Social Development - Who to target?
Stewart Gebbie
20070106

(Note: the views in this brief are speculative and need to be substantiated)

It seems that many NGOs and similar organisation focus their attention on the
undeveloped and developing world or communities. In this work they generally
strive to improve these communities by moving them towards the life style
enjoyed by the developed world.

However, it is painfully evident that the social, economic and ecological
practices of the developed world are not actually sustainable. Rather, the
collection of these behaviours and the principles that underlie them are
actively destructive to our finite world.

To me, it would seem that there is an urgent need for more organisations that
focus on changing the patterns inherent in the developed world. This sector of
humanity accounts for the largest use of resources, production of waste and
general structural change (beyond population growth) of our world.
Furthermore, it is this sector that currently has the most far reaching
influence and ability to unfortunately perpetuate its values of consumption
and conquest. Thus, it seems that the developed would should be explicitly
targeted for change, and that this should be carried out in tandem with the
ongoing efforts in the undevoloped and developing world.

It is my hope that by directly tackling the behaviours of the developed world
and its inhabitants, that humanity can undergo rapid and positive change that
is beneficial to all sectors of society.