Zach Beauvais

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(Update: Youtube clip added at bottom of post)

This morning, after switching on the kettle, I set my laptop on the kitchen counter and shuffled through the BBC iPlayer’s “Factual” category—looking for something interesting to keep me company as I made my porridge and coffee. I stumbled across Question Time, and noticed that this special edition was being broadcast from the United States—something to do with an election? I was more thrilled that the entire panel was American, with the notable exception of a personal hero of mine, British professor of history at Columbia University Simon Schama.

Things, however, did not go according to plan, and I was very soon restraining myself from damaging my employers’ Macbook with the wooden spoon I’d shortly before been using to stir my porridge. After realising that unless I switched off the iPlayer in short order, I’d either have to remove the spoon from the screen or my clenched teeth.

I took a minute to reflect at my reaction.

I had lasted through only a few answers to the first question.

As a quick introduction to Question Time, for my American readers—clearly something the audience at this recording had been denied—the format of the programme is straightforward and effective. David Dimbleby chairs a panel of note-worthies, and selects from a series of questions submitted by the audience for the panel to answer one by one. It is a political programme which has featured many of the most important British figures including Tony Blair—while still Prime Minister.

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I have begun to see that we may be entering a new age of polymaths, and I’m happy to be involved in a part of the business world which seems to sustain some of the best brains on the planet.

I remember reading about the beginners of industry—the pioneers of technology and science. I remember reading how Robert Fulton came up against problems in life, and simply invented new ways of doing things, leading eventually to the development of steam-powered paddle-wheel-boats. I remember, vaguely, from my propagandistically pro-industrial schooling that as a child, Fulton had invented or improved on the lead pencil, because the one he was using in school wasn’t up to scratch. The same story is reflected through many of the West’s inventors of what we’ve retrospectively come to call the Industrial Revolution: when opportunity or difficulty forced their hands, they changed the situation.

Now, aside from natural romanticism, I like to look to the past with neither rose-tinted glasses nor “isn’t-everything-better-now” short-sightedness. I’m sure that for every changer, there were crowds of followers in every age, and I’m sure many of you could point easily to both an earth-changer and a follower without too much effort. Besides, history pays scant attention to followers.

No, what I’m talking about is the seeming ease with which many of my colleagues in the web industry switch between impressively diverse tasks. Some I know make impressive presenters, and happen to hold PhD’s in fields more or less unrelated to what they do now… and can code Java and know a bit of CSS on the side.

It’s been a few months since I last spoke about Kiva.org, and I wanted to bring it up again.

Since writing, I’ve tried out the lending scheme, and am blown away with the ability to make a difference to places where it’s seriously needed. Not only has Kiva created an infrastructure for microlending which makes it incredibly easy to lend small amounts to entrepreneurs in developing countries, but it makes use of the very nature of the Web in connecting you with people all over the world.

The idea of ’sponsorship’ isn’t really stressed. This isn’t a: “For pennies a day, you could clean this water…” It’s much more of a chance to invest directly into the lives of people who need it, and have a chance to pull themselves up.

My primary worry, when lending (giving) is that I’ll be made to feel like a vouyer in some way. Instead of concern, I worry that I will be made to focus on fascination or curiosity. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Kiva. Although it doesn’t feel like a standard business transaction, it does present enough facts in a straight-forward way. There is not over-blown language, but clear presentation of cases.

I also feel more comfortable lending directly to “partners” in developing nations. I feel this is much more efficient, and more in the spirit of a digital age.