How do I make a difference In the world?

For the last 23 years, I have spent countless hours trying to explain to friends and family what it is that I do for a living.  People who know me know that I travel a lot to places they cannot find on a map, but they do not know what I do when I get there, nor understand why I do it, or how I make money doing whatever it is that I do.  Perhaps the following blog will help them and others answer these questions.

What do I do and why is it important?

My job has been an enigma to many people.  When my kids were young their friends would say “well your dad doesn’t work he is just sitting at home typing:” I wish that were true.  While I did have freedom with my time it was/is not unusual to see me “just sitting at home typing” at 1:00 or 2:00 am, when my clients in Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Africa, Eastern Europe or Central Asia are working or working on a deadline for a report or proposal.

What I do for a living and traveling a lot gets friends and families’ attention.  It is always a conversation starter when people ask me what I do and where I have been. If I answer them with an explanation of my work with 20/20DC a short answer seldom satisfies their curiosity.  I inevitably get more questions from them to explain what I do and why I must travel to countries they have never heard of before I mentioned it.

Knowing that I travel a lot and being from Redmond WA, the home of Microsoft and a strong aerospace presences,they often assume that I am in IT or aerospace.  However, when I tell them my focus is agriculture and where the funding comes from for the work that we do at 20/20DC,the questions seem to come quicker and often with a tone of confusion or aggression. When I tell them that it is their tax dollars that pay for our services, or other governments funding programs (UN, International Trade Center (ITC), European Bank of Reconstruction and Development) they often want to know why these governments and agencies care about businesses in the countries where we work that pose little threat or apparent value to our businesses or wellbeing.

They often ask, “why does the US government fund business development efforts that encourage exports from countries to markets where their products compete with US exports?”.  On this issue it seems that the learning curve is steep.  The more I explain the more questions are thrown my way and often in rapid fire before I can answer the first there is a second and third or more in rapid sequence.Questions arise like “why do we give grants, free money, for equipment and training to Paraguayan wood molding producers, when we don’t give this type of grants to US producers?” or “why do we help Uzbekistan grape producers grow better crops and train them to export them when their season is parallel to ours and competes with our products? Aren’t we hurting our own businesses?” and one of my favorites “why do we get them certified for sanitary food production and processing when we are not going to buy from them?”.

The answer is not always easy and the person asking the question must be open minded enough to listen to the answers beyond the initial statement.  I have found that when people do not like what you tell them right off, they don’t listen to the how, why, or reason behind the first statement. 

As a serial entrepreneur and a fan of the general concept of capitalism and the strength of the individual, it is often complicated for me to effectively explain the purpose for our work at the cost of US jobs and exports to people who don’t want to listen or have had no prior exposure to this type of effort.  It has often been asked “why does America borrow money from China to give it to countries that don’t support us at the UN, World Trade Organization (WTO), or other multinational organization…in fact why do we borrow from China to fund the UN or other international efforts that put us further in debt” and “why don’t we give support like that to our businesses, or subsidize their supply chain or build farm to market roads, subsidize investments in electrical grids, solar power systems, and water supply systems for our businesses?”

So, to answer the beating question: “what do we do” here is the answer:

We work in countries that are less economically diverse and stable than the USA, which is most often accompanied by an entire suite of underdeveloped and underfunded social, infrastructure, medical, nutrition, gender equality and political challenges.  By supporting individuals, companies and communities to develop businesses, particularly in international trade, we are helping them to improve their standard of living and that of their community, to meet international sanitation standards on their products and food production, to provide employment through creating economically justified jobs and move them along the chain of a cash economy and expand their engagement in society to produce more than they consumer rather than being a weight on society and consuming more than they produce as an individual, society or country.

The thought process justifying our efforts goes like this: when these countries are stable, when their people are employed, when they have a sound diet, are healthy and their food is safe they will be more likely to be at peace and provide safety to the world, both in terms of political safety and food safety. Strong, just, and economically growing economies have fewer instances of social unrest.  When they do have problems, it is primarily within their own borders and does not spill over on their neighbors (as refugees) or long-lasting economic crisis outside their country.

Covid-19 provides an opportunity to explain

The Covid-19 crisishas given me a great tool to use for helping others understand what I do and why our government fundsmy work in areas that appears to be competition for our own industries and/or have little impact on our society.

Covid-19 has proven to be a great tool in helping people understand the interconnectivityin the world and how something that happens in a place they have never heard of can change their entire life.  Covid-19 appears to have been caused by sanitation and consumption at a wet market (street market) in Wuhan China.  Today there is not one corner of the world that has not had a major negativeimpactby the food sanitation and supply chain of Wuhan China and a system which allowed this disease to enter the human realm.  Our work in food safety helps people understand the importance of simple things as washing their hands prior to handling food or using fresh water to rinse produce before processing it.

We are also involved in some countries as a counterbalance for power to provide a US perspective in countries where Russia and China are wielding their weight to gain support and converts to their systems of government and economics.  These countries are often engaged in the developing world with a primary focus on gaining access to their resources.  I will cover more of this in a later blog. 

How would a philosopher describe what we do?

In the 6^th century BCE, the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is quoted as saying “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  Our philosophy is to “teach him how to sell the fish and he has healthcare for his family and education for his children.”  By adding the last part of to this sound philosophy we complete the concept and provide the individual with choices, to eat fish, trade the fish for beef or vegetables or trade/sell the fish and buy healthcare, education and other necessities and luxuries for their family. 

We teach people how to sell what they produce so that they sell the fish at the best price while providing the buyer with the best value for their purchase.  This is a key principle of free trade, free choice, and a result of the rational consumer. We also help teach people how to do business, which helps them integrate into the global economy and global standards of society and safety.

Where would the world be right now if the Chinese sanitation standards met or exceeded global minimum standards?