The Creation of Wealth
I believe one of the best ways to help the poor is to help them help themselves. There are some who are unable to support themselves, the elderly, the sick, the handicapped, and so forth. They must be provided for by society. The rest should be providing for themselves and their families.
We, in America, often think like this, "Why don't they get a job?" The fact is in most cases, jobs don't exist. (In many areas of the world, a crisis is happening because people are migrating to the cities in search of work, only to end up in a "cardboard city.") In other cases, people who do work for someone else find themselves in economic or literal slavery. (Girls are offered jobs only to find themselves as sex slaves.) Remember the song line, " I owe my soul to the company store?" The song, Sixteen Tons, was about economic slavery. ("Another day older and deeper in debt.") That same idea exists and holds people in bondage in many areas of the world. I have come to understand something, that when applied, makes provision for people and brings a liberty into their lives. I call it,"Creation of Wealth."
Understanding Creation of Wealth
Creation of wealth is, simply, to take something in it's raw form, add skill and labor, and make something of greater value. Here is a illustration: take a seed, plant it, care for the resulting plant, harvest the fruit, and sell the produce for a profit. The seed's value is multiplied many times over. That is, in it's simplest form, creation of wealth. One kernel of corn can produce over 500 new kernels. One tomato seed can produce many tomatoes; plus each tomato has many new seeds inside. One rooster and a bunch of hens can produce many eggs, both for eating and to enlarge the flock. They also produce meat. You get the idea.
To illustrate further: 1. Plant a fruit or nut tree and, perhaps, harvest the fruit or nuts for a lifetime. 2. Cut down a tree, saw it into boards, and build a house with it. 3. Take wool from a sheep and create a beautiful piece of cloth. 4. Sew the cloth into an article of clothing. 5. Take a few cents worth of petroleum, turn it into a cd, put a software program or a collection of songs on it, duplicate it, and sell them for a fortune.
All these things take raw materials and turn them into something more valuable. This is creation of wealth. When a person or group of people apply these principles, wealth is created, for these participants.This is a way out of poverty. (Such a process also enriches the lives of others.)
Systems
Micro-loans help to give very poor people the capital to get started in their own businesses.(Use this link to learn more on the subject, micro-loans and micro-finance.)
African Assistance Plan, for instance, comes into a village in Ghana and presents the plan of micro-finance. This includes training, group accountability, each person having a business, and a loan to get the business started. Each person, that participates, plans their business, (usually something the person is already good at) receives the loan, purchases the supplies and needed equipment, prepares, and markets the goods. That person then repays the loan in installments, saves a little, and provides for their family's needs. On AAP's part, they provide the training, set up the accountability structure, provide ongoing instruction, and collect the installments. This is a very simple system.
Correct systems, used correctly, help to alleviate poverty. Imagine, for a minute, that a village is good at weaving. Instead of each person going to buy their wool; they put in place a system for buying wool collectively. They could greatly reduce the cost of buying wool by collective bargaining. They also could send only 2 people to transport everyone's wool, thereby saving many hours of travel. They could also set up a system for collectively marketing the finished products.
Technology
Now add a telephone to the equation. Instead of making trips to 3 different areas to negotiate for wool, phone calls are made and the best price is obtained. Delivery could even be arranged. Communication with buyers could be done by telephone. Things that used to take days, now takes minutes.
Machinery could be used to speed up production; automobiles for transportation. A computer improves communication, information gathering, and record keeping. Technology speeds up productivity and makes life easier.
Certainly, such technology doesn't come in a day, but I wanted to show possibilities and how it fits in the equation. I read of a village where one woman had a cell phone. She charged people to make calls. The convenience was well worth what she charged her customers. She made a decent profit for her investment and trouble.
To summarize, wealth is created by using skill and labor to turn raw materials into valuable products and marketing them. Proper systems work to enhance productivity and technology can increase productivity and add ease to lives.
We, in America, often think like this, "Why don't they get a job?" The fact is in most cases, jobs don't exist. (In many areas of the world, a crisis is happening because people are migrating to the cities in search of work, only to end up in a "cardboard city.") In other cases, people who do work for someone else find themselves in economic or literal slavery. (Girls are offered jobs only to find themselves as sex slaves.) Remember the song line, " I owe my soul to the company store?" The song, Sixteen Tons, was about economic slavery. ("Another day older and deeper in debt.") That same idea exists and holds people in bondage in many areas of the world. I have come to understand something, that when applied, makes provision for people and brings a liberty into their lives. I call it,"Creation of Wealth."
Understanding Creation of Wealth
Creation of wealth is, simply, to take something in it's raw form, add skill and labor, and make something of greater value. Here is a illustration: take a seed, plant it, care for the resulting plant, harvest the fruit, and sell the produce for a profit. The seed's value is multiplied many times over. That is, in it's simplest form, creation of wealth. One kernel of corn can produce over 500 new kernels. One tomato seed can produce many tomatoes; plus each tomato has many new seeds inside. One rooster and a bunch of hens can produce many eggs, both for eating and to enlarge the flock. They also produce meat. You get the idea.
To illustrate further: 1. Plant a fruit or nut tree and, perhaps, harvest the fruit or nuts for a lifetime. 2. Cut down a tree, saw it into boards, and build a house with it. 3. Take wool from a sheep and create a beautiful piece of cloth. 4. Sew the cloth into an article of clothing. 5. Take a few cents worth of petroleum, turn it into a cd, put a software program or a collection of songs on it, duplicate it, and sell them for a fortune.
All these things take raw materials and turn them into something more valuable. This is creation of wealth. When a person or group of people apply these principles, wealth is created, for these participants.This is a way out of poverty. (Such a process also enriches the lives of others.)
Systems
Micro-loans help to give very poor people the capital to get started in their own businesses.(Use this link to learn more on the subject, micro-loans and micro-finance.)
African Assistance Plan, for instance, comes into a village in Ghana and presents the plan of micro-finance. This includes training, group accountability, each person having a business, and a loan to get the business started. Each person, that participates, plans their business, (usually something the person is already good at) receives the loan, purchases the supplies and needed equipment, prepares, and markets the goods. That person then repays the loan in installments, saves a little, and provides for their family's needs. On AAP's part, they provide the training, set up the accountability structure, provide ongoing instruction, and collect the installments. This is a very simple system.
Correct systems, used correctly, help to alleviate poverty. Imagine, for a minute, that a village is good at weaving. Instead of each person going to buy their wool; they put in place a system for buying wool collectively. They could greatly reduce the cost of buying wool by collective bargaining. They also could send only 2 people to transport everyone's wool, thereby saving many hours of travel. They could also set up a system for collectively marketing the finished products.
Technology
Now add a telephone to the equation. Instead of making trips to 3 different areas to negotiate for wool, phone calls are made and the best price is obtained. Delivery could even be arranged. Communication with buyers could be done by telephone. Things that used to take days, now takes minutes.
Machinery could be used to speed up production; automobiles for transportation. A computer improves communication, information gathering, and record keeping. Technology speeds up productivity and makes life easier.
Certainly, such technology doesn't come in a day, but I wanted to show possibilities and how it fits in the equation. I read of a village where one woman had a cell phone. She charged people to make calls. The convenience was well worth what she charged her customers. She made a decent profit for her investment and trouble.
To summarize, wealth is created by using skill and labor to turn raw materials into valuable products and marketing them. Proper systems work to enhance productivity and technology can increase productivity and add ease to lives.