Apparently, 45 percent of Cambodia is owned by foreigners. Speculators have rushed to buy cheap and “available” beach front and island property. The problem is the land really isn’t available, unless you pay no regard to the people living and doing business there. Whole villages have been cleared out and businesses forcibly closed with little or no warning to make room for new hotels and business catering to tourists.

Some may argue that poor Cambodians will be better off. But better off than when they had a place to live and their own businesses? Those who come to work in the new hotels and businesses catering to tourists may benefit, but it’s a mixed blessing if they and they children will be part of a permanent underclass. The losers will be forgotten, and the happy investors who “win” will see their mutual funds grow by a few dollars here and there.

That last part gets me. The article says the hasty land grab and free-for-all development is fueled by fund managers are looking for profits in Asia. I own mutual funds. I can’t help but wonder if this is my money at work? A product of my own desire for future security and wealth?

As far as that goes, besides investing money in mutual funds for myself, what else could I do with the money? What if my future was secure in God’s hands? What would I do if my future wealth was a lesser priority? Maybe I’d invest over at Kiva instead, or  go back to the old fashioned way of meeting people face-to-face and seeing them as partners rather than projects.