Irony of Micro-Finance Business: Appearance of Loan Sharks

The poor are easily abused. In India dozens of poor people, who have found themselves trapped by micro-loans, have committed suicide. How ironic! The micro-loan-idea that earned  Mr. Yunus of Bangladesh his Nobel Peace prize, are being abused by loan sharks.

Poor, ignorant people are offered loans upon loans, that they are not able to pay back. It seems like there are always those who see an opportunity for wrong and take it. It is not that the idea of micro-finance is bad, but that people are bad.

The poor need a hand from us, the wealthy of the world.  But, I think this shows again that if you give people money or rice, but don’t give them a new way of living or hope, what is the point?

There are reasons why people are trapped in poverty. Sometimes it is lack of knowledge and bad choices. Sometimes it is lack of confidence.  Sometimes it is an unjust and corrupt system that keeps the poor in poverty. Sometimes it is abuse, wars, natural disasters and the list goes on.

This is why the Biblical message of everyone’s equal value in the eyes of God is crucial. If you know you are loved and every wrong you ever did and do is forgiven, it changes everything. If you know there is a God who is inherently Good, it gives you hope. But also the Bible is a very practical and realistic book giving wise advice on living (don’t take loans you cannot repay, don’t speak behind people’s backs because they will find out)  and tells the history of Israelis with all their failures and shortcomings.  And learning all of this will change the way you look at yourself, your neighbor and your situation. You will have hope, which helps you to keep going through the tough times and you will have wisdom to make good choices. And this can bring about true change.

Read BBC story here.

Nobel Prize To “The Messiah”

Barack Obama has just won the Nobel peace prize. The text book idealism and flowery speeches trumped rewarding accomplishments. Obama has sprung from small playing fields to the savior of the world in just a couple of years.

Having held the President’s office for less than a year, the famously inspirational Obama, hasn’t accomplished anything. Obviously he hasn’t exactly had time to finish any of the extremely ambitious plans he has. Commentators say this is a peace prize given to encourage Obama in the direction he has taken.

Barack Obama is very un-American in his thinking and thus conservative Americans doubt his every intention. Instead he is very much a liberal after Europe’s heart. Europeans don’t understand the American idealism that leads to wars and Americans  find European socialism and big government incomprehensible. So it makes complete sense that the Norwegian Nobel committee would encourage a US president, who finally sees the world through the same lens as the Europeans.

The world has been looking to Barack Obama as the solution.  In a world void of hope, people see hope in him. He has already been given golden keys to do as he pleases, because the world trusts him. This Nobel prize has placed further expectations and pressures on Obama’s inexperienced shoulders. I find it incredible how one man is expected to right the world from all wrongs, starting from climate change to national health care and nuclear disarmament.

I hope he will be able to live up to it.