Conservatives can "out social" the Socialists, er, Democrats

I'm playing with some more ideas, can't help myself.

I've been thinking about getting a little deeper in our conservative convictions. I was thinking about "how do you help people"? I don't think government is the answer. Entitlements simply create a class of people who are beholden to a larger entity. I think you could argue that this is just another form of indentured servitude. Using the "teach a man to fish" virtue, help people grow their ideas into businesses. If you create more businesses, you create more jobs and eventually you create more fiscal conservatives.

Bill Gates has brought a lot of attention to boosting micro businesses in Africa and other 3rd World countries. What I'm pushing for is to boost more of this activity here in the United States. Why can't you loan money to an entrepreneur in South Chicago vs. South Africa. I think helping people around the World is great, but we can do the same for folks here. There's also no reason this needs to be confined to the inner cities. I think this should be an endeavor that happens locally. The unemployed in small towns in Michigan need just as much help as the unemployed in New York City.

Another important key to this is that these are LOANS. Think of a friend asking you for some help. Most people are quick to insist they'll pay you back. If you insist on giving the money it becomes charity and it can be insulting to some people. This is what an entitlement does. It's a natural instinct, based on pride, to want to make amends. Loaning someone money makes you a business partner, an equal.

In the early days of the US, people didn't look to government to prop them up and support them. You were expected to learn a trade. You might have trained to work a printing press, such as Ben Franklin, or been a lawyer like Jefferson. Not many people worked for large corporations. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't have social programs, we should. I just feel that more personal responsibility needs to be taught. Most people who are successful make sure they have something to fall back on.

It turns out that there's a term for what I've been thinking of. Social Entrepreneurship.

Social Entrepreneurship is defined on Wikipedia as follows:
"A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change."

I liken this to a sort of "micro venture capital" effort.

Before anyone thinks I'm going soft, understand that I'm talking about a further dive into fiscal conservatism. The difference is, instead of simply talking the game, I'm challenging conservatives to get in the game. Besides, the entrepreneur you help just might create the next iPod.

This is something that I feel deeply about.


Further reading...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship
https://us.zopa.com/
http://www.smsmallbiz.com/bestpractices/Doing_Well_by_Doing_Good.html
http://www.mikitchenessukitchen.com/
http://kiva.org/ This one is to invest in entrepreneurs in 3rd world countries.