OLPC and Kiva - Small business technology revolution at the bulging end of the long tail

Kiva.org allows me to lend to small businesses throughout the world. The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program has created the ultra-efficient and clean computer for children around the world. Why not combine these program allowing private persons the ability the give loans for purpose of buying laptops? Edit the default install to be tailored for small business all using open source FREE software. Maybe even build potential evolutionary/revolution producing software and allow the fundamental programming languages and abilities spread around the world like math does today. I guess that last point is already being done via the OLPC program, but this would be a business related development (evolutionary) versus the kids learning with their minds in this world. Good lord. Revolution. The business program could be made to drop the price on the laptops going to the kids via a direct tax (gotta make sure the kids benefit to win this battle) and by increasing the demand leading to all those economies of scales equations.

Well...that's all folk.

The World Economic Tail

Kiva – The purpose of this website is to help The Long Tail of the human race to develop. The idea of Kiva is based upon MicroEconomics (a recent winner of the Nobel Prize solidifies the world opinion of microeconomics – it is here to stay, at least for a while).

I have always thought that helping out people far away was good. But I never really put the numbers to it.

Lets say (all of these numbers come from the CIA Factbook..heh)…

(Notable issue with numbers – nothing reported for the Vatican City)

US Economy = $12,982,323,352,500/year
World Economy = $79,422,560,891,818/year
Per Capita World: $11,327
Per Capita US: $43,500

If we remove 300,000,000 Americans from the math we are left with:

World Population = 6,712,879,586
World Economy = $66,440,237,539,318/year
Per Capita = $9,897

If we remove the top 40 countries, we are left with…

World Population = 5,619,236,117 (80% of the people)
World Economy = $32,895,685,600,218 (41% of the business)
Per Capita = $5854.12


Imagine…bringing up the poorest 80% of the world simply up the to average of the entire world ($11,327)…

80% at $11,327 = $63,653,332,143,109


New Grand Totals
World Economy = $110,180,207,434,709
Per Capita = $15,714

The world Economy grew 72%. Even the rich should want this…

Comment Posted on Anothers Blog...

Random_Speak (electric - boogy woogy woogy) - Microlending

I posted the below comment in reference to the above blog post... :-)

:-) This post makes me happy.
(First off, I found your blog because you posted on my blog, isn't the Internet wonderful?)

About a year ago (maybe six months), I don't know how, I found the website Kiva.org, that you make reference to. I suddenly was enthralled. I began to make a donation on a pay period basis (I get paid twice a month). It made me feel good. I have continued that habit, and have been able to help quite a few people on Kiva. I have gotten about 4-5 of my loans paid back already and then redistributed those loans. That is good.

In October, as part of my job, I was in Scottsdale Arizona meeting with business clientele. At one of those meetings I happened to throw out that I would love to live on a mountain and be a Buddhist in Japan after I finish this particular career drive. An individual responded with a "Why?" and the conversation continued. As we went along this route I came to learn he was a Buddhist and, most significantly, had a very international scope in his viewpoint. He is part of a group to help finance and create schools in Nepal for girls (the logic is – if they are educated and have a skill set then they are too valuable to sell off for prostitution). I, of course, in trying to advertise my attempts to be a good human being threw out my involvement in Kiva.org (which was only as a giver of funds and marketer to my friends). He was intrigued as he had never heard of Kiva.org. Score one for the transference of knowledge between humans.

A month or two later, I get an email and learn he knows some significant people who are involved in microfinance, including people who are currently working at the World Bank and Kiva.org (I did not know these facts during our conversation, just that he was a Buddhist). He then, on his own, started a plan to get Kiva.org into the Nepal by October of 2007. And from recent updates, it sounds as if those plans are still moving forward.

In a very small way, I was able to help people. That makes me happy.