Billions of dollars initially released to create change at the bottom of a socioeconomic pyrmiad are literally wasted each year due to the game of "Scrabble Babble".
Scrabble Babble is the game where people write numerous buzz words on scrabble like tiles. They then throw them up in the air, and whatever order they land in they create a new event, NGO, conference, or study purposed to keep them in, or get them in, the flow of capital aimed at solving a problem. The image shows climate buzz words but there are versions of the game for all of the UN SDGs.
Even though we are fully aware that self-referential, echo-chamber style meetings and the production of study after study are not the solutions, this practice continues because there is a Tsunami of capital aimed at change, and numerous "change makers", "saviors", and NGOs want their piece of it.
This diagram was produced to summarize the research done by graduate students of mine at CofC. It clearly shows the choke points that have been and continue to hide in plain sight.
This diagram shows the reality of what is happening, not what numerous "change makers", "saviors", or NGOs want us to see.
This diagram shows us what we need because if we provide those at the bottom with access to the capitals they need, they will solve their own problems!
This PDF is a chapter form an upcoming book called "Pimping Poverty" which focuses on this very problem and covers the necessity for access. Even the preface of the book has resulted in our family receiving over 1,000 hate emails from NGOs, Change Makers, and "Saviors".
Until we stop playing "Scrabble Babble" and start proving real access, we will never create a sustainable future.