Fractal Entrepreneurship

My grandparents lived in a house which had no furniture. Towards the end of their lives they simply used a plain wooden cot to lie on, and a chair or sofa as seats. Their clothes would fit inside a small suitcase. They never knew that something could be thrown away or wasted. Every object that came into our home would get recycled, reused, or upcycled until it simply decided to disintegrate into shreds and then into atoms. Were they living in destitute conditions? Hardly! They chose to be minimalistic, thrifty and frugal. But they were rich! Rich in the mind and soul! Their home was always open to relatives and friends who migrated from villages to the city. My grandpa would silently place some money every day into the pockets of these new migrants until they got a job. All of us grandchildren loved this couple for their deep affection, integrity and sincerity. My oh my! Were they rich!

On the other hand, I have seen with my eyes, folks aspiring to live beyond their means. Many aspire, too, for objects they cannot afford. A poor person would rather eat white rice and sugar than whole grains and natural whole sweeteners. They love taking injections and popping in over the counter pills than trying to rectify their health. They accept death in fifties as the norm. 

Poverty and destitution should probably therefore be studied as follows:

• Are people having a healthy whole food plant based diet?
• Are all family members of reasonable health, even if born with defects or disorders?
• Are they earning enough for taking care of their health, health insurance, skill-based education that would lead to enhanced earning capacities, moderate entertainment to offer succor and peace to the mind?
• Are they sufficiently sheltered and clothed?
• Do their shelters offer them good water, sanitation facilities and light?
• Do their shelters offer them reasonable comfort zones in the micro climate created within their homes?
• Is their environment not polluted beyond tolerable limits such that they do not get affected physically, mentally or spiritually?
• Are they fully aware of the need to lead minimalistic and frugal life?
• Are they having mental practices that keep them protected from stress, anxieties, fear, worry, greed, jealousy and other mental ills? 
• Does the work that they do promote sustainability for the planet and society?
• Are the work and the people working, practising inclusivity?
• Are people aware of their legal rights in society?
• Are they leading an honest life?

If answers are positive, such persons are NOT poor. They may be minimalistic, but they definitely are not poor! I however think that a lot of us in this country are poor as we wont have positive answers to the above. In fact many might be in the state of destitution even if some amongst them have money and materials. It is quite clear that material wealth alone does not indicate prosperity. A balance brought in by minimalism can make societies push poverty and destitution away.

Minimalism and frugality are virtues that seem to have their origin with spiritual and environmental groups. The beauty of such virtues is that they do not leave a trail behind that needs fixing! Singapore is a leading example of removing poverty through frugality and minimalism. Every family ends up saving 40 to 50 per cent of their earnings. A few more countries that weave frugality into their lives are Ireland, Germany, Sweden and Saudi Arabia.

Self reliance on energy seems to be a benefit as can be seen in countries like Saudi Arabia. What might happen once the oil runs out or if wars for oil break the fabric of such countries? 

Other countries like Ireland just decided to encourage their citizens to earn, be thrifty and save. Germany has created enough wealth for its citizens and is focussing on higher values to pursue with savings. 

A lot depends on what countries choose to focus on for spending. Countries spending on military or prisons have a severe drawback. They are never going to be the savers. Countries where population growth is unchecked would also similarly suffer badly. Countries with divided identities would keep having internal turmoils. Frugality can only be upheld by societies that are smart and understand how vulnerable they are. They would then use their smartness to overcome their vulnerability, not only for today or for themselves alone. But farsighted into the future for all.

I love some of the frugal innovations that happen around the world! MittiCool, a mud-based refrigerator working on evaporative cooling principles is one such. The Honeybee Network started and run by Professor Anil Gupta has discovered so many more such frugal innovations. 

In the light of such initiatives taken by a few it does seem but natural to select to be frugal rather than consumeristic, whether you are well-to-do today or poor. Nothing comes out of shooting our own legs by living beyond one’s means in every aspect.

People who are frugal are smart, innovative, concerned about the future of all species and the planet. They understand life without creating unnecessary wastes. They withdraw from being consumeristic and do not develop habits that pay no heed to the welfare of all beings. They are inclusive and do not think of getting into wars and arguments. They adopt non-violent communication methods to resolve differences and to express their positions without violence. They practise emotional intelligence and do not seek instant gratification. They seek utility and efficiency over unreasonable glamour and seek beauty to be expressed from within. They avoid gimmicky traps that will make them consumeristic and seek the company of mature and intellectual people. They defy inexplicable social norms that seek to satisfy herd mentality. They seek to barter, to engage with using sustainable natural resources. They keep abreast of the latest progress in smart thinking and sustainable practices. They share and love open systems.

There is a joke we used to share as children. The story goes like this: a team of scientists wished to invent a writing tool like a pen to write in a low gravity environment like when someone is on the moon. While some scientists wondered about liquids that defied gravity, a simple scientist just said, “Why not use the ordinary pencil?”

The art of getting “more for less for more,” would make frugality a means to remove poverty and destitution for all. I strongly believe that the rich mind is terribly destitute in many ways. I cannot forget the face of a rich lady in a BMW chauffeur-driven car just this morning as I walked up a one kilometre stretch to reach a destination. Her car was coming out of the garage of her palatial home and pausing a bit to take a left turn. I paused on my walk to let her car pass by. She sighed, looking nowhere in particular, then flung her head back on her cushioned seat and looked extremely sad and lonely. I blessed her and wished her well and both of us continued on our journey.

On the other hand the peace my grandparents found in their lives lingers in my heart, making me emulate the same and show by living like they did to others who wish to pause and watch. I know I am contributing to creating assets for the future through Fractal Entrepreneurship. I know that Fractals will bring in Prosperity wherever they spread. 

I would love it if you could share your views about my podcast and share it with those you care for and respect. Do write to me at radha@fractalentrepreneurship.org with your views.

Be blessed.

At a point sometime after the turn of this century, researchers discovered that half of the world’s poorest people received just 1 per cent of the increase in global wealth and just 1 per cent of the richest enjoyed 50 per cent of the same! There are several metrics like these that constantly shock me. 

I read a recent report that states that a lakh of schools in India have just one teacher running each school! Over three fourths of the students do not make it to high schools. My homeschooled children, homeschool theirs and there is a Learning Facilitator for every child! Each child of mine is a Social Entrepreneur.

Everywhere in History, it served a handful of powerful and largely patriarchial folks to have an army of chellas and slaves serving them. The labour class was needed to labour and pander to the needs of a few who held sway over the masses. These poorer human beings did this simply to stay out of hunger. For many years, it appears that the mass serving the rich, was accepted as inevitable! It was only some 200 years back that questions started arising in people’s minds about whether poverty was acceptable as the norm for the masses. Did you know that British industrialists of the 19th century opposed ban on child labour? And that the Indian industrialists ensured that cheap labour got fixed as the norm while they grew exponentially through export-led ventures?

Change did come around in parts with time. The establishment of economic growth which included statistics of an individual’s economic status, brought focus sharply to directions taken up by governments governing the different nations. Both governments and non government groups have taken up to reduce and eradicate poverty. They have achieved progress though curiously we have the same number of people who were poor 200 years ago, even now! Only thing is, then they formed 4/5ths of the population, whereas now they form 1/5th.

Along with the social awakening to the ills of slavery and inequity, realisation that being good to the poor was alone not enough, emerged. The poor had to be massively supported to stay away from being the labour class. 

If you look into the status of poverty in India, you will find that India ranked 3rd in poverty levels, right after Nigeria and Congo a few years back. Much of the reason can be attributed to colonialism and its impact on this big nation. At first India believed that it had a problem of unemployment. To the dismay of researchers, it was soon apparent that 80 per cent of our graduates are unemployable. Skill Development and the impetus given to startups did accelerate economic development. But the actual lifting of masses from abject poverty after the 1960s,  happened thanks to social entrepreneurship.

Whether it was about providing accessibility to basic needs through products or services, or doing so by offering livelihood opportunities, clearly social ventures were pro-poverty alleviation.

Of these I love the ones that offer livelihood options as it is better to teach a person to fish rather than to offer him fish. Though, as a whole foods vegan advocate, I would love to modify it to say, it is better to show a person the way to become prosperous than to offer alms.

India, Nigeria and Malaysia are a few countries that have used Social Entrepreneurship as a tool to alleviate poverty with its impact spreading over 40 to 50 per cent of the poor population.

This is possible because, while purely commercial organisations exploit the poor and gain profit indecently from their labour, social ventures remove or reduce poverty.

A rich person once told me that they too have helped the poor as they have given much alms to their servants. In comparison, The Fractal Entrepreneurship Foundation has helped to lift over a 100 families from poverty and we are still counting…

This is because Fractal Ventures believe in redistribution of wealth and do not hoard profits for only a powerful few, while extracting work out of the poor. 

This is also because Fractal Ventures are conscious of ensuring sustainability, equity and inclusivity throughout their practices. Oftentimes, the horrors of unsustainable resource usage, rights violations of human and other life forms are invisible to the public that promote the growth of commercial ventures, unwittingly. Fractal Ventures on the other hand lay the foundation of their ventures on sustainability, innovation, inclusivity and equity without a doubt. They are Carbon Negative in their operations like many other social ventures.

We all know that those who are poor today aspire to be the nouveau riche of tomorrow. And when they become rich, they, too, would want to emulate the rich of today and turn highly consumeristic. If one has stopped this from happening, alleviation of poverty should happen alongside education or awareness building of sustainability and all other good principles that constantly heal the planet and societies. This is a major portion of what Fractal Ventures do.

The well to do form a miniscule 25 per cent of the population, who however use up 75 to 90 per cent of energy to live out 

their lifestyles. Imagine if all people were well to do…We would probably destroy the planet within a few days! 

Which is why, I feel, poverty alleviation should not be promoted without awareness building about our responsibility towards the planet and its life forms.

This along with conscious redistribution will not make for a messy poverty alleviation program. Otherwise we shall be blaming the poor for becoming rich, like we are blaming the cows today for increased methane emissions in the air! The cows never asked to be multiplied so much!

By conscious redistribution I mean, that earned wealth should be redistributed, while the rich should also lower the consumption of energy. This is to accommodate the rise in energy consumption by the changing poor, however slight it might be. Down To Earth, a respectable group of sustainability journalists, say that the amount of reduction in energy levels should be to the tune of 30 per cent by developing countries! So then, we are talking about awareness building for the rich and the powerful, too. And that can happen only by addressing the needs of the rich through sustainable products and services. That, too, is a direction adopted by the Fractal Ventures.

My dream is to popularise Fractal ventures so much that all businesses then only focus on becoming carbon negative or neutral businesses along with bringing prosperity to all and the planet.

That destiny is in the hands of each one of you who are listening. Do ask me questions so that we can build this more and more. Do share with all you can.

I would love to hear from you if you have thoughts on alleviating poverty through social entrepreneurship. Do write to me at radha@fractalentrepreneurship.org. Be blessed.