NationStates Jolt Archive

Not exactly today's news, but I haven't found a thread on it yet.

What do you think of Yunus' "microcredit idea" being rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize? What do you think of his idea in itself? And of the links between poverty and conflict?


In receiving the Nobel Peace prize on Sunday, micro-credit pioneer Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh will no doubt hammer home the message he has been preaching for 30 years: a world blighted by poverty is a world without peace.
[...]
What he found [in his home country, Bangladesh] were resourceful and hard-working villagers victimized by usurious money lenders and trapped into lives of endless drudgery, modern-day serfs held captive by destitution. He was astounded to discover how little was needed for them to break out of this vicious cycle: a measly 27 dollars for 42 people.

When Yunus could not find a bank with enough imagination to launch a lending program for people so poor that they had nothing to offer as collateral, he reached into his pocket and lent the money himself.

Every penny was returned. [...]

There are, Yunus often points out, more than a billion people in the world living on less than a dollar a day, and many of them, he says, could change their lives and their prospects with a little bit of seed capital.

Yunus' concept of tiny, collateral-free loans has already caught on all over the world.

Full article here (http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/asia-pacific/20061210-nobel-laureate.html).

He deserves two. *nod*

Meh, the Peace Prize is a sham.

I watched a thing on PBS about this. The idea and implement of it so far has been a good thing. As long as it doesn't get into the hands of greedy a-holes who put high interest on the small loans.

Meh, the Peace Prize is a sham.

No more or less so than any other annual award.

I applaud the choice. (gah, that sounds horribly stuck-up, but my English is failing me today. :()

Micro credits are certainly one of the best strategies to effectively get people out of poverty for good. Since they've already been around so long, esp. in the form of aid agencies/NGOs offering them, it is of course at the same time somewhat disheartening that they are apparently still big enough news to attract the attention of the Nobel committee. I mean, one would have hoped that micro credits are an everyday thing by now, "nothing special". Not so, it seems. :/

No more or less so than any other annual award.

Actually much more so than the other Nobel Prizes, which were given to Curie, Einstein, Pauling, Hemingway, Marquez and so on, while the Peace Prize is given to the likes of Kissinger and Arafat.

/Finds it very fortunate the suckiest prize was left to Norway to decide on.

I'm certainly glad that he's getting a Nobel prize, but I've made plenty of microloans for a hundred to three hundred dollars or so to people, and I've never gotten a Nobel prize. Hell, I've even had to go to the trouble of tracking guys down and roughing them up a bit to get them to pay it back and nobody ever even recognized my dedication to making microloans work.

Not exactly today's news, but I haven't found a thread on it yet.

What do you think of Yunus' "microcredit idea" being rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize? What do you think of his idea in itself? And of the links between poverty and conflict?

Full article here (http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/asia-pacific/20061210-nobel-laureate.html).

What would the Communists think? Loaning money?

They might shoot Yunus.

in other news 42 people have gone missing a few weeks after they were lent money by Mr Yunus (yes I am wondering where he got 27 dollars to loan)

Also shouldn’t there be a poverty prize?

Actually much more so than the other Nobel Prizes, which were given to Curie, Einstein, Pauling, Hemingway, Marquez and so on, while the Peace Prize is given to the likes of Kissinger and Arafat.

/Finds it very fortunate the suckiest prize was left to Norway to decide on.

The Peace Prize has also been given to Albert Schweitzer, Jane Addams, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King Jr, UNICEF, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel and Klas Pontus Arnoldson.

On the other hand, the other nobel prizes have been given out to: Werner Karl Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Vladimir Prelog, Samuel Beckett, Sir Winston Churchill and Milton Friedman.

Annual awards always evolve into political statements of the day. *nod* Some of those statements have merit, some are passing fads.

Meh, the Peace Prize is a sham.

why do you say that as a swedish?
jag trodde det var omöjligt att du kunde nobba sverige så!!
du är väll säkert moderat med!!!:sniper:

That sounds like a good idea to me.

The Peace Prize has also been given to Albert Schweitzer, Jane Addams, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King Jr, UNICEF, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel and Klas Pontus Arnoldson.

On the other hand, the other nobel prizes have been given out to: Werner Karl Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Vladimir Prelog, Samuel Beckett, Sir Winston Churchill and Milton Friedman.

Annual awards always evolve into political statements of the day. *nod* Some of those statements have merit, some are passing fads.

What's wrong with heisenberg's or schrodinger's prizes? They were bonafide geniuses.

http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED/10-2006/Article-20061016-5144ebb3-c0a8-10ed-0055-76e2120ec0b4/story.html

"There is a difference between an investor and a destroyer, a bomber and a constructor, between those who respect human rights and preserve human integrity, and those who kill innocent people cold-bloodedly, spreading fear, panic and poverty among human beings, causing people to lose sleep, and destroying their lands. I thought about these dissimilarities when the Bangladeshi Muslim Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the founder of the Grameen Bank, established to help the poor, in an effort to bring civilizations, religions and human beings closer to one another, so that they can live in peace.

"At the opposite end of the spectrum, there is what Osama bin Laden does. He is still hiding from one cave to another, planning how to blow up, destroy and kill; he has introduced the idea of suicide bombers, has founded a terrorist organization, and he does not differentiate between killing a child, a widow, or an elderly.

"The World Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually to those whose work contributes to the achievement of world peace and coexistence. This year, it has introduced us to a kind of person who uses his money, ideas and time to help fight poverty, and assist people, preserve their rights, and protect them. The Bangladeshi banker Yunus has founded the Grameen Bank. This is considered the first bank in Bangladesh to have started operating based on a micro-credit system to help the poor. It provides financial loans to the poorest people, especially women, and charges them with small interests that encourage the poor to take these loans. The objective is for them to be able to set up their businesses and implement their private projects, which move them from the circle of poverty to a state of capability and self-reliance. Yunus is the peaceful person who has utilized his ideas and money to fight poverty, to affirm that eradicating it is an important pivot of achieving global peace and security, and to prevent terrorist organizations from infiltrating into poor families, enlisting their children, pushing them into terrorist arms, and violating world security.

"Also, the charity work carried out by the Saudi businessman Muhammad Abdul Latif Jameel is in line with what Yunus is doing. These activities are now widespread among the Saudis and the Arabs through the 'Abdul Latif Jameel's Fund for Community Service' and soft loans, in order to fight poverty, and to set up small projects for those in need, so that they can help themselves and realize their dreams. Many women have turned from simple sellers on a sidewalk into shop owners, and into producers integrated in society!"

"We can draw a comparison. On the one hand, what Al-Qaeda does: it adopts Islam as a slogan, and operates in words and deeds in its name. Its leader is Osama bin Laden, who uses his money and capabilities to beguile youth, and to push them into the folds of terrorism, so that they will eventually explode themselves, kill innocent people, and spread fear and terror. On the other hand, there is what Muhammad Yunus and Muhammad Abdu Latif Jameel are doing with their money and capabilities in order to fight poverty, and to contribute to security, stability and international peace.

"Pure Islam and the real Prophet's message are represented by what is implemented by Yunus and Adu Latif Jameel, and not by bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and those like them, who devastate the world with corruption and terrorism. Getting the poor out of poverty, rescuing them from the ordeals of time and their difficult lives, giving them hope, a future, well-being and development, making them able to produce, develop, contribute to peace and stability, and do their part in helping other poor: this is the real face of Islam, with no violence or killing innocent people.

"What terrorists do increases the number of poor, widows and orphans; spreads fear, terror and poverty; hampers development projects and destroys infrastructure. On the contrary, the award Yunus has obtained is a confirmation that Islam is a religion of peace and security, whereas bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri's ideas are the fruit of evil and sick minds.

"A proper human being is one who thinks like the owner of Grameen Bank. After winning the Nobel Peace Prize, he said he would use the money he received from the award, which is estimated at $1.7 million, to look for more inventive ways to help the poor to dispose of their misery, and to provide them with soft loans.

"Undoubtedly, world peace and security need more of the likes of Yunus, who are ready to use their money and ideas for the sake of mankind and to help it through social solidarity, and by setting up charity businesses, to which Islam exhorts. On the contrary, there is no need for terrorism, for blowing up people, and turning them into bombs that terrorize mankind, inflame wars everywhere, spread poverty, disease and penury, and widow women and orphan children, like al-Qaeda does."

Meh, the Peace Prize is a sham.

Only cuz Kissinger won one.

Beyond that, it's great the Yunus won the prize this year. He really did help his people.

What's wrong with heisenberg's or schrodinger's prizes? They were bonafide geniuses.

They were the flavors of the month. :p

why do you say that as a swedish?
jag trodde det var omöjligt att du kunde nobba sverige så!!

Åh, jag nobbar Sverige dagligen på mycket värre sätt, men vad det norskutdelade fredspriset ska ha med Sverige att göra, det låter du vara osagt.

du är väll säkert moderat med!!!:sniper:

You take that back. Now.

It doesn't take much to get good, honest folks off of the ground.

Meh, the Peace Prize is a sham.
What would the Communists think? Loaning money?
They might shoot Yunus.
Anyone else find it pathetic that the first thing that some people can think of, upon being told that international recognition and accolades is going towards a man who is dedicating his life to helping the poorest people in this world to rise above their pittiful existance, is negative, bitter hostility?

Anyone else find it pathetic that the first thing that some people can think of, upon being told that international recognition and accolades is going towards a man who is dedicating his life to helping the poorest people in this world to rise above their pittiful existance, is negative, bitter hostility?

And anyone else find it pathetic how some people can't read (or spell, for that matter) and think that this "negative, bitter hostility" toward the prize has anything to do with its current recipient?

Åh, jag nobbar Sverige dagligen på mycket värre sätt, men vad det norskutdelade fredspriset ska ha med Sverige att göra, det låter du vara osagt.



You take that back. Now.


I want to know what's going on in this conversation.

I've used the Swedish translators.. they suck it seems.

What would the Communists think? Loaning money?

They might shoot Yunus.

He is a Bangladeshi. Ain't no commies there.

And anyone else find it pathetic how some people can't read (or spell, for that matter) and think that this "negative, bitter hostility" toward the prize has anything to do with its current recipient?
I've yet to see you say anything good in this thread about the man in question (or indeed anything or anyone else).
Just pathetic, negative, bitter hostility.

Oh, please forgive me that because you dismiss and rubbish the award he won so quickly and vehemently, yet say nothing good about him, I mistakenly infer that you have nothing good to say about him.
How silly of me.

And please forgive me for mis-spelling one word in a 51 word post. It's obviously important to you, as I'm certain you have never done the same, ever.
it certainly shames me, and cludos to you for pointing it out so quickly. I am now, having being shown the poor limit of my spelling ability, too ashamed to post again.

Oh, No! Look! I've just made a grammatical error, too! Will my embarassment never cease?

Marquez

What's wrong with him? 100 years of solitude was one of the greatest books ever written.

The Grameen bank has done wonders for the poor of Bangladesh. Other developing countries would do well to emulate them.

What's wrong with him? 100 years of solitude was one of the greatest books ever written.

I was listing him among worthy recipients...

I was listing him among worthy recipients...

Doh! I wasn't exactly sure what you were implying in that post.

--snip--
Oh, please forgive me that because you dismiss and rubbish the award he won so quickly and vehemently, yet say nothing good about him, I mistakenly infer that you have nothing good to say about him.
How silly of me.

Yes, very silly.

And please forgive me for mis-spelling one word in a 51 word post. It's obviously important to you, as I'm certain you have never done the same, ever.
it certainly shames me, and cludos to you for pointing it out so quickly. I am now, having being shown the poor limit of my spelling ability, too ashamed to post again.

Cludos? Were you trying for kudos or for the crime fiction board game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluedo)?

Oh, No! Look! I've just made a grammatical error, too! Will my embarassment never cease?

Well, seeing as you misspelt embarrassment, I wouldn't wager on a quick resolution of it, no.

why do you say that as a swedish?
jag trodde det var omöjligt att du kunde nobba sverige så!!
du är väll säkert moderat med!!!:sniper:

Jag röstade på moderaterna :)

The CNN story was "Banker to poor receives Nobel Prize." I read it as "Banker too poor to receive Nobel Prize."

[QUOTE=Heretichia;12082739]Jag röstade på moderaterna :)[/Q
why!?!?!?:upyours: du kommer förstöra sverige!!!

du kommer förstöra sverige!!!

För sent för det, raring. Ett tips: bara mongon använder den där fingergubben.

För sent för det, raring. Ett tips: bara mongon använder den där fingergubben.

Slight thread hijack, but what is the source of the quote in your signature?

Slight thread hijack, but what is the source of the quote in your signature?

Robert Heinlein.

I love reading swedish. I have no idea at all what it means. But words like fingergubben must be cool.

Extraordinary idea.