Doing God's work

I love to see who gets awarded the Nobel Peace prize every year - mostly because of the controversy that inevitably ensues. Nothing will make a Republican’s head explode faster than bringing up the fact that Yasser Arafat won it. Today’s award, however, should be greeted with universal approval. On the drive in this morning, I learned that the prize went to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist who pioneered the field of micro-credit from an act of personal generosity and nurtured it into the Grameen Bank. The bank lends tiny amounts of money to mostly impoverished women with the notion that they can better their family's lot in life with a little cash, faith and opportunity. That noble design has lifted millions out of abject poverty. I first heard of the Yunus and Grameen from reading a P. J. O’Rourke’s All the Trouble in the World about ten years ago and was thoroughly impressed with how a relatively small investment in people can reap enormous public good. Yunus’s ideas about finance and social responsibility are fascinating and I am thrilled to see someone so innovative and conscientious rewarded for those principles.

This really is a man and an organization deserving everyone’s praise and admiration.