Audio Program: “Creating a World Without Poverty”
BY: Steven Van Yoder, POSTED: February 14, 2008
A talk by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on January 17, 2008. Dr. Yunus discussed his overarching worldview on fighting poverty by helping people help themselves.
Below is what I believe to be one of the most poignant moments in his talk. To listen to the entire recording, visit:
Creating a World Without Poverty
(Business) institutions are designed the wrong way and people have to suffer for it. And we say, “Ah, they (the poor) are illiterate. They are ignorant. They are lazy. That’s what they are. But, look. I work hard. That’s why I am rich.” It’s not whether you work hard. They work harder. Still they are poor.
And I talk about institutions. I talk about concepts and one concept I have been repeatedly drawing attention to be the concept of business. I said there is only one concept of business in the whole world because economists designed it and we accepted it and we said that’s the only thing business is all about. Business is to make money. Profit maximization is the mission of business.
Those people who designed that theory had in mind one-dimensional human beings. Human beings have only one dimension, nothing else, so, they created one-dimensional human beings who are like moneymaking machines. So the whole world became moneymaking machines because we accepted it.
We are now imitating the theoretical human being, instead of creating theoretical human being imitating the real human being, just the opposite.
I’m pointing out the real human being is a multi-dimensional human being. Moneymaking is important part of that human being but that’s not the totality of human being.
A total human being is also a giving human being. A total human being is someone who after seeing certain things, tears roll down in his eyes, in her eyes. A real human being jumps out to reach out to people in distress. That’s a real human being. That’s what we do all the time.
But in economics, that’s not allowed. Sorry. All you do is make money. That’s all. I said that’s a funny economic theory.
My appeal is if to justify the totality of human being, we need to have at least 2 kinds of business:
A business which centers around me. That’s the profit maximizing business. It’s all about me. I want to make money. And the other business is kind of a reverse of it. It’s all about others, nothing about me. That I’m calling social business. Business to do good to people, do good to the planet, without any intention of financially benefiting. And if you feel that urge, you can create that company.
If we insert that concept into the economic theory, the whole economy becomes different. We can head social businesses in many, many directions.
World without
The premise is that economists designed capitalism. I don't agree. Economists study this and other economic systems and try to make sense of them, sometimes advise governments on how to affect the performance within them. But they didn't design them. It is more like an energy they try to fathom to harness. How a business conducts itself within this environment may be measured as good or bad by itself or others. I don't buy this guy's approach even though I don't disagree that it is a system that is often unconcerned about individuals. Neither is the weather. You suit up for it and do your best to first survive, and then prosper in it. Help yourself and when you can, help others. When you can do both that is best. There has to be wealth creation, not just even distribution, and profit creates incentive, which creates innovation. I'm no economist but this just seems like common sense to me.
An attempt at reality vs theory.
What a refreshing article to remind us of a greater purpose than serving self. However, are not both theory's a bit radical. As the "all about me" approach is not conducive to a pleasant society at the very least. Much elaboration could be done on effects of that approach. But the other theory of "nothing about me", creating and maintaining a business "without any intention of financially benefiting" is quite limited in reality to those who have already become financially wealthy (possibly by implementing theory one). So isn't a blend of the 2, healthier and more feasible in reality than the theoretical ideal? Here is my real world attempt at this. We have a small sign business that employees several people. Being a born again believer in Christ, I attempt to operate the business on Biblical principles. Such as I'm required to pay my employees a fair wage and treat them, as well as our customers, the way I would want to be treated. Neither do I live an extravagant lifestyle. But I do need the business to make a fair profit so that I can stay in business and I want to do that without working day & night because of the importance of my family and the time it takes to teach my children, etc. Combining all these elements is not the easiest task at times, but then reality is always more difficult than theory.
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