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Hello.
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My name is Steve Down.
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And for most of my life,
I’ve been an entrepreneur.
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I built many companies, created wealth,
and learned how powerful business can be.
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But I’ve also learned something important.
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Profit alone isn’t enough.
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I believe that while we earn a profit, you
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and I can solve most of the world’s
biggest challenges.
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In fact, we’ve got an entirely wrong.
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Solutions to the world’s
problems are not the role,
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nor responsibility of government.
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It’s our responsibility and our privilege.
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That’s why I founded Causeism
an economic philosophy
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where every business transaction
can support a meaningful cause.
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I believe that Causesism, the new ism,
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is the way to solve the world’s
biggest challenges.
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I trademarked the word Causeism
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so that I could control the definition.
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Causeism is when a for profit business
chooses as its partner a nonprofit
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organization, not as a gimmick,
but as a true sustainable partner,
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where a percentage of gross sales,
not net sales, but a percentage of gross
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sales are given to a nonprofit partner
in every transaction.
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Ideally, beginning with the very
first product or service sold.
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In a nutshell, causes
then provides seven profound benefits.
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One meaning and purpose.
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Merged together with profit,
which makes business far more fun.
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I’m talking about far more fun.
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Two every transaction of goods
and services
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solve real world problems.
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Three doing good is built
into the ecosystem of the business.
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In other words,
you’re not waiting to the end of the year
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to decide
whether or not you’re going to give,
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for it attracts like minded
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customers while building
greater customer loyalty.
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Five it attracts like minded employees
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while building greater
employee loyalty and retention.
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You’re building
the greatest culture that you can imagine.
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You have to experience it
to believe it. Six.
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It’s a sustained way for worthy
nonprofit organizations
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to receive the support they need.
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And you know that they need our support.
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Seven.
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Transparency replaces
blind trust in the marketplace.
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Causeism
is the symbol of a kinder, gentler,
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more compassionate way of doing business
that my children, grandchildren,
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and this generation of youth
have embraced.
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Because Causeism is where
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profit and giving merged together
by embedding a social
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give back into every business transaction.
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And when profit and purpose rise
together, business
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becomes a sign of hope
for the rising generation.
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Causeism is the way to solve the world’s
biggest challenges.
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My core value and philosophy
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are inspired by a simple truth.
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We are all members
of the same human family.
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For others and sisters of equal worth, and
we should treat each other accordingly.
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My vision and hope is that Causeism
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will inspire
and bless all families of the earth.
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Today we asked Steve a couple of follow up
questions.
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The first was why now?
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There is a lot going on in the world.
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Why should people care about Causeism?
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There’s never been a time in my lifetime
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where society,
particularly in America, is so divided.
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I believe that there needs to be
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new philosophy
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and new leadership,
particularly in the economy,
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which has the greatest impact
for social change can increase taxes.
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We’ve already paid too much in taxes.
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We can’t work harder.
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People who have jobs, they work hard
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that philosophically,
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if we continue to do the same thing
over and over again,
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we’ll get the same results.
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We’ve all heard that statement,
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and it’s time for change.
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Why do we need change?
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It’s because I’ve never seen
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so much despair around the world
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during these modern times where
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technology and knowledge and.
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And resources have come together,
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it seems like there’s a lack of wisdom.
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This is a time for change
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because many people are in despair.
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And what replaces despair
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when things are right is hope.
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And I believe that Causesism,
is a message of hope
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that the world is waiting for.
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I can’t wait to share with the world
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a new philosophy called Causeism one,
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where there’s a giveback
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in every transaction and business
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where the rising generation can believe
in business,
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truly believe in business.
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And a philosophy
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that will hopefully
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uproot
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the philosophies
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that I believe to be
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fallacies based on my long career,
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fallacies that are unsustainable
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and they simply don’t work and.
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We can see it by the fruit it bearers
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when we see greater division,
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less hope, more despair,
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we know we’re on a wrong path.
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It’s time for us to change,
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and we’ve got to change in ways
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that are not radical
or necessarily revolutionary,
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but are new and fresh
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and inspire hope and wisdom.
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You believe that many of the world’s
problems can be fixed
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when for profit businesses partner
with nonprofit organizations?
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How does this partnership affect
nonprofit organizations?
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I’ve had the privilege and opportunity
of supporting
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nearly 100 nonprofit organizations.
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What I’ve discovered is a common thread
among these organizations
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is that the founders and those
who work within these organizations
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are very passionate about what they do.
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Unfortunately, more than 80% of these
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nonprofit organizations
fail in the first 3 to 5 years.
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Why do they fail?
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Well, it’s
not because of their lack of passion.
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It’s because they don’t
have the funding necessary
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to execute on their nonprofit vision.
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What if
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we had a solution called Causeism Them
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where every for profit business selected
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as a sustainable partner,
a nonprofit organization
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where the founder
of the nonprofit organization
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doesn’t have to spend all their time
and resources seeking resources,
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they spend most of their time
and their money
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seeking resources.
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And most people who are passionate
about what they do,
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they’re not professional fundraisers.
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And that should be left to the private
sector.
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Causeism is the answer for every nonprofit
organization?
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It’s the it’s the
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solution.
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That is sustainable
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that they didn’t even know existed.
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You have said that
a nonprofit organization has market value
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in a Cause economy.
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Can you explain
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how a for profit business can benefit
from becoming a Cause company?
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nonprofit.
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Organizations can bring tremendous value
to a to a for profit business.
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It’s based on a very simple principle.
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It’s been
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taught for 2000 years, found in the
most widely published book in the world.
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But it’s a common
among all religious organizations.
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It’s a principle
that’s been well stated as give
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and you shall receive.
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That’s our principle of not scarcity,
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but a principle of abundance.
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Scarcity is based on a principle of
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of taking that which doesn’t belong to you
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or or perhaps begging.
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But in this case, it’s a partnership
between business
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and a nonprofit organization
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where the non profit organization
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gives the business an opportunity to.
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Observe a principle
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that has no logic behind it.
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It’s spiritual in nature.
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It can’t be explained,
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but it can be lived.
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And when you have faith in that principle,
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you can see even
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not just rewards,
but even miracles in one’s life.
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And that includes a for profit business.
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And you shall receive
based on a philosophy of abundance.
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It’s a universal principle.
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It’s not taught in universities,
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universities
and the, economics department.
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They they teach the scarcity of resources.
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It’s that it’s scarcity
that’s been built into our universities
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and wired into the psyche of our students
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and into our society.
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It’s an incorrect principle.
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It’s, perhaps economics needs to change
the teaching of economics
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because abundance economics
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creates abundance.
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Scarcity economics creates scarcity.
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And once people understand
this principle of abundance
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as it relates to in particular Causeism.
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The world will rapidly change
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because people will be doing
the right thing for the right reasons why?
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Because they want to.
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Because business is about making money.
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Making money and a pure
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capitalist will embrace Causeism Because
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he or she will make more money.
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That makes sense to the entrepreneur
and to the businessman,
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even those who are scarcity thinking.
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By living correct principles,
everyone benefits
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the nonprofit and the business.
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The business benefits
more than the non profit,
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and you won’t know that
until you experience it.
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With my cars companies as a.
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As the founder of Causeism
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and as one who, leads
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the this movement of Causeism.
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I know from experience
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that this is a principle
that attracts wealth
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and attracts more money and attracts
more jobs for the profit.
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And the nonprofit organization.
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And high employment creates abundance
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and high unemployment creates scarcity.
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So it’s all about living
in an abundant world.
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In this world, there’s enough and despair.
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And once we understand that, it will,
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I think it will.
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It will impact society in ways where.
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We will have fewer wars.
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There will be less hate.
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There will be more love
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in our marketplace, a kinder, gentler,
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more compassionate marketplace
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that I know
my children and grandchildren love
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and embrace and love,
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and anyone who experiences it will know
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that it’s a true principle.
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All you have to do is, is,
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give it a try and practice it because
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always faith precedes the miracle.
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Most of us have seen
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the bumper sticker or the t shirt,
that says I.
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Oh, I oh, so off to work.
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I go,
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and people, they get a job
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and they work, they’re 8 to 5.
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They commute back and forth to work, and
there’s very little meaning and purpose,
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anything from the cubicle to
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perhaps, serving a table to,
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the person delivering the package,
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and sometimes even the CEO.
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There’s no real purpose
other than earning a paycheck.
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In my mind, that’s drudgery.
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And it’s certainly not fun.
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And so Causeism
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brings purpose and fun into the workplace.
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It creates a culture
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where people have purpose,
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a purpose
of making a difference in the world.
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We had a company called Even Stevens
Sandwiches.
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For every sandwich we served,
we gave a sandwich to the community.
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Hungry.
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I felt kind of bad
because when we would recruit,
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restaurant managers and assistant managers
and servers and cooks and so forth,
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other restaurants
couldn’t compete with that.
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We created a culture where people felt
like they were saving the world,
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and we could
afford them to afford to pay more money
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because we were more profitable
by practicing calzone.
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So how does any business compete
with that?
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And we were able to create a
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a corporate culture
that didn’t feel like a corporation.
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This was easy to give.
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You know, this is serve to give
this is work to give.
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This is a whole different
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idea of work in the workplace.
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It’s not work. It’s fun.
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And so does work.
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Have to be fun?
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Why can’t, as, Mark Twain once
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said, why can’t our vocation
become our vacation?
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I love my work because I’m a
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I’m a person who
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owns cars companies,
and I practice Causeism
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in the marketplace.
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Learn more.
00:15:57:20 – 00:15:59:05
The causesism.com.

