Stick It To The Man

Being from a small town, our newspaper is often supplemented by this national publication called American Profile. Generally, it features fluff pieces like "Celebrities - where are they now?" and other feel-good bathroom-reading material.

There's also this financial column. I usually skip financial advice since I don't have a job or 401K options, but this article was brought to my attention by my mom.

http://www.americanprofile.com/article/37864.html

Dear Dave,

My wife and I make contributions to a company to help support children in Third World countries. This company has a plan where they make microloans to young entrepreneurs. It seems good in a way, because it makes them feel less like it's a handout. Still, I have a problem with the debt aspect. What's your opinion?

—Taylor in Little Rock, Ark.

Dave Says: Well, I'm certainly not mad at anyone who wants to help people in Third World countries. I think there's one big question you have to ask yourself: If you truly believe that debt is a bad idea, then why would it be an acceptable or good thing in a poverty-stricken society?

If it were me, I'd love to help people get entrepreneurial projects off the ground in a way that's a "hand up" instead of a handout. Teach them good business and marketing skills, too, and turn it into an educational situation where they can really pay it forward. I think most people who are decent and have good hearts turn into big givers when they become successful. And really, this kind of scenario is about the only way the microloan will work, anyway.

Everyone seems to think these kinds of loans are some kind of great, altruistic thing. But to me they sound a lot like miniature credit cards, and that's the part that scares me!

Oh no. No no no no no no. Oh HECK TO THE NO.

This guy gets paid to write articles on finances, and he's screwing over poor people by writing ignorant responses. I'll save you my wrath and instead post the more mature, but my-pen-is-my-knife response on the discussion forum. Here goes:

Dear Dave,

As a matter of fact, the best microfinance institutions have long incorporated business, marketing, and financial skills training as an important component of microcredit loans to very poor women and communities. Rather than place the onus of trying to secure a loan at prohibitively high interest rates from a traditional banking institution, microfinance organizations may instead offer a loan to a group of women who use a portion of the total sum to start their own business efforts, and are responsible for repaying a certain amount each month just as in any other lending scenario. In my experience doing international development work, even the poorest of the poor do not wish to be the objects of Western pity, and are eager to work hard to make a better life for their family.

Microcredit loans differ greatly from the voyeuristic credit card industry in America. We need to be wise consumers when we donate our money, and do the necessary research to ensure that our dollars are reaching the right people. I appreciate that the reader from Arkansas is being responsible in making a wise donation that is, in fact, an investment in women and youth in developing countries. Your response, however, clearly lacked the level of research a person in your position should give in response. I am extremely disappointed that a well-respected financial expert would share such an ignorant, uninformed opinion in a national publication and on the World Wide Web. THIS is how we continue to hurt families living in poverty across the world.

Taylor, Freedom from Hunger, based in Davis, California, developed the “Credit with Education” model that is now considered best practice in the field of microfinance. The organization recently launched an initiative aimed at providing youth with the resources and skills necessary to run a successful microenterprise. Please see their website, http://www.freedomfromhunger.org/, for more information.

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I love sticking it to the man.

on a lighter note...

have any Ph.D students taken on the effects of facebook in the development of relationships since the site's inception?

I just heard a story yesterday about a guy who decided to look up this girl he knew in high school just to see what she was up to. He hadn't talked to her in three years. 12 months later, they were married.

Facebook has taken social networking to a whole new level. You can farm with people, throw pillows at them, share photos and journal entries, raise money for global causes, and live entire alternate realities from separate locations. It also seems to be THE place for important, life-altering announcements, specifically with regards to relationships. A rash of friends recently got engaged, and each one of them posted something along the lines of "she said yes!" or "I said yes!" illustrated with a number of smiley faces or heart graphics.

There's also the more "subtle" avenue of just changing your relationship status from a dropdown menu, which feels a little like ordering from a fast-food joint. This is one of the few places where you're not allowed to create your own status. You can post whatever you like for political or religious views, but you're pretty limited with relationships. Is this a preemptive strike at damage control from boy-bashing or girl-hating?

Probably smart, since I know I've been tempted to write some pretty snarky things in that box...like:
ha!
relieved
vow of celibacy
never again
sexually frustrated

Sometimes I forget that I don't have to be snarky anymore :)

Lighting My Own Fires

I've been trying to research slum burnings for the past hour to get an idea of the history behind this practice, specifically in Kolkata, India. From the perspective of municipal officials, the existence of slum settlements are an undesirable eyesore occupying valuable land in already overcrowded cities; while there is such a thing as "authorized" slums, where tenants pay taxes and rent, there are many more unauthorized squatter communities where families do not have access to basic amenities, including water, sanitation, and electricity.

There have been movements over the years to reduce the presence of slum communities in Kolkata and cities around the world. In India, a country that has struggled to promote their identity as a global power and modern country, slum residences belie the millions of men, women, and children living in abject poverty beneath the economic boom.

One strategy for development are "slum demolitions," where entire communities are bulldozed to the ground without warning. Illegal squatters, or families, as I like to call them, have no rights to the land.

This may be what happened in the Bidhan Nagar Slum in Kolkata. Nobody knows for sure what started the fire that burned down the entire community, destroying all of the worldly possessions these families had. Fires are fairly common in slum communities, where families cook over fires in ill-ventilated huts. Sometimes, authorities use this fact to their advantage - there is no way of proving who or what ignited the flames.

Brother Mahadeb has been working in this community, raising up local leadership and teaching classes in the newly constructed school building. I have met some of the residents of this community, seen their daughters dance and their sons dreams of something more than the life of their fathers. Today, thousands of these residents are without homes, and the community is shattered.

Mahadeb and his wife Rita are one of the most amazing couples I have ever met. Their love for God, for his people, and for each other is truly incredible and merits another blog post sometime. They are dedicated to helping the families of this tragedy in any way possible, but they will need your financial resources. If you are able, please consider sending a check payable to Good Shepherd Ministries care of:

MAHADEB & RITA MONDAL
327, LAXIMINARAYAN ROAD.
P.O. RABINDRANAGAR.
NEAR SHIBTALA PRIMARY SCHOOL
KOLKATA – 700065

They also need your prayers. We have a powerful God who cares for the plight of the poor so much that we must seek relationship with them to seek Him. Regardless of our financial situations, we always have that ability to give. As long as we don't let that keep us from action...

Snarkolepsy

noun: pathology.

a chronic social disorder characterized by excessive desire to lash out through extreme sarcasm and cynicism. Possibly emerges at inappropriate times; those afflicted may not even realize they are having an episode. Has contributed greatly to the humor in pop culture that defines today's TwentySomething.


origin: well, I thought of it last night, but it turns out somebody else already coined the term. drat. this, however, is MY definition.