A Billion Minds

"Imagine a billion educated minds, and what they might be capable of. Now imagine those minds belonging to people whose desire for discovery is matched only by their hunger for prosperity -- the kind of hunger that can only be born out of grinding poverty. Picture all those minds growing up and learning in Asia, eastern Europe, South America and Africa. Think about just how different the world will be when those minds turn their attention from the lessons of the past to the possibilities of the future.

Now stop imagining, because that's the world we'll be living in within 30 years."

This is the opening paragraph from an article published in Canada's Maclean's magazine. The article, found today, was published about 5 weeks ago and gets it exactly correct.

It continues:

"This is good news, right? Of course it is. Social justice demands that this process be fostered, even accelerated. The future well-being of the planet might depend on the enormous human potential being unleashed in the Third World. In one of those millions of minds may be the solution to the world's energy crisis, the key that unlocks the secret of sustainable development, or the cure for cancer. But are we in the West really prepared for the implications of this new world? Not by a long shot."

The article outlines how far down this road we already are as a society. Falling competitive indices, slow growth in research and development sectors, the acceleration of progress in many places around the globe.

We don't understand the urgency of many things happening around us. Educators live in classrooms, often far away from global competition and the effects of changes made to global markets. Except for the occasional kid who may have a math tutor in India, these changes are not having much of an effect on our lives so we wonder if its all true. After all, if its not happening to us, are we really certain these changes need to be made or are the nay - sayers, those ready to beat constantly upon the bell of doom just making more noise?

The noise needs to be made and we need to notice. In a discussion today at school with a colleague, we talked about some of the changes we need to focus on. He spoke a lot about money, I spoke about mindset. He talked about challenges, I talked about opportunities. We know "when" we need to make these changes, we know "where" they need to happen. We can point fingers at ourselves for an answer to "who" must be responsible. We struggle with the "how" and the "what." What do we keep? What needs to go? How will we get there?

If you are still needing answer to "why," read the closing paragraph of the article:

"The sooner we all wake up to what's happening the better. Otherwise, we won't have to worry much longer about the decline of our manufacturing sectors. Our grandchildren will be the ones sewing shoes for middle-class yuppies in Thailand, and moving to Beijing to be nannies for the spoiled children of wealthy Chinese industrialists."

If you need another reason not to sleep tonight, read the entire article.