Times, They are a Changin'

Well, as I mentioned previously, I am caring for our oldest grandchild, Harmony, this week as her sitter is on vacation. It is quite an experience. I have been noticing how things are different for those growing up right now, and being with Harmony has really shined a light on that subject for me.

Where I seem to notice it most is the consumerism. Remember? She is only three years old. It catches me a little off guard when she asks to go to the store to buy something. I don't recall any of my children doing that at that age, and I know darned well I didn't do that at that age. She thought her little play earrings were broken, but I managed to fix them. Before that, though, she said, "Oh well. We go to the store and buy new ones." What?

The real big one that caught my attention was yesterday. She loves McDonald's. Well, this Nana does not go to McDonald's, ever. It is a moral choice that I will not get into here. I am not quite up for controversial subjects of that nature at this time; maybe at a later date. Anyway, she wanted to go there, and I reminded her that Nana doesn't go to McDonald's. Of course she was upset. I told her that I would make her something to eat. She said, "My don't want to eat here. My want to go out." Again, I say, "WHAT?" What three year old in times past ever even considered that going out to eat was an option?

We are such a fast paced society. Everything is on the fly. Our kids, and ourselves for that matter, have SO MANY options. It's no wonder we are all in debt. It's no wonder our children start out in debt. In light of this concept becoming more and more evident to me, I discovered a very interesting book. It is titled, Generation Debt: Why Now is a Terrible Time to be Young and is written by Anya Kamenetz. I am not finished with the book yet, but it is very well written. I would definitely recommend you read it. Anyone from 17 years old on could benefit, in my humble opinion.

Poverty Free World?

Is it possible for the world to be without poverty? Can people be empowered to rise above financial constraints? One man believes it is surely possible, and his name is Muhammad Yunus. I watched an interview with him on the Canadian show, The Hour, last night. It was compelling.

It is the vision of Muhammad Yunus to totally eradicate poverty from the world. He started the Grameen Bank Project in 1976 with a mere $27 from his own pocket. Owned by the poor borrowers of the project became an actual bank in 1983 under a new law created especially for its creation in Bangladesh. Now the Grameen Bank serves more than 7 million families in over 81,000 villages.

Muhammad Yunus recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for his unique concept of micro credit. Micro credit has been used in Bangladesh, India to dramatically change the lives of many families. The concept is to empower families with small loans to get out of debt and become entrepreneurs. Women make up 97% of the loan holders through Grameen Bank.

The difference is changing our thinking from consumer business to social business. Consumer business benefits the company and it's share holders. Social business benefits the community at large. The commitment of a social business entrepreneur is to make a difference in the world as opposed to the consumer business entrepreneur whose sole purpose is to maximize profits. Which kind of entrepreneur would you like to be?

For further study read, Creating a World Without Poverty byMuhammad Yunus.