Mr. Yunus, a few respectful questions: did Osama bin Laden mastermind the 9/11 attacks because he was poor? What about the many, many studies that have found that jihadists tend to be wealthier and better educated than their peers? Why is it that government officials and policymakers, as well as Nobel laureates, can feel free to ignore such data, and continue to act as if this is all a problem of poverty (and watch for those Haitian and Central African terrorists)?
“Nobel laureate: Poverty fight essential,” by Karl Ritter and Doug Mellgren for Associated Press:
STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Economist Muhammad Yunus accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Sunday for his breakthrough program to lift the poor through tiny loans, saying he hoped the award would inspire “bold initiatives” to eradicate a problem at the root of terrorism.
Yunus, a 66-year-old Bangladeshi, shared the award with his Grameen Bank, which for more than two decades has helped impoverished people start businesses by providing small, usually unsecured loans known as microcredit.
“We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time,” Yunus told hundreds of guests at City Hall in Oslo, Norway. “I believe putting resources into improving the lives of poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.”