Thursday, December 21, 2006

 

Cultural Immersion and Steve Case


National Geographic did a story on Steve Case, Cofounder of AOL, in its October 2006 Traveler Edition. He is investing $500 million of his personal money to launch Revolution, a company that "seeks to drive transformative change by shifting power to consumers." One goal is to create "disruptive businesses" that will revolutionize how we live and vacation.

The man who has driven globalization more than Soros beyond economics through AOL, which I believe history will record, says, "I wouldn’t say the majority of Americans have embraced globalism. They’re still, for the most part, very America-centric. But there’s a recognition now, more than 20 years ago, that to really understand what’s happening in your everyday life, it’s more important than ever to develop a broader global understanding . . . But, the bigger change is more psychological. I sense a growing desire for meaning and purpose in people lives, and a growing recognition that might come from experiencing people in other cultures. The trick is figuring out a way to help travelers bridge the gap between the safety of their own culture and the foreignness of another."

This guy sounds like me!!!! He wants to do vacations for people to have resorts in ethnic villages. I want to focus on vocations engaging society. He talks about how travel experiences are homogenized, but I would say so is life.

I shared with our interns the other day that I really believe the future of the church is more with the early twenties group than anyone else.


Comments:
I would love to learn more about these "disruptive businesses." Sounds like a boat-load of fun to me! What happens when America finally engages the world and becomes less "America-centric"? Global consumerism? I hate to say it, but if Americans start to infiltrate other societies on a large scale, we'd ruin them. I'm not talking about Christians (and by that, I mean REAL followers of Christ who don't want to change an economic system, but see lives transformed), I'm talking about the average, consumer American who wants a "Club Med" in Africa or China. Like I said, I'd love to learn more about this "disruptive business" stuff.
 
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