Renumerances

written by Nathan

 How would you feel if you knew that your friend, your neighbor, or your employee, in addition to paying for food, monthly rent, and other bills, also managed to send 15-50% of all his monthly wages to the family he left in Africa, Asia, or Latin America? Imagine if this friend was making minimum wage, or perhaps even less with an under-the-table income. Most likely, your friend sends money overseas using a company like Moneygram or Western Union, businesses that charge a minimum of 10-15% charge per transfer. We think of these companies as reliable stewards of international and national money transfers, but the reality tells a very different story.

Do you own stocks in companies like Western Union or Moneygram? If you were a stockholder and if you knew of alternative renumerance programs or agencies that charged, say, only 4-6%, would that business investment appeal to you? What if these alternative programs were not in your stock’s interests? Would you be inclined to invest more in these types of programs and companies even if you knew the return would not initially be as high? If the stockholders who own these companies sought changes, what sorts of programs could such agents develop that would assist the communities from which their profits are hinged?

To me, it doesn’t seem especially justifiable that the rates of these companies are much higher when funds are sent to communities with the least options for receiving the renumerances. What about if you knew of agencies that used part of their profits to provide economic and community financial literacy tools to help make the investments have more efficacy?

All across the world, we see people spending their weekends in line at Western Union, either sending or receiving funds from or to their loved ones abroad. All over the ‘3rd World’ the most common financial institutions we have seen are built around renumerations being sent home from immigrants who have ‘made it‘ abroad. This money supports entire villages, and builds homes for a future return. This money pays for critical care for elderly parents and relatives, and it pays for education for children who will grow up hardly knowing their distant fathers.

The truth is that the immigrants we know who have ’made it’ to the western world struggle with 2-3 jobs, work many more hours than their neighbors, often live together with multiple families in one small house, filling beds in shifts. Every time we are in immigrant communities in the west, the mirror operations of the same financial institutions which are so prolific here seem to be on every corner. Take a look for yourself. The next time you are on Main Street of the immigrant working class community of your town or neighborhood try and do a head count of the number of Western Union or Moneygram operations.

The world has a new economic connectedness of which we should all strive to have some awareness. The links of money and markets affect societies, environments, governments, and families. These connections are tied to our own lives in ways that we may not be aware of; but which demand our attention in how our own money and resources are connected, managed, and operated.

Wages earned by the gas station attendant on the corner, and the wages paid to our hotel assistants, our bakers, our dentists, and our children’s care providers are going to families back home, are building their dream homes, and are paying for education. You would probably be surprised to find out how many people you are connected to send money overseas. If we support positive uses of money and resources we may also naturally build equity in the world. If you knew there were better renumerance options for your friend, would you tell him about the other options?

We live in a world of wealth. In the economic sense, our ’first world’ or western money rules the world. Its trade has impacts. Our purchases make both richness and poverty. Yet, economic equity and justice are available in models that promote positive capital creation and fair trade. We can use our market capacities to build positive relations and healthier communities abroad that bring equity and satisfaction into the world.

There are many ways to invest in trusts, give to high functioning and equitable foundation, or build wealth from companies who arrest status quo exploitation economics. Investigate and share these with us or your fiends. If you are aware of services linking investment to positive change please leave us a comment - we will link to companies with this article (like those providing alternative renumerance options for immigrants to get their earnings to their families back home besides Moneygram or Western Union).