Huang Family Newsletter, September 2008

[This monthly update used to be sent out via Topica.com but has now
been consolidated here.]

WORK - Amy's applying for jobs and studying for her boards. Lee's
still juggling 10+ projects at work, including a gig with the US
Virgin Islands, where he spent a week meeting with public and private
sector leaders. Lee's also trying to stay on top of his church
responsibilities as elder and personnel team coordinator, and did some
dialing for dollars for a fundraiser for the non-profit he's on the
board of.

PLAY - Amy and the kids came along to St. Thomas, and had beach fun
while Lee worked; and then we stayed the weekend and took the ferry to
St. John. We also had fun at our church's fall retreat. When they
weren't out and about, Aaron got in hugs and kisses with Amy and tried
in vain to commandeer whatever toy Jada was playing with, while Jada
watched Schoolhouse Rock and worked on her counting and spelling.

huangkids.cjb.net
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leehuang.cjb.net

THE VERY BEST INTENTIONS

If there’s anyone who would be focused on the bottom line, it’s the CFO. Which is why I appreciated CFO Magazine’s generally enlightened take on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here’s a nice reminder from this month’s issue about how to really do good while doing well: “Best Intentions.” This is the kind of CSR I like: not at the expense of profitability; not afraid to be profitable or even coolly self-interested; and, in a world that desperately needs the power of business to be leveraged for social and environmental good, no longer a non-required option if you want to grow a company that is truly profitable over the long run.

This is what I have been hoping for in terms of the direction business heads: a matching of long-term shareholder value with sustainability in community impact, environmental impact, and social impact. These now no longer need to be at odds with each other, but can be seen as mutually inclusive: there is no way to build a business that is financially sustainable except that one accounts for communal, environmental, and social sustainability.

Note, for example, Business Week’s cover story on “innovation economics,” which paired an article on what the US needs to do to stay competitive with an article on how weapons labs like Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore are helping companies like Procter & Gamble and Goodyear to build products and packaging not derived from petroleum-based materials. In other words, our best minds are at work to figure out how to transform our business practices so that they are innovative to compete in a global market, profitable to generate returns to shareholders, and sensitive to environmental realities in a post-“Peak Oil” age. Let’s hope for more of this.

PS On that note, here’s a delicious quote from Tom Friedman’s new book, “How, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need A Green Revolution – And How It Can Renew America”: “There is only one thing bigger than Mother Nature and that is Father Profit, and we have not even begun to enlist him in this struggle.” I demur – the God of Creation has the trump card on both – but this is not inconsistent with my overall premise: that we who believe in such a God can and must align our charge to safeguard creation and do justice for our fellow man with an ability to create long-term shareholder value.

URBAN RUNS, MAPPED

Apropos to nothing, I found a great urban run mapping tool at Runners' World's website. The only bad news is that, all this time, I've overestimated the mileage on two of my regular routes! (I guess I'll now have to circle my block a couple of times to get to the number of miles I previously thought I had been running.)

I haven't made my routes public because they all originate from my home address, but if you're curious, send me a note and I'll try to share them. I'm also looking forward to peeking in on others' routes, both here in Philly and in other cities where I get to run around.

It was inevitable that an app like this would be well-received by someone like me, who likes cities, running, and maps. Still, the delight I took in finding and then utilizing it was probably a little on the creepy side. Although I suppose there are more sketchy people that you could bump into on city streets than we who like to run on them and then log the route onto our computers.

WATER WASTE

As a follow-up to my post earlier this month about water, here's an article from the Economist about the world's water shortage: "Running Dry."

Here's a depressing statistic: farming accounts for 70 percent of human water consumption, and as much as 70 percent of water used by farmers never gets to crops (leaky irrigation channels, draining into rivers). That means almost half the water we have to work with is squandered!

A more appropriate price for water would encourage drip irrigation, water conservation methods, and other rational behaviors. As it is, we're treating water as if we can waste it, so it might seem like it's a good thing that we don't have to pay for it, but somebody's going to pay.

HIGH GAS PRICES - STILL RIGHT, STILL POLITICAL SUICIDE

You know this already, but high gas prices as an energy policy is over a generation old: "Sense and Reality on Energy." Unfortunately, it's still political suicide. This is going to be a hard addiction to kick.

Value Proposition in Virgin Paradise

I recently returned from a consulting gig in the US Virgin Islands -
no, really - and the assignment was a fascinating exercise in the
importance of value proposition. It's an entrepreneurship term but
with economic roots: value proposition basically means that you are
offering some unique, better thing to the marketplace of people making
choices. The main consumer places like the US Virgin Islands tend to
think about are tourists, are rightly so, as island economies tend to
be heavily tourism-oriented.

And it is an appropriate customer to consider, and the USVI is trying
to do what any tourist destination is trying to do: maximize the
tourist experience so that as many tourists come, have as good a time
as possible, and tell as many people as possible. And there are
tangible things you can do to make that work for you: promote more
aggressively to potential vacationers, enact laws to minimize things
that aggravate tourists (like pushy cabbies or shopkeepers), and
invest in infrastructure that enhances the tourist experience
(sidewalks, ferries).

Of course, the reason why tourism is big business in a place like the
USVI is that it is one of the Territory's unique assets. You can't
sell a tropical vacation to Kansas City, after all. Hence, though it
is right for the local economy to consider ways to diversify out of
tourism (since tourism is such a cyclical industry and is vulnerable
to national and global economic downturns), it is also right for the
local economy to continue to invest in tourism efforts (since it's the
best thing it can offer that no one else can offer).

Another locational value proposition question we are tasked with is
selling the USVI to businesses which are looking for new sites to
locate. In an increasingly global business order, anything from hedge
funds to rum refinery plants can be located anywhere, and where these
things get sited depends on the various value propositions of the
places being considered. So we spent a fair amount of time talking to
local public and private sector folks about the various strengths and
weaknesses of the USVI as a place to do business, from which we will
be helping the Territorial government craft a marketing message to
businesses looking for locations that the USVI is perfect for them.

That's all I can say at this point, but I hope I've conveyed the
importance of determining and marketing one's unique value
propositions. We think about this all the time in Philadelphia, and
being hired to think about it for a place like the US Virgin Islands
has been an enjoyable way to see the same principles play out in a new
setting. There's not much this island territory has in common with
the City of Brotherly Love, but when it comes to attracting visitors,
diversifying one's economy, and being a preferred place to locate a
business, the principles are the same.

Political Perspective

Most of the people in most of the circles I run in are Democrats, and
many of them assume I am too. After all, I'm a well-educated, young
minority person living in an East Coast big city. When I explain
where I actually sit in the political spectrum, the response ranges
from incredulity to outrage: "how could you possibly - be a registered
Republican / not for Obama / for McCain / for Palin?" I just smile
and feign ignorance, after which I'm usually privy to an unfiltered
perspective on what the questioner really thinks about people like me.
(Hint: it's not very flattering.)

So what are my reasons? For one, I guess I like being the contrarian.
When everyone's going one way, I find it useful to go the other, if
only to better learn both sides of the story.

Second, there are indeed both sides to every story. Whether it was
Bush/Gore in 2000, Bush/Kerry in 2004, or McCain/Obama this year,
we've been treated to two starkly different perpectives to the same
issues, two starkly different solutions to the same problems. This
is, unequivocally, a good thing; dare I say, what America was founded
on in the first place. When the political process works best is not
when one side vanquishes another - although, to be sure, we will only
be electing one president in November, and rightly so - but when both
sides contribute.

Third, don't believe the media hype. And I mean that for both sides.
Let's be honest: both candidates are flip-floppers, both are out of
touch with the majority of Americans, and neither is ready to be
President. No one is truly ready to be President, no one is perfect,
and everyone is a politician in the pejorative sense of the word.
Thankfully for the media and for political junkies, there's plenty to
pick at on both sides.

Fourth, I am increasingly irritated by people who label Republicans as
ignorant hicks. Not to say we all don't need to become more informed,
but it smacks of elitist coastal snobbery to assume that someone who
is more in line with Republican values than Democratic ones is simply
not as progressive. And not to say people aren't racist, but to
assume that if you are white and are not voting for Obama it's because
you're not "enlightened" enough sells people awfully short. And not
to say it may be time for a change in leadership to the younger
generation, but let's remember that the fact that Obama uses a
Blackberry and McCain hardly uses a computer at all may be a sign that
Obama is more "with it," or it may just be that McCain's
torture-induced wounds make typing hard for him, and tech-savvy
coastals shouldn't begrudge him for that.

But let's get into some substantive things. I am certainly
free-market, which tends to align me with the Republican perspective
on taxes, trade, and labor. Although McCain has been worryingly
absent on his economic plans, he's generally in favor of letting
capitalism work; and although Obama has been refreshingly confident
and specific on his economic plans, he's generally in favor of more
government intervention.

As for social positions, I am a conservative Christian, and my take on
values is usually the Republican position. With the exception of
inclusivity issues like immigration, gay marriage, and affirmative
action, you could call me a social conservative and you'd be right.
If you think me backwards for my beliefs, I don't know what to say.

What about the candidates themselves? I admire Obama as a person,
though I disagree with most of his social, political, and economic
stances. On the positive side, if he wins, I'll feel more optimistic
that we will take the aggressive steps we need to take in shifting out
of a petroleum-based economy; and if he loses, I'll lament the
potential disillusionment of young voters who wonder if the political
process truly works for them.

McCain I disagree with on energy and transportation issues, and he is
becoming frustratingly pat on a number of issues he was once a
maverick on: The Economist's cover story last week even called for the
return of "the old McCain," and a fellow conservative friend of mine
shared my disappointment that his campaign has been all the worse of
Republican politicking that it was once thought McCain wouldn't stoop
to. But there's no doubt he would be a public servant, he has as good
a track record as any of working towards a solution and not against an
opponent, and he alone seems to understand just how dangerous a world
we live in.

Palin seems to be the lightning rod for folks, and for good reason.
But I appreciate her advocacy of special-needs children, agree with
most of her values positions, and (unlike some feminists) I think her
being veep would be a huge step forward for women. Is she ready to
lead from Day One? Of course not: her foreign policy resume is thin,
and her lack of international perspective worrisome. But, as alluded
to above, it's not about who's ready to lead but who's made out of the
right stuff to step up when put in a position to lead. This is also
the opinion of none other than David Cohen, Ed Rendell's chief of
staff and as blue as they get, who met Palin and left with the
impression that she is made of that stuff, just like Bill Clinton,
circa 1992, was.

A lot can happen in 6 weeks, but that's where I stand now and where I
tend to stand. You may still think me absurd, but if you once
wondered, now at least you have a little more information.

LET'S TALK ABOUT A REALLY PRECIOUS RESOURCE

Compared to all the talk about conserving gas, there's relatively little about conserving water. After all, we may have finite fossil fuels, but it's always raining somewhere.

But, not to get all alarmist, there may be a day when we look back on the many ways we piss away good water and wonder how we could've been so dumb. Water may replenish itself, but it and not oil may be the liquid nations fight and die over more in the coming decades.

I found this interesting water usage calculator courtesy of Governing.com's blog. Taking the test reminded me that water conservation comes not only from taking shorter showers and installing low-flow faucet heads but also in eating less meat and recycling our textiles.

It may decades away, versus the modern-day impacts of more appropriately priced gasoline (cities enjoying a renaissance, used SUVs now impossible to sell), but maybe places like Canada and Iceland go up in demand, and places like Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas go down. Maybe I'm being too doomsday. Or maybe it doesn't take a futurist to see that golf courses and fountains can't survive in a desert, or that people will some day go to war to provide their citizens with water to drink faster than they'll go to war to secure access to fuel to put in their cars.

I AGREE WITH THE LIBERAL CANADIANS JUST THIS ONCE

This may be the only issue on which I agree with the left-leaning prime minister candidate from Canada (!), but it's a vital one: energy taxes should be higher. I had heard about this candidate's proposal a few weeks back, but this article adds incumbent Stephen Harper's disapproval and economist Greg Mankiw's approval.

The article also importantly notes that climate change is but one reason the price of gas and other natural resources is artificially low, to the detriment of all people. Of course, proposing higher energy prices is political suicide, no matter how much income tax we redistribute back to people. It's a shame that something that makes so much sense is such a policy non-starter. When $4 gas and collapsing bridges can't shake us from our addiction to cheap oil, what will?

Community in Action

Some scenes from our church's fall retreat. It's one thing to talk about community and wholly separate to see it in action. While we're far from perfect, individually or collectively, it was moving to look around the room while we worshipped God and see the fabric of our congregation.

There were people I know who have done things they've since regretted; people who've battled with depression and other demons; recently married folks snuggling and people who've been married a long time snuggling; and people of all ages, skin colors, and socioeconomic backgrounds. All of us singing to God and for God.

We've got our work cut out for us, broken and ragged as we are. But this past weekend, I got the sense that God is with us in that journey, however tired and wandering we are. This may not be your picture of Christian community, but it is a Christian community. Come join us!

Interesting Things to Look At - Like You

I moderated a panel last night on transit-oriented development, and
one of the panelists made a point in a very clever way. He said that
when he's in Manhattan, he'll walk 20 blocks without a second thought.
In Center City, it might be 5 or 6 blocks. In the suburbs, if you
have a Target next to a Best Buy, you'll drive from one to the other.
Auto-oriented places are simply inhospitable to pedestrians, while
good urban places become walkable because there are interesting things
to look at.

Of course, the two most interesting things to look at go hand in hand:
retail and other people. Well-kept, unique-looking retail stores
catch the eye at the street level; who knows, maybe you even go in and
spend some money. And it's always fun to people-watch, not to mention
that there's safety in numbers on the street. These two things go
hand in hand, of course, because people gravitate to retail and retail
locates where there's foot traffic.

Contrast this "more is better" dynamic with the "more is worse"
dynamic of the suburbs. In low-density, auto-oriented places, more
people means more congestion, more people fighting for your parking
spot, or more parking to accommodate everyone, which just makes
walking even harder. And while I hesitate to say that we are
hard-wired to shop, I do think it is safe to say that we are
hard-wired to enjoy looking at other people.

I'll leave it for another day to discuss the tangible policy
implications of this, but let's just say that if you're playing Sim
City, make sure you make your urban metropolis pedestrian friendly,
with retail corridors and other unique people-magnets to draw foot
traffic and kick-start that "more is better" virtuous cycle. We may
like our cars and our autonomy, but ($4 gas notwithstanding) we like
looking at interesting things - especially other people - even more.