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Micro Credit Rundown

For decades the only way people thought possible to help out in Africa was to send Sally Struthers a check. Through the mail.

With this new-fangled internet thing at our disposal, there is now a better way. There is a much better way.

It is called micro-credit finance. Well it actually goes by a bunch of different names, but however it's titled the concept is the same. It works like this. Give or loan someone a small amount of money - typically no more than $100 - and let them use that money to develop the small business that meets locally known demands. These businesses are run, or course, by the people that actually live there. The local villagers now have a basis for self-reliant income. And by doing it, they quickly and proudly ween themselves off perpetual dependence on foreign aid. They kickstart the local economy by buying and selling other goods and services with others. They empower others to do likewise. In short, they drastically improve their living and working conditions. All told, their entire life can be improved, all by spending less than some kids spend on two video games.

This simple model can be replicated for hundreds of millions of people in developing nations. It's a model that works. Pretty impressive if you think about it.

As to why this wasn't done decades ago is somewhat beyond me. To me, it seems arrogant and presumptious of all western powers and western-based NGOs and aid organizations to have operated under the assumption that they knew the best way to effect change in remote areas of the world. Statistics are abundant of the money and resources that have been spent (read : wasted) on well-intentioned, but ultimately ill-fated aid programmes.

Muhammed Yunas is perhaps the foremost leader on micro-finance. He has all sorts of programmes running now under the banner of his Grameen Foundation.

Kiva.org is another example that has really taken the concept of minimizing risk by distributing the loan amounts, democratically, amongst all the people involved.

Prosper.com is democratizing the loan process right here at home in the U.S.

There are more, and I encourage you to find them and let us know.

Webocratize.us Launches!

Welcome to the inauguration of Webocratize.us! These posts will chronicle the innumerable ways that people around the world are integrating the ideals of democracy with the potential of the web. Some projects mentioned here will hopefully inspire you to action to make this web and world we have a little more democratic. Others will be merely 'interesting' to note. Hopefully all will be worth learning about, and be worth discussing.

That is my hope. That is my impetus for creating webocratize.us.

Welcome, and please join me in making this site an invaluable resource for all of us.