Oh, God I hope this works out:
Iraqi officials are near agreement on a national oil law that would give the central government the power to distribute current and future oil revenues to the provinces or regions, based on their population, Iraqi and American officials say.
If enacted, the measure, drafted by a committee of politicians and ministers, could help resolve a highly divisive issue that has consistently blocked efforts to reconcile the country
The common denominator in most (if not all) of the “insurgent-rebel-whatever” uprisings is rampant poverty amongst the masses. Prosperity brings stability in most populaces. Downtrodden poor people that have to scape and scrap for every bite of food, shelter, and safety of their children generally makes for a pissed off community. I hope it works too, Lex. I also hope they can demonstrate some restraint and common sense and put the money towards the common good of the community so that they can then prosper together. The prosperity can be infectious if allowed to germinate. Hopefully the religious zealots will not have a hand in the petri dish of prosperity.
This may be a stupid question for which, if so, I apologize in advance.
I know they have started using microcredit in Afghanistan as a development tool. I realize that it wouldn’t do much (anything) re: the large scale insurgency, but just wondering if they were starting to use it in Iraq too. Anyone know?
I truly hope this “law” helps end the sectarian, tribal and “Eye for an Eye” killings…
Isn’t murder against the law in Iraqi law now? Hmmm.
Not holding my breath very hard. Show me the beef.
B2
Hete is such a hard vice to cure. Food, medical care, freedom from the fear of being left to suffer… is this the cure. I hope so. But then look at what happened in Iran three decades ago. Didn’t they have these things in abundance or were there still huge differences in the haves vs. the have-nots? Cultural differences make me doubt, but not enough to loose hope…
DD
I’ve long thought that a major factor in the instability of many of the Middle Eastern countries was the disparity between the “haves and have nots”.
Essentially, there is “Bill Gates Rich” and “Homeless Poor” and absolutely no way to move from one extreme to another.
The developement of a middle class and the ability to see a path to even greater prosperity, especially one that is demonstrably working for others around you, would go a long way to stifling the ability of exteremists to work their evil.
People like me (for instance), who have a day job and are paid a good wage, own a home, and have visions of raising little ver. 2.0’s of myself are a stabilizing force in society.
The final component will come (as someone more wise than myself put it) when the various Iraqi’s wish to see their offspring grow to maturity and succeed at life more than they want to see their offending neighbor (whomever he may be) dead.
So I take it no one knows the answer to my microcredit question?
Michelle,
They’re at least looking at it:
http://microcapital.org/cblog/index.php?/archives/497-Iraq-Holds-First-National-Microfinance-Summit.html
And this contains a link that may be down temporarily (or it may be expired, metabolically challenged, etc.):
http://fayrouz.blogspot.com/2005/03/happy-house-furniture.html
Thanks Steve.
It’s mice to see that it’s startin to come to Iraq. Microcredit can be an amazing tool. I’m aware of it working minor miracles in other countries (places like Bangladesh) and maybe (hopefully) starting to make some inroads in Afghanistan.
And when its extended to microfinance (which includes the provision of things like savings, microinsurance and other financial innovations to the very poor), it really is amazing.
I have added a little piece on microcredit below, for anyone who would like to know more of what it’s about.
*Microcredit is a financial innovation which originated in developing countries where it has successfully enabled extremely impoverished people (mostly women) to engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and, in many cases, begin to build wealth and exit poverty.
[We are talking VERY small loans here, in the realm of maybe $50, if that, which can be enough to enable a woman who works all day making bamboo stools, for example, (for which she is paid only a few pennies a day), for the person who supplies her with the bamboo to sell to now purchase her own bamboo, eliminate the middle man, have her own business and now make enough to support her family and move them out of absoloute poverty. And by giving the loans to the poorest woman, as opposed to men, the benfits are much more likely to be reaped by the family as a whole as opposed to the individual.]
Due to the success of microcredit, it is increasingly gaining credibility in the mainstream finance industry and many traditional large finance organizations are contemplating microcredit projects as a source of future growth.