There are so many things to take note of in this article on a church fundraising project.
First, that the scripture cited (and for the record I'm an atheist Jew, but I know a good quote when I see one) was about taking an appropriate level of risk with one's financial wealth... something ABOVE zero. However, I think that the interpretation presumably lends itself to any kind of talent. It's certainly something I've always believed: I am lucky enough to have several talents; they're not for me to use for my own gain at the expense of others. That would be an inappropriate use of power.
Another thing to note is that while the news item reported exceptionally large profits, the church did fine -- not exceptionally well -- so one can assume that there were many people who lost money on their project. (What did they gain? In the right environment, they've gained skills, knowledge, relationships... in the wrong environment, they've gained self-doubt, risk-aversion.)
Third, this news article noted a gain, overall, in community cohesiveness. A recent article in New Scientists describes the Survival of the Selfless, which is to say that an altruistic group can be more competitively fit than a group of individuals with no altruistic traits.
This is a very interesting approach to microfinance in the United States. Please let me know if you have heard of similar examples: using microfinance explicitly to build social infrastructure.
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