When I was young...

In the 10th grade, in the mid-1990's, Social Studies was one of my preferred courses. Our teacher, Mr. McManus, came up with one of the greatest teaching tools ever for learning how a global sociopolitical system such as our World works.

The project's name was McMania and it was a group effort. Every group of 4 to 6 students would have to determine what socio-economic regime they were going to adopt, then they would build out the logistical rest (i.e. political system, monetary strategy, economic policies, etc). The groups would also, optionally, describe the daily lives of some of its citizens, McManians -- similarly as you can govern and monitor the progress of families in the computer game, The Sims.

I proclaim that the group activity was one of the greatest teaching tools because it required an understanding of different cultures and academic governing systems, as well as their historical success records, teachings, and prospects of future adoption. It was also appealing to discover a global-oriented teaching method in a medium-sized ultra-rural high school. Recognition of a territory's geographic surroundings (accessibility to natural resources) also play a vital role in the development of a country, and McMania was a worthwhile model to discover the real impact of flora and fauna to a land's inhabitants.

What's my point in sharing this information? Well, it has been a life-long dream of mine to develop a modern-day recommendation model of how various countries in the world should alter their behaviors and policies for a greater good; so, I share this "common knowledge" exercise as a prelude to what the world should look forward to. I hope to create a means of enabling policy modeling for nations both large and small which would, hopefully, reduce the amount of tension in the world. More importantly, I aspire that this policy modeling engine take international policies into perspective -- most modeling are locally nation-centric, with limited investment towards better understanding the regional and global implications of a change.

Many wishes are had, and hope for fulfillment drives us all.