It does seem that with ongoing reductions in the cost of renewable energy resources, solar in particular, and innovations in water-sparing agriculture like aquaponics, vertical, etc. we should be on the cusp of creating a more abundant future -- but we've been on the cusp of something great for a very long time. Money interests always seem to pull the rug out from under simple technologies that might otherwise produce greater liberty in favor of more control, so I have a bleak outlook of the probabilities coupled with an optimism for what is possible.
More often than not, though, I think phrases like "help the poor help themselves" is probably code for tucking the undesirables out of sight & out of mind.
Your first paragraph I am in total agreement. I actually built a small hydroponic gravel system with an automatic pump back in the '60's and had a crop of Tomatoes just as I also built a mini Geodesic half-structure that held a dozen of my friends...
The technology has been and is there now for world exploitation.
In designing small communities for the Poor, however, I realized the real technologies we need are missing. Give a Blacksmith some metal from a scrapped vehicle and ask him to make an iPhone, for example. We need the complete life cycle in tools that can process the raw materials using Simple processes and Tools at each step.
Having Solar cell panels that take High Tech tools, Clean Rooms etc, will help none of us in the long run. We need the ability to take the sand, make glass. We need BioGas from the local farm to cook with and heat if needed. Or renewable wood - Bamboo would work along with some other fast growing trees.
You second paragraph gives me hesitation. On the surface I would say you are right.
My thinking is this: The world needs change. Governments, politicians, businesses, our leaders will not let the changes needed happen. I do not subscribe to Revolution, and Evolution will take too long. I think the only strategy is to actually use the Poor as a stepping stone to demonstrate how it could be, and then get the rest of us - the Inbetweens (the not Poor, not Rich) to follow suit. Am I crazy or just a whimsical dreamer?
No, and there's a lot that makes sense about it, but I'm sure you can see that it could be misused. The impoverished could end up in a settlement, rearing to go with awesome, though simple, technologies and support; but if anything goes wrong... what happens? They're poor? They have no backup plan or parachute. The wealthy have no vested interest in the success of such a project. Governments prefer to support agribusiness & centralized utilities.
So are you talking about a blockchain funded project or something funded by some philanthropic entity? I'm not poking holes here, I was actually listening to how the healthcare overhaul will leave some 5-6 million special needs kids without coverage if it goes through -- many of them with some serious issues. It came to mind, "What if there's a blockchain solution to providing this kind of coverage?" but that's way beyond my level of understanding as to how to implement on any level.
The questions are significant, but the application is the hard part. How does it get funded to begin with and how does it progress? I don't know. I do know I'm particularly sensitive to language structures like "use the Poor as a stepping stone," but I don't think it was intended to be as cringy as it sounds.