Equal Parts Engineer, Hustler, Fixer, and Diplomat

Floods in Pakistan have impacted an estimated 20 million people, an eighth of the population. Millions of dollars of crops and livestock have been lost. No region has escaped the destruction. Nearly 10 million people are considered short of food and their situation will remain precarious. The people of Pakistan face a triple treat - - loss of crops, loss of seed for the next planting season, and loss of a daily income.

Pakistan may represent the "new normal" in a world where the hydrogeologic cycle produces wild extremes caused by climate change. If not floods in Pakistan, then droughts in eastern Africa and raising sea levels in Bangladesh. The various governmental institutions have had a long and storied history of helping others in times of need and crisis. But our resources and capabilities to play the role of global protector and crisis manager may be coming quickly to an end. As Tom Friedman pointed out in his New York Times column of September 5, 2010 (Superbroke, Superfrugal, Superpower?) -- the United States could be entering a period of retrenchment. The focus becomes internal versus external. If so, who and what steps into the void in places like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sudan? This void is critical because washed-up paupers may provide hands for the jihadists.

The what could be a global network of freelance engineers. The who are individuals motivated and skilled in equal parts engineering, hustling, fixing, and diplomacy. Individuals that want to help - - ones that understand the only way to get things done in a crisis is no paperwork, no pointless meetings, no red tape, no BS.

Freelancers - - engineers that want to act responsibly, honorably, and nobly - - the ones that you can drop into trouble spots and hit the ground with improvisational zeal. Freelancers that know the score and can keep score - - who look at places like Haiti with appalling disapproval and see the failures of governments and major NGOs (UNICEF, Oxfam, and American Red Cross) that have been able to only construct 5,500 of 127,000 scheduled "semi-permanent" structures allowing for only 28,000 of the two million Haitians affected by the earthquake to be relocated from the tent cities.

Freelancers that are remorselessly industrious. Overflowing with certainty - - the ones that hate the world of corporate performance reviews because they cannot measure the soul of a person like you. Freelancers - - proudly pragmatic problem solvers, unideological - - the ones with the ideal of the life engaged in common service.

The future depends on what we do in the present. In a world of rising individuals and declining governments - - good social outcomes are what matter, and they matter most to those societies far from our shores. Those with difficult geography, complex social structures, overwhelming problems - - with an understanding if an undertaking was easy, someone ease already would have done it.

If your thing is helping people - - and you are equal parts engineer, hustler, fixer, and diplomat - - freelance around the globe. Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.