Generosity the Extropian way

Max More (max@maxmore.com)
Thu, 09 Dec 1999 14:44:29 -0800

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