work with countries equally well as they do with companies of equal size. Unfortunately I do not see the Government of Cyprus or Greece use knowledge and experience from the world of successful multinational companies. An economist from Harvard Business School said at one of the YPO executive seminars something very wise. Two of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) which are the four largest emerging markets can be described by terms that were first used in the Soviet Union by Gorbatschov. India has Glasnost and very little Perestroika whilst China has Perestroika and very little (or none at all) Glasnost. Cyprus and Greece both require Political and Economic progress in order to face today’s challenges and to offer their citizens a high standard of living. It seems that for all the politicians in Greece the political situation is much more important than the economic. Communism in Eastern Europe has failed mainly as an economic system whilst China which was an exception in this respect still thrives. By extension the Cyprus problem along side with the Palestinian problem can both be resolved if the necessary attention is given to the economies of the two sides.
International Cooperation
Interpersonal relationships of members of the Government of countries in conjunction with global initiatives (e.g. Al Gore and the environment) can help in promoting a country and its issues to the global community. As useful personal sympathies can be ( e.g. Reagan-Gorbatschov) so catastrophic can personal dislikes be ( e.g. Makarios/Castro – Kissinger). As much as Barack Obama is liked by the international community John McCain is disliked. Which candidate do we think will be best for the US and for the RoW (“Rest of the World”! )?
With regards to the EU: Greece and the Continent as a whole are moving toward the right direction. However there are two areas of improvement:
Α) reduction of bureaucracy and uncontrolled spending
Β) more global cooperation and less focus on the EU taking over economic control from the US and becoming the second major military power.
Every European leader has a duty to put the rest of the world at ease when it comes to Europe’s agenda and to find more ways to reach out to the US, Asia, Latin America, Africa etc. with the aim of global connectedness and cooperation.
Environment
This is the toughest part to focus on for a political leader in countries like Greece given all these issues they face (except of course if the leader is from the Green party). However this is maybe the most important issue that faces humanity today. Each one of us has to develop environmental consciousness NOW if this has not happened yet. To educate our children to feel the urge to switch off the light when they exit an empty room is as much the job of the minister of education as it is of the parents.
Here are some questions we should be asking:
- How developed is recycling in Greece?
- Is there a law that says that all buildings have to have solar heaters (a much cheaper approach than solar cells applicable in countries with a lot of sun).
- What is the degree of information of all the citizens about subsidies for alternative energy?
- Are there government subsidies for the production of wind, hydroelectric, solar, bio etc. energy.
- What is the impact of the damns to the environment?
- Did Greece protest along with other countries to the US that they did not sign the Kyoto agreement yet?
There are so many unanswered questions on this subject (maybe there are some good answers to some of these) have we ever thought of dedicating a ministry to one of the most important issues our planet has ever faced…the environment?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are countries that are better-off than Greece and there are others that are worse-off. The question of potential needs to be asked by every person and by every government on this planet. Are we on the right trajectory to reach our full potential. If yes great, if not what is the formula to course correct? Could it be this one?:
(Top-down + bottom-up of countries that have some individuals who get it) X (Countries who do not have individuals who get it) = ONE WORLD HEADING TOWARD ITS FULL POTENTIAL
Leadership
What is the role of leadership in getting where we need to be? Since the aim is to become a large interdependent family is there any room for leaders? We all know that hierarchies in all adult families often collapse. If we maintain a hierarchical structure some of us will be more equal than others! One good way to answer this is to say we need leadership from each and every one of us. However the moment this is articulated it becomes clear that it is a utopia at this point in history. There is no doubt that this is part of reaching our full potential, but in order to get there we need leaders that “get it” now. Leaders that can grasp the BIG IDEA which is for all humans to come together and become one force.
Should our leaders of government be politicians, business executives or spiritual leaders? Most of our leaders today are career politicians, a few are spiritual (rather religious and they are the worst) leaders and even less are business executives. The answer to this question must be found like in many cases at middle ground. A composite skill-set and personality is required that can master diplomacy, business acumen and spirituality.
A precondition however will be that all leaders out there share the same vision. Each and every one of them is applying leadership to her immediate environment that drives the “herds” toward the same direction and the same goal: Global Citizenship, Oneness! Humanity needs to be helped to awaken to a higher consciousness and this cannot happen from one to day to another. It will not happen without a lot of work by those “enlightened” to help lead the rest of us to find the true light…in order to see differently!!!
In Closing
The answer to the question about reaching our full potential and if it is a destination or a journey can also be defined as a forward progress journey (as opposed to backward progress) with the destination being the full potential. I would define as backward progress ANY attack, be it simply a verbal attack of one person to another or a terrorist attack or a war against a country or countries ratified by the United Nations.
We will have arrived when we understand that we are all “Interdependent” and that the status of Global Citizenship is what we should be looking for!!
The ultimate goal to reach our full potential I would describe as a world of love and prosperity where each individual can live a meaningfully productive and happy life (part was borrowed by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation tagline) that can take us all a step closer to: One world, one nation, one country, one community, one family one fulfilled entity. Each and every one of us as humans is necessary in order for humanity to make the leap….”no child left behind” J kind of thing!!...And since we are using clichés I will borrow Visa’s main message in their Olympic Games TV Advertising and shout with all my strength: “GO WORLD”!!!
Patriotism, even though conventional thinking has it as a very positive state of mind, sits on the crossroads of divisiveness if you look at the illustration above. Being a patriot is a thing of the past in the author’s humble opinion. In today’s evolutionary stage of our planet there is no place for patriots. Being patriotic is a very dangerous state of mind that can lead to conflict. It is hypocritical for Christians to say they are Christians and at the same time to support the existence of an army in their country under the guise of patriotism. If turning the other cheek is what defines Christianity then how can any Christian argue that a country needs an army (I only mention the Christianity as an example I am sure the same hypocrisy exists in other religions/states)?
Having said all that we should not confuse patriotism with being proud of our heritage and culture. Diversity is a positive element and it needs to be maintained. To be a global citizen does not mean to live in a “flat” World. It means to be able to accept each other’s culture and heritage and at the same time steer towards a convergence of ideas when it comes to achieving our full potential.
So is being patriotic an anathema for “world positive change”? Ekhardt Tolle the author of “New Earth” is telling us along with many other enlightened (in my opinion) humans that on our planet we are all one. He also says that unless we realize that and come together the earth is doomed to destruct (global warming, weapons of mass destruction, hunger, disease etc.). The answer to the patriotism question is: we should avoid terms/emotions/states that separate us. We should enter a new era that will help us get to a “New Earth” the way Ekhardt very eloquently describes in his book. We should use new terms instead, that make the old obsolete and guide us toward a new direction. We can talk about and explore universal consciousness, universal love, peace and global prosperity.
The Country/Nation
In the absence of a “Planet Leadership Committee” (or a Planet President) for now let’s consider the Country/Nation level the “top” in a top-down approach. For the distant almost non-existent possibility for this write-up to be called a scientific paper let’s try to objectively define a country and a nation. A nation is people who share the same nationality, language, history (to some extend). Now there is “race” that is not clear if it should be one of the elements that characterize a nation and there is also “religion” which more and more is distancing itself from being one of those elements. Some times a nation is bigger than a country and sometimes a country is bigger than a nation. This fact makes the attempt to define them more difficult, but let’s try to also define the term country and then see if we can bring the two definitions together. A country is a geographic location defined by borders with other countries or international waters/ground. With the exception of international waters and maybe the north and the south pole i.e. Antarctica every other spot on the planet earth is part of a country. A country is usually occupied by its citizens with the exception of guests (tourists and workers) and illegal immigrants (this is for you Lou Dobbs J).
We should also look at some examples on both sides of the coin. The USA, the former Soviet Union, Great Britain, former Yugoslavia are (or have been) countries that included citizens from more than one nations. The flip side is the Greek Nation, the Germanic Nation, the Armenian Nation, the Turkish Nation, the Arabic Nation exist in several countries each and not just in the form of minorities but some times as whole different countries.
Since the lines are so blurred and since the languages of the world use the two terms in an interchangeable way do we really want to attempt and draw a clear line that differentiates a country from a nation?
Before this question is answered and in order to make things even more complicated than they are let’s talk also about a number of opposite trends in our world:
- Globalization is an economic phenomenon that connects countries through the existence of multinational companies in them.
- Federations like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia are breaking up to accommodate the wishes “of ethnic groups” which is another way to say “of nations”.
- The countries in Europe are coming together as the European Union with the intent to build a new federation which could end up becoming a …..Country!!!
Now that we have defined what a country is let’s get back to the top-down approach. Let’s take Greece as an example of a country. Request permission to side-track a little here! Thousands of years ago Greece used to be the center of the then known civilized world on earth. The Hellenic spirit has been one of the foundations of the western world on our planet since then. Today Greece is among the poorest European countries (not counting the ones that were behind the iron curtain two decades ago) . No world renowned scientific discoveries, nor music or art for that matter have Greece as their origin. Some literary success with 2 Nobel Winners (Seferis and Elitis) but that can hardly be called equal or even close to what the Ancient Greeks (more than 2000 years ago) or other countries/nations have produced in recent times.
Here is an example on how a country can go top-down in order to drive all its citizens from the bottom-up. Once this is done the country would then qualify for top-down support of another country (i.e. its leaders could help other leaders of countries). Let’s use Greece and four main areas that have been neglected and where Greeks have demonstrated total lack of leadership: Education, The Economy, International Cooperation and the Environment. This is an attempt to explain my point of view using own experiences.
For a non-Greek reader the following four paragraphs might appear irrelevant – in which case – feel free to skip to the next dotted line – with the exception of the text in bold letters!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Education
Four days of study of known philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Hops, Machiavelli and Socrates at an executive seminar of the Aspen Institute organized by the Young Presidents Organization in the Czech Republic were enough to make me wonder more intensely than ever: how could the Greek education reach such low levels. What has happened during the last 2000 years to Greece? During these full four days during which Managing Directors, Presidents and CEOs of companies from 8 different countries discussed philosophy and “Values Based Leadership” myself and another fellow Greek felt real shame to be Greeks. You know why? I refused to believe it at first but the company executives (YPO members) from the other countries knew more about the Greek philosophers than we did. The involvement of the Greek Church in running the state was not helpful in this respect. It is incomprehensible why the Greek state has rejected and still is the brain products of great Greeks philosophers. One could almost say that we Greeks are ashamed of Socrates, Thales, Plato and Aristotle and so many other timeless giants of philosophy. Two Pakistani fellow YPOers and an Indonesian had more hours of Greek philosophy at school than the two Greeks in the room. The important point here is the lacking curriculum at the Greek schools and not the nationality of the people who knew more than we did. If you compare the Greek schools with those of other developed countries (and some times developing countries) you can easily come to the conclusion that instead of being taught judgment, how to think, how to ask questions and how to find knowledge we get dry information/facts. Our scores reflect our ability to learn by heart like parrots. The Greek author Nicos Demou (who wrote the book “the misfortune of being a Greek”) fully agrees with the thoughts expressed above (or rather I agree with him…he said it firstJ)! The bottom line is Church and Religion have no place in interfering with the political systems and the way governments are run. Churches become hypocritical when they start amassing wealth and when they tolerate the existence of an army in the countries where they exist. Also when they interfere with the education system in order to block free thought then they enslave their host countries and disallow them to progress and reach their full potential.
The Economy
Dubai and Singapore are two great examples of countries (one is an Emirate and the other is a country to be more specific) that Greece (or Cyprus) could mimic with success. What both of them have managed to do is to create knowledge based economies. Both small in size (like Greece) one with rich resources (trying to not be as dependent on oil as currently) the other without. Their common denominator: both managed success with leaders who saw themselves also as CEOs rather than just politicians. The President of a country like Cyprus with a GDP of US$ 18 Billion can be compared to the CEOs of Sara Lee, Staples and Whirlpool who have annual sales around US$ 18 Billion. There are company CEOs out there such as those of Wal-mart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Chevron and General Electric who manage annual budgets of US$ 200 to 350 Billion. These are companies which in terms of annual production are by 10-20 times larger than a country like Cyprus. Proven business practices work with countries equally well as they do with companies of equal size. Unfortunately I do not see the Government of Cyprus or Greece use knowledge and experience from the world of successful multinational companies. An economist from Harvard Business School said at one of the YPO executive seminars something very wise. Two of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) which are the four largest emerging markets can be described by terms that were first used in the Soviet Union by Gorbatschov. India has Glasnost and very little Perestroika whilst China has Perestroika and very little (or none at all) Glasnost. Cyprus and Greece both require Political and Economic progress in order to face today’s challenges and to offer their citizens a high standard of living. It seems that for all the politicians in Greece the political situation is much more important than the economic. Communism in Eastern Europe has failed mainly as an economic system whilst China which was an exception in this respect still thrives. By extension the Cyprus problem along side with the Palestinian problem can both be resolved if the necessary attention is given to the economies of the two sides.
International Cooperation
Interpersonal relationships of members of the Government of countries in conjunction with global initiatives (e.g. Al Gore and the environment) can help in promoting a country and its issues to the global community. As useful personal sympathies can be ( e.g. Reagan-Gorbatschov) so catastrophic can personal dislikes be ( e.g. Makarios/Castro – Kissinger). As much as Barack Obama is liked by the international community John McCain is disliked. Which candidate do we think will be best for the US and for the RoW (“Rest of the World”! )?
With regards to the EU: Greece and the Continent as a whole are moving toward the right direction. However there are two areas of improvement:
Α) reduction of bureaucracy and uncontrolled spending
Β) more global cooperation and less focus on the EU taking over economic control from the US and becoming the second major military power.
Every European leader has a duty to put the rest of the world at ease when it comes to Europe’s agenda and to find more ways to reach out to the US, Asia, Latin America, Africa etc. with the aim of global connectedness and cooperation.
Environment
This is the toughest part to focus on for a political leader in countries like Greece given all these issues they face (except of course if the leader is from the Green party). However this is maybe the most important issue that faces humanity today. Each one of us has to develop environmental consciousness NOW if this has not happened yet. To educate our children to feel the urge to switch off the light when they exit an empty room is as much the job of the minister of education as it is of the parents.
Here are some questions we should be asking:
- How developed is recycling in Greece?
- Is there a law that says that all buildings have to have solar heaters (a much cheaper approach than solar cells applicable in countries with a lot of sun).
- What is the degree of information of all the citizens about subsidies for alternative energy?
- Are there government subsidies for the production of wind, hydroelectric, solar, bio etc. energy.
- What is the impact of the damns to the environment?
- Did Greece protest along with other countries to the US that they did not sign the Kyoto agreement yet?
There are so many unanswered questions on this subject (maybe there are some good answers to some of these) have we ever thought of dedicating a ministry to one of the most important issues our planet has ever faced…the environment?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are countries that are better-off than Greece and there are others that are worse-off. The question of potential needs to be asked by every person and by every government on this planet. Are we on the right trajectory to reach our full potential. If yes great, if not what is the formula to course correct? Could it be this one?:
(Top-down + bottom-up of countries that have some individuals who get it) X (Countries who do not have individuals who get it) = ONE WORLD HEADING TOWARD ITS FULL POTENTIAL
Leadership
What is the role of leadership in getting where we need to be? Since the aim is to become a large interdependent family is there any room for leaders? We all know that hierarchies in all adult families often collapse. If we maintain a hierarchical structure some of us will be more equal than others! One good way to answer this is to say we need leadership from each and every one of us. However the moment this is articulated it becomes clear that it is a utopia at this point in history. There is no doubt that this is part of reaching our full potential, but in order to get there we need leaders that “get it” now. Leaders that can grasp the BIG IDEA which is for all humans to come together and become one force.
Should our leaders of government be politicians, business executives or spiritual leaders? Most of our leaders today are career politicians, a few are spiritual (rather religious and they are the worst) leaders and even less are business executives. The answer to this question must be found like in many cases at middle ground. A composite skill-set and personality is required that can master diplomacy, business acumen and spirituality.
A precondition however will be that all leaders out there share the same vision. Each and every one of them is applying leadership to her immediate environment that drives the “herds” toward the same direction and the same goal: Global Citizenship, Oneness! Humanity needs to be helped to awaken to a higher consciousness and this cannot happen from one to day to another. It will not happen without a lot of work by those “enlightened” to help lead the rest of us to find the true light…in order to see differently!!!
In Closing
The answer to the question about reaching our full potential and if it is a destination or a journey can also be defined as a forward progress journey (as opposed to backward progress) with the destination being the full potential. I would define as backward progress ANY attack, be it simply a verbal attack of one person to another or a terrorist attack or a war against a country or countries ratified by the United Nations.
We will have arrived when we understand that we are all “Interdependent” and that the status of Global Citizenship is what we should be looking for!!
The ultimate goal to reach our full potential I would describe as a world of love and prosperity where each individual can live a meaningfully productive and happy life (part was borrowed by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation tagline) that can take us all a step closer to: One world, one nation, one country, one community, one family one fulfilled entity. Each and every one of us as humans is necessary in order for humanity to make the leap….”no child left behind” J kind of thing!!...And since we are using clichés I will borrow Visa’s main message in their Olympic Games TV Advertising and shout with all my strength: “GO WORLD”!!!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Greek Cypriot Politicians
I was watching the RIK news via internet today and I was yet again struck by how our politicians compare unfavorably to politicians/leaders of developed countries. I don't know if it is the language they use (i.e. the Cypriot Dialect) the way they look or the kind of discussions shown on TV. In any case I felt a little ashamed to be a Cypriot (and I am little ashamed to write this on my Blog to be honest). I compare them to Statesmen like Clinton, Blair, Brown, Papandreou, Conti, etc. and I wonder : is this the best we can "produce" as a country??
Sunday, August 03, 2008
The Cyprus Issue discussion on Skype
Please click the link to leave any comment you like about the Cyprus Issue.
http://www.skype.com/go/joinpublicchat?chat&skypename=mmichael333&topic=The+Cyprus+Issue&blob=L6rQDKPyi9GozE_Jib4YGQENqpcxSbMcSBrlxgfpw4v9MHxLyKT3c7oQUzcyEaXsigx_EmU
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http://www.skype.com/go/joinpublicchat?chat&skypename=mmichael333&topic=The+Cyprus+Issue&blob=L6rQDKPyi9GozE_Jib4YGQENqpcxSbMcSBrlxgfpw4v9MHxLyKT3c7oQUzcyEaXsigx_EmU
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Friday, April 11, 2008
Being able to forsee the future :)
I am very pleased I was right about my prediction on who would be the next President of Cyprus. Not so much because I was right but more so because Christofias seems to have been the best option in terms of integrity, honesty and consistency.
I only hope the supporters of his party (AKEL) will show moderation and will remember that their party is not anymore a Communist party but more of a Socialist party. Waiving red flags does not really pass the right message to the global community about Cyprus.
I still hope that the President will somehow get to read the letter I wrote to him back in October 2007.
I only hope the supporters of his party (AKEL) will show moderation and will remember that their party is not anymore a Communist party but more of a Socialist party. Waiving red flags does not really pass the right message to the global community about Cyprus.
I still hope that the President will somehow get to read the letter I wrote to him back in October 2007.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Bi-lingual contributions
I want to apologize to the non Greek speakers who visit my blog for the letter in Greek. In case anyone is interested in having an English translation please let me know and I will be more than happy to oblige.
Happy Reading!
Michalis A. Michael
Happy Reading!
Michalis A. Michael
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Letter to Dimitirs Christofias
This is a letter I wrote to the current President of the Cyprus parliament that unfortunately remained unanswered.
Η.Π.Α. 28 Οκτωβρίου, 2007
Dipl.-Ing. Michalis A. Michael
Κον. Δημήτρη Χριστόφια
Πρόεδρο Βουλης των Αντιπροσώπων1402 Λευκωσία
Κύπρος
Email: president@parliament.cy
Κύριε Χριστόφια,
Είμαι ένας Κύπριος του εξωτερικού και θέλω να προσφέρω ότι μπορώ στην Κύπρο, και στην Ευρώπη σε θέματα παιδείας, διεθνούς συνεργασίας, οικονομίας και περιβάλλοντος. Αντιλαμβάνομαι ότι οι ελπίδες να διαβάσετε αυτή την επιστολή είναι αμυδρές. Παρόλα αυτά θα επιχειρίσω μέσω της να εξηγείσω τους λόγους που με ώθησαν να επικοινωνίσω μαζί σας.
Δεν πιστεύω στον κουμμουνισμό (ίσως ούτε και σεις πια) όμως πιστεύω ότι είστε από τους λίγους έντιμους πολιτικούς με αρχές όχι στη Κύπρο μόνο αλλά στον κόσμο ολόκληρο. Εκτός από την Κύπρο έχω ζήσει στην Γερμανία, Σαουδική Αραβία, Ουγγαρία, Πολωνία και τώρα στην Αμερική γι΄αυτό μπορώ νομιζω να μιλώ για τον κόσμο με κάποια βαρύτητα ...ίσως αμελητέα! Μέσω της δουλειάς μου και της ενεργής συμμετοχής μου σαν μέλος στο YPO (Young Presidents Organization) είχα την ευκαιρία να γνωρίσω προσωπικά διάφορους πολιτικούς από διάφορα μερη του κόσμου. Παρακολουθώ τις παγκόσμιες πολιτικές εξελίξεις όπως ο κάθε συνειδητός παγκόσμιος πολίτης και τολμώ να ισχυριστώ οτι ιδεολογιστές και αλτρουιστές πολιτικοί σαν εσάς είναι πραγματικά σπάνιο «είδος» και κινδυνεύει να εξαφανιστεί. Γι’αυτό αποφάσισα να σας γράψω την επιστολη αυτή.
Ξέρω από ιδίαν πείρα διευθύνοντας εταιρίες απο 15-100 εκατ. US$ ετήσιες πωλήσεις ότι είναι πολυ μοναχικά στη κορυφή. Επίσης με το ρυθμό που προέδροι χωρών η κομμάτων (η ίσως και κοινοβουλίωνJ) πρέπει να πέρνουν αποφάσεις καθημερινά, πολλές φορές, δεν έχουν τον χρόνο και την πολυτέλεια να αναλύσουν σε βάθος και να αντικατοπτρίσουν τις αποφάσεις τους (πριν τις πάρουν). Θα ήθελα να προσφέρω κάποιες θέσεις/ιδέες στους τέσσερεις προαναφερθέντες τομείς τις οποίες ελπίζω να βρείτε βοηθητικές για την προεκλογικής σας εκστρατείας και μετέπειτα.
Παιδεία
Τέσσερις μέρες σπουδής φιλοσόφων όπως ο Πλάτωνας, ο Αριστοτέλης, ο Ρουσσώ, ο Χοπς, ο Μακιαβέλι και ο Σωκράτης σε ενα σεμινάριο του Ινστιτούτου Ασπεν στην Τσεχιά (το οποίο οργάνωσα μέσω του YPO) ήταν αρκετές για να διερωτηθώ ποιό έντονα από ότι ποτέ, σε τι κατάντια έχει φτάσει η παιδεία μας. Τι συνέβηκε τα τελευταία 2000 χρόνια στην Ελλάδα και στη Κύπρο? Κατά τις τέσσερις αυτές μέρες τις οποίες περάσαμε συζητώντας φιλοσοφία και «ηγεσία αξιών» με εμπορικούς ηγέτες (προέδρους εταιριών) απο οκτώ άλλες χώρες που ήξεραν περισσότερα από τον υποφαινόμενο και έναν Ελλαδίτη που ήταν παρών για τους Έλληνες φιλοσόφους, νοιώσαμε πραγματική ντροπή. Πιστεύω οτι η ανάμιξη της εκκλησίας στη πολιτεία δεν βοηθήσε. Μου είναι αδιανόητο γιατί η Ελληνική πολιτεία απαρνήθηκε και απαρνείται τα μοναδικά γεννήματα των μυαλών μεγάλων Ελλήνων. Είναι σαν να ντρεπόμαστε για τον Σωκράτη τον Θαλή, τον Πλάτωνα, τον Αριστοτέλη και τόσους άλλους γίγαντες διαχρονικούς. Δύο Πακιστανοί και ενας Ινδονήσιος είχαν περισσότερες ώρες μάθημα στο σχολείο για τους Έλληνες φιλοσόφους από ότι εμείς οι δύο! Το σημαντικό σημείο εδώ δεν είναι η Ελληνική ταυτότητα αλλά το curriculum στα Κυπριακά σχολεία. Αν συγκρίνει κάποιος τα σχολεία μας με αυτά άλλων ανεπτυγμένων χωρών θα διαπιστώσει εύκολα ότι αντί να διδασκόμαστε κρίση και πως να σκεφτόμαστε, πως να ανακαλύπτουμε πληροφορίες, και πως να ρωτούμε, απλά μας προσφέρεται στεγνή γνώση και η βαθμοί μας αντικατοπτρίζουν την ικανότητα μας να μαθαίνουμε «παπαγαλεία». Ο Έλληνας συγγραφέας Νίκος Δήμου (που εγραψε το βιβλίο «Η δυστυχία του να είσαι Έλληνας») συμφωνει απόλυτα με αυτές τις θέσεις (ή μάλλον εγω με αυτόν).
Οικονομία
Το Dubai και η Συγγαπούρη είναι πιστεύω δύο χώρες πρότυπα (μια χώρα και ένα Εμιράτο για την ακρίβεια), τις οποίες η Κύπρος θα μπορούσε να μιμηθεί με επιτυχία. Αυτό που και οι δύο κατάφεραν είναι να δημιουργήσουν οικονομίες βασισμένες σε υπηρεσίες και στην πληροφορική. Μικρές και οι δύο σε μέγεθος η μια με πλούσιους φυσικούς πόρους προσπαθεί να απεξαρτητοποιηθεί η αλλη χωρίς. Ο κοινός παρονομαστής: και οι δύο το κατάφεραν με ηγέτες που εβλεπαν τους εαυτούς τους σαν Ανώτατους Εκτελεστικούς Διευθυντές (CEOs) εταιριών. Ο Πρόεδρος της Κύπρου με Α.Ε.Π. 18 δις. Δολλαρια Αμερικής μπορει να συγκριθεί με τους CEOs των Sara Lee, Staples, και Whirlpool που έχουν ετήσιες πωλήσεις περίπου 18 δις. Οι δε CEOs των Wal-mart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Chevron, General Electric διευθύνουν ετήσιους προιπολογισμούς απο 200 μεχρι 350 δις. Δολλαριων εταιρίες που είναι 10-20 φορές μεγαλύτερες απο την Κύπρο σε ετήσια παραγωγή. Ενδεδειγμένες επιχειριματολογικές πρακτικές δουλεύουν το ίδιο καλά σε εταιρίες και σε κράτη παρομοίου μεγέθους. Δυστυχώς δεν βλέπω η κυβέρνηση μας να χρησιμοποιεί γνώση και εμπειρία απο τον κόσμο των πολυεθνικών επιχειρήσεων. Ενας καθηγητής οικονομολόγος του Harvard Business School σε ένα από τα σεμινάρια του Harvard στα οποία έλαβα μερος είπε κατι πολύ σοφό. Δύο απο τις χώρες BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) οι οποίες ειναι οι τέσσερεις μεγαλύτερες αναπτυσσόμενες οικονομίες μπορουν να περιγραφούν με εννοιες που γεννηθηκαν στη Ρωσσία απο τον Gorbatschov. Η Ινδία έχει Glasnost και πολύ λίγη Perestroika ενώ η Κίνα εχει Perestroika και πολύ λίγη (η καθόλου) Glasnost. Χρειάζεται πολιτική και οικονομική πρόοδο η Κύπρος μας και η κάθε χώρα του κόσμου για να προσφέρει στους πολίτες της υψηλό βιωτικό επίπεδο. Έχω την εντύπωση ότι στην Κύπρο για όλους τους πολιτικούς στο προσκήνιο έχει πολύ περισσότερη σημασία η πολιτική κατάσταση από ότι η οικονομική. Η γνώμη μου είναι ότι ο κουμμουνισμός στην Ανατολική Ευρώπη απέτυχε κατά πρώτιστο λόγο σαν οικονομικό σύστημα εξ’ου και η Κίνα που στηρίζεται σε πρότυπα ελεύθερης οικονομίας ακόμα προοδεύει. Κατ’επέκταση πιστεύω ότι το Κυπριακό όπως και το Παλαιστινιακό πρόβλημα θα ληθούν ευκολότερα αν δωθεί η απαραίτητη προσοχή και έμφαση στις οικονομίες των δύο πλευρών.
Διεθνής Συνεργασία
Οι σύναψη διαπροσωπικών σχέσεων των μελών της κυβέρνησης σε συνδιασμό με πρωτοβουλείες διεθνούς επιρροής και διαμετρήματος (π.χ. Αλ Γκορ και περιβαλλον) μπορούν να βοηθήσουν στη προβολή του Κυπριακού προβλήματος και της Κύπρου γενικότερα σαν κέντρο υπηρεσιών και τουρισμού. Όσο ωφέλιμες μπορούν να είναι προσωπικές συμπάθειες (Reagan-Gorbatschov) τόσο καταστροφικές μπορούν να είναι οι προσωπικές αντιπάθειες (Μακαριος/Καστρο – Kissinger).
‘Οσον αφορά την Έυρωπη πιστεύω ότι κινούμαστε σαν ήπειρος και σαν χώρα προς την σωστή κατεύθυνση, εντούτοις υπάρχουν μεταξύ άλλων δύο σημαντικά σημεία βελτιωσης:
Α) μείωση της γραφειοκρατίας και της άκρατης σπατάλης π.χ. διερμηνείς
Β) χρειάζεται αύξηση των προσπαθειών για παγκόσμια συνεργασία και λιγότερη εστίαση στο γεγονός οτι η ΕΟΚ ιδρύθηκε για να επιτρέψει στην Ευρώπη να γινει παγκόσμια οικονομική και ίσως στρατιωτική δύναμη.
Ο κάθε Ευρωπαίος ηγέτης έχει καθήκον να καθυσηχάσει τον υπόλοιπο κόσμο όσον αφορά την ατζέντα της Ευρώπης και να βρει τρόπους προσέγγισης με την Αμερίκη, Ασία, Λατινική Αμερική, Αφρική κ.λ.π. με σκοπό την παγκόσμια ένωση (ουτοπία μεν για τώρα αλλά ετσι ξεκίνησαν όλες οι πραγματικά μεγάλες ιδέες).
Περιβάλλον
Αυτό είναι το δυσκολότερο κομμάτι για κάποιο πολιτικό αρχηγό μιας χώρας σαν τη Κύπρο με τόσα προβλήματα για να εστιάση τη προσοχή του (εκτός αν είναι πράσινος). Παρολ’αυτά είναι ίσως το σημαντικότερο θέμα που αντιμετωπίζει η γη και η ανθρωπότητα σήμερα. Ο κάθε ένας από έμας πρέπει να αναπτύξει περιβαλλοντική συνείδηση ΤΩΡΑ αν αυτό δεν έχει συμβεί ακόμα. Το να νοιώσουν τα παιδιά μας ότι το σβήσημο του φωτός βγαίνοντας από ένα δωμάτιο είναι υψήστης σημασίας είναι δουλειά της κυβέρνησης και συγκεκριμμένα του Υπουργού Παδείας. Πόσο ανεπτυγμένη ειναι η ανακύκλωση στη Κύπρο? Υπάρχει νόμος που να λέει οτι όλες οι οικοδομές πρέπει να έχουν ηλιακούς θερμαντήρες νερών και χώρων? Ποιός είναι ο βαθμός ενημέρωσης του Κυπριακού λαού για επιχορηγήσεις πηγών εναλλακτικής ενεργειας? Υπάρχουν επιχορηγήσεις για αιολική ενέργεια, υδροηλεκτρική ενέργεια, ηλιακά κύτταρα, εθανόλη κ.λ.π.? Ποιά είναι η επίδραση το φρακτών στο περιβάλλον? Διαμαρτυρήθηκε η Κύπρος που η ΗΠΑ δεν υπόγραψαν ακόμα την συμφωνία του Κυότο? Υπάρχουν τόσες ερωτήσεις αναπάντητες σ’αυτό το θέμα (δεν αποκλείω να υπάρχουν καλές απαντήσεις για μερικές)....σκεφτήκαμε ποτέ να αφιερώσουμε μια υπουργική θέση εξ’ολοκλήρου στο σημαντικότερο θέμα όλων των εποχών για την διατήρηση του πλανήτη μας?
Θελω να κλεισω την επιστολη αυτη (που κατέλειξε να ειναι πολύ μακρύτερη από οτι λογάριαζα) λέγοντας οτι δεν πιστεύω οτι ένα κόμμα έχει όλες τις σωστές απαντήσεις/θέσεις σε όλα τα θέματα. Πιστεύω ότι ο κάθε πολίτης έχει υποχρέωση να υποστηρίξει τις διάφορες θέσεις με ορθάνοικτα μάτια χωρίς επηρεασμό ως προς το ποιανού κομματος είναι οι θέσεις αυτες. Είναι εντελώς αποδεκτό κατά μένα για ένα πολίτη να αλλάξη το κόμμα που υποστηρίζει εάν δεν συμφωνεί (χωρίς να είναι «ανεμόμυλος») πλέον με την πλειονότητα των θέσεων του. Όπως είναι εντελώς αποδεκτό για κάποιον (όπως εγώ και όπως ο Νίκος Δήμου περιγράφει στο βιβλίο του «Νέοι Έλληνες») να πει : συμφωνώ με το 50% των θεσεων του ΑΚΕΛ, το 25% των θεσεων του ΔΗΚΟ, το 20% των θεσεων του ΔΗΣΥ, το 3% των θεσεων των Πρασίνων κ.λ.π.
Εάν διαβάζεται αυτή τη πρόταση – επιτρέπεται να υποθέσω – ότι διαβάσατε και την υπόλοιπη επιστολή άρα η θεωρία μου για την πάστα από την οπoία είστε καμομένος έχει «εξ’ ημίσεως» επαληθευθεί. Για να επαληθευθεί και το άλλο μισό θα πρέπει να αποδείξετε οτι δέχεστε τη θέση οτι το ΑΚΕΛ δεν μπορεί να είναι σε όλα και πάντα σωστό σαν κόμμα και όταν γίνετε Πρόεδρος της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας (οχι εάν) θα επιτρέψετε σε φωνές απο άλλους πολιτικούς χώρους να υπερισχήσουν αν πιστεύτε οτι έχουν δίκιο.
Με τιμή
Μιχάλης Α. Μιχαήλ
Υ.Σ. Πρόσεξα ότι στις ομιλίες σας προς το κόμμα που είναι δημοσιευμένες στην ιστοσελίδα του κόμματος προσφονείτε το ακροατήριο με «Συντρόφισσες και Συντρόφοι». Η ταπεινή μου γνώμη είναι οτι αυτό μπορεί να ξενίσει μερικούς πολιτες από άλλες τοποθετήσεις και σαν Υποψήφιος Πρόεδρος της Κύπρου ολόκληρης καλό θα ηταν να αντικατασταθει με Κες και Κοι η Φίλες και Φίλοι η Κύπριες και Κύπριοι η ακομα καλύτερα Συμπολίτες.
Η.Π.Α. 28 Οκτωβρίου, 2007
Dipl.-Ing. Michalis A. Michael
Κον. Δημήτρη Χριστόφια
Πρόεδρο Βουλης των Αντιπροσώπων1402 Λευκωσία
Κύπρος
Email: president@parliament.cy
Κύριε Χριστόφια,
Είμαι ένας Κύπριος του εξωτερικού και θέλω να προσφέρω ότι μπορώ στην Κύπρο, και στην Ευρώπη σε θέματα παιδείας, διεθνούς συνεργασίας, οικονομίας και περιβάλλοντος. Αντιλαμβάνομαι ότι οι ελπίδες να διαβάσετε αυτή την επιστολή είναι αμυδρές. Παρόλα αυτά θα επιχειρίσω μέσω της να εξηγείσω τους λόγους που με ώθησαν να επικοινωνίσω μαζί σας.
Δεν πιστεύω στον κουμμουνισμό (ίσως ούτε και σεις πια) όμως πιστεύω ότι είστε από τους λίγους έντιμους πολιτικούς με αρχές όχι στη Κύπρο μόνο αλλά στον κόσμο ολόκληρο. Εκτός από την Κύπρο έχω ζήσει στην Γερμανία, Σαουδική Αραβία, Ουγγαρία, Πολωνία και τώρα στην Αμερική γι΄αυτό μπορώ νομιζω να μιλώ για τον κόσμο με κάποια βαρύτητα ...ίσως αμελητέα! Μέσω της δουλειάς μου και της ενεργής συμμετοχής μου σαν μέλος στο YPO (Young Presidents Organization) είχα την ευκαιρία να γνωρίσω προσωπικά διάφορους πολιτικούς από διάφορα μερη του κόσμου. Παρακολουθώ τις παγκόσμιες πολιτικές εξελίξεις όπως ο κάθε συνειδητός παγκόσμιος πολίτης και τολμώ να ισχυριστώ οτι ιδεολογιστές και αλτρουιστές πολιτικοί σαν εσάς είναι πραγματικά σπάνιο «είδος» και κινδυνεύει να εξαφανιστεί. Γι’αυτό αποφάσισα να σας γράψω την επιστολη αυτή.
Ξέρω από ιδίαν πείρα διευθύνοντας εταιρίες απο 15-100 εκατ. US$ ετήσιες πωλήσεις ότι είναι πολυ μοναχικά στη κορυφή. Επίσης με το ρυθμό που προέδροι χωρών η κομμάτων (η ίσως και κοινοβουλίωνJ) πρέπει να πέρνουν αποφάσεις καθημερινά, πολλές φορές, δεν έχουν τον χρόνο και την πολυτέλεια να αναλύσουν σε βάθος και να αντικατοπτρίσουν τις αποφάσεις τους (πριν τις πάρουν). Θα ήθελα να προσφέρω κάποιες θέσεις/ιδέες στους τέσσερεις προαναφερθέντες τομείς τις οποίες ελπίζω να βρείτε βοηθητικές για την προεκλογικής σας εκστρατείας και μετέπειτα.
Παιδεία
Τέσσερις μέρες σπουδής φιλοσόφων όπως ο Πλάτωνας, ο Αριστοτέλης, ο Ρουσσώ, ο Χοπς, ο Μακιαβέλι και ο Σωκράτης σε ενα σεμινάριο του Ινστιτούτου Ασπεν στην Τσεχιά (το οποίο οργάνωσα μέσω του YPO) ήταν αρκετές για να διερωτηθώ ποιό έντονα από ότι ποτέ, σε τι κατάντια έχει φτάσει η παιδεία μας. Τι συνέβηκε τα τελευταία 2000 χρόνια στην Ελλάδα και στη Κύπρο? Κατά τις τέσσερις αυτές μέρες τις οποίες περάσαμε συζητώντας φιλοσοφία και «ηγεσία αξιών» με εμπορικούς ηγέτες (προέδρους εταιριών) απο οκτώ άλλες χώρες που ήξεραν περισσότερα από τον υποφαινόμενο και έναν Ελλαδίτη που ήταν παρών για τους Έλληνες φιλοσόφους, νοιώσαμε πραγματική ντροπή. Πιστεύω οτι η ανάμιξη της εκκλησίας στη πολιτεία δεν βοηθήσε. Μου είναι αδιανόητο γιατί η Ελληνική πολιτεία απαρνήθηκε και απαρνείται τα μοναδικά γεννήματα των μυαλών μεγάλων Ελλήνων. Είναι σαν να ντρεπόμαστε για τον Σωκράτη τον Θαλή, τον Πλάτωνα, τον Αριστοτέλη και τόσους άλλους γίγαντες διαχρονικούς. Δύο Πακιστανοί και ενας Ινδονήσιος είχαν περισσότερες ώρες μάθημα στο σχολείο για τους Έλληνες φιλοσόφους από ότι εμείς οι δύο! Το σημαντικό σημείο εδώ δεν είναι η Ελληνική ταυτότητα αλλά το curriculum στα Κυπριακά σχολεία. Αν συγκρίνει κάποιος τα σχολεία μας με αυτά άλλων ανεπτυγμένων χωρών θα διαπιστώσει εύκολα ότι αντί να διδασκόμαστε κρίση και πως να σκεφτόμαστε, πως να ανακαλύπτουμε πληροφορίες, και πως να ρωτούμε, απλά μας προσφέρεται στεγνή γνώση και η βαθμοί μας αντικατοπτρίζουν την ικανότητα μας να μαθαίνουμε «παπαγαλεία». Ο Έλληνας συγγραφέας Νίκος Δήμου (που εγραψε το βιβλίο «Η δυστυχία του να είσαι Έλληνας») συμφωνει απόλυτα με αυτές τις θέσεις (ή μάλλον εγω με αυτόν).
Οικονομία
Το Dubai και η Συγγαπούρη είναι πιστεύω δύο χώρες πρότυπα (μια χώρα και ένα Εμιράτο για την ακρίβεια), τις οποίες η Κύπρος θα μπορούσε να μιμηθεί με επιτυχία. Αυτό που και οι δύο κατάφεραν είναι να δημιουργήσουν οικονομίες βασισμένες σε υπηρεσίες και στην πληροφορική. Μικρές και οι δύο σε μέγεθος η μια με πλούσιους φυσικούς πόρους προσπαθεί να απεξαρτητοποιηθεί η αλλη χωρίς. Ο κοινός παρονομαστής: και οι δύο το κατάφεραν με ηγέτες που εβλεπαν τους εαυτούς τους σαν Ανώτατους Εκτελεστικούς Διευθυντές (CEOs) εταιριών. Ο Πρόεδρος της Κύπρου με Α.Ε.Π. 18 δις. Δολλαρια Αμερικής μπορει να συγκριθεί με τους CEOs των Sara Lee, Staples, και Whirlpool που έχουν ετήσιες πωλήσεις περίπου 18 δις. Οι δε CEOs των Wal-mart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Chevron, General Electric διευθύνουν ετήσιους προιπολογισμούς απο 200 μεχρι 350 δις. Δολλαριων εταιρίες που είναι 10-20 φορές μεγαλύτερες απο την Κύπρο σε ετήσια παραγωγή. Ενδεδειγμένες επιχειριματολογικές πρακτικές δουλεύουν το ίδιο καλά σε εταιρίες και σε κράτη παρομοίου μεγέθους. Δυστυχώς δεν βλέπω η κυβέρνηση μας να χρησιμοποιεί γνώση και εμπειρία απο τον κόσμο των πολυεθνικών επιχειρήσεων. Ενας καθηγητής οικονομολόγος του Harvard Business School σε ένα από τα σεμινάρια του Harvard στα οποία έλαβα μερος είπε κατι πολύ σοφό. Δύο απο τις χώρες BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) οι οποίες ειναι οι τέσσερεις μεγαλύτερες αναπτυσσόμενες οικονομίες μπορουν να περιγραφούν με εννοιες που γεννηθηκαν στη Ρωσσία απο τον Gorbatschov. Η Ινδία έχει Glasnost και πολύ λίγη Perestroika ενώ η Κίνα εχει Perestroika και πολύ λίγη (η καθόλου) Glasnost. Χρειάζεται πολιτική και οικονομική πρόοδο η Κύπρος μας και η κάθε χώρα του κόσμου για να προσφέρει στους πολίτες της υψηλό βιωτικό επίπεδο. Έχω την εντύπωση ότι στην Κύπρο για όλους τους πολιτικούς στο προσκήνιο έχει πολύ περισσότερη σημασία η πολιτική κατάσταση από ότι η οικονομική. Η γνώμη μου είναι ότι ο κουμμουνισμός στην Ανατολική Ευρώπη απέτυχε κατά πρώτιστο λόγο σαν οικονομικό σύστημα εξ’ου και η Κίνα που στηρίζεται σε πρότυπα ελεύθερης οικονομίας ακόμα προοδεύει. Κατ’επέκταση πιστεύω ότι το Κυπριακό όπως και το Παλαιστινιακό πρόβλημα θα ληθούν ευκολότερα αν δωθεί η απαραίτητη προσοχή και έμφαση στις οικονομίες των δύο πλευρών.
Διεθνής Συνεργασία
Οι σύναψη διαπροσωπικών σχέσεων των μελών της κυβέρνησης σε συνδιασμό με πρωτοβουλείες διεθνούς επιρροής και διαμετρήματος (π.χ. Αλ Γκορ και περιβαλλον) μπορούν να βοηθήσουν στη προβολή του Κυπριακού προβλήματος και της Κύπρου γενικότερα σαν κέντρο υπηρεσιών και τουρισμού. Όσο ωφέλιμες μπορούν να είναι προσωπικές συμπάθειες (Reagan-Gorbatschov) τόσο καταστροφικές μπορούν να είναι οι προσωπικές αντιπάθειες (Μακαριος/Καστρο – Kissinger).
‘Οσον αφορά την Έυρωπη πιστεύω ότι κινούμαστε σαν ήπειρος και σαν χώρα προς την σωστή κατεύθυνση, εντούτοις υπάρχουν μεταξύ άλλων δύο σημαντικά σημεία βελτιωσης:
Α) μείωση της γραφειοκρατίας και της άκρατης σπατάλης π.χ. διερμηνείς
Β) χρειάζεται αύξηση των προσπαθειών για παγκόσμια συνεργασία και λιγότερη εστίαση στο γεγονός οτι η ΕΟΚ ιδρύθηκε για να επιτρέψει στην Ευρώπη να γινει παγκόσμια οικονομική και ίσως στρατιωτική δύναμη.
Ο κάθε Ευρωπαίος ηγέτης έχει καθήκον να καθυσηχάσει τον υπόλοιπο κόσμο όσον αφορά την ατζέντα της Ευρώπης και να βρει τρόπους προσέγγισης με την Αμερίκη, Ασία, Λατινική Αμερική, Αφρική κ.λ.π. με σκοπό την παγκόσμια ένωση (ουτοπία μεν για τώρα αλλά ετσι ξεκίνησαν όλες οι πραγματικά μεγάλες ιδέες).
Περιβάλλον
Αυτό είναι το δυσκολότερο κομμάτι για κάποιο πολιτικό αρχηγό μιας χώρας σαν τη Κύπρο με τόσα προβλήματα για να εστιάση τη προσοχή του (εκτός αν είναι πράσινος). Παρολ’αυτά είναι ίσως το σημαντικότερο θέμα που αντιμετωπίζει η γη και η ανθρωπότητα σήμερα. Ο κάθε ένας από έμας πρέπει να αναπτύξει περιβαλλοντική συνείδηση ΤΩΡΑ αν αυτό δεν έχει συμβεί ακόμα. Το να νοιώσουν τα παιδιά μας ότι το σβήσημο του φωτός βγαίνοντας από ένα δωμάτιο είναι υψήστης σημασίας είναι δουλειά της κυβέρνησης και συγκεκριμμένα του Υπουργού Παδείας. Πόσο ανεπτυγμένη ειναι η ανακύκλωση στη Κύπρο? Υπάρχει νόμος που να λέει οτι όλες οι οικοδομές πρέπει να έχουν ηλιακούς θερμαντήρες νερών και χώρων? Ποιός είναι ο βαθμός ενημέρωσης του Κυπριακού λαού για επιχορηγήσεις πηγών εναλλακτικής ενεργειας? Υπάρχουν επιχορηγήσεις για αιολική ενέργεια, υδροηλεκτρική ενέργεια, ηλιακά κύτταρα, εθανόλη κ.λ.π.? Ποιά είναι η επίδραση το φρακτών στο περιβάλλον? Διαμαρτυρήθηκε η Κύπρος που η ΗΠΑ δεν υπόγραψαν ακόμα την συμφωνία του Κυότο? Υπάρχουν τόσες ερωτήσεις αναπάντητες σ’αυτό το θέμα (δεν αποκλείω να υπάρχουν καλές απαντήσεις για μερικές)....σκεφτήκαμε ποτέ να αφιερώσουμε μια υπουργική θέση εξ’ολοκλήρου στο σημαντικότερο θέμα όλων των εποχών για την διατήρηση του πλανήτη μας?
Θελω να κλεισω την επιστολη αυτη (που κατέλειξε να ειναι πολύ μακρύτερη από οτι λογάριαζα) λέγοντας οτι δεν πιστεύω οτι ένα κόμμα έχει όλες τις σωστές απαντήσεις/θέσεις σε όλα τα θέματα. Πιστεύω ότι ο κάθε πολίτης έχει υποχρέωση να υποστηρίξει τις διάφορες θέσεις με ορθάνοικτα μάτια χωρίς επηρεασμό ως προς το ποιανού κομματος είναι οι θέσεις αυτες. Είναι εντελώς αποδεκτό κατά μένα για ένα πολίτη να αλλάξη το κόμμα που υποστηρίζει εάν δεν συμφωνεί (χωρίς να είναι «ανεμόμυλος») πλέον με την πλειονότητα των θέσεων του. Όπως είναι εντελώς αποδεκτό για κάποιον (όπως εγώ και όπως ο Νίκος Δήμου περιγράφει στο βιβλίο του «Νέοι Έλληνες») να πει : συμφωνώ με το 50% των θεσεων του ΑΚΕΛ, το 25% των θεσεων του ΔΗΚΟ, το 20% των θεσεων του ΔΗΣΥ, το 3% των θεσεων των Πρασίνων κ.λ.π.
Εάν διαβάζεται αυτή τη πρόταση – επιτρέπεται να υποθέσω – ότι διαβάσατε και την υπόλοιπη επιστολή άρα η θεωρία μου για την πάστα από την οπoία είστε καμομένος έχει «εξ’ ημίσεως» επαληθευθεί. Για να επαληθευθεί και το άλλο μισό θα πρέπει να αποδείξετε οτι δέχεστε τη θέση οτι το ΑΚΕΛ δεν μπορεί να είναι σε όλα και πάντα σωστό σαν κόμμα και όταν γίνετε Πρόεδρος της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας (οχι εάν) θα επιτρέψετε σε φωνές απο άλλους πολιτικούς χώρους να υπερισχήσουν αν πιστεύτε οτι έχουν δίκιο.
Με τιμή
Μιχάλης Α. Μιχαήλ
Υ.Σ. Πρόσεξα ότι στις ομιλίες σας προς το κόμμα που είναι δημοσιευμένες στην ιστοσελίδα του κόμματος προσφονείτε το ακροατήριο με «Συντρόφισσες και Συντρόφοι». Η ταπεινή μου γνώμη είναι οτι αυτό μπορεί να ξενίσει μερικούς πολιτες από άλλες τοποθετήσεις και σαν Υποψήφιος Πρόεδρος της Κύπρου ολόκληρης καλό θα ηταν να αντικατασταθει με Κες και Κοι η Φίλες και Φίλοι η Κύπριες και Κύπριοι η ακομα καλύτερα Συμπολίτες.
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