Third World Economy

I saw an article in a tech mag about a grad student making a prototype device that would use solar energy to convert sand into glass, and would form the glass according to 3D model layer by layer, like 3D printers do now with plastic.   I saw the image of a bowl he created.  It was white in color, with very rough edges.

I didn't realize the importance of this until today.  The vast majority of US oil wells ran dry sometime ago.  The hypothesis is that oil rich countries in the Middle East are looking into nuclear power now - while they have the money to afford it.   If the oil runs out in these countries, they will not have much resource to work with.   Their economy will fail.

So being able to use the sun and sand - something these countries have plenty of - as a basis for a whole set of industries, is great.   It lessens their risk, and reduces the chances for war.

I was just sleeping,and I had a dream about a factory in Ghana.  

In Ghana, there are too many untrained, uneducated people.  I used to think one could come and set up a factory for them, train them, watch over them a bit, then pull out, and it would continue.  
I thought about setting up Spirulina factories to make food, but without strict pharmaceutical controls and processes, the risk of producing a fatal toxin is too high.   In the US, 6 people died in 1978 from Spirulina with toxins in it.

In the dream, the factory was an assembly plant.   Since people don't have IDs, or may be using IDs of other people, you can't hire a worker as an employee and just train hm once.  Plus, there are too many people in need, and contention would arise because others want jobs.

So I envisioned a horseshoe shaped factory.  Product assembly would start and one end of the horseshoe and continue to the other end of the horseshoe.  There would be loading docks at either end of the horseshoe on the flat edges - input and output.

The factory would be broken up into several sections.   Each section would have a temp worker waiting room.   Anyone can stand can come in.   Fingerprint ID could be used, but that would also be tempting to steal and resale.  Each person would be trained, 1 on 1, before entering the factory floor.   hey would also be required to sign a waiver that the company is not liable if they get hurt.   They would work for one hour.   at the end of the hour, all machines stop (if any), and every one is escorted out, and be paid on their way (a good incentive to leave and not hide).

People who have been trained several times and show they are sharp - that they remember how to do this, would be hired as trainers.   The original trainers would be from the US, like recruits for Peace Corps. 

Having a work period of just one hour gives money to 8 times more people.   People who want more money can go get back in line.  If there is a way to track those who get back in line, then perhaps their could be a way to utilize them more efficiently, since they are ambitious.

The amount of pay should just be a single bill of Ghana Currency - so there is no slow down because workers want to count their money before final exit from factory.

If the lines in certain sections of the factory are shorter than the other sections (most likely because the work is harder), then the amount of pay for that section is increased.