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Dr.Yunus studied the economic system and exposed the shortcomings of the traditional banking system which denies its services to those who need the most. He formulated a plan to tackle interrelated problems faced by the poor. He identified them: Lack of institutional services, lack of clean drinking water and sanitary facilities, lack of health care, inadequate education, substandard housing, no access to energy, neglect in old age, and many more. He looked at the conditions of low-income people in the world's richest nations and discovered that they are also suffering from many of the same problems.
He seriously examined the rising tide of wealth concentration which is responsible for rising inequality and ever-expanding gap in the individual wealth, a condition that is getting worse with time.
The rise of inequality has led to social unrest, political polarization, and growing tension among groups. Muhammad Yunus felt that a fundamental change is necessary in handling economic problems and to challenge the ways it promotes inequality. He discussed the economic system and the problems it creates with different people who felt disinherited and without prospects for the future. They were becoming increasingly disenchanted and angry.
Dr. Muhammad Yunus genuinely examined the present economic situation in the world, and perpetually and actively engaged in acquiring awareness and knowledge about the present condition in his home country Bangladesh. He envisioned a new course that he felt is needed to be charted to a better future for millions of people in Bangladesh. His first attempt focused on present economic system and its failures and a need to create a new civilization not only for Bangladesh but for the entire world to bring an end to income inequality. He strongly felt that by energizing and empowering the young people of the world, and by unleashing the powers of technology for the benefit of mankind, he could create a new civilization capable of liberating millions of people from the clutches of those controlling the present economic system.
He started thinking about ways to create a new civilization based on a new type of business that pursues goals other than making personal profit, a business that is totally dedicated to solving social and environment problems. He concluded that by setting up a Social Business to recognize the multidimensional nature of human beings and pursuing specific social goals, it would help solve the problem.
Being a witness to a famine in Bangladesh and the sufferings of the people, made him realize that he cannot remain a spectator and began to search for answers to mitigate their sufferings. His first-hand observance of the money lending operation and the extremely harsh conditions imposed on borrowers and their treatment proved it was equivalent to slavery. He studied the banking system and discovered that not only banks but also the various types of other financial institutions are intermediary instruments through which wealth concentration occurs, making rich richer and allowing the poor and needy to suffer. Dr. Yunus discovered that banking institutions believed that the poor are not credit-worthy, and made it difficult for them to obtain loans. It disturbed him and touched him in a deeply personal way. He established the Grameen Bank (Village Bank) after formulating the Social Business program and proved that poor people are highly creditworthy and can be trusted to repay their loans.
The Grameen Bank was the direct result of the redesigning the present borrowing system and economic reinvention. The bank operates exclusively in the villages of Bangladesh. Seeing that the conventional banks serve mostly men, he created the bank to serve women, making them entrepreneurs and family bread earners. The bank is owned by the poor women who are its customers; poor women make up its board of directors and decide its policies.
The world is a witness to the Social business as to how it puts human qualities and capabilities to work and enthusiastically encourages for the blossoming of these qualities, helping those working hard to transform from one-dimensional human beings to multi-dimensional human beings.
Muhammad Yunus also introduced a new program of providing education loans for higher education to children from poor village families. He later reported that thousands of students who took education loans have become graduates, doctors, engineers, and professionals.
The concept of social business has gone from an obscure idea into a worldwide movement. In universities, the social business concept is being studied and taught and on top of that, many universities are opening social business centers. He has created funds to provide seed money to the college social business centers to help would-be entrepreneurs turn their dreams into realities.
As of 2016, Grameen Bank has lent out over $205 Billion a year to 9 million poor women based on trust only with an amazing repayment rate of 98.96%. At the same time, micro-credit banks running on the same principles are operating successfully in many other countries, including the United States. Grameen America has nineteen branches in twelve US cities with 86,000 borrowers, all women, who receive business startup loans around $1,000 and the repayment rate, is 99%.
Muhammad Yunus has proved that the "Real Man" is a better and very different creature than "Capitalist Man." Yunus is a "Courageous Man" who has taken his concept and implemented it in the very heart of the Capitalist Man's country.
The Yunus Social Business Centers are very active in the poorest part of Europe especially the Balkans states including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia to put an end to unemployment, poverty, environmental degradation, declining social institutions and wars following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Muhammad Yunus raised a question and asked; Does the world have a destination? If not, should it? He provided an example and said that 'a technology genius always has two basic options. For example, he can dedicate his work to creating a medical breakthrough that will save thousands of lives - or he can develop an app that will let people amuse themselves. In most cases, the technology genius will be pushed to develop a product that has the potential to create millions of dollars in profits. Profit is the North Star of conventional economics. Lacking a collective destination, the only highway sign we follow is the North Star for profit. We need to lead the world towards a collective desired destination.' Then he went ahead and created organizations and developed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to define an immediate destination. Many people and institutions have made commitments to travel in the direction of SDGs and Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Some of the basic underlying causes of the dysfunctional economic system which decrees that any product that can't be sold for a price established at the industry-average profit level must instead be discarded or destroyed, should be removed and the economic system should be made more functional by introducing the workable solutions of the social business. He designed businesses as income-generating companies, formulated plans to ensure that the products and services they provide reach more and more poor people on an ongoing basis.
He found that the assumptions and attitudes that are instilled in young people during their college studies are the core problems of the existing economic system including the one saying that a job is your destiny. He went ahead and envisioned a new civilization that in the long process brings about a change, recognizes, honors and empowers human desires and abilities. His work has yielded results. Many universities around the world added social business courses to their academic programs. The Yunus Center assumed the responsibility and established Yunus Social Business University Centers at Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand; Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland; La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia; Becker College, Worcester, Massachusetts; the University of California at Channel Island; the Chinese University of Hong Kong; King's College, London; National Center University, Taiwan; Renmin University, Beijing; the HEC business school, Paris, France and Montreal, Canada; the University of Florence, Italy; Azerbaijan State University of Economics; the Asian Institute of Technology, Khlong Luang, Thailand; a group of universities in Barcelona, Spain; and various other institutions around the world, from Germany to Japan, Malaysia to Turkey. Each of these Yunus Centers is unique, placing more emphasis on the local issues coupled with national economy. For example, the Yunus Center in Glasgow and New South Wales place a special focus on healthcare issues. The Yunus Social Business Centers at Kasetsart and Lincoln Universities have a focus on agriculture. The Yunus Social Business Center and SSM College of Engineering in Tamil Nadu, South India teaches social business opportunities for graduate students in the engineering and technology discipline. Glasgow Caledonian University offers Master of Science degree in social business and micro-finance.
He proved the suggestion of the capitalists that all business must necessarily be profit maximizing business, was based on a false premise. His social business program recognized the real human being and his/her multifaceted needs. He studied the capitalists 'phony claim that everything must revolve around free market in order to achieve optimal results through personal gains. He saw the success of the free market that never allows anyone to express doubts about its shortcomings and/or about our own assumptions. This made Muhammad Yunus look for a new type of business that pursues goals other than making personal profit and at the same time a business totally dedicated to solving social and environmental problems. Dr. Yunus is a man who felt a renewed sense of excitement about his idea, went ahead with it saying that he could provide a greater value to the people of Bangladesh and by extension to the entire world through his Social Business Program. A man who continued to analyze the present economic system, banking system, the roadblocks placed by capitalistic system, and the untrustworthy methods the capitalists use to maximize profits. He came up with solutions to change the character of capitalism radically to solve social and economic problem within the scope of the free market. His idea of creating a social business, a business that would be a non-loss and non-dividend company serving poor people has yielded results.
To improve the quality of life of human beings he said the contributions and efforts of non-profit organizations are helping but not much, and he also proved those people wrong who assumed that government can solve social problems. Muhammad Yunus translated his vision into reality through his actions for the benefit of human being, improved lives of millions of people in his native Bangladesh, inspired countless young people to devote themselves to social causes all over the world, and provided tools to the poor people that gave them the power to help themselves.
[MOHAMMAD YACOOB is a retired industrial engineer and engineering proposals analyst who lives in Los Angeles, California]
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