Globalized Broadband in ACTION

In my previous blog I talked about the "need for speed" and how high speed broadband internet access is changing everything everything EVERYTHING about our lives. This is not just from a child's perspective who grows up with e-mail and no longer needs to even comprehend how it took one month for a letter sent to get a return reply when I first came to Japan 20 years ago. Now they contact their friends in Timbukthree instantaneously to ... coordinate shoelace colours for the day!

No, I mean on a deeper level... business has changed dramatically, jobs have shifted and continue to shift to "cheaper, less developed countries". Those countries GDP and economy is skyrocketing while their generation gaps fly apart at a pace us in the west cannot even comprehend. Where our food comes from has changed, how we educate ourselves, argue, get news, make decisions, carry out terrorist activities, are brainwashed by our own governments and foreign multinationals ... it has all changed.

And not entirely for the good of humanity.

But today don't want to point out the negative aspects of this technology; I'll leave that to the naysayers and harbingers of Armageddon (a Jehovah visited me this morning to tell me about .... can you tell?) I want to show you one of the GOOD things that this instant communication high-speed broadband has brought us.

As you know, people are living much longer than they used to which means that they need a lot more care than they used to need for a much longer time. Life has gotten tougher forcing families to "splinter" into nuclear units where the parents live on their own while their children bring up their own families. As the elderly continue to age and are no longer able to care for themselves they require more attention...

A company in Sweden has started exploited the power of the internet to meet this very important need:  ACTION

Here is what they say on their top page:

"ACTION is a service for frail older persons who prefer to stay and live in their own homes but who are in need of support from nurses and relatives. These old people and their relatives are provided with information and training to help them make their everyday life easier and more comfortable. The ACTION service includes the provision of a videophone which can be used for communicating with the nurses and other ACTION families."

And here are just a few of their results from their website:

• family-carers feel safer and more competent in their role of caring
• the older people and their relatives develop informal support networks with other families more readily and with greater ease
• whilst there are cost savings for municipalities, there is at the same time improvement in the quality of life of both the cared and the carers

I think this is an absolutely WONDERFUL way to show love and care-giving for those who raised us into this world. It's a fantastic way to exploit the power of a system that interconnects us all.

Take a look at their website and see what it's all about. It won't take a lot of your time, but it will show you how we can utilize the tools we have developed for the greater good: ACTION

Globalized Love is not just about us here on the blogs, it extends waaay beyond that to all the nooks and crannies of the multiverse. All you need to do is take a little time and think about how you can make a difference.

Mari, my friend from Sweden who bought a huge number of kimonos to make her rag rugs, is involved in this project. This is not just "a company out there" doing this; this is the business that Mari is in! And it is wonderful!! Thank you Mari for sharing this with me.

I love you!

Cam