For a variety of reasons, including poor performance and disappointing changes in their policies, I decided to sell my eBay stock and give the money to someone who needed it more than eBay or I did. I debated what to do with the money for a while. Finally I gave most of it to fund microloans through WorldVision, one of my favorite organizations. Microloans, as the name implies, are small loans given to people in developing countries who run very small businesses or want to start new ones. Recipients of the loans generally are part of a group that shares ideas, supports its members, and cross-guarantees the loans. They also receive training in business management to help them use the loans most effectively. Due to their support, training, and strong desire to succeed, they repay the loans 96 percent of the time. I imagine that’s higher than a typical bank would get and certainly much higher than I got from my Prosper.com borrowers. Instead of returning to the original lender, the repaid loan stays in a fund and then goes out to another borrower, making microloan programs almost self-perpetutating. Microfinance is a fantastic idea that is changing lives all over the world. I encourage you to get involved! Skip one dinner out this month and use the money to help change someone’s life instead.
Category Archives: Social Issues
Philosophy for Friday
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who ask “What’s in it for me?” and those who ask “What can I do for you?” The first kind believes the world owes them something in exchange for gracing it with their presence. They obsess over the wrongs that other people or “the system” or God has committed against them and are often angry and unhappy. The second kind is grateful for what they have and eager to share it with others. They feel a responsibility to do the right thing regardless of recognition or reward. Although they might be tired, they are often happy.
I see both kinds of people at work, in the Church, and among my people. I try to be the second type of person, although I don’t always succeed. The closer I get, the happier I am. Which kind of person are you?
Forwarded Emails
One of my pet peeves is forwarded emails that are intended to scare or anger people or give them something for free. You know what I’m talking about: emails about the latest serial killer techniques, a politician’s religious beliefs or recent meeting with troops overseas, fake printable coupons to Blockbuster, computer virus warnings, etc. People receive something inflammatory or scary from a friend (who got it from a friend at work, who got it from their aunt in Muskogee) and blindly send it out without doing any kind of research or even using any common sense. I just found a great article on factcheck.org on this phenomenon and how it relates to political email forwards.
If you receive a forward, you can investigate it through several websites that do the legwork for you. My favorite is snopes.com. If you send me a bogus forward, there’s a good chance I’ll write back with the appropriate Snopes link. I might even copy all the other people you included. Other options include breakthechain.org, factcheck.org, and urbanlegends.about.com. Before you forward something, PLEASE do your homework and try to ensure that it’s true. The chain won’t stop unless you stop it. Do the right thing, people!
A Historic Night
I’ve been trying to make AndyBox.com less political, but I do have to mention something about Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. Like him or hate him, you have to admit that Thursday night marked an important milestone in our nation’s history. For the first time a biracial man (contrary to most media reports, he is only half black) is a party’s main candidate for President. He fittingly accepted the nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It’s easy to forget, especially for someone my age, that just a few decades ago public buildings still had separate water fountains for blacks and whites. Certainly racism is still an issue in 2008 America, but Obama’s very real shot at the Presidency shows how far we’ve come over the last few decades. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Marriage for the Longhaul
Saturday night we went to Jenny’s parents’ house for a cookout to celebrate Father’s Day, Eric’s and Jim’s birthdays, and Jenny’s parents’ anniversary. Some of their family friends came over, as did Katy and Eric. As usual we had a great time. On the way home, we reflected briefly on what seems like an anomaly in America: the longevity of our people’s marriages. On Monday Jenny’s parents will celebrate their 36th anniversary. Two other couples there were just behind them, at around 33-34 years. My parents will celebrate their 35th this December. My mom’s parents are approaching their 60th. Jenny’s dad’s parents have already reached 60 years. Naturally none of these marriages is perfect, but they’ve all been strong enough to last for longer than I’ve been alive. We are grateful to have such a stable family foundation on both sides and hope to celebrate our own 50th anniversary someday. We believe God intends marriage to be permanent and committed on our wedding day to make our marriage a permanent bond. Marriage is supposed to be like Krazy Glue, not a Post-It Note.
More than one writer has said that the most important thing parents can give to their children is a strong marriage, which provides them a sense of security and a host of other benefits. After Brenden arrives, we plan to work hard to keep our marriage strong and not make him the center of our universe, no matter how cute and wonderful he might be. So if you’d like to babysit sometime so we can go on date night, we accept with gratitude.
The American Effect
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran this interesting article about American Airlines and the airline industry in general. As you’ve probably heard or figured out, $130/barrel oil makes jet fuel extremely expensive. The airlines need to raise their fares significantly with the same traffic level to cover the added cost. Unfortunately, since the airline industry is so competitive, no airline can instantly raise fares that much without driving customers away to other airlines who haven’t matched the increase. To make matters worse, many customers are price sensitive, and are unwilling to fly if the fare is too high. Most airlines are responding by reducing the number of flights and raising fares, hoping to cram in more people to each flight and forcing them to pay more by reducing their flight options. Meanwhile Southwest continues to grow, albeit more slowly than in previous years, and fill in the gaps left by our competitors. There’s no easy way to fix the Americans of the industry, and I don’t know if I would even want to try. I just thank God over and over that I work for Southwest and hope to maintain that privilege for decades to come.
Speaking of oil, a friend sent another article in the Star-Telegram that provides a fascinating and plausible explanation for the ridiculous rise in oil prices. Check out Part 1 and Part 2.