Lost Without Paradise

I felt what paradise was like, a woman that was apart of my life, the women of my dreams as I felt her and awoke with her through the morning nights. She appeared just as fast as she left, giving me the best moments a man could ever ask for, kisses that never melted away, strong feelings of lust and desire to be with one another, she was troubled, I didn’t dare to ask what was the matter, since me and her in the same room…nothing else mattered. Every morning I awoke to this beauty I could not describe, with the sunlight glowing in her eyes, there wasn’t a word to be said, because she knew what was on my mind, she saw through my eyes and fell into this trance we could not deny. This is bliss, this is happiness, this is my paradise…but one morning her side was cold, she left, a letter at the end of the bed and it read…

”I’m sorry for leaving,
Please don’t be sad,
I love you with all my heart,
If it’s meant to be then we will meet again as time pass,
Or the next life in paradise,
For you are my last and only love,
Dream a dream for me,
I will think of you and our past,
Drinking up the memories as it ages in the glass,
I love you, I will see you in paradise last…”

One man will search all corners of the earths seven seas to find this lost paradise, hidden away from our eyes. Leaving societies materialistic loving world behind, itself being solely dependent on nature to survive without respecting her, the selfish people always craving fame, buying useless mass produced products, eating fast foods with dangerous additives and processed meats and vegetables, oil and everything else I despise, nothing is gained. Independent souls soon get tired of it all. Why stay in a world so obsessed with itself, never caring about anything but power, control, and money? Why work so hard in a world that doesn’t care that you exist? All that trust, all that honesty, all that emotion you wasted just so you can afford to live through those hourly wages with no gratification or vocational time spaces, working more and more, living a life you hate so you can be semi-free shackles in all. Imagine a life with no more taxing, no more bills, no more debt, no more self righteous dedication to a corporation that never gives it’s share to the worlds starving population, we must forget. There must be a revolution of restoration in this nation, never learning to prosper or caring for our future leaders, giving them the proper education to become the leaders we so desperately need for our future. Where is your God now? Why care about a God that creates useless illusions for us to think that he isn’t the evil in disguise? When will the sheep realize? What else is there to do when no one is listening? Searching for paradise may seem preposterous or naive to some, with all the problems and troubles of the world, it’s hard to ever find or help anything you care about. So many issues stopping us from achieving our dreams and goals. Every man always searches for his paradise, whether it be his haven or the paradise lost, he will die searching for the women of his dreams, for the one he loves, he will never stop searching for his lost paradise. Because she got away and he must find her…

No one is ever sadder than the moon

Paradise lost in your eyes, we must dream with our eyes open wide. Forget what you think is important forget time. Focus on being free without regression or totalitarianism controlling your mind and way of life. Live in a world by your rules of none, the ocean shores colliding by, the sad moon gives sympathy to some, let the bright open sky shine inside make you feeling high, forgetting reasons why you wasted all that time in a controlled war driven society, let aggravations fly. Relaxing in a place beyond your complex thinking can interlace, this is truly paradise, the first step on the land of Zion, beyond the horizon is where Utopia lies, beneath your feet breathing in the ocean sea air everything is clear outside the walls you broke down, nothing to ever worry about, nothing policed is near. We can finally breathe, we can finally feel, we can finally fear without the media building it into our ears, mother earth so close we can hear her whisper feeling her tears, we can finally understand what she sees bringing us to our knee’s, oh please mother earth don’t die, please don’t die, we need you to survive, we know they are bleeding you dry, I’m sorry, but we have tried to stop them from leading us to our own demise, the oil drills on your back, cutting your wooden forest souls apart, we must attack! Oppressed citizens will not be confined! We will no longer be subservient to your immoral cries, this ends tonight!

Perpetual Perplex Paradise Paradox

Waking feeling free for the first time, nothing else ever felt so liberating, intense rush of nostalgia but new, no more subliminal advertising, no more waiting. I can’t seem to find her, the long last lust of love I desire, why do I still crave affection and attention, oh why did you ever leave? No matter where I am in the world, she isn’t there, has she really disappeared? These ‘feelings’ feeling so rare. Forms of love, forms of despair, forms of lust, forms of bliss, all I ever dream about is paradise and her lips. All these years, all these thoughts, it was you… You pulled me towards paradise. Don’t you see? You are the one I’ve been searching for. My love, you are paradise. I would give anything to see you again; I thought I lost you, forever lonely. Her name, she never told me, but I always knew from the clues; Paradice – Closer and closer I felt her touch, every island I pass I sensed her soul was near, every gust of wind I heard her whisper so clear. I left the world I lived in behind to find you; you’re the greatest treasure of all time. You’re worth the life long find. The endless journey of unanswered questions, I still can’t escape my own mind, burned images of her suspended in the light, framed on my retina sight so I’d never forget what she looked like, a perpetual ageless memory stuck in the back of my mind. Her complex mind and soul so divine, the time paradox of our souls intertwines, creating a rip in the universal flow, perplexing our minds. I will tear open a hole in space, just so I can see your face one last time so I can rest in peace. This is it…this is how I die.

What people don’t realize about Adam and Eve

Adam made the first ultimate romantic gesture by eating the forbidden fruit to be with Eve, knowing that she was deceived, he ate it to rather die with her than live alone. Adam loved her more than God, his only creator that he forgot. Lucifer freed and opened their eyes to the truth of Gods disguised illusion that eternal life is more enduring than a mortal one. The Gods envy our lives because we are doomed, what is more beautiful than living once in a life of rushing emotions that Gods do not have, not knowing how we’re gonna die or where our souls go. Gods think they know how we feel, but they don’t. Eve was never so grateful for his charming sacrifice, after she slapped him in the face for loosing their paradise now lost, he didn’t feel disgrace, because he told her with the red handprint upon his face she was his true paradise. I will never stop searching, across land and sea; there are no boundaries I cannot reach, no wall I will not climb, no challenges I can’t define. Sky isn’t the only limit, just another part of destiny in the path I precede to realize, just more space for me to roam free. There are things in this world that are beyond my understanding, the reasons why we are driven to do the things we do, reasons of love, reasons that have no meaning behind. Why is it harder to find what that matters most? Are there ever answers to anything? Questions never end, but that’s why we strive to live, that’s what drives us to search at worlds end for where our answers lie. Is there such a thing as a perfect paradise that doesn’t fall in the abyss, forever lost in our imaginative minds? Or did we just make it all up? There’s only one way to find out. I believe we’re all capable of finding our paradise. We have to fight for what we believe in to ever get anywhere in this short mortal life.

Longing for Paradise

Lying dormant beneath the skies, in her I see, the door to my closed dreams
Oceans rise, cities fall, the people survive by allowing themselves to trust, no more worries, no more walls
No more fears built by father; transforming you into the man to lead us all to land
Gardens beneath the sea, lying on the ocean floor, doomed ships rush ashore
Identity no longer a factor anymore, you are born without labels burned on your forehead
No more tears from mother; worried she’ll never hold you again, remember what mother has given you
Gift of kindness and compassion, unconditional love, what else could mankind ever ask for?

Forgetting the Gods of the sea that are in control, protecting the gates of paradise, you are the key you hold
Olokun and Poseidon together keep the oceans at peace, drowning any ship dare to awaken the wrath and
Rage from the Ocean Gods of the sea, Owner of Oceans sees your dreams, Earth-Shaker commands respect of nature

Poetic memories plucked from pleasures of paradise
Awaking by the crashing oceans, beauty in the sky, secrets tucked in her eyes
Revolution on the rise; the people freed from governed good-byes
Allured by her presence, hypnotized by her eyes, content warmth flowing through our skin
Dreaming of her by my side, nothing else matters, I did it all for you…
Islands of paradise, what is more beautiful than living in the dream you always wanted to last
Serenity in the open sea, lying on the sandy beach, our feet side-by-side watching the tide
Electricity fuels the night of lust, temptation always on our minds; you’re the only one I can trust, you’re my paradise

Fears Of A Raped Statue

“Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves” – Shakespeare

La Vérité

This false freedom we live in. This democracy. What is it all about? What are we supposed to feel in this “freedom”? What makes it so special when we haven’t even seen it yet? What makes you think you’ve seen “freedom”? This isn’t it. It’s almost here, but it’s missing a few things; truth is the first thing you must know. The Problem of Truth and the Theory of Truth. Sometimes meaning the truth of reality and the truth of knowledge. I don’t expect everyone to fully understand immediately. That’s why you have to start reading between the lines. Don’t assume to understand what I’m trying to say. First you have to know…“What is true is what is useful.” –Nietzsche

Justice is Blind. Truth is Deaf. Freedom is Myth.

God isn’t American. Deities aren’t owned by anyone. Same goes with freedom. Freedom doesn’t mean “God” or “Religion” or “America”. It doesn’t mean anything with deceit attached to it and isn’t owned by any. It means exactly how you say it and how it should mean. Freedom means nothing without the cost of others fighting and dying for what they thought was the truth in the eyes of justice. Peeking from the blindfold she sees the kind of truth that no one has ever seen. Everything being mostly of Greek, Latin, Italian, English or French influence, this nation is most definitely not a state of origins. There are many mixtures of cultures resonating from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa to North America, all coming to find that “freedom”. Borrowing and mixing different languages of the world, we speak Babel nothing is owned. Then the nations leaders have the arrogance to say and believe that they are the greatest nation in the world and the reason why other countries hate the U.S. is because they don’t have the freedom like U.S. does, because they’re jealous…? Has this nation become a winy pubescent teenager? Like it just found daddy’s old gun and starts to wave it around, starting unnecessary fights and squabbles. Pointless wars and genocides all over the world. U.S. always wanting an oil or money agenda in order to help other countries. The reason why this nation slowly started to work and come together was because of the heavy English influence with English relatives already living here from the beginning. Look at what it has become now. You think our founding fathers would be happy with this nation? How it became such a childish and ignorant race? Too stubborn to give up the delusion that all have fell for and thinking it still matters. The Bible was the one that said slavery was okay. A nation too but-headed to admit that it’s not a perfect country and is not #1, just look at it’s history and the way it is now, it’s not hard to see. No country is number one, and no place ever will be. With the exception of paradise lost, there is no haven. Will this world ever be at peace with one another? Is it too naive to think that it all could be better? Do we have to live in fear and pain to become stronger, to build a better world? What haven’t we seen yet? Where does it all end and when will it all finally begin?

Lady Liberty. Madam Justice. Miss America. Mother Earth. Father Universe. What is ‘Freedom’ to us? Is it even related to anyone?

Mother of Exiles never knew they would ever do this. Have guilt like this. Have pain like this. Have pride like this. Have fear like this. What kind of sick freedom is this, she wonders to her self. Human rights is always restricted by hypocrisy, contradicting with it’s own written laws. What hope is left? The world’s hope is all dried up, making the peoples love sour. What is there for us to dream of? Dreaming becomes the only place to turn to when the American Dream itself turns out to be nothing but living nightmare. What should we be called? Freedom Lovers, Freedom Fascists, Flag Huggers, Self-Righteous Arrogant Pigs, Deniers of Facts, War Hungry, Oil Divers, Deity Believers? How are we so sure that an all-powerful being created us all? Why is that the first thing we think of? Who cares to why we were created, we’re here aren’t we? Maybe there’s something in the water we’re not aware of? Keeping us all in control or out of control. Anti-depressants suppressing feelings. We fall in the cracks of societies decisions, becoming stereotypes of a third-dimension. What is propaganda to you?

What is it that we taste in this nation?

We taste the blood of the ones before us, before cities, before materialism. We taste the tears of a raped statue. Her raped of her freedom, raped of joy, raped of reason. Imprisoned to stand forever, screaming silently. We sit here, constantly watching TV and never wonder why everything in the world is in tyranny. We all wonder why this nation doesn’t feel the way it should. A sad statue standing there, holding the light, knowing the reasons why, seeing the treason’s and yet we still sit here, swatting flies, and not take action to set free her from her plight. She stood there long enough. No one ever wonders why she has no smile on her face, showing grace, but in fact she is disgraced of the human race. No one cares what she feels or how loud her heart pounds out of place, saddened by invisible shackles and tourist staring at her brave stature. She wants freedom just like everyone else. She knows the world isn’t perfect. She wants imperfection. Destruction, creation, restoration and rebirth come from chaos and desire. A statue is a symbol same with the act of destroying it. When you have the courage to destroy something the people think they love, you might break their hearts, but like all heart breaks they all seem to linger in your heart a lot longer and stronger than it did when that something you loved existed. Lying next you, kissing you goodnight, never seeing them again after that midnight. Ridding a symbol doesn’t show hatred or terrorism, merely the act of freedom to do so. Are they really that important? Do we need a symbol to show us the denial of the American Dream or any certainty that the freedom will be taken away? We don’t need statues to remind us that we’re living in a nation of false freedom and hypocrisy. We need actual leaders that will stand up for what is right and give the people the true freedom that they deserve to make everything alright, not sitting behind a marble finished glossy desk being just another puppet politician, then assassinated because he stood for what was right not listening to the lies and spoke with heart of truth and purity. We need a world where hate isn’t so easy. A world where everyone can have the moral rights to do anything they see fit. A world where you can be you. One of the first things a child learns is greed, why is that? Why do we envy so much of others, killing our own kind? We should be working together to make a better world for our children, the next generation of future leaders. Lets try and break that curse, we often talk about doing something, but no one ever does anything. We must break free from the emotions that bring us all down to carry everyone else with them, the depressed downers. Let the governments and regulators collapse into themselves. Lets blow a kiss to the leaders in the sky and remember why that we are only human, we don’t live forever idea’s do. We don’t know everything, if we did, what’s the point in learning? This is the first step you must take before letting him go. You must first let go of her.

How do you set a Sad 123-year-old Statue free?

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” – Emma Lazarus

Dream a dream for me. Your eyes so kind and sweetly pour into mine. They glisten so calmly in the light for everyone to see. You’re so beautiful exploding into my mind all the time. This is how I will remember you. Wiping tears from your cheek, falling into the sea, I will make those tears and fears disappear, no more cries my dear. Good-bye my lady, we will never forget you.

*[Bang!]*

Fragments of a raped statue fall into the tear filled sea,
Her head floating to the bottom of New York harbor,
Oh so fearlessly, Lady Liberty grins with content.
She is now free and so are we.

Indians nurtured it
White men stole it
Mexicans built it
Blacks and Gays fought for it

Where’s the love?
Words eye above
Clinging to lies
Shed all desire
We’re such dogs
American Empire

A land of censorship
A land of credit debt
A land of false truth
A land of arrogance
A land of ignorance
A land of pointless rules
A land of edited history
A land where everyone is a terrorist

Raped Liberty
Spiteful Justice
Corrupt Law
Morbid War
Greedy Men
Bullshit Politics
Scamming Health-Care
Hypocritical Democracy
Spiraling Capitalism
Propaganda filling Media
Brainwashing Religions
Useless Taxes
Mindless Soldiers
Ignored Dangerous Cults

No man owns this land
For it is tainted by the white man
Christians think they own it all
Where does God mention America in the Bible?!
Oh, Lord where do we build the next mall?

Indigenous Gambling Pride
American French Fries
Chinese eating English pies
Nigga of the United States, fuck yeah!
Christian’s and Mormon’s getting high
Spicks building nukes in Shanghai
Jews owning German cars driving by
How do pigs not fall from the sky?
Are these fucking concern’s why?

We don’t need the devils money!
We don’t need God oh holy!
We don’t need human immortality!
We don’t need our wives sensibility!
We don’t need religion controlling any country!
We don’t need oil running our world dry!
We don’t need societies fucking approval!
We don’t need governments, lying!
We don’t need America policing!
We don’t need Myspace exploiting!
We don’t need fascist pigs wearing badges!
We don’t need to worry about useless babbling!

We need death fearing us!
We need all voices revolting!
We need all races together as brothers!
We need a haven place of paradise!
We need a leader not a women beater!
We need this world to be a little greater!
We need not to procrastinate we must fight!
We need freedom to reign all night!

No group or race is better than the other
Why is kindness and love so hard brother?
Non-stop selfishness and prejudices
From white trash hillbilly nonsense’s
No one in this world apparently matters
Only Gods chosen can climb heavens ladders

Learning only sex in schools
Working late for jobs we hate
Paying bills, we haven’t ate
Marriage with no love, its too late
Religion controlling the states
Bombing cities in the name,
Of God for non-believers are shame
When money has gone down the drain,
Everyone goes insane
Killing Gays and Iranian’s is okay
Genocidal oppression happens
Because of religious opinions
The American way!
This is the American Dream!

Once again, where’s the love in this feeble land?
Growing the seed’s we plant, ripped from red mans hand
Do you dare know the truth my young naive lad?

In America you can talk about your freedom
But in other countries, you have to fight for it
What will you fight for when nothing is free?

Crying away the pain
Nothing left to gain
Reliving it all again
NO WAY!
Everything fallen
Governments crawling
The only thing to reclaim
The girl that got away
I’ll turn my back to this country
To save her life, she is my life
All I want is my island
Away from the American way of life
FUCK THAT!
All I want is paradise, only her
Dreaming the bliss of love


It’s time to set this world free
From its chains no on can see

Genocidal undertones
Our fierce mother earth

It’s time to set this nation free
From its overflowing hypocrisy

Do we dare to care in this hateful air?
No we rather succumb to fear living in tears of tyranny

Tears of tyranny
Drowning our society

Why do we bother learning ancient policies?
Religious prophecies isn’t our obligated morality

If that’s what you believe you see on TV
Then how do you know what’s true in reality?

It’s time to set our people free
From the aged tears of tyranny

Government arbitrary
Gets away with everything
Law-abiding citizenry
Gets absolutely nothing

Tears of tyranny
Dwelling in religious absurdity

What can we learn from mans Gods?
Pretending they care of our problems

We will fight till the end
Before the end ends us all
We will light the revolt
Crashing down the walls
Before Big-Mother calls

It’s time to set our children free
Do we really need to blind their curiosity?
From the overbearing parenting

Let them yearn, let them learn
Let them go, let them flow
Let them hear, let them fear
Our children have to know
(The truth can be told)

Tears of tyranny
Children born from fear
Building hate and enemies

Who will wash away the tears of tyranny?
How do we continue as a species?
Mans destruction creation will never end
Government corruption, no more assumption
Damn America’s fateful trend

Tears of tyranny
Crying away all wrongs of the world
From the totalistic oppression’s that we hold

It’s time to set our spirits free
From the pain that clings to our misery

Ugly powerful men
Touching our beautiful women
Lay off the greed and smoke some weed

Tears of tyranny
Lakes filled with insecurity
Suspended beauty

It’s time to set our hearts free
From lovers that make us bleed

Fuck those religious whores
Inside corrupting our lovely earth
Fuck those racist jokes
Nothing can hurt us anymore
Fuck those jealous Gods
No more rape from father Todd
Fuck those government pigs of tyranny
They live because us rebels and taxpayers plead guilty

Sooner or later we’re all asleep
Vulnerable and peaceful
Look at the obeying sheep!

It’s time to let our minds open free
To knew things and kind generosity

Tears of tyranny
It’s all I ever see

Gloomy wilting skies
Gone baby blue eyes
Painful good-byes

Tears of Tyranny
Tears of joyful sighs
When we know our own demise

War will always be the same
No matter what decade
Nothing will ever change

Our eyes are always closed
Blindly deciding who goes to war
Fear of opening, lies may come through

Tears of tyranny
Why can’t we see?

Welcome to voices.whatsyourissue.tv. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

[cross-posted at www.hrcbackstory.org]

Two years ago today, I was sitting around my dorm room with nothing to do. So I did what any other college student does when they have free time. I logged onto YouTube. Among watching the latest music videos and performances, I came across an ad for a video competition called “Film Your Issue.”

The directions were simple enough. “In 2 minutes or less, talk about an issue that’s important to you.” There were a number of categories, including environment, education, poverty, and LGBT issues. It sounded like something completely doable. At the time I wasn’t involved in any kind of activism. I didn’t even participate in my school’s GSA. But I knew I had a story to tell, and here was my avenue to tell it. The next Sunday, I checked out the camera from my school’s communications department, and got to filming. I wrote a poem about the personal struggle with being gay and a Christian. I spoke from the heart about my experiences. The whole thing took under 4 hours, but the effects of it will last forever.

I posted the video on YouTube, and watched as it got hit after hit. I got a call a few weeks later telling me that I was selected to receive the Human Rights Campaign award for my video. Film Your Issue flew me out to LA for the Awards Ceremony, where I met Anastasia Khoo, HRC’s marketing director. Later on that summer she helped get me an internship in the Media Center, which then led to a full-time job, and I’ve been here ever since.

I’m always amazed that when I Google my name, there are tons of websites that link back to my video. I’m grateful to Film Your Issue for the opportunity to be heard. But the most important thing to come from this experience was the conversation it opened with my family and friends. The issues I talked about it my video were so real to me, and I felt them on a daily basis, but I never had the courage to talk openly about them. The video I created was a jumping off point to communicating my passions and fears with those I love. My family was not aware that their inaction and ignorance on certain issues wasn’t just hurting me, but they’re hurting an entire community. Now I have many voices resonating with me when I speak out.

I’ve heard that the worst thing that can happen to a movement is for people to be silent. It’s time to demand equality. It’s time to make our voices heard. This year, Film Your Issue has announced 2 different opportunities. You can submit a video up to 3 minutes in length describing the need for ENDA, a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, immigration reform, or any other matter. FYI is also having their first song competition. Record an original song speaking about any issue and enter through their website. To find out more, visit www.WhatsYourIssue.tv.

The prizes they offer are incredible. The connections you’ll make through it are unmatched. But the message you send is what counts most of all. And it might open doors for you that you’ve never noticed before.

Being a finalist in FYI was a huge honor, my video was no cinematic masterpiece, but I was able to create a simple, yet sincere message about something I care about – the environment.  I hardly knew how to make a video, but I included personal touch, describing how I ride my bike instead of driving everywhere, and the FYI platform allowed my voice/message to be heard.  In trying to inspire others, I inspired myself to want to do more when I became invested in the exact message I wanted to share.

2007 Submission: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpwCAI5cyX8

My interest in social media was building when I discovered FYI, and it was really one of the first times I personally became an activist for something outside of the classroom.  Today, access to social media and the tools to create videos, music, art, & media are available to many.  FYI is a fantastic platform, and what I took away was that I do have a voice that can be heard.  After the competition I dove much deeper into the media industry, I moved to New York and got a job in marketing and advertising to learn more about how to efficiently reach and inspire the masses.

My “issue” 3 years ago was the environment and climate change.  There were some meaningful shifts to take climate change more seriously long before that, but it is definitely still an issue on a global level.  There have been some improvements in cultural thinking, and in infrastructure, but recently it seems to have lost some momentum.  If we don’t continue to demand more of ourselves, it’s hard to demand that our leaders make a similar commitment.  I still try to inspire people to consider their behaviors, and with this years’ natural progression in the FYI competition to ask for ideas on solutions, I am excited to see what people come up with.  I hope to see more innovative solutions to inspire, or concrete ways to sustain the environment!

What Should I Blog About?

A Message from HeathCliff Rothman, founder of What's Your Issue–Film Your Issue

What do you care about? What concerns you? What worries you? Blog about an issue or issues on your mind. Pontificate on a problem. Or vent. If you have an idea, offer a solution.

But Inspire — by taking action and speaking up! Share your heart and mind, your thoughts and ideas.

Issues can be personal, local, regional, national, or global — or you can talk about a program or organization that you want to flag to others.

You can make it short. A few lines. You can make it long, a few paragraphs.

Here is one of the first posts, by Tim Leaton, who describes how FYI impacted his life. He made a film about African orphans, which won our Film Your Issue competition in 2006. It's a call to action for others to participate.

If you're a past WYI/FYI participant — or winner — we'd love it if you would post about what WYI/FYI has meant to you, what you've been doing since you last participated in a WYI/FYI competition, and any changes you've seen in the landscape of your issue(s) since you created your previous WYI/FYI entry.

Create your blog and get started!

Looking back on the history of charity, what we often witness is that
the frequent rush of capital out the door produces few intended
consequences, but rather adverse, damaging effects. The story is
always the same despite all the good intentions of many contemporary
philanthropists. Seeking to lift the poor out of poverty, enthusiastic
engineers and consultants bring millions of dollars packaged as
giveaway aid to developing countries to construct new infrastructure.
Fast-forward 10 years, and you will discover abandoned mills, flooded
croplands-turned-swamps and overall lower standards of living.

Since 1960, the World Bank has spent roughly $1 trillion on giveaway
programs in the developing world, but most of these countries are no
better off today than before. More startling is the $200 billion,
according to research, that has been squandered by corruption. After
almost five decades, it’s clear that most long-term recipients of aid
are still not achieving sustainable development.

Market-based approaches have the potential to nurture when charitable
dollars run out, and they are integral to solving the big problem of
poverty. Business is a powerful way to bring control and precision to
philanthropic solutions that could instill a greater feeling of
independence and choice among people too often regarded as invisible.
In many ways the developing world needs more “patient” capital above
anything else to stimulate its would-be capitalists. Patient
investments have all the discipline of venture capital—demanding a
profit, and therefore precision in how it is deployed—but has a more
socially-conscious bottom line. Rather than the 35 percent return that
venture capitalists typically expect, venture philanthropists look for
the 5 to 10 percent range over an even longer payback period, buoying
portfolios’ return on investment with measurable social impacts.

The Tanzanian manufacturer A to Z Textile Mills is an exemplary
paradigm of what happens when you combine philanthrocapitalism, talent
and innovation. After an initial investment of $325,000, A to Z has
grown to become one of Tanzania’s largest employers, producing over 20
million mosquito nets per year and employing more than 7,000 women.
More incredible are the social benefits from this enterprise. Not only
does it directly lift 7,000 families out of poverty, A to Z also fills
the critical need for affordable nets, one of the most effective means
of preventing the transmission of malaria, for the nearly one million
people in Africa who die every year from the affliction.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Power without love is reckless and
abusive (but) love without power is sentimental and anemic.” We need
to coalesce the power, rigor and discipline of the marketplace with
the compassion innately embodied in charity programs to serve the
underprivileged. In essence, the present philanthropy needs to
transcend itself beyond a traditional mindset for charity in order to
enable those on the receiving end to engage themselves in market
activities. Only through the combination of the praxes of business and
philanthropy can those in need be empowered.