... you can pick some more likely debitors for your portfolio and watch it grow endlessly.
Why not open a bank?
I have no interest in running a bank; the MFIs with which Kiva partners have already done that, to some degree, so I am happy to provide them with some of my spare funds to enable them to provide capital to folks who otherwise would not have access to it. Unlike traditional charity contributions, I recognize that my Kiva money will be used in more of a business transaction, and (most of it) will become available for use by others later. That's very bank-like, but I didn't have to do any of the work to set it up, hurrah! And oh yes, I don't care about getting any sort of return on my money, which is very un-bank-like, but that's fine by me.
The point I'm making is that charity is so depressing, that we've all fled into this nice little Kiva world of smiling peasants - who all love us, loving them, endlessly.
Speak for yourself, and not for me or others, please. In what way is charity depressing? In what way can you prove any of us has "fled" to Kiva? And just on the surface, many of the "peasants" in Kiva photos are decidedly NOT smiling. There doesn't have to be mutual love exchanged through these transactions, just a respectful, dignified exchange of funds as someone somewhere works to improve their situation, made possible by a small infusion of capital.
I restate: it's youtube charity - we're bored with the UN and the Red Cross - what do they know?
You've referred to "youtube charity" multiple times in this thread, but I fail to understand what you're trying to say. I suppose you're trying to be acerbic by saying "we're bored with the UN and the Red Cross": once again, I suggest you speak for yourself, and not for me or others, please. Some of us support those organizations enthusiastically, while also participating in Kiva lending and supporting a vast array of other charities which speak to us.
It's true that traditional charity might not have saved the world - but I doubt that pouring all the goodwill of the Kiva community into spare parts in the congo, or a new barn in Uzbekistan is the answer to those frustrations.
What frustrations? That we haven't "saved the world" yet by helping working people around the world find access to capital to improve their businesses just a little bit, and in the process improve life for their families just a little bit, and maybe even improve their communities just a little bit? I don't find that frustrating at all: I find it enabling and respectful, giving someone a chance to work to make his or her situation just a little bit better with dignity, rather than handing them a charity box and being done with it.
So if you want to help some people in need - start a savings account for your children.
That seems like a rather self-serving statement to me, and assumes that those of us reading your posts haven't done that first, that we may be witlessly pouring our spare cash into feel-good Kiva loans rather than providing for our own families. I'm thinking that doesn't really merit a serious reply.
I see you've changed your Kiva lender page since earlier today, so your decision to stop lending may be very recent. Many of us here have our issues with Kiva, its MFI/partners, and some of its directions. But perhaps you recognize that the community you're speaking to here is not typical of Kiva lenders: there are so many people here contributing their funding, energies, and time to charities and causes as varied as you could name, and I'd venture that not a single one of us is lending through Kiva with the sense that this is all we need to do and the world will get all better right away. We're none of us that simple-minded, and we're none of us that complacent. Ending poverty is not something that will happen overnight, and there are many tracks and methods and branches along the path to a better world. For those of us here, Kiva helps us participate in one of those methods.
--Diane.
