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bravely forging a new world
2011-Aug-03, Wednesday 07:59 pmIt's important to me that I actively work to mold human society into the good influence that it needs to be (and could become with nurturing). I enjoy a good debate, but opinions are not nearly as useful as action. I try to live my life by this ethic. It makes my life more difficult in some ways, but the point is that I succeed while doing it. If I can do it, then so can anyone else. :)
Even as poor as I am, I'm financially rich compared to most people in the world. I have found two websites that help me use my financial influence to change the world in small ways. I want to bring attention to them in case other people can be tempted to figuratively dip their toes into these new waters. Both of them operate on the new kind of financial model called "microtransactions", allowing you to contribute in small amounts. Microtransactions can be very tiny, but these websites tend to use multiples of $25. I'm poor, so I use the minimum amounts.
Gifts: Supporting Creativity By Donation
http://www.kickstarter.com/
Kickstarter lets you find projects that people are hoping to fund by donation. Most of them tend to be creative endeavors like artwork, music, and programming. (Finally! Someone who thinks like me that computer programming is an art rather than a science.) I first donated money to a project by the programmer who gave us "Creatures", a wonderful little artificial life game from many years ago. His new project was created to collect US$27,000 to begin work on an artifical life program. Not a fun simulation, but actual electronic life. I don't expect him to succeed, but I like the idea so much that I contributed a small amount to his project. I have since added donations to a few other creative works that I want to see completed. You can see my profile page for more about how I've used the service.
Loans: The Gift That Returns So You Can Give Again
http://www.kiva.org/
Kiva lets you search for microloan applications across the planet. Most of them tend to deal with farming, livestock, or small business. Each project includes payment schedule, photo of the requester with a small biography, and information about the microloan company hosting the applicant's request. You loan out your money and then wait for the repayment to place the money back into your Kiva account. After it's repaid, you find another project and loan it out again. You receive no interest from the loan (I think). This model is about helping other people, not helping yourself. Sometimes, the interest paid gets partially returned to the applicant in the form of a savings account donation... if they make all their payments on schedule. Great incentive, I think. Usually, the interest goes to the companies arranging these loans. You can see my profile page for more about how I've used the service. I encountered it only today, so I have no experience with repayments yet but their statistics suggest a 98% success rate.
T-Shirts: The Great Motivator
If Kiva sounds like the kind of site for you to explore, consider visiting this page first. I get no money from your visit, but if you end up joining Kiva to loan out money on projects, then your visit adds to the 5 people I need to get a free Kiva t-shirt. I'm all about t-shirts. :)
Even as poor as I am, I'm financially rich compared to most people in the world. I have found two websites that help me use my financial influence to change the world in small ways. I want to bring attention to them in case other people can be tempted to figuratively dip their toes into these new waters. Both of them operate on the new kind of financial model called "microtransactions", allowing you to contribute in small amounts. Microtransactions can be very tiny, but these websites tend to use multiples of $25. I'm poor, so I use the minimum amounts.
Gifts: Supporting Creativity By Donation
http://www.kickstarter.com/
Kickstarter lets you find projects that people are hoping to fund by donation. Most of them tend to be creative endeavors like artwork, music, and programming. (Finally! Someone who thinks like me that computer programming is an art rather than a science.) I first donated money to a project by the programmer who gave us "Creatures", a wonderful little artificial life game from many years ago. His new project was created to collect US$27,000 to begin work on an artifical life program. Not a fun simulation, but actual electronic life. I don't expect him to succeed, but I like the idea so much that I contributed a small amount to his project. I have since added donations to a few other creative works that I want to see completed. You can see my profile page for more about how I've used the service.
Loans: The Gift That Returns So You Can Give Again
http://www.kiva.org/
Kiva lets you search for microloan applications across the planet. Most of them tend to deal with farming, livestock, or small business. Each project includes payment schedule, photo of the requester with a small biography, and information about the microloan company hosting the applicant's request. You loan out your money and then wait for the repayment to place the money back into your Kiva account. After it's repaid, you find another project and loan it out again. You receive no interest from the loan (I think). This model is about helping other people, not helping yourself. Sometimes, the interest paid gets partially returned to the applicant in the form of a savings account donation... if they make all their payments on schedule. Great incentive, I think. Usually, the interest goes to the companies arranging these loans. You can see my profile page for more about how I've used the service. I encountered it only today, so I have no experience with repayments yet but their statistics suggest a 98% success rate.
T-Shirts: The Great Motivator
If Kiva sounds like the kind of site for you to explore, consider visiting this page first. I get no money from your visit, but if you end up joining Kiva to loan out money on projects, then your visit adds to the 5 people I need to get a free Kiva t-shirt. I'm all about t-shirts. :)