In recent years we've made outstanding progress on many fronts. In the 20 years from 1970 to 1990 we've increased the average human life span by more than 7 years and reduced infant mortality by 30%. We're decreasing our global military spending, and we've begun to dismantle our nuclear arsenals. Worldwide, from the former Soviet Union to South Africa, we're replacing oppressive, unrepresentative governments with democratically elected governments.
Unfortunately, on other fronts we're slipping. The physical condition of the earth worsens each passing year. Forests shrink, deserts expand, soils erode, and groundwater is poisoned. Despite growing public concern, the rate of deterioration is increasing, and the population is rising. Every year we add another 93 million people to a world ill-prepared to support them. In our effort to forge a better future we are losing ground, both literally and figuratively.
I am not an environmentalist, and I don't especially care about things like topsoil and groundwater in and of themselves. I do care about human suffering. Today about 36,000 children died, largely for lack of food and clean water. Tomorrow another 36,000 will die. Unless we make radical changes, in my lifetime I'll see over a billion children die needlessly.
My background is in engineering, and I'm inclined to look at the world as one large system. Soil and water are important parts of that system, but many other parts also warrant attention. If we set out to address human suffering we'll need to look at a wide range of factors, including health care, pollution, economic growth, race relations, and emerging technologies. The problems are large and complex, and our future promises to be extremely volatile. Fortunately, there is a great deal that you and I can do, as individuals, to build a brighter world.
My name is Brian Douglas Skinner. I live in Menlo Park, California and work as a computer programmer. When I first started writing this Gumption Memo back in 1992 I had spent most of the previous decade programming computers -- first in college, and then to earn a living. Like most people, I had a rough sense of the imperiled state of the world and a fair amount of concern for the welfare of the world's people, but I never paid close attention to figuring out just how all the headlines fit together. In 1992 I unexpectedly inherited $50,000, and I decided to use it to alleviate world problems and prevent some suffering. After that I started studying up on the world situation. Reading books and papers. Attending lectures. Evaluating non-profit organizations and reading their literature. Thinking. Writing. Discussing. I learned a lot and wrote a lot, and now I'd like to share my thoughts with you.
The one thing I want to emphasize about myself is that I'm just an ordinary person -- I'm not rich or famous, I'm not affiliated with any organizations, and all the opinions expressed here are my own. I don't ask you to agree with everything I have to say, but I do ask you to continue to think about important issues and take action on your conclusions.
The Gumption Trust is a modest trust fund I established in an effort to do my part in addressing world problems. In January 1992 I endowed the trust with a little of my own savings, plus money from the estates of my father, Robert Lee Skinner, and his sister, Lois Arden King. My mission for the Gumption Trust was to prevent or alleviate as much human misery as possible by
In December 1995 I made the final round of Gumption Trust donations and gave away the last of the Gumption Trust money--about $83,000 in all. Carefully spent, $83,000 was enough to dramatically improve the lives of a dozens of people, which is itself a wonderful thing. But I hope to accomplish more. I hope to get your attention.
| gump-tion \'gum(p)-shun\
n (1719) 1: shrewd practical common sense esp. as actively applied to the problems of life 2: ENTERPRISE, INITIATIVE |
| gump-tion trust \'gum(p)-shun 'trust\
n (1992) 1: a clearinghouse for ideas and information about world problems 2: a concerned individual striving to actively apply shrewd practical common sense to the problems of life 3: a modest trust fund set aside to alleviate a little human misery |
