In Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s recent interview on The Charlie Rose PBS show, talk turned to the challenges of the future. High on the list was their concern that an increasing number of people were going to be left behind by today’s global and specialized business market. People who cannot be retrained or re-employed in a traditional way. Buffett felt that how society deals with and supports these people remains a giant question mark?
There may be solutions at hand. You can never discount human ability to deal with adversity and find a way to survive. It might be called "Improvised Self Sufficiency." Much of that survival takes place in what has been called the Underground Economy. Here you will find a patch work of social services and non profits that form a foundation for people. But, that's not the entire story. People share housing, food, transportation and even payment of bills. This market has its own repair team, often individuals working for cash. They keep cars running, fix leaking roofs and sell you the used tire.
More and more displaced workers in the middle class are finding themselves slipping into this world. So it is good to study this market and find ways of making it work better for people.
A combination of governmental, non profit and private enterprises could meet this emerging challenge. Governmental programs need to be vetted, retooling them to work more efficiently for both society and the people served. Fostering Non-profit organizations dedicated to helping people stay self sufficient might fill many gaps. They play an important role, because as hard as some people try to be self supporting, unexpected events (i.e. Medical bills, accidents) require emergency financial help.
Those providing services in the underground market on a cash basis could be helped to form small businesses. The availability of credit on a fair basis (non predatory)needs to be developed. For those who do have a chance to re-enter the work force, greater help with job preparation and finding jobs is needed. Non profits could look for opportunities to expand into business segments. More than 200 of these L3C’s and B Corporations have been formed since 2000. A good example of this is Green City Growers in Cleveland. Affordable housing needs to be woven into the urban landscape. Ways to finance this housing also needs to be expanded. Basic services such as grocery stores need to be lured to low income areas with incentives.
The irony is that this left out market may offer new opportunities for our economy and business. On the one hand, you have a market that is overrun by the likes of dozens of smart phones and other high end products. On the other hand, a market of needs waiting to be met.
