Augh!

Yesterday was the equivalent of trying to convince the Flat Earth Society that the world is round, or the Baker Street Irregulars that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character (I spent several months haunting the latter's e-mail list and was eventually ejected for my skepticism and keen logic). No matter how you say it, or what you say, they'll still proclaim for all to hear that the earth is flat and Sherlock Holmes really did exist (the dastardly Conan Doyle was simply Watson's editor and took all the credit for the stories).

The dead horse I'm beating is, of course, microcredit. It's become highly politicized here. There was even a recent, sneaky attempt to nationalize the microfinance organizations (which appears to have failed, fortunately). The main complaint is that the interest rate is too high.

What's too high? Some folks say any interest rate (it's un-Islamic) is too high. Others whinge that interest rates in Afghanistan are higher than in the US.

Well, duh.

There's a good reason why CitiBank hasn't opened a branch office in Kunduz, Afghanistan. It isn't profitable and is an all around pain in the butt. Of course the interest rates are higher! But no matter how many times I explain it, no matter what other countries I cite (Afghanistan's microfinance interest rates are lower than any other country's I've looked at), no matter how brilliant my arguments, it's all to nought. It's a political issue now, and the politicians (be they donors or Afghan government officials) don't want to learn about the issues.

It's much easier to wreck something than build it up.