Today’s TED Video made me think. Everybody is talking about water issues these days and that the water supply will diminish. Then some random anybody thinks about the problem and just solves it. And solves it in a smart way. (Btw. for less poisoned water there are even cheaper solutions.)
I think Michael Pritchard treaded the problem differently from what most of the well-intentioned people would do. I guess, maybe I am wrong, that most people would initiate another campaign, found another Ngo and with that trying to get attention for that problem and demanding money from some major institution.
This method to solve problems is pretty time-intensive and has most of the time very little success in really changing something. The biggest success most of the time is that: raising attention. I know that, because I cofounded several small student organisations.
The same goes for the government. If the state tries to solve such problems, most of the time it needs – at least in my opinion – to build something huge, like big canals, dams or digging some major holes in the earth.
I guess what I want to say, is just that: A ngo or a government wouldn’t came up with that simple solution in a hundred years. It is just not how big organizations solve problems.
That all leads me to the conclusion that entrepreneurial spirit and individual creativity combined with knowledge is a force to be reckoned with. There are so many people who just lose their selves in laments like “we are powerless”, “the horror is too much – let the government deal with that questions – we are just average people”. Guess what: Michael Pritchard begs to differ.
p.s. (Universal statements are always wrong including this one)
