Skeptic Project

http://www.worldhungersolved.com

I'm reminded of today, after we had to walk some 10 miles to get a bus pass fixed (Isn't modern wireless bus pass technology wonderful..) with a gammy leg each, we bump into a well meaning charity worker, who asking if we ever heard of her housing charity, I replied yes, when I was last homeless..

'Oh, what did you think of us?' she enquires..

Well, I told her how useless they was, because they don't build housing themselves, they just campaign for someone else to do it..

So this website should really be called:

http://www.worldhungernotsolveduntilsomeonedoessomethingmorethantellotherstofixit.com

On the way home we bumped into one of the regular homeless people begging on the street for food, and pondered to ourselves that when we start earning a bit more money, perhaps we should allocate even just 1% of our disposable income towards giving away food in the streets to actually help people.

I'm really sick of how so many groups left right and centre are not actually helping, but just filling their own paypackets from donations telling everyone else its someone elses job to fix, and not doing it themselves.

Why are TZM members not encouraged by PJ to grow their own food, give away a percentage of surplus, sell the rest and invest it in growing more food, provide housing/etc. (Oh yes, now isn't the right time... we have to wait for what is it, 50 million signed up TZM members before we do that..)

But no, its just to tell you and me that if we shout loud enough, that someone else will do it for us..

Well, sometimes focusing on the bigger picture does make sense. When you can use leverage to increase your result, like spending $10k to get 1000 people to give $100k to your charity, it might be sensible to wait until you have that money together, instead of giving away every spare dollar you earn.

The problem, as with most strategies, lies in the extent to which it is used. When you try to start a movement that will somewhere in the far future turn the planet into a moneyless utopia, the resulting leverage has to be huge and reliable to even justify such measures - nobody would walk 50 miles through the desert to earn the chance to win the lottery, or win a price of 100 bucks.

Unfortunately, TZM is becoming exactly that.

They could install measurable means to attract new members, just like I use measurable marketing and measurable management.

Make two videos to get new people to click a link to the site. Test both.
Make two videos on the site to make people watch a video / read a manifesto after Sign-Up.
Send out weekly reminders to activities members can participate in to keep them active.
Offer challenges and tasks for active members, like digging TZM related articles, writing blogs, making videos, starting lectures, using guerilla marketing. Assign a unique link to every challenge so the traffic can be measured for every week.

With these strategies, you have clear numbers to see how many people join, how much money gets donated and whatever other activities you wanna measure.

If they did that and said "Well, we have 450k members, we need 2million for [Project] and we'll get them by [DATE]", everybody could judge for themselves if that justifies putting time into the movement instead of local charities.

Everything else isn't scientific, it's what nerdy kids do in their free time for fun.

You too can help change the world by doing absolutely nothing!

At least VTV is changing his world by throwing money at it.

Of all the TZM people, he gets my vote for at least asking for money for X to improve his resources. (Though I'd love more transparency as always..)

> They could install measurable means to attract new members

Good points there.

> we need 2million for [Project]

I do wish they would get around to having a project to help focus on. (The sustainable energy project is my current favourite that is still last I heard in the planning stage before it even becomes offical. (If it ever does..))

Though I suppose PJ's film is now becoming slightly a project, though I rather fear any income generated by that will be wasted by TZM folk on handing out more DVD's. (Though something tells me PJ won't be so wasteful of any money he makes from it, as such we might see him buy an appartment instead of renting. (Which at least is a good move, kinda..))

Just like countless homeless charities, any money raised will be wasted as I see it on spreading the word, and not doing things that people actually need, aka housing, jobs/income..

As I reckon building the future is more likely to make it happen than to ask everyone else to do it for you.