Business is the most powerful force shaping the world.  I don’t often use superlatives like ‘biggest,’ ‘best,’ or ‘most powerful,’ because they are usually wrong.  But today I’ll make three assertions, and they will all be superlative.  Although these can’t be definitively proven, there is evidence by the freighter-load to back them up, and it’s headed your way.

Assertions:
1 - Business is the most powerful force shaping the world.
2 - Business is the most powerful force shaping your life.
3 - Your business decisions are the most impactful part of your life.

Assertion # 1: Business is the most powerful force shaping the world.

Perhaps the biggest change in human culture since the advent of agriculture is happening right now - billions of people are moving from rural lands to cities, following the promise of prosperity offered by business.  In Africa and Asia 1 Million people per week are showing up in cities, looking for a future.  As people move off the farms and grazing lands that used to sustain them, they become consumers.  Business’s influence in the world grows with every new family that arrives on the outskirts of a city.

Some of business’s other accomplishments: The percentage of the world population living in extreme poverty has dropped by half since the early 80s.  The average person’s income in the world today is 50x more than it was in the late 1700s, at the kickoff of the Industrial (i.e. Business) Revolution, and that’s adjusted for inflation.  Today there are over 1 billion cars on the roads.  There are over 1 billion computers running Microsoft Windows.  There are over 1 billion people using the Internet.

Maybe bigger, we’re changing the composition of earth’s atmosphere, and the huge majority of that change comes from business - even the gases attributed to cattle are largely from industrial (i.e. business) farms.  With me now?  Let’s move on.

Assertion # 2: Business is the most powerful force shaping your life.

Look around you right now.  How many of the things that you see were made by a business?  …

[Read the rest at http://jamestravels.com]

Business will change the world. This isn’t a pitch or a proposal, this is a fact about the future. I am as sure of this as I am of the sun peeking over the eastern hills come morning.

The last 200 years plot a story of global transformation. Billions of people moved from subsistence farms to cities, where employment and education hold the chance for prosperity and wealth, and services like water and electricity promise comfort. Last year, for the first time in history, more people lived in cities than not, and the move is accelerating. By 2030 it is expected that 5 billion (5,000,000,000) people will live in urban areas and their slums and suburbs.

This is a massive cultural and geopolitical change driven by business, starting with the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and continuing in today’s information revolution. Business is the most dynamic form of organization: self-funding and profitable, facilitating mass employment, bankrolling governments and nonprofits, meeting the needs and desires of a huge portion of the world’s population, and growing faster and larger than government’s ability to oversee it.

Despite the recession, business as an aggregate institution is stronger than it has ever been, with more of the world dependent on its success than ever before. As technology continues to advance and the global economy recovers to growth, business will have an enormous impact on what tomorrow looks like - perhaps a greater impact than any other single factor. This series of articles will investigate business’s influence on the world and on our lives, and the opportunity that we have to sculpt this dominant force in the shape of our common values.

For good or ill or both, business will change the world. What are we going to do about it?

Each Friday we will list 5 companies we would like for you to gather more information on for WikiChoice. This week we are creating the list, but we would love to get your feedback on companies you would like to see in the future. So for now, take a look at the WikiChoice pages of these companies and help us make them better!

• - Preserve Products - makes toothbrushes, razors, and other household items out of recycled plastics.
• - Apple - Apple makes . . . (if you are using the Internet, I think you know)
• - Seventh Generation - makes a variety of goods from paper products to cleaning agents and beyond.
• - Equal Exchange - Equal Exchange sells Fair Trade coffees, teas, chocolates, and snacks.
• -Tom’s of Maine - Tom’s of Maine makes soap, deodorant, and other personal care products.

Also, suggest your favorite company in the comments for next week’s list!

If you haven’t seen it yet, watch this video by Radiohead called ‘All I Need’

The story is both simple and powerful. Two children on different sides of the world have two very different realities. The story on the left side of the screen focuses on a child waking up, eating breakfast and going to school. Just a normal day for him. On the right side of the screen is a child going through his daily routine, but it is much different. His reality is confined to the shoe factory he is working in. He eats, sleeps, and makes shoes. Their lives come together near then end of the video when you see that the boy in the shoe factory is making the shoes the other boy is wearing. The video ends with the statement ‘some things cost more than your realise‘. The video fades out while focusing on a globe.

As the video ended I had chills, not because I was shocked by the connection the video made between consumer goods and child labor, but by how routine the lives of both children were. Their lives are  interconnected, however they are likely unaware of their connection. This unrealized connection happens to all of us each day. Nearly ever aspect of my routine is connected to the lives of others I have never known. From the clothes I am wearing to the chair I am sitting in and the computer I am typing on. I can’t imagine how many hands have touched the products I buy before I get them, but I know that every product and every hand that has contributed to it has a story. Here at WikiChoice we want to help tell those stories. We want to help everyone realize the true cost of all our purchases.

If you want to tell the story of a product, sign up here and go for it!

Click here to find out more about MTV’s Exit Campaign

Thanks for joining us to get WikiChoice rocking!  FYI, WikiChoice is being organized as a self-sustaining (and eventually profitable) Social Business, rather than a non-profit. We appreciate your donations as we get it jump started!  There are two ways to donate:

1)  Donate directly thru PayPal.  Click the button below and it will allow you to make a PayPal transfer to my PayPal account.  These donations will not be tax deductible, so if you’d like a tax receipt, please use option 2!

2) Donate thru the Ecclesia Collective nonprofit, which will receive checks and provide tax receipts on our behalf.  If you would like a deduction or prefer to write a check, this is the best way to go.  Make checks payable to “Ecclesia Collective” and write “WikiChoice” in the notes.  Send the checks to me at the address below, I will log them and pass them on to the Ecclesia Collective.

Attn: James Pearson

San Diego, CA 92104

If you have any question, ideas, or would like more info, please contact me: james@wikichoice.com

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Hello World!  Welcome to the new WikiChoice blog.  If you’re reading this, it means that you are part of the WikiChoice inner-circle, the pioneers that are helping develop WikiChoice into a world changing online tool.  (Or you could have just stumbled upon us, in which case, you’re welcome to join the team.)

We’re hard at work building the technological and organizational foundations for WikiChoice, and one thing that’s missing is A Great Tagline!

In the spirit of community that WikiChoice loves, we want to use our first blog post to ask YOU, the community, the heart of this project, to give us your best ideas!  Keep them short, inspirational, and focussed on the WikiChoice mission.  You can leave them as comments here, or send them to us on twitter.

The winner gets free WikiChoice services for life!  Of course, so does everyone who doesn’t win, but that doesn’t negate the value!  Everyone who submits will have our deep appreciation for taking the time and creativity to invest in WikiChoice.

Now go wild!