excerpts from “Banker to the Poor”

by Muhammad Yunus, MICRO-LENDING l AND THE BATTLE AGAINST WORLD POVERTY

“Charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our own lives without worrying about those of the poor. It appeases our consciences. But the real issue is creating a level playing field for everybody, giving every human being a fair chance.”

The Future pg. 237

“For all of us who had labored so long and so hard to achieve this, it was a dream come true. I looked out over all those women seated in their colorful red, green, ocher, and pink saris-a sea of saris-these hundreds of barefoot borrowers who joined our celebration. They had voted with their feet. There was no doubt about their commitment and their determination to break free from poverty. It was a beautiful spectacle, powerful in all respects.”

“A Bank for the Poor Is Born” pg. 123

“consultants rejected our application for a third time. I arranged for a personal meeting with the Central Bank governor to ask him to override his bureaucrats…” “Are you sure the poor will repay?” the governor asked. “Yes, they will. They do. Unlike the rich, the poor can’t risk not repaying. This is the only chance they have.”

“A Bank for the Poor Is Born” pg. 129

“Most foreign aid goes to building roads, bridges, and so forth, which are supposed to help the poor in the long run. The only people really benefiting from most of this aid, however, are those who are already wealthy. Foreign aid becomes a kind of charity for the powerful while the poor get poorer. If aid is to have some impact on the lives of the destitute, it must be rerouted so that it reaches poor households more directly. ..the direct elimination of poverty should be the objective of all development aid. Development should be viewed as a human rights issue, not as a question of simply increasing the GNP. When the national economy picks up, the situation of the poor is not necessarily improved. Therefore, development should be REDEFINED.”

Conversation about Race

MSNBC recently had a televised discussion, “Conversation About Race”
hosted at Howard University.

MSNBC Race & Ethnicity Front page

MSNBC Video clip of Doll test

Please look over this video!

Do not assume it was just about black and white. The main point I got
out of watching it last week was that you can’t entirely blame the
guilty criminals. Their foundation, family, was torn either because of
a single parent working long hours, purposefully neglectful parent(s),
and other reasons. It’s not just because of the economy. It is the
family building block. Of course it would be helpful if parents were
able to have only one stable job but that’s where the government must
step in and provide programs and initiatives to curb criminal, drug,
and gang activity.

This is also along the lines of VASCON4’s Advocacy Campaign and S. 456: Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007
Check it yo! What are your thoughts?