From: Max More (max@maxmore.com)
Date: Thu Dec 09 1999 - 15:44:29 MST
This holiday season, if you've done well this year with your salary, stock
options, or portfolio appreciation, you might be in a mood to give to help
others. This is not giving out of guilt or pity but, to put it in
Nietzchean terms, an overflowing of power. I'd call this generosity and
benevolence rather than charity.
But how to give without encouraging depending and rewarding slothfulness?
As a frequent visitor to the Motley Fool web site, I checked out their
group charity drive and liked the look of the Grameen Foundation. Their
method is to make microloans to assist poor people in starting businesses
that will support them indefinitely. They claim a 97% payback rate (partly
achieved through group pressure--all recipients in a group must pull
through for any to continue receiving microloans).
As Extropians, I think most of us recognize that, while pursuing our own
interests is laudable, *effectively* helping others not only expresses
benevolence, but also helps people to pull themselves out of poverty and
contribute to the economy--which ends up being to our benefit too.
If you are a registered Motley Fool, you might given through their group
effort:
http://www.fool.com/foolcharityfund/1999/charities.htm
If not, the organizations own site is at:
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/
Onward!
Max
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