PROPHETS PAST THE PRODUCE

I never finished an assigned book in school. I never read fiction and I almost never finish non-fiction that I begin. But magazines for some reason, odd ones picked up from airport news stands or on a visit to Barnes and Noble, always get read, underlined and saved. I'm through one before my Ritalin wears off. There's an entire box of them in my closet, hidden away like treasures, each one containing some gleaming nugget of wisdom or humor or Cliff Claven quality trivia I found fascinating or hopeful once upon a time.

I subscribe to WIRED and ROLLING STONE (don't recommend it) but often buy BILLBOARD and PASTE when I see them. Then there's Q, RISEN and a zillion other rarities I buy into a handful of times a year if I'm lucky enough to stumble onto them. Lastly there's the magazines I only buy once on a whim just to see what they're all about. These are usually on topics I know nothing about or magazines I know don't represent my view of the world at all. They're a glimpse inside a universe far different from mine, sometimes even opposed to mine, and I often find myself learning as I think critically through their sentences - approving, questioning, pondering and sometimes crinkling them angrily in the process.

Here's today's example: an article in ODE, a zine that claims to be "international" and "pro-fourth world". I picked it up in a whole food store check-out line. Amid the ads for self-healing workshops and "socially responsible" investment advice I stumbled upon a thought inspiring gem about the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and it's founder Muhammad Yunus, the inventor of the micro-loan that is helping curtail poverty in the poorest of nations. His words are worth ruminating over, especially for those of us charged with living a more others-centric life as followers of a Christ who turned everything in his culture's value system upside down:

"The economics textbooks are ripe for revision. Then we can also rectify the misconception that a company is not always just a way to make money and a businessperson is not always someone who wants to maximize profits. Companies can also have another goal: to serve a societal purpose. The Grameen Bank is one such example, there are more and we need many more. We need companies whose first priority is striving towards a good aim. We need business people who are not driven by money but by their desire to contribute to society."

"They're out there you say? Of course, you mean those with a sense of corporate social responsibility. But tell me, how can you focus on corporate social responsibility if your primary aim is to turn a profit? The two don't mix. I can understand that a business person would want to make a donation to the tsunami victims. You give money to a fund that helps sick children and you hang nice, framed documents in your office so that everyone can see the good things you do. But let me ask this question: why isn't your company as a whole aimed at furthering a good cause?"

"Mind you, I'm not talking about charitable institutions, social or non-governmental organizations-they cannot, for instance, go to the bank for a loan and are dependent on subsidies and donations. I'm talking about a new sector: companies that don't want to make a loss, so they can continue to do business that contributes to the community as a whole. There aren't many like that because the private sector has been wrongly labeled as a group of merciless profit makers."

Now that's inspiration and radical rethinking I didn't expect to take home when I went out for Soy milk and dried fruit. That's more challenging and has me in greater dialogue with God than anything I've picked up from a Christian bookstore or a sermon in a long long time. Maybe we Christians should sell trail mix and leave the fight against selfish ambition and the rescue of the least of these to the pagans at the whole food market. I feel out zealed and out imagined. How about you?

Read the entire Muhammad Yunus article on-line here.

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