The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
After listening to William Kamkwamba on The Diane Rehm show, I eagerly waited for his book to appear at my local library. I picked it up anxious to partake in a “nerd wins against-all-odds” story as portrayed on NPR. My expectations were only partially met.
William Kamkwamba, the only son (with 6 sisters) of a poor Malawian farmer built a windmill to bring electricity to his home. This is an extraordinary feat under any circumstances, even more so considering poverty, famine, and lack of amenities encountered by William. William had to drop out of (first year) secondary school because he was unable to afford tuition. But he was a motivated nerd — so using the local library, he self-taught principles of physics and alternative energy. He started ground up by fashioning tools (e.g. mechanical drill, wrench) using discarded items such as nails and pvc pipes. He sourced and adapted crucial parts (e.g. Wind-mill turbine from a discarded tractor fan, pulley system from a broken bicycle chain) from the local scrapyard and single-handedly managed to assemble a working windmill. To make a long story short, William successfully brought electricity to his bare-bones family dwelling.
He then gradually improved design and set-up by using batteries, diode, circuit breakers, pulley system–to name a few. Again, all items were from the scrap-yard. The book also briefly mentions failed experiments with biogas and a water pump. Eventually, William’s efforts were recognized and he received assistance (to complete his education), encouragement, and acclaim. So this story did have a relative happy ending. Given the current mood for reuse, recycle, and conservation, this book nudges the conscience of people accustomed to wasteful living.
However, bulk (9 of 15 chapters) of the book focuses upon suffering of the Malawian poor. Horrific accounts of famine, poverty, corruption, and (alleged) witchcraft fill 150 out of 273 pages. The co-author, editors, and publisher have done William Kamkwamba no favors by subverting what should’ve been a book showcasing his spirit of innovation and technical brilliance; instead, they’ve turned a huge swathe of the book into a transcript from a 700-club show. As a result, the reader expecting intellectual stimulation (and inspiration) will be disappointed — and might be served best by skipping this book and directly checking out William Kamkwamba’s blog.
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
It is common knowledge that most items available in American stores and malls are manufactured outside the US. This ranges from small ticket items to high end consumer electronics. Distributors scout the globe to either procure or manufacture goods at prices within reach of the masses. But the author of Cheap opines that lower prices come at a steep cost. Her key points are:
1. Consumers are paying more for substandard quality goods. These sub par goods are not designed or manufactured with durability in mind. Consumers just end up accumulating low quality, unusable clutter. These cheap goods almost always defy recyclability, re-usability and repair-ability. Even worse these characteristics are often intentional, and directly affect the environment. IKEA book shelves are one example cited by the author. The author contrasts the buying of cheap goods with the practice in bygone days of saving up to purchase few high quality, durable items.
2. Mass purchase of low quality items crowds out the good quality counterparts. The result is extinction of workmanship and skill (in the segment) from the community. After all, the incentive for local workmen to persist, innovate and hone their craft is lost when pitted against inexpensive (and substandard) goods.
3. Mass retailers do not encourage or pay premium for subject matter experts on their staff. This isn’t surprising as retailers hurtle towards lowest price, and cheap goods rarely make a consumer look for advice. Quality of service is replaced by self-service.
4. The author alleges that many brands found in mass retail stores are made under the auspices of unfair labor practices overseas. The main complaint is that locals in far flung areas work ridiculously long hours for ridiculously low wages under stressful work conditions.
5. The price on price tags is only remotely connected with the actual worth of the item. The printed price is apaprently a psychological ploy to get consumers to buy products (this one really creeped me out).
Ellen Ruppel Shell also throws in some fun facts about retail history and mentions several innovations ranging from shopping carts to rfid tags.
The book however does not make for fluid reading but on the positive side provides very interesting factoids. It did briefly enthuse me to check out goods made by artisans at a local art fair. I have to confess though that one look at the price tags only redoubled my relief that I live within driving distance of a Target superstore.
Ellen Ruppel Shell’s book could be more aptly named “The case against globalization” with the byline “Why Americans pay more for shoddy items”. It is a thinly veiled anti-globalization volume punctuated with fascinating excerpts from American retail history.
