Page 47 - life-in-naples-march-2016

“I believe that sustained
development, the greater
good for a community, and
successful people wanting
others to succeed are all
principles that have made
”southwest Florida
so successful.
This is also true for communities. Having involved citizens who
are interested in the welfare of others, their community and of course
themselves makes for an environment which is measurably better,
more engaged, and much more prosperous. This “virtuous cycle” is,
I believe, exactly what southwest Florida has experienced over the
past nearly four decades that I have been privileged to live and work
here. Ideally, we would like to continue on this positive journey and
not be sidetracked by the negative influences of a few who do not
have the interests of the majority in mind.
Positive motivations can minimize inequalities and maximize
efficiencies, achieve prosperity and create better futures for the
next generations. Conversely, getting it wrong is mostly not about
ignorance or culture—but rather the selfishness of those in power to
extract resources for their own benefit or the benefit of a few select
friends and associates.
This selfishness reveals itself in the political process when there is over a period of time, then the productivity of the region will
an overall dominance of an “elite” coterie. We see examples of these
extremes in political dictatorships, and a prime example is the one
geographically closest to Florida. Although Cuba is rich in natural
beauty with a long history of sophisticated culture, its economic
constraints have frozen the island’s infrastructure in the middle of
the last century.
We can see the profound positive differences when we focus
on the good of the entire society. Assimilation of immigrants for
more than 250 years has helped make America the most prominent
nation in the world in terms of influence. Public education, starting
at the pre-school level, has been and will continue to be a wonderful
way to bring the next generation into the mainstream.
Now more than ever we need strong public education for all. In
America today more than 50 percent of children under age five are
minorities. More than half of Collier County’s public school children
now live in a non-English speaking primary home. A profound
change in demographic patterns? Please think back to your own
ancestry. Unless you are of Native American descent, your parents,
grandparents, or great grandparents crossed some ocean, earned
a living, wanted a better life for their children, contributed to the
political process by voting, and to the government by paying taxes.
Life in Naples | March 2016
By not having a monopoly, avoiding
a single party system, encouraging free
enterprise, enthusiastically embracing
rational approaches to issues of common
interest, and avoiding “sub-optimization,”
we all can have a better and longer
sustainable existence.
Sub-optimization deserves special
explanation. Sub-optimization is a situation
where a process, procedure, or system yields
less than the best possible outcome or output, caused by a lack
of best possible coordination between different components. In
essence, the whole is smaller than the sum of the parts when one
component maximizes its advantage to the detriment of the other
components.
“The Tragedy of the Commons,” is the usual example used in
business schools to illustrate sub-optimization. Sheep herders in
New England shared a common plot of land to graze their sheep.
If one sheep herder allowed his or her sheep to over-graze the
common plot, the grass would die and the other herder’s sheep
would starve. However, if every herder were prudent and allowed
only enough grazing to sustain the sheep and allow the commons
to thrive, everyone in the group would thrive.
This same principle can be applied to Newfoundland fisheries
in terms of not being overfished and thus sustaining productive
commercial fishing. However, if one country maximizes the catch
plummet. Nobel prizes in economics have been awarded as recently
as 15 years ago for explanations about the microeconomics of sub-
optimization. Economic Choices by Daniel L. McFadden is a thesis
explaining this concept in great detail.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2000/
mcfadden-lecture.pdf
I believe that sustained development, the greater good for a
community, and successful people wanting others to succeed are
all principles that have made southwest Florida so successful.
Yes, there are detractors, those whose self-interests exceed the
interests of the many. But in general, when we look back at the
classic leaders in southwest Florida and the names of the families
who created our communities’ common resources—parks, roads,
healthcare systems, religious organizations, cultural institutions—
we see sustained development.
Self-centered, disruptive people or factions can and have
temporarily been influential. But long term, the public will look for
and support those who do the right thing often enough and get the
right result.
The greater good—be it for education, healthcare, public safety
and infrastructure—will ultimately win out over self-directed,
egocentric interests. By all of us staying well-informed, we can
continue to direct our energies to being an example of the best
community in the country –and help everyone live a longer, happier,
and healthier life.
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