Sunday, April 18, 2010

BONO'S LATEST NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED

In today's New York Times, you can read Bono's latest op-ed piece. Called "Africa Reboots," It's about "civil society" and big business and how they can (hopefully) work together to ensure a better future and put an end to "extreme poverty." Interestingly, he writes that he senses and end to the usual donor-recipient relationship; Africans felt a pressing need for new kinds of partnerships. That is a departure from the way most people think of charity. It's not "give a (wo)man a fish" or even "teach a (wo)man to fish." It's really, "teach a (wo)man to fish and then create a business selling those fish in a way that benefits the community, and when said business is profitable, get a percentage since you are a partner."   It takes more committment, it's not just making a credit card donation. It's not as sexy as paying attention to a cause du jour for a week or two.  It's not something that will get an immeadiate big spike on the NASDAQ index.  It's not marketing - write a big check, look great to the public, move on. It's something that requires an actual committment.  Here's hoping that it happens someday soon.

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