A Challenge to You Thirty-Somethings, and a Few of You Young Forties.

Part of your particular brilliance is making systems that work and making systems that disrupt systems that don't work. That being said and agreed upon by myself, I wonder whether you haven't been thinking much too small and maybe been a little stuck in your own safety zone. This is meant as a challenge.

I understand that you have changed the world. I see smart phones and Internet connections everywhere. ATMs are everywhere. Instant translations and maps are at every one's fingertips. But, in the USA, cities and communities are failing everyone. Bad transportation, inadequate housing, widespread hunger, shocking ignorance...that kind of shit is everywhere.

I understand that it is hard to take care of people when we spend most of our budget on war. I know that there is a lot of Ayn Rand thinking behind many of our selfish attitudes, but I think it is time to make something to be proud of. And, I was thinking , "Where better than Seattle?"

Seattle has money. Think Microsoft. Think Amazon. Think Boeing. And think of so many millionaires. Seattle has big problems; lousy roads, horribly inadequate public transport, inadequate housing for those with and without money, old, stupid infrastructure, overburdened schools, run away growth, hunger, homelessness, too many geese, all the usual stuff.

What would happen if you decided to be the city of the future? Now? Fast? Could you combine your collective genius and creativity and money and make the best, fastest, coolest transportation on the planet? If you can make bombers and drones, you can do this. What if you decided that every citizen deserves healthy whole fresh food daily? You could do that. What if you offered an education that would prepare every single kid to work in the highest level of her field? You could do that. If your fear is that by doing this you would lose your edge financially, I think that is crazy thinking. As each other city gets more behind and dirtier and more crowded, wouldn't people pay to play in your town? The answer is 'yes'.

And I mean fast. There is no time for a twenty year plan or a ten year one. Get going. Cut through the crap. Don't listen to stupid shit designed to maintain the status quo. You could do all this in a year or at most two if you want. Many solutions are already out there in other countries. Go to it. No more excuses. You know how to connect, you know how to raise $, you know how to design systems, you know how to change things.