I did this a while back and loaned $25 to metal worker in Afghanistan to expand his shop. I'm currently getting paid back slowly, but when I am I'll just loan the $25 again.
scrooge mcduck would never loan money out at a 0% interest rate
The capitalist pig side of me is bothered by this fact. It cries, "Why would I lend money with no return on my investment?"
The philanthropist side of me retorts, "It is not a profitable venture for me, it is a donation which I will likely get back."
I like their mission. Of course, there are flaws. I'd love to see a business model where there is a slight interest return to investors, but you need to start small.
I'm not thinking of it as a loan at all, I'm not planning on taking my money out. Just gonna keep giving it to new people whenever I get it back
Seriously.
It's twenty-fucking-five dollars. I spent that much today on lunch and a drink.
Out of the thousands and thousands of dollars I earn in a year, I'm pretty certain I can give some person a ridiculously miniscule fraction of that if it helps them get ahead, whether I get repaid or not.
It's really interesting how people here are seeing this as anything other than a philanthropic activity. In the IR bubble, I've never seen anybody in the academic world suggesting that First World lenders should be making money off of microloans. I mean, us here in the core indirectly rape the hell out of the periphery, so to see peole encouraging more of this is absolutely shocking to me.
It's really interesting how people here are seeing this as anything other than a philanthropic activity. In the IR bubble, I've never seen anybody in the academic world suggesting that First World lenders should be making money off of microloans. I mean, us here in the core indirectly rape the hell out of the periphery, so to see peole encouraging more of this is absolutely shocking to me.
I will have to incorporate this into my thesis.
yeah, it's really retarded that so many people are expecting interest on a microloan
here's an opportunity to make a pretty low risk microloan and help someone change their life, and all they can see is "I should get $1.25 back on that $25 loan!"
last summer i went to guatemala for a month and volunteered with people who were doing stuff similar to microfranchising, except it was a "microconsignment model" is what they called it, it was this: http://www.microconsignment.com/
which essentially microcredit combined with training and other things and its pretty cool
we went around to rural villages in guatemala and helped the ladies who were selling the stuff (and stuff that would improve the communities, like water purifiers, seeds in small packets so they could grow their own veggies at home (cuz otherwise they could only buy in bulk and not afford), reading glasses, clean burning wood stoves (its pretty crazy how they did it without that, they essentially filled their house with smoke, so many health problems from that and use way more wood) and all this stuff for super cheap and actually saving money for the people in villages and improving their lives
and so it was like double good because it gave these women (who usually would not really have jobs at all there) jobs selling this stuff all around and it also helped the people who bought the stuff
was cool
though that day i shat my brains out in a village in bumfuck guatemala, not so good
the first day i had the shits it was pretty bad
this was in some kinda large town, nebaj
this is a picture i took there
and we were homestaying at these peoples house, they were very nice but seemed not super careful regarding matters of sanitary and washing veggies in bottled water, at least compared to the peoples house i had been staying at outside of antigua (i should e-mail them) and i was super wary, but whatever
anyway
went to this hostel/restaurant that was one of the businesses set up and now run by a guatemalan that served as kind of an HQ there for the ngo
played some flip cup, slept there cuz didn't want to walk back late that night
woke up took a shit figuring it was just beer shits, went to my homestay
took massive shit, reached for immodium
followed the instructions exactly, (2 after the first, 1 for each subsequent for a max of 4)
ended up getting to 4
then like an hour later i had to get on a van for a many hour journey across shitty roads in hills and was very worried
but uh that immodium blocked me up like a champ
so much that i couldnt shit for days
whoa boy
another day
it was really bad when we were out in this very out in nowhere village and not only did i have to shit my brains out in the most nastiest toilets i've ever seen (like they were raised stone things that led to a big pit down below, but what was bad is they were raised high enough that you couldn't squat over them your butt had to make contact, i woulda been happier with a hole in the ground...)
and then after that i suddenly felt very very cold
with a fleece on
in guatemala in august
fever fest
luckily i had some tylenol and felt better by the end of that day but goddamn
Shazkar Shadowstorm on
poo
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
edited July 2009
my general plan is to never travel to any regressive hellholes
I've got ~1300 in Kiva. It's a lot smarter than just dumping money on a country, as this doesn't screw the economy up (at least, not as much as straight donations do).
As an engineer, I focused my donations on guys with construction/auto repair businesses and the like. I'd be interested to see some research on where the most effective place to put your money is.
fshavlak on
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
I've got ~1300 in Kiva. It's a lot smarter than just dumping money on a country, as this doesn't screw the economy up (at least, not as much as straight donations do).
As an engineer, I focused my donations on guys with construction/auto repair businesses and the like. I'd be interested to see some research on where the most effective place to put your money is.
the most effective thing to do is bury it in your back yard
my general plan is to never travel to any regressive hellholes
wat
well
the general parameters by which i live are often violated
my brother is gonna be teaching engrish there for a year
Fandyien on
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
It's really interesting how people here are seeing this as anything other than a philanthropic activity. In the IR bubble, I've never seen anybody in the academic world suggesting that First World lenders should be making money off of microloans. I mean, us here in the core indirectly rape the hell out of the periphery, so to see peole encouraging more of this is absolutely shocking to me.
I will have to incorporate this into my thesis.
yeah, it's really retarded that so many people are expecting interest on a microloan
here's an opportunity to make a pretty low risk microloan and help someone change their life, and all they can see is "I should get $1.25 back on that $25 loan!"
I think some people are incensed that some corporations are making a profit (a hefty profit at that) off of money that was presumably donated.
"Charity" and "Hefty Profit" are not found together in my word association file. Would I like to see return on a donation like this? With the microloan setup? Yes! I'd like to see my loan-out money accumulate. To have a charitable 'nest-egg' build up and be self-sustaining and self-replicating. I don't like the idea of loans being handed out using my donations garnering profits for some faceless corporation that I didn't deal with.
Munkus Beaver on
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
It's really interesting how people here are seeing this as anything other than a philanthropic activity. In the IR bubble, I've never seen anybody in the academic world suggesting that First World lenders should be making money off of microloans. I mean, us here in the core indirectly rape the hell out of the periphery, so to see peole encouraging more of this is absolutely shocking to me.
I will have to incorporate this into my thesis.
yeah, it's really retarded that so many people are expecting interest on a microloan
here's an opportunity to make a pretty low risk microloan and help someone change their life, and all they can see is "I should get $1.25 back on that $25 loan!"
I think some people are incensed that some corporations are making a profit (a hefty profit at that) off of money that was presumably donated.
"Charity" and "Hefty Profit" are not found together in my word association file. Would I like to see return on a donation like this? With the microloan setup? Yes! I'd like to see my loan-out money accumulate. To have a charitable 'nest-egg' build up and be self-sustaining and self-replicating. I don't like the idea of loans being handed out using my donations garnering profits for some faceless corporation that I didn't deal with.
what are you even talking about?
Druhim on
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
It's really interesting how people here are seeing this as anything other than a philanthropic activity. In the IR bubble, I've never seen anybody in the academic world suggesting that First World lenders should be making money off of microloans. I mean, us here in the core indirectly rape the hell out of the periphery, so to see peole encouraging more of this is absolutely shocking to me.
I will have to incorporate this into my thesis.
yeah, it's really retarded that so many people are expecting interest on a microloan
here's an opportunity to make a pretty low risk microloan and help someone change their life, and all they can see is "I should get $1.25 back on that $25 loan!"
I think some people are incensed that some corporations are making a profit (a hefty profit at that) off of money that was presumably donated.
"Charity" and "Hefty Profit" are not found together in my word association file. Would I like to see return on a donation like this? With the microloan setup? Yes! I'd like to see my loan-out money accumulate. To have a charitable 'nest-egg' build up and be self-sustaining and self-replicating. I don't like the idea of loans being handed out using my donations garnering profits for some faceless corporation that I didn't deal with.
what are you even talking about?
It should be pretty obvious based on the words that I used to make up those sentences. Yup.
Munkus Beaver on
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
The people who actually manage the micro loans charges interest on those loans.
Of course, what is being ignored by the people who cry scam is that the loans Kiva supports are to people who normally wouldn't have gotten a loan in the first place.
my general plan is to never travel to any regressive hellholes
wat
well
the general parameters by which i live are often violated
my brother is gonna be teaching engrish there for a year
I wanted to work in an ESL camp for a couple weeks, but they told me not to bother unless I could come for at least a month, which didn't give me enough notice to get papers and funds in order. A lot of their people were being put in seven-day quarantine for the sniffles over the the swine flu thing. That ought to be slowing down now, though.
Whereabouts will you be? Will you come back with pictures and swashbuckling tales of adventure?
laughingfuzzball on
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
The people who actually manage the micro loans charges interest on those loans.
Of course, what is being ignored by the people who cry scam is that the loans Kiva supports are to people who normally wouldn't have gotten a loan in the first place.
I think it's unscrupulous that the fact that companies are making nice profits out of charitable donations is hidden. I know I'm crying foul because it seems like these companies are taking advantage of charitable intentions in order to garner a profit.
Munkus Beaver on
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
so munkus, do you have an alternative intermediary for these micro loans that doesn't charge any interest?
I'm willing to bet you don't
I'm willing to even bet you haven't really looked into alternatives because you just want to complain about someone else making any interest off your hypothetical $25 that you'll never send anyway even if they didn't make any interest off it
munkus just hates poor people, and also giving them money
Kuribo's Shoe on
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited July 2009
Yeah, being upfront about it? Giving some of the interest back to the person investing so more money can be invested? Or even investing some of the profit back into the program in such a way that the person who put that money there can track it in the future.
I'm willing to even bet you didn't understand what I was saying at all but just wanted to jump up in arms against me to save face.
Munkus Beaver on
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
no, I understand what you're saying
you're complaining that you're not making interest on your $25 and someone else is, ignoring what others have already pointed out that someone needs to actually facilitate the loans in the location in question and they charge much less interest than the local banks do
and I'm saying I'm not going to begrudge them some interest on my $25 and I'm not doing this for a return on my investment
some of you are pretending there's this false dichotomy where it's either charity because you're just giving the money away and don't expect any of it back, or it's a loan and therefore you must make interest or it's a scam
Posts
Also, there's a webcomics group started by Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics and the SMBC guy.
pizza delivery
Secret terrorist training video
used to be they only had vocabulary questions, but now they have more subjects
Seriously.
It's twenty-fucking-five dollars. I spent that much today on lunch and a drink.
Out of the thousands and thousands of dollars I earn in a year, I'm pretty certain I can give some person a ridiculously miniscule fraction of that if it helps them get ahead, whether I get repaid or not.
I will have to incorporate this into my thesis.
here's an opportunity to make a pretty low risk microloan and help someone change their life, and all they can see is "I should get $1.25 back on that $25 loan!"
http://www.microconsignment.com/
which essentially microcredit combined with training and other things and its pretty cool
we went around to rural villages in guatemala and helped the ladies who were selling the stuff (and stuff that would improve the communities, like water purifiers, seeds in small packets so they could grow their own veggies at home (cuz otherwise they could only buy in bulk and not afford), reading glasses, clean burning wood stoves (its pretty crazy how they did it without that, they essentially filled their house with smoke, so many health problems from that and use way more wood) and all this stuff for super cheap and actually saving money for the people in villages and improving their lives
and so it was like double good because it gave these women (who usually would not really have jobs at all there) jobs selling this stuff all around and it also helped the people who bought the stuff
was cool
though that day i shat my brains out in a village in bumfuck guatemala, not so good
this was in some kinda large town, nebaj
this is a picture i took there
and we were homestaying at these peoples house, they were very nice but seemed not super careful regarding matters of sanitary and washing veggies in bottled water, at least compared to the peoples house i had been staying at outside of antigua (i should e-mail them) and i was super wary, but whatever
anyway
went to this hostel/restaurant that was one of the businesses set up and now run by a guatemalan that served as kind of an HQ there for the ngo
played some flip cup, slept there cuz didn't want to walk back late that night
woke up took a shit figuring it was just beer shits, went to my homestay
took massive shit, reached for immodium
followed the instructions exactly, (2 after the first, 1 for each subsequent for a max of 4)
ended up getting to 4
then like an hour later i had to get on a van for a many hour journey across shitty roads in hills and was very worried
but uh that immodium blocked me up like a champ
so much that i couldnt shit for days
whoa boy
another day
it was really bad when we were out in this very out in nowhere village and not only did i have to shit my brains out in the most nastiest toilets i've ever seen (like they were raised stone things that led to a big pit down below, but what was bad is they were raised high enough that you couldn't squat over them your butt had to make contact, i woulda been happier with a hole in the ground...)
and then after that i suddenly felt very very cold
with a fleece on
in guatemala in august
fever fest
luckily i had some tylenol and felt better by the end of that day but goddamn
And never been on a plane
Maybe you should go somewhere
Expand your horizons
Even if its a nice place and not far away
Like canada or some shit, or I dunno
Failing that my parents have been kicking around a family trip to canadia
I have an unfortunate generalized fear of travelling though
all outta my comfort zone in foreign places surrounded by foreign people all by my lonesome
makes me want to find a cardboard box and hide in it
As an engineer, I focused my donations on guys with construction/auto repair businesses and the like. I'd be interested to see some research on where the most effective place to put your money is.
the most effective thing to do is bury it in your back yard
then buy knick knacks
Gnomes are known to be quite good at investments!
well
the general parameters by which i live are often violated
my brother is gonna be teaching engrish there for a year
I think some people are incensed that some corporations are making a profit (a hefty profit at that) off of money that was presumably donated.
"Charity" and "Hefty Profit" are not found together in my word association file. Would I like to see return on a donation like this? With the microloan setup? Yes! I'd like to see my loan-out money accumulate. To have a charitable 'nest-egg' build up and be self-sustaining and self-replicating. I don't like the idea of loans being handed out using my donations garnering profits for some faceless corporation that I didn't deal with.
It should be pretty obvious based on the words that I used to make up those sentences. Yup.
The people who actually manage the micro loans charges interest on those loans.
Of course, what is being ignored by the people who cry scam is that the loans Kiva supports are to people who normally wouldn't have gotten a loan in the first place.
I wanted to work in an ESL camp for a couple weeks, but they told me not to bother unless I could come for at least a month, which didn't give me enough notice to get papers and funds in order. A lot of their people were being put in seven-day quarantine for the sniffles over the the swine flu thing. That ought to be slowing down now, though.
Whereabouts will you be? Will you come back with pictures and swashbuckling tales of adventure?
I think it's unscrupulous that the fact that companies are making nice profits out of charitable donations is hidden. I know I'm crying foul because it seems like these companies are taking advantage of charitable intentions in order to garner a profit.
I'm willing to bet you don't
I'm willing to even bet you haven't really looked into alternatives because you just want to complain about someone else making any interest off your hypothetical $25 that you'll never send anyway even if they didn't make any interest off it
I'm willing to even bet you didn't understand what I was saying at all but just wanted to jump up in arms against me to save face.
you're complaining that you're not making interest on your $25 and someone else is, ignoring what others have already pointed out that someone needs to actually facilitate the loans in the location in question and they charge much less interest than the local banks do
and I'm saying I'm not going to begrudge them some interest on my $25 and I'm not doing this for a return on my investment
some of you are pretending there's this false dichotomy where it's either charity because you're just giving the money away and don't expect any of it back, or it's a loan and therefore you must make interest or it's a scam
You can sign up and just wait if/until we make another donation.