Is the way the world functions really fair?

Over a year, a thought has been banging inside my head. The last time I wanted to buy a home for myself and my loan was rejected. The reason, my profile was 'too risky'. When i asked for an explanation, the banker said i needed to put collatrel to back up my loan. What type of collatrel was my next question. Pat came the answer 'Like a piece of land'. Then why the fuck would i need the money to buy a loan you moron, was my reply. That sealed my chance of getting the loan from the bank. And i really dont regret the fact that i said that. This is the theory that goes behind banking in India and probably the entire world.

The bank offers loans and earns on the interests. They are so scared that the money wont come back and hence demand a 'collatrel'. Now, this brings us to a point where-in the people who have a collatrel can take a loan and with those who do not have it can't. So, the bank, by choice eliminates the poor from its customers.

Once, i needed money to start my business. There was some money i had saved from the last job that could pay off the rent and bills for 6 months. I needed a business loan to mobilize and expand. I went to the bank. The question was 'Do I own the premises?' I said 'No'. You need to put up a collatrel for the loan. I had frowned in disgust. The message they passed was - Our bank only allows the rich to do business.

I bumped into a long lost school friend one day, and came to know he was a banker. So, over a cup of tea we began discussing about banks. He was talking about recovery of the loans from banks. From him I came to know that the recovery percentage was an issue with the bank. There were defaulters profound. And many of the rich dont repay it and know how to wrestle the legal system to escape payment.

Which means, If i am rich, i can get a loan, i dont payback the loan and i can get away with it. Which again means, the bank needs to recover the money and they hike the interest rates, whch actually means, the people who need the money it becomes a costly affair and further deepns the gap between the rich and the poor. The poor get poorer and the rich gets richer.

By this time, i started believing that everything done in this world is to please the rich. Technology, for instance, the immediate improvement it makes is to ease out the problems of the rich. The technological advances are redundant in third world countries, where the battle is still on for food clothing and shelter. The day technolgy will be meant for everyone is the day when a young boy in the remote village of Assam, can attend a lecture in IIT through the internet. That is when we know that technology has been put to good use. But in a Capitalist driven society, why would anyone do that? Where will the profits be?

I also think the rich love the existence of poverty. If not in their immediate neighbourhood, it might be the neighboring country. It allows philanthropy. But isnt philanthropy another tool to feed the ego?

Based on some of the radical ideas, i did go with a business plan to some investors for an idea to help in improving agriculture and slowly over a period of time to build agri into a very lucrative culture. The questions i got were pretty vague. We are not sure if it will work! was the answer. Well, we have to try and unless we try how will it work? I am pretty sure, if i was rich and if the business proposal i had made was of an IT company, I would have been sitting in a swanky office at Nariman Point and partying on Saturday Night.