Rockefeller Commission on Population and the American Future

https://www.population-security.org/rockefeller/001_population_growth_and_the_american_future.htm#Letter%20of%20Transmittal

EXCERPT:

One of the most serious challenges to human destiny in the last third of this century will be the growth of the population. Whether man’s response to that challenge will be a cause for pride or for despair in the year 2000 will depend very much on what we do today. If we now begin our work in an appropriate manner, and if we continue to devote a considerable amount of attention and energy to this problem, then mankind will be able to surmount this challenge as it has surmounted so many during the long march of civilization.

Richard Nixon

July 18, 1969

NOW CREATING UNPAYABLE DEBT Social Justice Social Equity. post to hot tops. . . .‘The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective’ Launches with $10 Million Commitment to Promoting Inclusive Growth in 10 U.S. Cities – Th…

‘The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective’ Launches with $10 Million Commitment to Promoting Inclusive Growth in 10 U.S. Cities

‘The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective’ Launches with $10 Million Commitment to Promoting Inclusive Growth in 10 U.S. Cities
Commitment will support government, business, faith-based, nonprofit partners in each city with two goals: protecting communities from displacement and eliminating barriers to access capital and credit
NEW YORK | June 16, 2020 – Today, The Rockefeller Foundation announced the launch of The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective (ROC), which aims to catalyze public and private sector investment in places to promote more inclusive growth, both in the post-pandemic recovery and over the long term.
The Rockefeller Foundation has pledged an initial $10 million, which it will allocate to a collective of government, business, faith-based, and non-profit partners in 10 places over several years. In these 10 ROC places, the Foundation will invest in partners, projects, and programs with two core goals: protecting communities from displacement, and eliminating barriers to access capital and credit among low-wage workers and small businesses operated by women, black and Latinx owners.
“Black and Latinx small business owners receive only pennies out of every dollar the federal government lends to small businesses, and when life expectancy is more than 15 years lower in minority neighborhoods than wealthier neighborhoods in the same city, the American Dream is just that: a dream for far too many,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “Now is the time to target resources and spur greater investment in order to widen and fortify the pathway for economic mobility and stability in our communities.”
The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective will include the following 10 places: Atlanta, Ga.; Boston, Mass.; Chicago, Ill.; El Paso, Tex.; Miami Dade County, Fla.; Houston, Tex.; Louisville, Ky.; Newark, N.J.; Norfolk, Va.; and Oakland, Calif.
“The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective is an essential place-based approach to create economic equity for low-wage workers through structural and systemic change in 10 places across the United States,” said Otis Rolley III, Senior Vice President of the U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. “The disproportionate economic toll on communities of color has historically stymied access to opportunity and been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s going to take a collective effort by local government and nonprofits and businesses to meet the moment and undo the racist economic inequities that have plagued these communities for decades.”
Negative or nonexistent credit information, cash constraints, and lack of availability of private capital and access to affordable financing are all components that limit a community’s economic development. These conditions also cause lost job opportunities, restrict housing options, and ultimately limit the goals of many low and middle-income families.
An estimated 26.5 million U.S. adults are not in the formal credit economy. Federal data show that 15% of Black and Hispanic Americans are credit invisible (compared to just 8% of White and Asian Americans). In the U.S., Black and Hispanic businesses receive only 2.5% and 5.8% of funding through the Small Business Administration.
To expand access to capital and credit, The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective will focus on efforts including loans and equity for people of color and women-led businesses, credit-building tools for small businesses, affordable borrowing for entrepreneurs, and capacity building, among others.
“Our team is committed to making places across the United States more equitable, and that starts by directly addressing the needs of millions of low-wage workers and providing a pathway to economic stability,” said Gregory Johnson, Director of Place-Based Innovation for the U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. “This initiative will strengthen our efforts through innovation and collaboration and help dismantle the structures that prevent closing the economic opportunity gap that has limited the potential of so many communities.”
The $10 million commitment behind The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective is part of the Foundation’s comprehensive $65 million investment announced in February to help more than 10 million low-wage workers and their families across the United States meet their basic needs and pursue a more prosperous future.
Local leaders dedicated to promoting inclusive growth for their citizens:
• “This challenging moment in our history demands that we address persistent barriers that deny opportunity and chances for success. The City of Norfolk is extremely grateful for its continued partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation. As a part of the Opportunity Collective, we look forward to confronting chronic disparities in small business lending, taking down barriers to credit for Norfolk’s entrepreneurs and low wage workers, and aiding communities economically impacted by COVID-19.” ─ Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander
• “The Rockefeller Foundation’s generous commitment to working families, women, and minority-owned businesses in the City of Newark will be a significant contribution to Newark’s recovery in the wake of the coronavirus. Many of our residents and small businesses have been severely impacted by this pandemic, so this timely pledge will help enable Newark to regain its economic strength.” ─ Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka
• “We need to move to a new paradigm of community development; we need a new era of community wealth building. Minority residents and businesses in too many American cities have been deliberately left behind and ravaged by years of persistent and systemic racism. It is time to do better and step up to invest. We all need to do more – as government, as business, as individuals, and through philanthropy. I thank The Rockefeller Foundation for this investment and recognizing not only the work we have done but the important work ahead.” ─ Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer
• “Minority-owned businesses are the backbone of our economy, and our county’s long-term growth and resilience depend on their success. We are excited and honored to work with the Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective to create meaningful solutions that ensure working families have the access and support they need to thrive.” ─ Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez
• “With the continued support of the Rockefeller Foundation, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom’s One Atlanta efforts will be a driving force promoting economic mobility and inclusive economic development for all Atlantans. We, Invest Atlanta, are excited to be a partner in the equity vision and an implementer for an affordable, resilient, and equitable city.” ─ Eloisa Klementich, President and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the City of Atlanta’s Economic Development Agency
• “I applaud The Rockefeller Foundation for this important and innovative pledge to our nation’s cities and urban centers during this most critical time. By drawing on the comprehensive resources of our communities, this visionary program will not only provide critical support to our neighborhoods devastated by the COVID-19 crisis, it will also help address the deeper, generational fissures of inequality across our cities. In addition to its own success, my hope is that the ROC will serve as a model for how we can come together to heal the pain that exists in our cities and bring historic systems of racism and injustice to an end once and for all.” ─ Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot
• “Small and local businesses are a crucial part of our community’s success, and we are very grateful to be selected to participate in the Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective. This program will help strengthen our region to allow our local businesses rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.” ─ El Paso Mayor Dee Margo
• “Small businesses help define Oakland’s character, and through the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective, we will further advance our goal of inclusive equitable economic development to ensure all Oaklanders benefit from growth as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Breaking barriers to capital and credit for our most vulnerable business owners of color is an essential step in preserving our diverse merchant base.” ─ Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
• “Houston’s entrepreneurial spirit thrives in our innovators and minority and women-owned small businesses. Historically, many of these groups have not received the support, resources, or financial investment they need to flourish. I am pleased that Houston was selected to be part of The Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective. This will allow us to provide more tools to these deserving Houstonians. We will support their dreams and invest in our collective future.” ─ Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner
• “As we begin a phased reopening of our economy in Boston, it is important to put a concerted focus on lifting up our small businesses who are the lifeblood of our communities, and who we depend on as the backbone of our economy. We are honored to partner with the Rockefeller Foundation on this new initiative that puts equity at the heart of our collective recovery, and that bolsters the important work we do every day in supporting the small businesses that make our neighborhoods and city so special.” ─ Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh
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About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation advances new frontiers of science, data, and innovation to solve global challenges related to health, food, power, and economic mobility. As a science-driven philanthropy focused on building collaborative relationships with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation seeks to inspire and foster large-scale human impact that promotes the well-being of humanity throughout the world by identifying and accelerating breakthrough solutions, ideas, and conversations. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn.

The Rockefeller Foundation’s most recent paper, released on April 21st, ‘National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan: Pragmatic Steps to Reopen Our Workplaces and Our Communities’

National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan

The Rockefeller Foundation’s most recent paper, released on April 21st, ‘National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan: Pragmatic Steps to Reopen Our Workplaces and Our Communities’, in lock step with Bill Gates, the UN and the WHO with the message that the “only way back to normalcy” is with a Covid-19 vaccine, which includes a draconian plan to launch:

“A Covid Community Healthcare Corps so every American can easily get tested with privacy-centric contact tracing; a testing data commons and digital platform to track Covid-19 statuses, resources, and effective treatment protocols across states and be a clearinghouse for data on new technologies…

“At least 100,000 people and perhaps as many as 300,000 must be hired to undertake a vigorous campaign of test administration and contact tracing, and they must be supported by computer systems networked with regional and national viral datasets and as many electronic health records from local hospital systems as can be provided.”

Rockefeller Foundation – Failure of the American dream . . .

Rockefeller Foundation – Failure of the American dream . . .

The Rockefeller Foundation Commits $20 million in COVID-19 Assistance

The COVID19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on the failure of the American dream. … geared towards rapid tracking and predicting the direction of a pandemic and … governments trackhow they are responding and managing their response. … the world is better prepared to respond to future pandemics when they arise.
 

Families Facing Economic Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on the failure of the American dream. Forty percent of Americans lack $400 in savings to address emergencies. Nearly 40 million Americans struggle with food insecurity, with 30 million schoolchildren across the country relying on school meals for sustenance twice a day.

Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development Rockefeller Foundation 2010

The Rockefeller Foundation Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development 2010

An economically unstable and shock-prone world in which governments weaken, criminals thrive, and dangerous innovations emerge.
Rockefeller Plan to Use Bioweapons 
to Impose Martial Law One Quarantine at a Time
E X C E R P T S  –  B E L O W
An economically unstable and shock-prone world in which governments weaken, criminals thrive, and dangerous innovations emerge . . .
An economically depressed world in which individuals and communities develop localized, “makeshift” solutions to a growing set of problems . . .
One important-and novel-component of our strategy toolkit is scenario planning, a process of creating narratives about the future based on factors likely to affect a particular set of challenges and opportunities. We believe that scenario planning has great potential for use in philanthropy to identify unique interventions, simulate and rehearse important decisions that could have profound implications, and highlight previously undiscovered areas of connection and intersection. Most important, by providing a methodological structure that helps us focus on what we don’t know-instead of what we already know-scenario planning allows us to achieve impact more effectively.
The Rockefeller Foundation’s use of scenario planning to explore technology and international development has been both inspired and ambitious. Throughout my 40-plus-year career as a scenario planner, I have worked with many of the world’s leading companies, governments, foundations, and nonprofits-and I know firsthand the power of the approach. Scenario planning is a powerful tool precisely because the future is unpredictable and shaped by many interacting variables.
Finally, a note about what we mean by “technology.” In this report, we use the term to refer to a broad spectrum of tools and methods of organization. Technologies can range from tools for basic survival, such as a treadle pump and basic filtration technologies, to more advanced innovations, such as methods of collecting
and utilizing data in health informatics and novel building materials with real-time environmental sensing capabilities.
The Rockefeller Foundation and GBN began the scenario process by surfacing a host of driving forces that would affect the future of technology and international development. These forces were generated through both secondary research and in-depth interviews with Foundation staff, Foundation grantees, and external experts.
Two uncertainties from a longer list of potential uncertainties that might shape the broader contextual environment of the scenarios, including social, technology, economic, environmental, and political trends.
Bottom-up and top-down. Lower levels of adaptive capacity emerge in the absence of these characteristics and leave populations particularly vulnerable to the disruptive effects of unanticipated shocks.
Once crossed, these axes create a matrix of four very different futures:
LOCK STEP – A world of tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian eadership, with limited innovation and growing citizen pushback
CLEVER TOGETHER – A world in which highly coordinated and successful strategies emerge for addressing both urgent and entrenched worldwide issues
HACK ATTACK – An economically unstable and shock-prone world in which governments weaken, criminals thrive, and dangerous innovations emerge
SMART SCRAMBLE – An economically depressed world in which individuals and communities develop localized, makeshift solutions to a growing set of problems
Each scenario tells a story of how the world, and in particular the developing world, might progress over the next 15 to 20 years.
We now invite you to immerse yourself in each future world and consider four different visions for the evolution of technology and international development to 2030.
Rockefeller Plan to Use Bioweapons to Impose Martial Law One Quarantine at a Time.
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LOCK STEP
A world of tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian leadership, with limited innovation and growing citizen pushback
In 2012, the pandemic that the world had been anticipating for years finally hit. Unlike 2009’s H1N1, this new influenza strain-originating from wild geese-was extremely virulent and deadly. Even the most pandemic-prepared nations were quickly overwhelmed when the virus streaked around the world, infecting nearly 20 percent of the global population and killing 8 million in just seven months, the majority of them healthy young adults. The pandemic also had a deadly effect on economies: international mobility of both people and goods screeched to a halt, debilitating industries like tourism and breaking global supply chains. Even locally, normally bustling shops and office buildings sat empty for months, devoid of both employees and customers.
The pandemic blanketed the planet-though disproportionate numbers died in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, where the virus spread like wildfire in the absence of official containment protocols. But even
in developed countries, containment was a challenge. The United States’s initial policy of “strongly discouraging” citizens from flying proved deadly in its leniency, accelerating the spread of the virus not just within the U.S. but across borders. However, a few countries did fare better-China in particular. The Chinese government’s quick imposition and enforcement of mandatory quarantine for all citizens, as well as its instant and near-hermetic sealing off of all borders, saved millions of lives, stopping the spread of the virus far earlier than in other countries and enabling a swifter post- pandemic recovery.
China’s government was not the only one that took extreme measures to protect its citizens from risk and exposure. During the pandemic, national leaders around the world flexed their authority and imposed airtight rules and restrictions, from the mandatory wearing of face masks to body-temperature checks at the entries to communal spaces like train stations and supermarkets. Even after the pandemic faded, this more authoritarian control and oversight of citizens and their activities stuck and even intensified. In order to protect themselves from the spread of increasingly global problems-from pandemics and transnational terrorism to environmental crises and rising poverty-leaders around the world took a firmer grip on power.
At first, the notion of a more controlled world gained wide acceptance and approval. Citizens willingly gave up some of their sovereignty-and their privacy-to more paternalistic states in exchange for greater safety and stability. Citizens were more tolerant, and even eager, for top-down direction and oversight, and national leaders had more latitude to impose order in the ways they saw fit. In developed countries, this heightened oversight took many forms: biometric IDs for all citizens, for example, and tighter regulation of key industries whose stability was deemed vital to national interests. In many developed countries, enforced cooperation with a suite of new regulations and agreements slowly but steadily restored both order and, importantly, economic growth.
Across the developing world, however, the story was different-and much more variable. Top-down authority took different forms in different countries, hinging largely on the capacity, caliber, and intentions of their leaders.
More authoritarian leadership worked less well-and in some cases tragically-in countries run by irresponsible elites who used their increased power to pursue their own interests at the expense of their citizens.
There were other downsides, as the rise of virulent nationalism created new hazards.
By 2025, people seemed to be growing weary of so much top-down control and letting leaders and authorities make choices for them.
Wherever national interests clashed with individual interests, there was conflict. Sporadic pushback became increasingly organized and coordinated, as disaffected youth and people who had seen their status and opportunities slip away-largely in developing countries-incited civil unrest. In 2026, protestors in Nigeria brought down the government, fed up with the entrenched cronyism and corruption. Even those who liked the greater stability and predictability of this world began to grow uncomfortable and constrained by so many tight rules and by the strictness of national boundaries. The feeling lingered that sooner or later, something would inevitably upset the neat order that the world’s governments had worked so hard to establish. *
“IT IS POSSIBLE TO DISCIPLINE AND CONTROL SOME SOCIETIES FOR SOME TIME, BUT NOT THE WHOLE WORLD ALL THE TIME.” – GK Bhat, TARU Leading Edge, India
_____________________________________________________________
Scenario Narratives LOCK STEP HEADLINES IN LOCK STEP
Quarantine Restricts In-Person Contact; Cellular Networks Overloaded (2013)
Vietnam to Require ‘A Solar Panel
on Every Home’ (2022)
African Leaders Fear Repeat of Nigeria’s 2026 Government Collapse (2028)   5
Intercontinental Trade Hit by Strict Pathogen Controls (2015)
Italy Addresses ‘Immigrant Caregiver’ Gap with Robots (2017)020
Will Africa’s Embrace of Authoritarian Capitalism a la China Continue? (2018)025
Proliferating Trade Networks in Eastern and Southern Africa Strengthen Regional Ties (2023)
 Page 22
Many governments will place severe restrictions on the program areas and geographies that international philanthropies can work in, leading to a narrower and stronger geographic focus or grant-making in their home country only.
Technological innovation in “Lock Step” is largely driven by government and is focused on issues of national security and health and safety. Most technological improvements are created by and for developed countries, shaped by governments’ dual desire to control and to monitor their citizens. 
Technology trends and applications we might see:
  • Scanners using advanced functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology become the norm at airports and other public areas to detect abnormal behavior that may indicate “antisocial intent.”
  • In the aftermath of pandemic scares, smarter packaging for food and beverages is applied first by big companies and producers in a business-to-business environment, and then adopted for individual products and consumers.
  • New diagnostics are developed to detect communicable diseases. The application of health screening also changes; screening becomes a prerequisite for release from a hospital or prison, successfully slowing the spread of many diseases.
  • Tele-presence technologies respond to the demand for less expensive, lower- bandwidth, sophisticated communications systems for populations whose travel is restricted.
  • Driven by protectionism and national security concerns, nations create their own independent, regionally defined IT networks, mimicking China’s firewalls. Governments have varying degrees of success in policing internet traffic, but these efforts nevertheless fracture the “World Wide” Web.
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EXAMPLE:
It was now 2025. Manisha was 27 years old and a manager for the Indian government’s Ganges Purification Initiative (GPI). Until recently, the Ganges was still one of the most polluted rivers in the world, its coliform bacteria levels astronomical due to the frequent disposal of human and animal corpses and of sewage (back in 2010, 89 million liters per day) directly into the river. Dozens of organized attempts to clean the Ganges over the years had failed. In 2009, the World Bank even loaned India $1 billion to support the government’s multi-billion dollar cleanup initiative. But then the pandemic hit, and that funding dried up.
Now in 2020 Many top Indian scientists and engineers had been recruited by the government to develop tools and strategies for cleaning the Ganges in more high-tech ways. Her favorite were the submersible bots that continuously “swam” the river to detect, through sensors, the presence of chemical pathogens. New riverside filtration systems that sucked in dirty river water and spit out far cleaner water were also impressive-especially because on the outside they were designed to look like mini-temples. In fact, that’s why Manisha was at the river today, to oversee the installation of a filtration system located not even 100 feet from where she first stepped into the Ganges as a girl. The water looked so much cleaner now, and recent tests suggested that it might even meet drinkability standards by 2035. Manisha was tempted to kick off her shoe and dip her toe in, but this was a restricted area now-and she, of all people, would never break that law.
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The recession of 2008-10 did not turn into the decades-long global economic slide that many had feared. In fact, quite the opposite: strong global growth returned in force, with the world headed once again toward the demographic
and economic projections forecasted before the downturn. India and China were on track to see their middle classes explode to 1 billion by 2020. Mega-cities like Sao Paulo and Jakarta expanded at a blistering pace as millions poured in from rural areas. Countries raced to industrialize by whatever means necessary; the global marketplace bustled.
But two big problems loomed. First, not all people and places benefited equally from this return to globalized growth: all boats were rising, but some were clearly rising more. Second, those hell-bent on development and expansion largely ignored the very real environmental consequences of their unrestricted growth. Undeniably, the planet’s climate was becoming increasingly unstable.
Sea levels were rising fast, even as countries continued to build-out coastal mega-cities. In 2014, the Hudson River overflowed into New York City during a storm surge, turning the World Trade Center site into a three-foot-deep lake. The image of motorboats navigating through lower Manhattan jarred the world’s most powerful nations into realizing that climate change was not just a developing-world problem. That same year, new measurements showing that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were climbing precipitously created new urgency and pressure for governments (really, for everyone) to do something fast.
International coordination started slowly, then accelerated faster than anyone had imagined. In 2015, a critical mass of middle income and developed countries with strong economic growth publicly committed to leveraging their resources against global-scale problems, beginning with climate change. Together, their governments hashed out plans for monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the short term and improving the absorptive capacity of the natural environment over the long term. In 2017, an international agreement was reached on carbon sequestration (by then, most multinational corporations had a chief carbon officer) and intellectual and financial resources were pooled to build out carbon capture processes that would best support the global ecosystem.
A functioning global cap and trade system was also established.
Worldwide, the pressure to reduce waste and increase efficiency in planet-friendly ways was enormous. New globally coordinated systems for monitoring energy use capacity-including smart grids and bottom-up pattern recognition technologies-were rolled out.
Centralized global oversight and governance structures sprang up, not just for energy use but also for disease and technology standards. Such systems and structures required far greater levels of transparency, which in turn required more tech-enabled data collection, processing, and feedback.
Enormous, benign “surveillance” systems allowed citizens to access data-all publically available-in real time and react.
Nation-states lost some of their power and importance as global architecture strengthened and regional governance structures emerged.
International oversight entities like the UN took on new levels of authority, as did regional systems like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The worldwide spirit.
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“WHAT IS OFTEN SURPRISING ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGIES IS COLLATERAL DAMAGE: THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM THAT YOU CAN CREATE BY SOLVING ANOTHER PROBLEM IS ALWAYS A BIT OF A SURPRISE.” – Michael Free, Program for Appropriate
Technology in Health (PATH)
HACK ATTACK
An economically unstable and shock-prone world in which governments weaken, criminals thrive, and dangerous innovations emerge
  • The cost of capturing data through nanosensors and smart networks falls precipitously. In many developing countries, this leads to a proliferation of new and useful services, including “sousveillance” mechanisms that improve governance and enable more efficient use of government resources.
  • Intelligent electricity, water distribution, and transportation systems develop in urban areas. In these “smart cities,” internet access is seen as a basic right by the late 2010s.
    Technology trends and applications we might see:
    • Advances in low-cost mind-controlled prosthetics aid the 80 percent of global amputees who live in developing countries.
    • Solar power is made vastly more efficient through advances in materials, including polymers and nanoparticles. An effective combination of government subsidies and microfinance means solar is used for everything from desalination for agriculture to wi-fi networks.
    • Flexible and rapid mobile payment systems drive dynamic economic growth in the developing world, while the developed world is hampered by entrenched banking interests and regulation.
      Page 37
      Despite such efforts, the global have/have- not gap grew wider than ever. The very rich still had the financial means to protect themselves; gated communities sprung up from New York to Lagos, providing safe havens surrounded by slums. In 2025, it was de rigueur to build not
      a house but a high-walled fortress, guarded by armed personnel. The wealthy also capitalized on the loose regulatory environment to experiment with advanced medical treatments and other under-the-radar activities.
      Those who couldn’t buy their way out of chaos-which was most people-retreated
      to whatever “safety” they could find. With opportunity frozen and global mobility at a near standstill-no place wanted more people, especially more poor people-it was often a retreat to the familiar: family ties, religious beliefs, or even national allegiance. Trust was afforded to those who guaranteed safety and survival-whether it was a warlord, an evangelical preacher, or a mother. In some places, the collapse of state capacity led to a resurgence of feudalism. In other areas, people managed to create more resilient communities operating as isolated micro versions of formerly large-scale systems. The weakening of national governments also enabled grassroots movements to form and grow, creating rays of hope amid the bleakness. By 2030, the distinction between “developed” and “developing” nations no longer seemed particularly descriptive or relevant. * 
     
Page 18
Think Tanks – Rand etc. operations of death
Debilitating tourism and economies.
National Security Memorandum No. 200
Depopulation
CDC owns Patent on Ebola
Curfews and quarantine.
Page 28
Strong alliances laid the groundwork for more global and participatory attempts to solve big problems.
More effective vaccines improved healthcare.
Pharmaceuticals giants released thousands of drug compounds shown to be effective against diseases like malaria into the public domain
as part of an “open innovation” agenda; they also opened their archives of R&D on neglected diseases deemed not commercially viable, offering seed funding to scientists who wanted to carry the research forward.
There was a push for major innovations in energy and water for the developing world, as those areas were thought to be the key to improving equity.
In many places, traditional social barriers to overcoming poverty grew less relevant as more people gained access to a spectrum of useful technologies-from disposable computers to do- it-yourself (DIY) windmills.
Given the circumstances that forced these new heights of global cooperation and responsibility, it was no surprise that much of the growth
in the developing world was achieved more cleanly and more “greenly.”
In Africa, there was a big push for solar energy, as the physical geography and low population density of much of the continent enabled the proliferation of solar farms. The Desertec initiative to create massive thermal electricity plants to supply both North Africa and, via undersea cable lines, Southern Europe was a huge success.
By 2025, a majority of electricity in the Maghreb was coming from solar, with exports of that power earning valuable foreign currency. The switch to solar created new “sun” jobs, drastically cut CO2 emissions, and earned governments billions annually. India exploited its geography to create similar “solar valleys” while decentralized solar- powered drip irrigation systems became popular in sub-Saharan Africa.
There were still failed states and places with few resources. Moreover, such rapid progress had created new problems. Rising consumption standards unexpectedly ushered in a new set of pressures: the improved food distribution system, for example, generated a food production crisis due to greater demand.
Demand for everything was growing exponentially.
By 2028, despite ongoing efforts to guide “smart growth,” it was becoming clear that the world could not support such rapid growth forever. *
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HEADLINES IN CLEVER TOGETHER
Global Economy Turns the Corner (2011)
Radical U.S. and China Emission Targets Signal New Era in Climate Change Negotiations (2015)
A First: U.S. Solar
Power Cheaper than Coal
(2020) Shortages Loom (2027)
‘Info Cruncher’ Is Grads’ Job of Choice as Data Era Dawns (2016)
Consortium of Foundations Launches Third Green Revolution as Food
Green Infrastructure Reshapes Economic Landscape
(2018)
Transparency International Reports 10th Consecutive Year of Improved Governance (2025)
Technology trends and applications we might see:
  • The cost of capturing data through nanosensors and smart networks falls precipitously. In many developing countries, this leads to a proliferation of new and useful services, including “sousveillance” mechanisms that improve governance and enable more efficient use of government resources.
  • Intelligent electricity, water distribution, and transportation systems develop in urban areas. In these “smart cities,” internet access is seen as a basic right by the late 2010s.
  • A malaria vaccine is developed and deployed broadly-saving millions of lives in the developing world.
  • Advances in low-cost mind-controlled prosthetics aid the 80 percent of global amputees who live in developing countries.
  • Solar power is made vastly more efficient through advances in materials, including polymers and nanoparticles. An effective combination of government subsidies and microfinance means solar is used for everything from desalination for agriculture to wi-fi networks.
  • Flexible and rapid mobile payment systems drive dynamic economic growth in the developing world, while the developed world is hampered by entrenched banking interests and regulations.
  Page 32
Research teams had been working for months to fabricate a new meat product-one that tasted just like beef yet actually contained only 50 percent meat; the remaining half was a combination of synthetic meat, fortified grains, and nano-flavoring.
In cities and villages around the world where children used to be hungry, access to higher-calorie meals had produced alarming increases in the incidence of obesity and diabetes. The demand for meat, in particular, was rising, but adding more animals to the planet created its own set of problems, such as more methane and spiking water demand.
Page 34
HACK ATTACK
An economically unstable and shock-prone
world in which governments weaken, criminals thrive, and dangerous innovations emerge
Devastating shocks like September 11, the Southeast Asian tsunami of 2004, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake had certainly primed the world for sudden disasters. But no one was prepared for a world in which large-scale catastrophes would occur with such breathtaking frequency. The years 2010 to 2020 were dubbed the “doom decade” for good reason: the 2012 Olympic bombing, which killed 13,000, was followed closely by an earthquake in Indonesia killing 40,000, a tsunami that almost wiped out Nicaragua, and the onset of the West China Famine, caused by a once-in-a-millennium drought linked to climate change.
Not surprisingly, this opening series of deadly asynchronous catastrophes (there were more) put enormous pressure on an already overstressed global economy that had entered the decade still in recession. Massive humanitarian relief efforts cost vast sums of money, but the primary sources-from aid agencies to developed-world governments-had run out of funds to offer. Most nation-states could no longer afford their locked-in costs, let alone respond to increased citizen demands for more security, more healthcare coverage, more social programs and services, and more infrastructure repair. In 2014, when mudslides in Lima buried thousands, only minimal help trickled in, prompting the Economist headline: “Is the Planet Finally Bankrupt?”
These dire circumstances forced tough tradeoffs. In 2015, the U.S. reallocated a large share of its defense spending to domestic concerns, pulling out of Afghanistan-where the resurgent Taliban seized power once again. In Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa, more and more nation- states lost control of their public finances, along with the capacity to help their citizens and retain stability and order. Resource scarcities and trade disputes, together with severe economic and climate stresses, pushed many alliances and partnerships to the breaking point; they also sparked proxy wars and low-level conflict in resource-rich parts of the developing world. Nations raised trade barriers in order to protect their domestic sectors against imports and-in the face of global food and resource shortages-to reduce exports of agricultural produce and other commodities.
With government power weakened, order rapidly disintegrating, and safety nets evaporating, violence and crime grew more rampant. Countries with ethnic, religious, or class divisions saw especially sharp spikes in hostility: Naxalite separatists dramatically expanded their guerrilla campaign in East India; Israeli- Palestinian bloodshed escalated; and across Africa, fights over resources erupted along ethnic or tribal lines. Meanwhile, overtaxed militaries and police forces could do little to stop growing communities of criminals and terrorists from gaining power. Technology-enabled gangs and networked criminal enterprises exploited both the weakness of states and the desperation of individuals. With increasing ease, these “global guerillas” moved illicit products through underground channels from poor producer countries to markets in the developed world. Using retired 727s and other rogue aircraft, they crisscrossed the Atlantic, from South America to Africa, transporting cocaine, weapons, and operatives. Drug and gun money became a common recruiting tool for the desperately poor.
Criminal networks also grew highly skilled at counterfeiting licit goods through reverse engineering. Many of these “rip-offs” and copycats were of poor quality or downright dangerous. In the context of weak health systems, corruption, and inattention to standards-either within countries or from global bodies like the World Health Organization-tainted vaccines entered the public health systems of several African countries. In 2021, 600 children in Cote d’Ivoire died from a bogus Hepatitis B vaccine, which paled in comparison to the scandal sparked by mass deaths from a tainted anti-malarial drug years later. The deaths and resulting scandals sharply affected public confidence in vaccine delivery; parents not just in Africa but elsewhere began to avoid vaccinating their children.
Technology hackers were also hard at work. Internet scams and pyramid schemes plagued inboxes. Meanwhile, more sophisticated hackers attempted to take down corporations, government systems, and banks via phishing scams and database information heists, and their many successes generated billions of dollars in losses. Desperate to protect themselves and their intellectual property, the few multinationals still thriving enacted strong, increasingly complex defensive measures. Patent applications skyrocketed and patent thickets proliferated, as companies fought to claim and control even the tiniest innovations. Security measures and screenings tightened.
This “wild west” environment had a profound impact on innovation. The threat of being hacked and the presence of so many thefts and fakes lowered the incentives to create “me first” rather than “me too” technologies. And so many patent thickets made the cross-pollination of ideas and research difficult at best. Blockbuster pharmaceuticals quickly became artifacts of the past, replaced by increased production of generics. Breakthrough innovations still happened in various industries, but they were focused more on technologies that could not be easily replicated or re-engineered. And once created, they were vigorously guarded by their inventors-or even by their nations. In 2022, a biofuel breakthrough in Brazil was protected as a national treasure and used as a bargaining chip in trade with other countries.
Verifying the authenticity of anything was increasingly difficult.
page 37
Recognized seals of safety and approval proved ineffective when even those seals were hacked. The positive effects of the mobile and internet revolutions were tempered by their increasing fragility as scamming and viruses proliferated, preventing these networks from achieving the reliability required to become the backbone of developing economies-or a source of trustworthy information for anybody.
Interestingly, not all of the “hacking” was bad. Genetically modified crops (GMOs) and do-it- yourself (DIY) biotech became backyard and garage activities, producing important advances. In 2017, a network of renegade African scientists who had returned to their home countries after working in Western multinationals unveiled the first of a range of new GMOs that boosted agricultural productivity on the continent.
But despite such efforts, the global have/have- not gap grew wider than ever. The very rich still had the financial means to protect themselves; gated communities sprung up from New York
to Lagos, providing safe havens surrounded by slums. In 2025, it was de rigueur to build not
a house but a high-walled fortress, guarded by armed personnel. The wealthy also capitalized on the loose regulatory environment to experiment with advanced medical treatments and other under-the-radar activities.
Those who couldn’t buy their way out of chaos-which was most people-retreated
to whatever “safety” they could find. With opportunity frozen and global mobility at a near standstill-no place wanted more people, especially more poor people-it was often a retreat to the familiar: family ties, religious beliefs, or even national allegiance. Trust was afforded to those who guaranteed safety and survival-whether it was a warlord, an evangelical preacher, or a mother. In some places, the collapse of state capacity led to a resurgence of feudalism. In other areas, people managed to create more resilient communities operating as isolated micro versions of formerly large-scale systems. The weakening of national governments also enabled grassroots movements to form and grow, creating rays of hope amid the bleakness. By 2030, the distinction between “developed” and “developing” nations no longer seemed particularly descriptive or relevant. *
Page 38
HEADLINES IN HACK ATTACK
Millennium Development Goals Pushed Back to 2020 (2012)
2010
Violence Against Minorities and Immigrants Spikes Across Asia (2014)
Islamic Terror
Networks Thrive in Doctors Without Borders
Latin America Confined Within Borders (2016) (2020)
Warlords Dispense Vital Medicines to Southeast Asian Communities (2028)030
India-Pakistan Water War Rages (2027)015 2020
Congo Death Toll Hits 10,000 in Malaria Drug Scandal (2018)2025
Nations Struggling with Resource Constraints Race to Scale Synthetic Biology (2021)
Page 38
Philanthropy is less about affecting change than about promoting stability and addressing basic survival needs. Philanthropic organizations move to support urgent humanitarian efforts at the grassroots level, doing “guerrilla philanthropy” by identifying the “hackers” and innovators who are catalysts of change in local settings. Yet identifying pro-social entrepreneurs is a challenge, because verification is difficult amid so much scamming and deception.
The operational model in this world is a “fortress model” in which philanthropic organizations coalesce into a strong, single unit to combat fraud and lack of trust. Philanthropies’ biggest assets are their reputation, brand, and legal/financial capacity to ward off threats and attempts at destabilization. They also pursue a less global approach, retreating to doing work in their home countries or a few countries that they know well and perceive as being safe.
Page 39
TECHNOLOGY IN HACK ATTACK
Mounting obstacles to market access and to knowledge creation and sharing slow the pace of technological innovation. Creative repurposing of existing technologies-for good and bad-is widespread, as counterfeiting and IP theft lower incentives for original innovation. In a world of trade disputes and resource scarcities, much effort focuses on finding replacements for what is no longer available. Pervasive insecurity means that tools of aggression and protection-virtual as well as corporeal-are in high demand, as are technologies that will allow hedonistic escapes from the stresses of life.
Technology trends and applications we might see:
  • Echoing the rise of synthetic chemicals in the nineteenth century, synthetic biology, often state-funded, is used to “grow” resources and foodstuffs that have become scarce.
  • New threats like weaponized biological pathogens and destructive botnets dominate public attention, but enduring technologies, like the AK-47, also remain weapons of choice for global guerrillas.
  • The internet is overrun with spam and security threats and becomes strongly associated with illicit activity-especially on “dark webs” where no government can monitor, identify, or restrict activities.
  • Identity-verification technologies become a staple of daily life, with some hitches-a database of retina recordings stolen by hackers in 2017 is used to create numerous false identities still “at large” in the mid-2020s.
  • With the cost of cosmetic surgery dropping, procedures like the lunchtime facelift become routine among emerging middle classes.
Page 40
LIFE IN HACK ATTACK
Trent never thought that his past experience as a government intelligence officer would convert into something…philanthropic. But in a world full of deceit and scamming, his skills at discerning fact from fiction and developing quick yet deep local knowledge were highly prized. For three months now he had been working for a development organization, hired to find out what was happening in the “grey” areas in Botswana-a country that was once praised for its good governance but whose laws and institutions had begun to falter in the last few years, with corruption on the rise. His instructions were simple: focus not on the dysfunctional (which, Trent could see, was everywhere) but rather look through the chaos to see what was actually working. Find local innovations and practices that were smart and good and might be adopted or implemented elsewhere. “Guerrilla philanthropy” was what they called it, a turn of phrase that he liked quite a bit.
His trip into Botswana had been eventful-to put it mildly. On-time flights were rare these days, and the plane got diverted three times because of landing authorization snafus. At the Gaborone airport, it took Trent six hours to clear customs and immigration. The airport was bereft of personnel, and those on duty took their time scrutinizing and re-scrutinizing his visa. Botswana had none of the high-tech biometric scanning checkpoints-technology that could literally see right through you-that most developed nations had in abundance in their airports, along their borders, and in government buildings. Once out of the airport Trent was shocked by how many guns he saw-not just slung on the shoulders of police, but carried by regular people. He even saw a mother with a baby in one arm and an AK-47 in the other. This wasn’t the Botswana he remembered way back when he was stationed here 20 years ago as an embassy employee.
The organization that hired him was probably more right than it realized in calling it guerrilla philanthropy. After many weeks spent chasing down leads in Gaborone, then an unfortunate stint that had him hiking for miles alone through the Kalahari Desert, Trent found himself traveling deep into the Chobe Forest (a nice reprieve, he thought, from inhaling all that sand). One of his informants had told him about a group of smart youngsters who had set up their own biotechnology lab on the banks of the Chobe River, which ran along the forest’s northern boundary. He’d been outfitted with ample funds for grant-making, not the forest bribes he had heard so much about; regardless of what was taking place in the world around him, he was under strict orders to behave ethically. Trent was also careful to cover his tracks to avoid being kidnapped by international crime syndicates-including the Russian mafia and the Chinese triads-that had become very active and influential in Botswana. But he’d made it through, finally, to the lab, which he later learned was under the protection of the local gun lord. As expected, counterfeit vaccines were being manufactured. But so were GMO seeds. And synthetic proteins. And a host of other innovations that the people who hired him would love to know about.
 Page 42
SMART SCRAMBLE
An economically depressed world in which individuals and communities develop localized, makeshift solutions to a growing set of problems
The global recession that started in 2008 did not trail off in 2010 but dragged onward. Vigorous attempts to jumpstart markets and economies didn’t work, or at least not fast enough to reverse the steady downward pull. The combined private and public debt burden hanging over the developed world continued to depress economic activity, both there and in developing countries with economies dependent on exporting to (formerly) rich markets. Without the ability to boost economic activity, many countries saw their debts deepen and civil unrest and crime rates climb. The United States, too, lost much of its presence and credibility on the international stage due to deepening debt, debilitated markets, and a distracted government. This, in turn, led to the fracturing or decoupling of many international collaborations started by or reliant on the U.S.’s continued strength.
Also in trouble was China, where social stability grew more precarious. Depressed economic activity, combined with the ecological consequences of China’s rapid growth, started to take their toll, causing the shaky balance that had held since 1989 to finally break down. With their focus trained on managing the serious political and economic instability at home, the Chinese sharply curtailed their investments in Africa and other parts of the developing world. Indeed, nearly all foreign investment in Africa-as well as formal, institutional flows of aid and other support for the poorest countries-was cut back except in the gravest humanitarian emergencies. Overall, economic stability felt so shaky that the occurrence of a sudden climate shock or other disaster would likely send the world into a tailspin. Luckily, those big shocks didn’t occur, though there was a lingering concern that they could in the future.
Not that anyone had time to think about the future-present challenges were too pressing.
In the developed world, unemployment rates skyrocketed. So did xenophobia, as companies and industries gave the few available jobs to native-born citizens, shunning foreign-born applicants. Great numbers of immigrants who had resettled in the developed world suddenly found that the economic opportunities that had drawn them were now paltry at best. By 2018, London had been drained of immigrants, as they headed back to their home countries, taking their education and skills with them. Reverse migration left holes in the communities of departure-both socially and literally-as stores formerly owned by immigrants stood empty.
And their homelands needed them. Across the developing world and especially in Africa, economic survival was now firmly in local hands. With little help or aid coming through “official” and organized channels-and in the absence of strong trade and foreign currency earnings-most people and communities had no choice but to help themselves and, increasingly, one another. Yet “survival” and “success” varied greatly by location-not just by country, but by city and by community. Communities inside failed states suffered the most, their poor growing still poorer. In many places, the failures of political leadership and the stresses of economic weakness and social conflict stifled the ability of people to rise above their dire circumstances.
Not surprisingly, across much of the developing world the rural-urban divide gaped wider,
as more limited availability and access to resources like IT and trade made survival and self-sufficiency much more challenging for non-urban dwellers. Communications and interactions that formerly served to bridge one family or one village or one student with their counterparts in other places-from emailing to phone calls to web postings-became less reliable. Internet access had not progressed far beyond its 2010 status, in part because the investment dollars needed to build out the necessary infrastructure simply weren’t there. When cellphone towers or fiber optic cables broke down, repairs were often delayed by months or even years. As a result, only people in certain geographies had access to the latest
“THE SPREADING OF IDEAS DEPENDS ON ACCESS TO COMMUNICATION, PEER GROUPS, AND COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE. EVEN IF SOMEONE HAS BLUEPRINTS TO MAKE SOMETHING, THEY MAY NOT HAVE THE MATERIALS OR KNOW- HOW. IN A WORLD SUCH AS THIS, HOW DO YOU CREATE AN ECOSYSTEM OF RESEARCH AMONG THESE COMMUNITIES?”
– Jose Gomez-Marquez, Program Director for the Innovations in International Health initiative (IIH), MIT
communication and internet gadgets, while others became more isolated for lack of such connections.
But there were silver linings. Government capacity improved in more advanced parts of the developing world where economies had already begun to generate a self-sustaining dynamic before the 2008-2010 crisis, such as Indonesia, Rwanda, Turkey, and Vietnam. Areas with good access to natural resources, diverse skill sets, and a stronger set of overlapping institutions did far better than others; so did cities and communities where large numbers of “returnees” helped drive change and improvement. Most innovation in these better-off places involved modifying existing devices and technologies to be more adaptive to a specific context. But people also found or invented new ways-technological and non-technological-to improve their capacity to survive and, in some cases, to raise their overall living standards. In Accra, a returning Ghanaian MIT professor, working with resettled pharma researchers, helped invent a cheap edible vaccine against tuberculosis that dramatically reduced childhood mortality across the continent. In Nairobi, returnees launched a local “vocational education for all” project that proved wildly successful and was soon replicated in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Makeshift, “good enough” technology solutions-addressing everything from water purification and harnessing energy to improved crop yield and disease control-emerged to fill the gaps. Communities grew tighter. Micro- manufacturing, communal gardens, and patchwork energy grids were created at the local level for local purposes. Many communities took on the aura of co-ops, some even launching currencies designed to boost local trade and bring communities closer together.
 Page 46
HEADLINES IN SMART SCRAMBLE
National Medical Labs in Southeast Asia Herald New Diagnostics for Native Diseases
(2013)
Low-Cost Water Purification Device Halves Diarrhea Deaths in India (2015)
Chinese Government Pressured as Protests Spread to 250 Cities (2017)020
‘Returnee’ Innovators Struggle to Expand Sales Beyond Home Markets (2020)
Maker Faire Ghana Partners with ‘Idol’ Franchise to Spotlight Young Innovators (2027)
Famine Haunts Ethiopia-Again (2022)025
VC Spending
Within Sub-Saharan Africa Triples (2025)
Page 46
Philanthropy operations are decentralized; headquarters are less important, and the ability to quickly access different parts of the world and reconfigure teams on short notice is key. Office space is rented by the day or week, not the month or year, because more people are in the field-testing, evaluating, and reporting on myriad pilot projects.
TECHNOLOGY IN SMART SCRAMBLE
Economic and political instability fracture societies in the developed world, resources for technology development diminish, and talented immigrants are forced to return to their countries of origin. As a result, capacity and knowledge are distributed more widely, allowing many small pockets of do-it-yourself innovation to emerge. Low-tech, “good enough” solutions abound, cobbled together with whatever materials and designs can be found. However, the transfer of cutting-edge technology through foreign direct investment is rare. Structural deficiencies in the broader innovation ecosystem – in accessing capital, markets, and a stable internet-and in the proliferation of local standards limit wider growth and development.
Technology trends and applications we might see:
  • Energy technology improvements are geared more toward efficiency-getting more from existing sources of power-than new-generation technologies, though some local improvements in generating and distributing wind and geothermal energy do occur.
  • Breakdowns in the global medicine supply chain accelerate the emergence of locally bioengineered super-strength homeopathic remedies, which replace antibiotics in the dispensaries of many developing-world hospitals.
  • Widespread micro-manufacturing, using 3D printers, enables the fabrication of replacement components for engines and machines, allowing “perpetual maintenance” to compensate for broken trade links.
  • Garden allotments proliferate in mega-cities as new urban-dwellers seek to supplement a scarce food supply and maintain their agricultural heritage.
  • Technically advanced communities use mesh networks to ensure high-speed internet access, but most rural poor remain cut off from access.
    Page 48
    LIFE IN SMART SCRAMBLE
    The beat-up six-seater plane in which Lidi was the lone passenger lurched suddenly. She groaned, grabbed the armrests, and held on as the plane dipped sharply before finally settling into a smooth flight path. Lidi hated small planes. But with very few commercial jets crisscrossing Africa these days, she didn’t have much choice. Lidi – an Eritrean by birth – was a social entrepreneur on a mission that she deemed critical to the future of her home continent, and enduring these plane flights was an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice. Working together with a small team of technologists, Lidi’s goal was to help the good ideas and innovations that were emerging across Africa to spread faster-or, really, spread at all.
    In this, Lidi had her work cut out for her. Accelerating and scaling the impact of local solutions developed for very local markets was far from easy-especially given the patchiness of internet access across Africa and the myopic perspective that was now, in 2025, a widespread phenomenon. She used to worry about how to scale good ideas from continent to continent; these days she’d consider it a great success to extend them 20 miles. And the creative redundancy was shocking! Just last week, in Mali, Lidi had spent time with a farmer whose co-op was developing a drought-resistant cassava. They were extremely proud of their efforts, and for good reason. Lidi didn’t have the heart to tell them that, while their work was indeed brilliant, it had already been done. Several times, in several different places.
    During her many flights, Lidi had spent hours looking out the window, gazing down on the villages and cities below. She wished there were an easier way to let the innovators in those places know that they might not be inventing, but rather independently reinventing, tools, goods, processes, and practices that were already in use. What Africa lacked wasn’t great ideas and talent: both were abundant. The missing piece was finding a way to connect those dots. And that’s why she was back on this rickety plane again and heading to Tunisia. She and her team were now concentrating on promoting mesh networks across Africa, so that places lacking internet access could share nodes, get connected, and maybe even share and scale their best innovations.
    Page 47
    This report is the result of extensive effort and collaboration among Rockefeller Foundation initiative staff, Foundation grantees, and external experts. The Rockefeller Foundation and GBN would like to extend special thanks to all of the individuals who contributed their thoughtfulness and expertise throughout the scenario process. Their enthusiastic participation in interviews, workshops, and the ongoing iteration of the scenarios made this co-creative process more stimulating and engaging that it could ever have been otherwise.
    The Rockefeller Foundation 420 Fifth Ave
    New York, NY 10018
    tel +1 212 869 8500
    fax +1 212 764 3468
    Global Business Network 101 Market Street
    Suite 1000
    San Francisco, CA 94105
    tel +1 415 932 5400 fax +1 415 932 5401

GREEN ENERGY Loans In YOUR TOWN a Rockefeller “Predatory” Property DEBT and Foreclosure Scheme

GREEN ENERGY Loans In YOUR TOWN 

a Rockefeller “Predatory” Property DEBT
and Foreclosure Scheme
 
We have provided an “example” of how YOUR county or city approves these loans on your behalf by attaching the County of Sonoma – Authorization for Third-Party PACE Financing Project in Unincorporated Sonoma County – Please understand this is an “example” of what you WILL find in YOUR city or County.
To participate in the city or county Residential PACE Program, YOUR city or county 
must pass a resolution to opt in.
 
We refer to PACE LOANS here, however, please know there are many Green Energy Loans offered by other Rockefeller/Rothschild Financing lenders, as you will see below.
 
INSIDER COMMENT
 
YOUR CITY or COUNTY “MUST” CONSENT, ON YOUR BEHALF, TO AUTHORIZE THESE LOANS
FOR YOU . . . 
Your cities have “already” adopted Climate Action PLANS requiring YOU to reduce GHG green house gas emissions.  
Each and everyone of us will be “Forced” into upgrading (retrofitting) our homes and businesses with energy efficient wireless appliances IN ORDER TO COMPLY with sustainable energy reduction goals.  
Some examples of retrofit schemes are:
Replace heating and cooling systems – to electric ONLY,
Replace thermostats, 
High energy efficiency window replacements (caution with the windows – some high efficiency windows magnify the sun light, focusing a beam which can cause ignition and fire),
No more incandescent light bulbs (caution LED’s cause many illnesses – see our video “LED Lights – a Silent Weapons Assault”.  
More RETROFIT REQUIREMENTS replace roofs to cool roofs, solar requirements and battery back-up storage (caution with batteries – Lithium Ion Batteries can explode causing fires that are difficult to extinguish).  
These energy loans will assist in paying for electrical work necessary to eliminate natural gas everything, and replace with ALL ELECTRIC.  Natural gas is being eliminated in new and existing buildings.
Retrofits will be required and enforced by code enforcement officers.  Buildings that are NOT retrofitted with energy efficient improvements will be cited and code violations will be issued and violations must be remedied in order to, to purchase, or to finance the greenretrofitting that is required.

PACE Programs finance energy efficiency, water conservation, and seismic strengthening improvements.

According to PACE LITERATURE – WE are eligible to over “90” energy improvements

Energy Efficient ALL Smart Wireless Appliances, kitchen and bathroom faucets that are wireless and connect to your wireless water meters to allocate and reduce your water and electric consumption, remotely.
Other examples of qualifying projects include high efficiency air conditioners and heating systems, windows, cool roofs, insulation, rooftop solar panels and smart irrigation systems, water conservation, artificial turf (look up how artificial turfdegrades and the into a toxic plastic and leaches into the soil and water supplies), drought-tolerant landscaping, drip irrigation, bathroom and kitchen upgrades, to name a few.
 
PACE means Property Assessed Clean Energy
 
ENERGY LOANS ARE THEN CO-ORDINATED THROUGH YOUR TAX ASSESSOR’S OFFICE AND collateralized AGAINST YOUR PROPERTY, HOME OR BUSINESS.
 
These Rockefeller Loans are FUNDING the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Action Plans that require retrofitting of ALL structures, worldwide. (Read the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – read #11 )

__________________________________________________________

From the PACE website:

The Los Angeles County Residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program enables “homeowners” to install energy efficiency, renewable energy and water-saving improvements to their properties without putting any money down! Under PACE, homeowners may work with one of two County-approved program administrators, PACEFUNDING and HERO, to finance these home improvements.

A unique financing tool, PACE allows LA County to issue a bond to a lender, which secures funding for the installation of energy and water efficiency, and renewable energy projects that are permanently fixed to the property. Homeowners then repay financing annually through an assessment on their property tax bill.

PACE financing enhances home values, lowers homeowners’ energy bills, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and creates green jobs.

PACE Program finance energy efficiency, water conservation, and seismic strengthening improvements.

______________________________________

We are told through a competitive solicitation our County or city chose two administrators for energy financing programs to operate its Residential Clean Energy Financing. 

We are told that choosing two administrators for the Clean Energy Financing creates competition and gives homeowners more choices.  Of course, this is NOT true!  All Green Energy Financing schemes, to lower our green house gas emissions, are CONTROLLED by the International Banksters.

So, the bankers enslave us, asset stripe us, and more, by targeting us with directed energy weapons and creating weather warfare.  
The bankers sell weather warfare as climate change. REALLY!  
We are forced to take on MORE debt to finance green energy retrofitting whether YOU want to or not – due to climate change.  
Here is a partial list of PACE Energy Loan Conditions:

NOTE: Clean Energy Financing enhances home values AND triggers a property value INCREASE that you will pay on your annual property tax bill.  Your property will be reassessed after implementing Green Energy REQUIREMENTS.

Understand the conditions under which prepayment penalties are triggered
 

The Pace Energy Loan is billed to you on your property tax bill, on a separate line item. and the holders of PACE bonds have the right to foreclose against the property if your payment fails behind by 60 days.  However, it is unlikely that “one” missed PACE assessment will trigger a judicial foreclosure and threaten the participant with the loss of their home.  

 
Energy Loans allow for people to finance up to 10% of the property value
(Meaning these loans are secured by 90% equity position – a Foreclosures DREAM)
 
Entering into an assessment contract without the consent of an existing lender(s) or mortgage servicer(s) may constitute an event of default under such agreements or security instruments. Defaulting under an existing mortgage agreement or security instrument could have serious consequences to property owners, which could include demand for payment in full or foreclosure.
 
No Income Qualification – possibly creating debt a property owner can NOT afford – and  then the subsequent loss of property through foreclosure.
 
PACE Financing Programs available for commercial offices, apartment buildings, schools, industrial facilities, hotels.
 
Contractors must be registered with either the LA County HERO or PACEFUNDING programs in order to install products eligible for PACE financing. Both LA County HERO and PACEFUNDING have many participating contractors.
The Energy Financing is in first position ABOVE your existing mortgage – A clever Banksters setup.

In July 2010, launch of LA County’s Residential PACE program was put on hold due to concerns raised by the Federal Housing Finance Authority. Now that LA County is launching Residential PACE, do these FHFA concerns still pose an issue? YES . . .

In July 2010, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a statement that PACE programs present safety and soundness concerns to the mortgage portfolios held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The concerns were related directly to the priority lien status of the PACE assessments and the associated right of a PACE bondholder to initiate a foreclosure proceeding for non-payment of the PACE assessment and be first in line to receive any payment resulting from the foreclosure process. Despite these objections, several PACE programs continued to operate throughout the country and have not encountered problems with the FHFA. In response to the FHFA objections, the County has developed the County-wide, County-managed, consumer and lender-friendly residential PACE Program that includes a number of measures to mitigate the potential risks associated with FHFA objections, including a substantial amount of disclosures to property owners on the risks associated with entering into a PACE assessment contract. More information can be found at the following LA County website in the August 12, 2014 and March 3, 2015 Board of Supervisors meetings.

CLIMATE CHANGE is WEATHER WEAPONS and MOST PEOPLE HAVE BEEN THOUGHT CONTROLLED to BELIEVE an ILLUSION . . .  
The Public is Taught Climate Change is Caused by
too Many People Using too Much Stuff!
 
 
Thought Control IS Replacing FACTS  
Understand we are under a worldwide corporate government of occupation.  
Definition of Occupation –
Seizure and control of a country by military forces
using technologies as weapon systems.  
Silent weapon systems are engaged to massively control
and reduce the populations.

__________________________________________________________

 
The following is from the Sonoma County meeting documents:
Our County’s Energy and Sustainability Division (the “Division”) of General Services has been contacted by California Statewide Communities Development

PACE Program to finance energy efficiency, water conservation, and seismic strengthening improvements.

California Statewide Communities Development Authority (CSCDA) and CleanFund will coordinate with the Tax Collector’s Office for the inclusion of the tax levy and repayment for the subject property’s tax bill. 

Our Board established the Sonoma County PACE Financing Marketplace (Marketplace), authorizing two joint powers authorities and their third-party property assessed clean energy (PACE) providers to operate in the unincorporated areas of the County. In 2015 and 2016, your Board authorized two additional joint powers authorities and their third party PACE providers to enter the Marketplace. Board action is required to authorize each new marketplace entrant.

There are many PACE administrators operating throughout the state. Below is a table showing the PACE programs operating in Sonoma County and additional programs operating outside of the County. 

Your County authorizing Multiple actions related to Sonoma County Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing Marketplace, Golden State Finance Authority, and Ygrene Energy Fund.

3/17/2015 – Resolution to add the FigTree Financing PACE program to the Marketplace and authorize the California Enterprise Development Authority to conduct contractual assessment proceedings and levy contractual assessments within the unincorporated territory of the County.

10/21/2014 – Multiple actions to create Sonoma County Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing Marketplace, including the addition of CaliforniaFIRST and HERO PACE financing to the Marketplace; joining the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) JPA; and authorizing WRCOG and the California Statewide Communities Development Authority to accept applications from property owners, conduct contractual assessment proceedings, and levy contractual assessments within the unincorporated territory of the County. 

Listed below are many Green Energy Lenders with financing offered by Rockefeller/Rothschild:  

3rd Party PACE Administrator

Renew Financial    Ygrene    Renovate America     Dividend (formerly Figtree Financing)

PACE Funding    Counterpointe SRE    Clean Fund     Petros PACE Finance     Energy Efficient Equity

Blue Flame Energy Finance LLC     Structured Finance Associates     OnPACE Energy

Twain Financial     Samas Commercial    PACE Equity

PACE Programs – (search for more energy related loans offered in the U.S. by the International Bankers)

Sonoma County Energy Independence Program       CaliforniaFIRST       Ygrene

HERO       Dividend (formerly Figtree Financing)       E3 PACE

BluePACE       Structured Finance 

COUNTY OF
SONOMA

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File #: 2019-1438    Version: 1
Type: Consent Calendar Item Status: Agenda Ready
File created: 10/8/2019 In control: General Services
On agenda: 10/8/2019 Final action:
Title: Authorization for Third-Party PACE Financing Project in Unincorporated Sonoma County
Department or Agency Name(s): General Services
Attachments: 1. Summary.pdf, 2. Att1-Authorization for Third-Party PACE Project-CSCDA Resolution.pdf, 3. Att2-CSCDA JPA Agreement – Sonoma County 1988.pdf, 4. Att3-CSCDA Consumer Protection Policies 2017.pdf
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Definition: Resilience

Definition: Resilience

In the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Programme, resilience is defined as “the ability of a system or organisation to withstand and recover from adversity”.

A resilient organisation is one that is still able to achieve its core objectives in the face of adversity through a combination of measures.

Physical protection may make up an important part of resilience, but it is not the only factor. Resilience is also underpinned by good design of infrastructure networks, effective emergency response, business continuity planning, and recovery arrangements.

In the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Programme, resilience is defined as “the ability of a system or organisation to withstand and recover from adversity”.

A resilient organisation is one that is still able to achieve its core objectives in the face of adversity through a combination of measures.

Physical protection may make up an important part of resilience, but it is not the only factor. Resilience is also underpinned by good design of infrastructure networks, effective emergency response, business continuity planning, and recovery arrangements. 

Carbon Sink – Definition

Carbon Sink – Definition
Healthy forests are carbon sinkspulling in more greenhouse gases than they release during naturaldecay.
areas of vegetation, esp forests, and the phytoplankton-rich seas that absorb the carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels

The ocean, a carbon sink

A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores the atmosphere’s carbon with physical and biological mechanisms. Coal, oil, natural gases, methane hydrate and limestone are all examples of carbon sinks. After long processes and under certain conditions, these sinks have stored carbon for millennia. On the contrary, the use of these resources, considered as fossil, re-injects the carbon they hold into the atmosphere. Nowadays, other carbon sinks come into play: humus storing soils (such as peatlands), some vegetalizing environments (such as forming forests) and of course some biological and physical processes which take place in a marine environment. 

These processes form the well-known « ocean carbon pump ». It is composed of two compartments: a biological pump* which transfers surface carbon towards the seabed via the food web (it is stored there in the long term), and the physical pump* which results from ocean circulation. In the Polar Regions, more dense water flows towards the Deep Sea dragging down dissolved carbon. Actually, in high latitudes water stores CO2 more easily because low temperatures facilitate atmospheric CO2 dissolution (hence the importance of Polar Regions in the carbon cycle). It is difficult to determine the quantity of carbon stored by these mechanisms, but it is estimated that the ocean concentrates 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere. For some scientists, the Deep Sea and its water column may be the largest carbon sink on Earth but its large-scale future is still unknown. Also, with ocean acidification, this process could become less efficient because of a lack of available carbonates*.

When talking about carbon storage, the notion of time is crucial. The biological pump is sensitive to disturbances. Consequently, it can be destabilized and re-emit carbon into the atmosphere.

The physical pump acts on another time-scale. It is less sensitive to disturbances but it is affected on a long-term basis. Once the machine is activated, it will be difficult to stop it. The carbon, transferred to the Deep Sea due to ocean circulation, is temporarily removed from the surface cycle but this process is rather poorly quantified. Also, after a journey of several hundred years, what will this carbon become when these waters resurface?

capture-decran-2016-12-03-a-14-22-22

The biological pump is actually easier to assess. It relies on ecosystems’ good health. In the high seas for instance, the planktonic ecosystem is a major player. All organic materials that reach the bottom participate in the biological pump and when conditions permit it, they also participate in oil formation. Calcium-containing materials such as coccolithophore, a microscopic one-celled alga, participate in subtracting carbon from the natural cycle. When they die, they generate a vertical net flux of carbon. This carbon can then be stored in the Deep Sea for long geological periods. These processes can leave traces. For instance, chalk cliffs are an accumulation of coccolithophores (micro algae covered with plating made of limestone) on the ocean seabed, which have later resurfaced to the continent due to geological movement.

capture-decran-2016-12-03-a-14-22-51

Healthy coastal ecosystems play a mitigation* role against climate change, especially by capturing carbon for their development. For instance, mangroves, seagrass beds and salt marshes are significant carbon sinks. These last three examples, store at least ten times more carbon than continental forests when they develop by capturing carbon in their calcium skeleton. However, these coastal ecosystems cover little surface on a global planet scale. Also, these ecosystems are weakened by coastal urbanization and coastal economic activities. Ecosystem restoration remains a priority to improve storage of carbon excessively released into the atmosphere and requires ambitious policies.

In order to combat climate change, geoengineering* techniques to store CO2 artificially in the ocean carbon sink are under consideration. The scientific community is rather concerned because negative consequences of potential disequilibrium have not been explored yet. However, the concept of carbon sink is very controversial. The carbon cycle is rather complex as it is associated with other cycles which favour global warming. Consequently, storing CO2 also releases steam water, which plays an important part in the greenhouse effect. In addition, because of the increase in greenhouse gas concentration, the water temperature and its acidity are changing. This modifies physical, chemical and biological equilibriums and may affect the ocean pump. All of this data should encourage us to think about the future of marine ecosystems. This uncertainty should encourage us to be more careful and to preserve marine ecosystems.