Getting Off Our Fannies - A Perusal of The Acumen Fund & Entrepreneurship

"I want to make this world good. Not better, but to make it good. Why not? It is possible. Look around in this room -- all this knowledge, energy, talent, and technology. Let's get off our fannies, roll up our sleeves and get to work, passionately, in creating an almost perfect world" - these are the words of Isabel Allende, a speaker for the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference (http://dotsub.com/view/32444fb9-72f7-4996-b826-27d1c0a9e491/viewTranscript/eng). The TED Conference's mission is "ideas worth spreading" (http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/5). TED is a non-profit organization that people such as Isabel Allende and Seth Godin are a part of. I was immensely impressed with Ms. Allende's quotation - for no matter where one stands on the liberal/conservative scale, regardless of one's opinion on how much people should get involved in which organization, I believe that we all agree the world is messed up and needs fixing. There is no perfect solution; nor are we even remotely close to a consensus on what needs to be changed, but people are striving, in some small way, to get involved and add their contribution to making the world a better phrase, to borrow the oft-used phrase.
This is precisely what the Acumen Fund and its promoters (Seth Godin, for one) are attempting. The concept of supporting innovative entrepreneurs to change the economic backbones of their countries is brilliant. I have had my doubts and worries about how much welfare truly helps those at home and abroad. Do the funds truly help give people the financial boost they need in hard times or does it take away their independence and the independence of subsequent generations? I don't have an answer to that question, but I feel much more enthusiastic in backing a plan which allows the creativity and hard work of ingenious minds to pave a path for the financial development of struggling countries. All in all, I am curious to read and hear more about the Acumen Fund and entrepreneurs such as Seth Godin, who have the bravery, will, and desire to try something few of us are willing to attempt.