Shareables - Hope & Optimism #4

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Hey everyone,

It’s been a month since we’ve started "Shareables - Hope & Optimism" and the feedback has been amazing. Focusing on the positives in the world has had noticeable impact on our moods and definitely made writing these weekly summaries an absolute enjoyment. We’ll continue working our hardest to bring you the best. In the meantime, please continue to email us, keep the feedback coming, and let us know what you enjoy reading about the most! As always, if you find amazing stories that you want us to consider sharing, fill out this form here to let us know!

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(1) Patagonia Founder gives away 100% of the $3 billion company to fight climate changeYvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s founder, has long been a pronounced environmental activist, but his most recent move is categorically shocking. A few days ago, Patagonia announced that “[as] of now, Earth is our only shareholder [and] ALL profits, in perpetuity, will go to our mission to ‘save our home planet’.” 100% of the company’s shares were donated to a trust and non-profit which “will use every dollar received to fight the environmental crisis, protect nature and biodiversity, and support thriving communities, as quickly as possible.”

The Chouinards received virtually no tax benefit for this charitable act and instead incurred meaningful cost in structuring and executing on their donation. The hope is that Patagonia’s actions will act as an example and inspire a new degree of corporate activism that outshines traditional shareholder capitalism. With this, Yvon Chouinard can rest easy, saying “now I could die tomorrow and the company is going to continue doing the right thing for the next 50 years, and I don’t have to be around.” (Full article)

Image: The Green Market Oracle

(2) New AR glasses technology produces real-time captions for the deaf or hard of hearingWith 70+ million deaf people around the world and 200+ types of sign languages, XRAI Glass’s real-time captioning AR glasses has the potential to have massive impact and significantly improve the lives of a huge group of people. The use cases also go beyond this, ranging from practicing foreign languages to seeing the more nuanced, descriptive details of a show. The FDA has also recently made moves to increase accessibility for hearing aids by classifying them as consumer goods, allowing them to be purchased over-the-counter without prescriptions or medical exams.

Currently, the product is only in early trial phases available to a limited number of people in the UK, but the capabilities have brought some individuals to tears. XRAI’s Chief Brand Ambassador, Jacqueline Press, who was born profoundly deaf, said “when I first tried [XRAI Glass], I cried—and that was only because I couldn’t actually believe that it was live. It was there. It’s in front of me. I’m not watching a prerecorded television program.” XRAI has set a grand ambition for themselves, saying that “transcription is only the start. Imagine if you could transcribe any language from anywhere in the world and read it in your mother tongue. Imagine what you could do if you could apply intelligence to those transcriptions.” (Full story)

Image: SHVETS production

(3) The US is doubling down on the power of science again Over the last few years, the focus on scientific progress has significantly accelerated due to various global crises, from the pandemic to the rapidly worsening energy emergency. The US recognized this urgency and has taken a renewed and clarified stance on encouraging and expanding progress on the scientific frontier. The White House has released new policy guidance that is intended to support equity in science and streamline the process of accessing the results of government-funded research. The hope is that more segments of society will be able to realize transformative breakthroughs and fully reap the scientific and technological rewards of the achievements they helped create. As a result, anyone should be able to participate in the scientific process in whatever way they want: “leading, participating in, accessing, and benefitting from taxpayer-funded scientific research.” While it may take a while for the impact to be felt in the far-off disconnected communities, this will prevent any American from being unable to leverage the benefits of scientific research for factors such as race, age, disability status, geography, economic background, and gender. (Full announcement)

Image: Pixabay

“When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.”

Queen Elizabeth II

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