An American Legend was born when Jesse James commits his first *confirmed* bank robbery.

What does this have to do with Procurement? Besides the fact that, when you think about it, many suppliers will rob you blind on a daily basis if you are unprepared during the negotiation, during the invoice review, or during the warranty process.

Well, if you think about it, sometimes if you want to get famous, you have to take big risks.

But, more importantly, if you take risks, you can get famous … but in the case of Procurement, you don’t have to rob a bank to make money. You just have to get smart about how you buy. There are savings to be had in every category, and all you have to do is find them to bring millions to the bottom line.  And take the risk of doing something new.

And all you need to do to figure out how is to read the archives, strategy, process, and the tools you need to make it all happen.

The United States began its plunge into the new darker ages when it withdrew from UNESCO — the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Today, progress is global. Supply chains are global. Relationships are global. And problems are global.

What good, and in particular, what enlightenment can possibly come from withdrawing from an organization, with 193 member countries no less, whose defined purpose, as clearly outlined in Wikipedia, is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.

Now, I’m not defending the success, or achievements of UNESCO, or saying they are the most effective at what they do, or anything along those lines.

I’m deploring the fact that any country today could feel that, regardless of their viewpoint on the effectiveness of the organization, could not stay involved just in principal — given that with the exception of this country and one — ONE — peer, pretty much every other country is a member state.

Just look at history to see what happens whenever a country, any country, turns insular. The world leaves it behind.

And while leaving UNESCO is not the same as closing all the borders, it’s not a step forward. It’s a step backwards. And citizens should be writing their senators and complaining bitterly.

And yes, SI is aware of the publicly stated reason(s) why the US is withdrawing, and this just makes it worse. UNESCO is not meant to be a political platform. ‘Nuff said.