The Prosperity Paradox: Human Flourishing And The Global Agenda
The world is like a Pandora’s Box. Humanity is under duress. It always has been, of course. But in our technologically savvy and communications-saturated era, the collective power to solve problems should be on the rise. Is it? Battles rage — over resources, politics, socio-economic issues, borders, boundaries, ethnicities, roads, water, and about almost anything else people can conceive into conflict. These things affect everyone in some measure. How solvable are the broad issues of society?
Poverty is endemic. Is poverty solvable? Can the 700 million people who are malnourished be properly fed, sustainably?
More than 100 million people are refugees. Can the causes of such displacement be nullified or even overcome?
What does it take for global and local societies to flourish? Is there a way forward and upward for humanity?
These and various related questions are being posited by a plethora of people, organizations, and societies globally, including this publication.
The reporting undertaken by Veritas Chronicles is framed around platforms designed to create change, at scale (meaning national, regional or global scale). Some examples of large scale platforms include —
The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (17 SDGs) “provides an ambitious set of goals whose achievement will set humanity on a path towards sustainability,” with a 2030 horizon says the UN. Veritas Chronicles is not directly affiliated with the UN or any of its bodies, and some of the goals are ambitious beyond present reason. For example, Goal 1 is to eradicate global poverty by 2030. Such a goal has little foundation, on the surface, but a deeper dive into the UN’s reports reveals many massive programs and truly visionary people who are actively working on significant solutions. So ultimately, it’s not about the UN, it’s about the people and projects who are bringing about change.
Humanity 2.0 is a global think tank and action group hosted by the Vatican. This international initiative proposes that we do have the capacity to “translate human flourishing insights, partnerships, and resources into impact in the world.” It’s mission is to “remove impediments to human flourishing and then seed and scale them sustainably.” One of the key objectives of Humanity 2.0 is to develop and establish an empirically proven index that shows (causes) governments and organizations, including for-profits, how to orient development and reporting around human flourishing rather than budgets and bottom lines — a new way to look at their structures, people, and outcomes.
The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty. Clayton M. Christensen (1955-2020), Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon, Harper Business, 2019. The Prosperity Paradox takes a global perspective, and concludes that much if not most giving towards charitable ends is inefficient because it does not achieve the end for which it was given. Yet, despite finding numerous examples of failed or stalled efforts, Christensen and his co-authors, were able to observe and report a different paradigm that gave them profound optimism. They proposed that extraordinary outcomes are possible applying a modus operandi that is not the generally accepted “giving” ethic.
Veritas Chronicles is apolitical and non-denominational, so none of these platforms drives our world view or policies. Each initiative simply provides a reasonable framework for investigation, reporting, and even measuring progress.
Veritas Chronicles’ proprietary mission is to highlight the work of those who are trying to solve problems and participate in the most hopeful view of human flourishing. It was built to bring to light evidence of world best practices, publishing the stories of those who are driving positive change. Veritas Chronicles is episodic. It is exploratory. It is research-driven. It is narrative. It is a hunt for the best of those who are doing sustainable good. It is the publishing of delightful and praiseworthy stories of people and their projects, solving societal dilemmas, and bringing light, healing, hope, and new prosperity to communities across the world. Of all the world’s problems, poverty is one of the most far-reaching and debilitating diseases. Thus, Veritas Chronicles will be focusing many of its stories on those who are tackling the root causes of poverty.
Some of the foundational principles for Veritas Chronicles’ research and reporting of socio-economic projects is well described in Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen’s last published work, The Prosperity Paradox (as described above). Thus, Veritas Chronicles is interested in which countries, which entrepreneurs, which governments, are planting the seeds or harvesting the fruits of this improved prosperity paradigm.
Amongst the numerous variety of stories to explore and report from around the world, Veritas Chronicles is also looking for answers to large scale paradoxes, where even “first world” countries are regressing in some ways. For example, why is it that the wealthiest country in the history of the world has more of its people per capita descending into (relative) poverty than many other developed countries? Is it alone in this regard, or is this part of a global phenomenon?
Within its self-imposed framework, Veritas Chronicles has been designed as a multimedia, multidiscipline, research and reporting enterprise. Multimedia means academic white papers, audio and video interviews with their transcripts, statistical analysis, commentary, and feature stories. Multidiscipline means the utilization of academicians, audio and visual media professionals, journalists, and forensic experts, combined with the broadest possible circulation of its story content.
Veritas Chronicles’ investigative inquiries naturally include a diverse range of subjects: e-commerce and consumer initiatives, socio-economic, ethnic, minority, cultural, monetary, and technology platforms, funding regimes, global and local banking, and investment paradigms, as they relate to positive change.
Veritas Chronicles’ story sources include published data, particularly government and institutionally published statistics, mainstream media reports, the people who supply the data, the people represented within the data, and people with qualified perspectives on how data is analyzed, interpreted, and applied.
We hold the view that almost all demographic, psychographic and population statistics mask volumes of untold and often difficult human stories, noting that those stories are often stark in their tragic reveals. Yet, those same stories can at times be extremely optimistic, even inspiring. Therefore, Veritas Chronicles aims to be balanced and equitable in its exposés of the tragic and the triumphant.
Finally, in addition to the poverty problem solvers, Veritas Chronicles celebrates those who are making advances in the sciences, arts, energy, health, medicine, and the principles of human flourishing, wherever they may be found.
Above: A Los Angeles street community — who or what are the problem solvers for the US homeless phenomenon which is growing, and other major national or global challenges. A perfect world is well beyond us, but shining a light and publishing good stories of the good people who are fomenting change is the private mission of this media outlet.
Who is behind Veritas Chronicles? This media workshop is privately funded and governed by business and philanthropic couple, Peter and Christine Rancie, in partnership with scientist/researcher/journalist, Kristen Borchers. The Rancies hail from Melbourne, Australia. Borchers is a native of New Hampshire, USA. Skilled teams of researchers, writers, and producers have been engaged to deliver the Veritas Chronicles storylines. §
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.
Stay up-to-date
Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.
