Help Fight Global Poverty!

see, this is the way to fight poverty, through logic and capitalism.

these strategies have proven to work in many different communities throughout Africa and the Middle East, and its almost completely garunteed to be corruption free due to the nature of the transaction. it works far better than most "collect money to pay for the poor" type organizations, as it is targeted specifically at entreprenurial buisness.

Additionally if you want to do something like this and your primary motivation is to make money yourself there is also another type of Internet based service similar to Kiva that focuses on post industrial countries where the lender makes interest on loan just like a bank. The service facilitates loans between people for a multitude of reasons. The name of this service is Prosper. This is a Link.

I like how Spartan completely ignored your comment.

If I did have money to give I would, but I am donating a bunch of money to the Relay for Life already. Wish I would have found out earlier.

not my fault people dont understand the genius of microfinance.
I dont see the need for assistance in a post-Irev country. microfinance only works really well when you have small, dependant communities with limited inter-community trading. it does work beyond that, but it quickly becomes plagued by statistical uncertainties and corruption and taxes.

@TGE - I dont understand what you mean. I perceive his post to be 100% in support of the idea.

@Schem - I have to disagree with regards to post industrial countries. I have lived in some communities in the USA where I saw such things and they were very productive. Moreover the current banking system exploits people so any option that puts power in the hands of the people and enables one to get financing for something at greatly reduced "market" costs is a winner in my book.

where in the country are we talking? if you mean midwest, hell, that makes sense. but in cities or suburbs it is lacking in certain failsafes.

unfortunately after the buisness launches off, its just as likely to get pulled into banks. I dont like bank-superstructure, but I dont think microfinance alleviates the need for it.

the idea of microfinance is numerous small injections of money into small communities, as the money is spread to different buisnesses and handed around, it increases the production capacity of certain buisnesses, in effect creating money out of thin air. this works all dandy in small communities as in Africa etc. but in cities or suburbs, the small injections are easily dispersed and lost in the greater cash flow.

I lived in Central PA and saw several start-ups established with micro loans in poverty entrenched neighborhoods and they had a positive impact albeit it small in the immediate physical area but population wise they were good.

The entire banking system by its nature creates money or I should say wealth out of thin air so it is not a new issue for cities or suburbs in the USA. It often has the exact opposite effect in places like Africa sine the banking systems do not fully operate like those in post industrial counties. In short in countries like the USA debt=money in most third world countries money=wealth.

Update: the following link has some very good information about the current real banking system in the USA and most other countries. WWW Link If you have couple hours I highly suggest watching the Money Masters. It really gets into details.

PA is distinct in that it resembles the backcountry more than any other state in the New England area. there are two major population centers, one to the southeast, another to the west, and a smaller concentration in the northwest.
central PA, however, has very little popuation. normally the populace is concentrated in small town communities, with sparse population in between.
the result is that its rather perfect for microfinance. but that tactic could not possible work in places like hartford (5th highest crime rate for a city in the world) as the money would dissipate far too quickly.

banking creates money, true enough.
but they largely keep it for themselves. very few buisnesses are capable of paying off a bank loan while expanding, the result being that we have bigwig banking systems that are of little use except to get into credit card debt.

for the naive, yes.
you should NEVER go out on a buying spree with a credit card. thats lunacy, if you cant pay it in debit
DONT BUY IT.

I'm aware fully of how banking works, thanks anyhow.

we're clogging the charity thread, how about we bring this to a different place?

Forgive the brief soapbox stand....



No, only money is created - wealth is related to the proportion of the money outstanding that YOU control. The more the total money supply is increased, the greater the amount of money you have to have to maintain your wealth.



Hear, Hear! Outstanding advice in general, Schem. I don't like debit cards myself, but I ensure that I pay off the credit cards each month. Also, you should maintain a emergency fund of between 3 to 6 month's total living expenses in case a real OH S--T happens - like major car repair/lose your job/get sick/etc.

I'll get off the soap box now....