World renown investment guru, Warren Buffet, once said, “If you’re in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%.” This quote reflects the true essence of the collective welfare that humanity deserves. To this end, philanthropy comes to play, a duty to bring wealth and economic comfort to everyone in the society, whether in good times or in bad times.
I recently came across The 195 Project, a think tank founded by Hong Kong billionaire, Mr. Calvin Lo, who wants nothing but the best for the world, particularly as the planet earth battles the bizarre consequences of COVID-19.
I so much felt the innermost sincerity in his words. “The purpose of this initiative is to listen, learn, and collectively campaign for a global economy that can be kinder and can reward innovation and hard work. Business leaders must listen to those with the least, recognize their individual privilege, and work together for the common good.”
What does 195 Project stand for?
This project is a new initiative intended to stimulate discussions and solutions, a more humane approach to solving business problems in the post-COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Lo believed that the economic tragedies and blooms worldwide can only be developed or resolved with a roundtable conference of rich people who have the interest of the common man in mind. philanthropy projects to empower everyone without discrimination.
The 195 Project is an initiative that built its foundation on the philanthropy principles of sharing wealth for the larger society. It tends to modify the 1944 Bretton Wood Agreement held among 44 countries in Hampshire after WWII. The convergence was based on innovating a new approach to the global practice of regulating the financial system aimed at reshaping the economy of the world that was destroyed by the war.
Against this background, Mr. Lo collaborated with internationally recognized philanthropists, economists, and his contemporaries in the financial sector, to create The 195 Project.
According to the information on the website, the major objective is to further the existing research into the ways by which the world can adapt and tackle the post-COVID-19 problems. Some of the tenets drawn at the Bretton Wood Agreement conference have gone extinct because the Global market no longer uses them. This is a big challenge in today’s economic crisis that needs solutions, and the best way out is to encourage the success of the new, innovative, and strong-willed younger generation.
Mr. Lo knows the importance of philanthropy and capitalism. Combining the two economic approaches will certainly increase the goodwill for other people. Capitalism spreads wealth, investments, and innovations. When billionaires pledge a significant portion of their assets to empower the community, their own wealth expands.
The initiative is relevant today
Through in-depth research and passionate discussions on the most reliable investment ideas and philanthropy systems aimed at enriching the larger populace, The 195 Project is sure to succeed in this COVID-19 recovery phase.
The foundation is leaving no stone unturned, and when all machinery is in place, I don’t see how anything could go wrong. Professionals in the fields of government, economy, and civil society will come together to strategize trusted methods of fighting the scourges of poverty and economic meltdown caused by the pandemic.
Possible problems for the initiative
However, the initiative is bound to encounter obstacles along the way, such as lack of support from leaders of some countries and some wealthy people, lack of cooperation from some financial institutions, implementing documented action plans, and meeting the vast requests for aids across the world when supplies diminish due to excess demands. We live in a world full of diverse people with different motives. While fighting for the common good, certain factors should be considered.
For example, the personal interest of the government in each country, laws governing the country, cultural and socio-economic practices, and other related conditions are yardsticks for evaluating the project’s prospects.
Nevertheless, The 195 Project’s originality gives it an edge over similar organizations towing the same path, such WeForum, IMF, World Bank, and OECD. A strategy to formally with the world’s richest men and women to achieve capitalism and philanthropy for the common man to prosper is beyond what an average person comes across every day. It takes guts, determination, vision, goal-driven, and rare intelligence to actualize, not to mention the enormous resources required to pull it off.
Growing concern for the looming global recession has caused sleepless nights to world leaders while the citizens are groaning in pain because of job losses, piled student loan debts, hunger, deaths, business collapses, social disasters, and other unpleasant catastrophes. The project has huge potentials to solve many of these problems if accepted. It is what we need right now to restore our losses and encourage kindness to humanity.
