In his commencement address to Harvard earlier this month, Bill Gates said many things about the need for the compassionate and informed involvement of the developed West in treating the diseases and health concerns that worst affect those in the developing South.
I consider Bill Gates an enlightened and genuinely concerned man, and his speech did not change that opinion. Mr. Gates laid out specific goals that must be met in order for these concerns to take center stage. One of his arguments was that we need to create a system where capitalism is used as a tool and motivation for development. In essence, it is necessary to create a system where development and the curing of the ills of the South are profitable to entrepreneurs in the West. (Read the text of his speech HERE)
The same argument has been made for more concern for the environment in this country; until it becomes profitable to do so, few people will actually take notice. In one case here in Washington, DC, that has proved true. One of my colleagues, along with thousands of other people, commutes 30 miles or more from northern Virginia to work in downtown DC every day. However, he has found a creative, profitable, and ecologically conscious approach to the problem; he hitches.
The HOV3 lanes on Interstate 395 can reduce the commute from northern Virginia from two hours to 40 minutes, but few people were able to gather three people together in order to take advantage of this time benefit. At some point, driving commuters got the wise idea to start driving by the bus stop on their way to work to see if they could gather enough commuters to take the fast track. The offer worked both ways: the driver paid the gas and provided the car, and in turn he cut over an hour off the drive. The bus riders got a free ride.
Needless to say, the idea caught on, and soon there was a line of cars at the bus stop poaching customers. Not long after that, the idea had spread to other locations and parking lots were getting overloaded with cars. The county eventually recognized the need and created massive parking lots to accommodate this new type of commuter.
It sounds like the realization of a pipe dream, but as my coworker describes it, the system works quite well. At this point it has become so institutionalized that there are various pick-up and drop-off points and rules of the road. For example, conversation should be limited and should not include religion, politics or other controversial topics. There is a known time window for incoming and outgoing transport, and only once has my coworker been unable to arrange a ride. When he drives in, he participates on the other side, picking up the next two or three people in line.
Now if we can just convince people to toss out those halogen bulbs and use compact fluorescents, we'll be in a much better place.
Flown by Mark Mislivec at 11:48 AM on June 27, 2007
