Wealth Introspection and the Personal Struggle to Make a Difference: A Reflection on What the Rich Wont Tell You.

Wealth Introspection and the Personal Struggle to Make a Difference: A Reflection on What the Rich Wont Tell You

By David Carr

Do we dare consider evolving who we are by adding another dimension of experience and effect? By expanding our diet of relational experiences, we change ourselves by opening ourselves to insight and questions about the new spaces. The door never opened will ever be understood, while sometimes its important to close the door on experiences that are not delivering the desired outcomes. The biggest obstacle in life is our fear, of what may, or may not happen if we do something, or nothing. Yet our fear is really only the doorknob, since our action after evaluation is the catalyst of change. Things we feared in the past are not the same after we complete that road of experience, yet the pathway may beckon again. How can we possess the wealth of experience to understand the nuances we may have missed the first time? The struggle with power, insignificance and experience continue to swirl in consciousness, late at night and in moments of defined mindfulness. Those who have been deceived are now often able to weigh grandiose promises of irrational rewards.

Our world changes relative to our relationship to it. If somebody mails a container of PVC, fittings and materials to build a septic system in a community that has no sanitary system, worlds change. If a corporation and their investors commit to community based employment with lower profits, instead of overseas manufacturing and more dividends, worlds change. If a vacant lot or building is transformed into a hydroponic farm in a food desert, worlds change. If children are given the ability to access knowledge, then encouraged by their families to excel, worlds change. If people organize their neighborhoods to increase relationships and beauty by reducing litter, crime and noise, the immediate world changes. If medicine is made available to all the need it, worlds change. If we start a business and employ that person we see begging for money at a stoplight, worlds change. If we give everyone asking for money a quarter, worlds change. And our personal experience of individual and collective consciousness will change as well, knowing we used our resources to make a difference, instead of buying the new shiny object the person at the next table is showing off.

I take the label off our six-dollar bread, she explained, because she was uncomfortable with the inequality between herself and her nanny.

Being a good person is expected and something most of us want to do, but greatness is an ideal that has always inspired people to go beyond their present situation in search of accomplishments that are affirmed by imitation of our peers. Is posting a picture of ones self engaged in an elite activity or showing up at your child's school in couture dress an accomplishment to model for the next generation? Many would think so when we look at life in the USA and abroad.

This simple act of hiding the price assumes the nanny is oblivious to food prices in the neighborhood, or the nanny cares about the difference in social status as much as the buyer of the bread, since the hiding of the price is done by the buyer. Finding ways to make a significant difference with personal wealth is a challenge, except for those who lack resources of survival. The opportunity always exists to make a difference, yet the question remains how. Would there be a greater sense of fairness here if the person who buys six-dollar bread bought another loaf to share with the nanny? Or found a way to help the nanny achieve unknown goals for herself or her family? Or if the family baked together and shared bread? I believe we are all endowed with gifts, but may lack the method and means to deliver opportunity to those who would benefit from ones ability to make a difference. Implementation of individual and joint missions executed by those with means to deliver results demonstrates the effect of goodness on others.

People expressed a deep ambivalence about identifying as affluent, distancing themselves from common stereotypes of the wealthy as ostentatious, selfish, snobby and entitled. Ultimately, their accounts illuminate a moral stigma of privilege.

With great freedom, or resources, comes great responsibility, and the opportunity to turn a stigma into a pillar of character. As we look around the neighborhood, the city, the country and the world, there are many signs that opportunity and hope exists for the seventh generation, in a world none of us will live. How do we make a commitment to assure our accomplishments in this mortal life are not forgotten, or worse, remembered with indifference or disgust? Nobody wants to be remembered as an Ebenezer Scrooge, yet the calls for giving and wealth preservation, are relentless. Many wealthy contemporaries have pledged their fortunes to the betterment of the human condition through endowments and public trusts, following in the footsteps of great past industrialists including Carnegie, Mellon, Rockefeller, and others too numerous to mention, and many we are not aware of because they chose to be anonymous. We will live in the future until our dying days.

How does an individual define one’s self today, by what they own, by what they do, or a combination of these conditions? Hard work has been a virtue that has empowered millions to seek the American dream of financial self-sufficiency in a land where rights are protected, and domestic security ensured by our constitution. Yet things have changed when we view media and entertainment, seeing images of models, sports figures, entertainers and business owners displaying couture clothing, fantasy cars, mansions and so much more, with little mention of philanthropy and personal commitment to a better tomorrow. Have some people traded a suspicion of great wealth for the worship of trophies and desire to accumulate money, regardless of the effects on self or others? Have we entered a time when the morality of limitless capitalism must be questioned relative to the common welfare and domestic security of our nation in perpetuity? Money is a tool that greases the skids of life, depending where it is applied. When the opportunity to earn a living is denied to one family due to a perceived sense of entitlement, or generational privilege of another, evidence of injustice appears .

Something about how economic inequality is hidden, justified and maintained in American life which forces wealthy people to manage their discomfort with inequality, which in turn makes that inequality impossible to talk honestly about or to change.

It is difficult, but not impossible to talk honestly about privilege, responsibility and change, as this topic may suggest that ones personal situation may be threatened, or improved. The conversation is happening as Authentic Citizens of the United States experience the Star-Spangled Banner in sports events.

Changing the balance of a comfortable, multi-generational life place is never easy. Why destabilize a good thing, like ones very attractive life path? Yet as more people realize the national and global social order is challenged by lack of opportunity and resources, the time has come to help. Every day we are exposed to more of our global community, and must make active choices to ignore what keeps being presented in our curated data streams and contemporary media. Despite the places we like and people we follow, there is always a new instance where a revelation of personal witness causes somebody in our sphere to embrace a position, virtue or signal their affinity with a social condition.

Wealthy people rarely talk about themselves as rich or upper class,often preferring terms like comfortable or fortunate Some even identified as middle class or in the middle,typically comparing themselves with the super-wealthy, rather than to those with less. Real affluence belonged to those who traveled on a private plane.

I believe this conversation supports the American Reinvestment Economic Acceleration Act, which calls on the most capable, wealthiest citizens and corporations to invest in the United States of America by identifying ways and means to build opportunity, equity and infrastructure directly through investment in the domestic cities and citizens. USA military strength, manufacturing, and outsourcing have created opportunities for global citizens over the past 50 years which cannot be understated. USA technology has changed the global financial and environmental baseline, for the good of many at the expense of many. The inequities are becoming more apparent every day.

AREA-A prioritizes building our national infrastructure of employment, education, opportunity, sustainability and domestic tranquility as the foundation of domestic security that will ensure continued success for ourselves and our posterity.

Those with access to significant resources are called to consider the next seven generations (or 125 years) when making financial, environmental and political decisions. With great opportunity and great resources comes a great responsibility, a burden of domestic sustainability the financial leaders of the USA must shoulder. The act of nurturing something from which you will never receive benefits is the ultimate sacrifice of patriotism, as evidenced by our founding fathers, past patriots and active duty troops who have worked for democracy and personal freedom. All people will benefit from more employment, because people who make money spend money, like the industrial company towns of yesteryear.

The Wealthy never bragged about the price of something because it was high; instead, they enthusiastically recounted snagging bargains on baby strollers, buying clothes at Target and driving old cars. They critiqued other wealthy peoples expenditures, such as giant McMansions or pricey resort vacations. They worried about how to raise children who would themselves be good people rather than entitled brats.

I believe people really want what’s best for themselves, their families, and the future, as it’s human nature to treat each other as neighbors and build strong communities. This becomes more difficult in high density urban centers where the reality of income inequity is thrown in our faces. We see the humanity of need in the eyes of those who ask for help. Many opportunities exist to adopt a student, to mentor at a school, build a business with the intent of creating opportunity before vast personal gain, cook somebody a meal, give food, invest in a sustainable business or farm, or just invest some time and personality to make a connection and plant some seeds of hope with somebody who is seeking.

Children learn what they live by watching their best teachers, who are their parents and immediate family. What are the life lessons of children enrolled in exclusive schools where the majority of their social life revolves around those with significant wealth? Are they being introduced to ethical financial responsibility? Do they understand the privilege of choice they will have to finance farms, schools, arts and social; networks that can strengthen the communities in which they will live? Do they recognize the risks and false realities of virtual immersion in streaming videos, chat bots, massive multiplayer games and other hand-held diversions? Do they eventually learn to see themselves as entitled? Do they develop a warped sense of deprivation when they consider their vacation at Disney World or Aspen as a failure after learning a classmate flew on a private jet, stayed in expansive accommodations, or came home with a new wardrobe of designer clothing and accessories? What are consumerist parents with access to vast resources doing to instill a systemic sense of civic responsibility, social justice and empathy in their children who live in a nation that leaves so many hungry? The USDA reported over 12.3% of USA households in 2016 lacked enough food to support an active, healthy life for all family members.

My goal as an individual has been to help people understand the process of home ownership and financial stewardship as a real estate agent, to build foundations of strong families through #4015 Days and #Virtual Immersion Drowns Holistic Development and to advocate for job creation, nutritional awareness, reduced food insecurity and the elimination of food deserts through Dream Team Foods Opportunity Accelerator. As an individual, I must make choices to reach out and advocate for stronger communities before I seek to earn excessive wealth, since we all know wealth has many definitions. There comes a time when a sense of redeeming purpose in life becomes necessary, while the lack of it may be very damaging when those who have done little good confront the reality of their existence. Today presents an opportunity to choose community building and empathy over depression, busyness and virtual isolation.

Yet what is crucial to see is that such judgments distract us from any possibility of thinking about redistribution. When we evaluate people’s moral worth on the basis of where and how they live and work, we reinforce the idea that what matters is what people do, not what they have. Could there be some other moral rubric, that would strive for a society in which such high levels of inequality were morally unacceptable, regardless of how nice or moderate its beneficiaries are?

Redistribution and reallocation of opportunity through job creation and economic opportunity can build a strong, sustainable future. Give a man a fish (opportunity) and he will eat for a while. Teach a man to fish (a trade), loan him equipment, and he will feed himself and others in perpetuity. An ideal society that demonstrates opportunity, integrity, industry and benevolence has been presented over the generations in many religious and social structures which do not require my expansion here. The question is not the need of a new directive, but the choice of each individual of what they can do to make an individual difference, or the personal acknowledgement that they do not care, and are going to live with that decision.

Doing good works makes people feel better, as evidenced in a recent University of Zurich study, where 50 people were given $25 a week for a month. Half spent the money on themselves while half were instructed to give it away. The givers reported feeling happier than the spenders, an experience that was confirmed with MRI imaging. What could be better than feeling better, and teaching your children this through example?

Obviously, from the work of Rachel Sherman’s, “What the Rich Wont Tell You”, from which my reflection evolved, there is a need and an awareness among some who have much, that social responsibility weighs heavy on their hearts and souls. Adding my voice to the choir of empathy, connection and life path navigation will help chart a better future. People who choose to actively intervene in the lives of others not only change the experience of those they help, but the giver is often transformed as well by the experience and results of their benevolence and their participation in an extended community. At the end of each day, or in moments of quiet reflection, the smile on somebody’s face, the words of gratitude, the evidence of changed lives, or a note of thanks can provide greater personal satisfaction than couture clothing, designer shoes, or many of the material wealth testaments.

NOTES:

The top 10% of earners made at least $170,500, last year nearly three times the amount the typical American household earned. The new figures come from the Census Bureaua’s annual study of incomes, poverty and health insurance in the U.S. < https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/income-povery.html>

Rachel Sherman, an associate professor of sociology at the New School, wrote the article, What the Rich Wont Tell You” which was published in the New York Times Sept 10, 2017. The bold quotes are excerpts from this article which I have chosen to provide points of reflection.

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Wealth Introspection and the Personal Struggle to Make a Difference: A Reflection on What the Rich Won’t Tell You.

Wealth Introspection and the Personal Struggle to Make a Difference: A Reflection on What the Rich Won’t Tell You

By David Carr

Do we dare consider evolving who we are by adding another dimension of experience and effect? By expanding our diet of relational experiences, we change ourselves by opening ourselves to insight and questions about the new spaces. The door never opened will ever be understood, while sometimes it’s important to close the door on experiences that are not delivering the desired outcomes. The biggest obstacle in life is our fear, of what may, or may not happen if we do something, or nothing. Yet our fear is really only the doorknob, since our action after evaluation is the catalyst of change. Things we feared in the past are not the same after we complete that road of experience, yet the pathway may beckon again. How can we possess the wealth of experience to understand the nuances we may have missed the first time? The struggle with power, insignificance and experience continue to swirl in consciousness, late at night and in moments of defined mindfulness. Those who have been deceived are now often able to weigh grandiose promises of irrational rewards.

Our world changes relative to our relationship to it. If somebody mails a container of PVC, fittings and materials to build a septic system in a community that has no sanitary system, worlds change. If a corporation and their investors commit to community based employment with lower profits, instead of overseas manufacturing and more dividends, worlds change. If a vacant lot or building is transformed into a hydroponic farm in a food desert, worlds change. If children are given the ability to access knowledge, then encouraged by their families to excel, worlds change. If people organize their neighborhoods to increase relationships and beauty by reducing litter, crime and noise, the immediate world changes. If medicine is made available to all the need it, worlds change. Â If we start a business and employ that person we see begging for money at a stoplight, worlds change. If we give everyone asking for money a quarter, worlds change. And our personal experience of individual and collective consciousness will change as well, knowing we used our resources to make a difference, instead of buying the new shiny object the person at the next table is showing off.

I take the label off our six-dollar bread, she explained, because she was uncomfortable with the inequality between herself and her nanny.

Being a good person is expected and something most of us want to do, but greatness is an ideal that has always inspired people to go beyond their present situation in search of accomplishments that are affirmed by imitation of our peers. Is posting a picture of ones self engaged in an elite activity or showing up at your childs school in couture dress an accomplishment to model for the next generation? Many would think so when we look at life in the USA and abroad.

This simple act of hiding the price assumes the nanny is oblivious to food prices in the neighborhood, or the nanny cares about the difference in social status as much as the buyer of the bread, since the hiding of the price is done by the buyer. Finding ways to make a significant difference with personal wealth is a challenge, except for those who lack foundational resources of survival. The opportunity always exists to make a difference, yet the question remains how. Would there be a greater sense of fairness here if the person who buys six-dollar bread bought another loaf to share with the nanny? Or found a way to help the nanny achieve unknown goals for herself or her family? Or if the family baked together and shared bread? I believe we are all endowed with gifts, but may lack the method and means to deliver opportunity to those who would benefit from ones ability to make a difference.  Implementation of individual and joint missions executed by those with means to deliver results demonstrates the effect of goodness on others.

People expressed a deep ambivalence about identifying as affluent, distancing themselves from common stereotypes of the wealthy as ostentatious, selfish, snobby and entitled. Ultimately, their accounts illuminate a moral stigma of privilege.

With great freedom, or resources, comes great responsibility, and the opportunity to turn a stigma into a pillar of character. As we look around the neighborhood, the city, the country and the world, there are many signs that opportunity and hope exists for the seventh generation, in a world none of us will live. How do we make a commitment to assure our accomplishments in this mortal life are not forgotten, or worse, remembered with indifference or disgust? Nobody wants to be remembered as an Ebenezer Scrooge, yet the calls for giving and wealth preservation, are relentless. Many wealthy contemporaries have pledged their fortunes to the betterment of the human condition through endowments and public trusts, following in the footsteps of great past industrialists including Carnegie, Mellon, Rockefeller, and others too numerous to mention, and many we are not aware of because they chose to be anonymous. We will live in the future until our dying days.

How does an individual define one’s self today, by what they own, by what they do, or a combination of these conditions? Hard work has been a virtue that has empowered millions to seek the American dream of financial self-sufficiency in a land where rights are protected, and domestic security ensured by our constitution. Yet things have changed when we view media and entertainment, seeing images of models, sports figures, entertainers and business owners displaying couture clothing, fantasy cars, mansions and so much more, with little mention of philanthropy and personal commitment to a better tomorrow. Have some people traded a suspicion of great wealth for the worship of trophies and desire to accumulate money, regardless of the effects on self or others? Have we entered a time when the morality of limitless capitalism must be questioned relative to the common welfare and domestic security of our nation in perpetuity? Money is a tool that greases the skids of life, depending where it is applied. When the opportunity to earn a living is denied to one family due to a perceived sense of entitlement, or generational privilege of another, evidence of injustice appears .

Something about how economic inequality is hidden, justified and maintained in American life which forces wealthy people to manage their discomfort with inequality, which in turn makes that inequality impossible to talk honestly about or to change.

It is difficult, but not impossible to talk honestly about privilege, responsibility and change, as this topic may suggest that ones personal situation may be threatened, or improved. The conversation is happening as Authentic Citizens of the United States experience the Star-Spangled Banner in sports events.

 Changing the balance of a comfortable, multigenerational life place is never easy. Why destabilize a good thing, like one’s very attractive life path? Yet as more people realize the national and global social order is challenged by lack of opportunity and resources, the time has come to help. Every day we are exposed to more of our global community, and must make active choices to ignore what keeps being presented in our curated data streams and contemporary media. Despite the places we like and people we follow, there is always a new instance where a revelation of personal witness causes somebody in our sphere to embrace a position, virtue or signal their affinity with a social condition.

They talked about themselves as rich or upper class, often preferring terms like comfortable or fortunate. Some even identified as middle class€ or in the middle, typically comparing themselves with the super-wealthy, rather than to those with less. Real affluence belonged to those who traveled on a private plane.

I believe this conversation supports the American Reinvestment Economic Acceleration Act, which calls on the most capable, wealthiest citizens and corporations to invest in the United States of America by identifying ways and means to build opportunity, equity and infrastructure directly through investment in the domestic cities and citizens. USA military strength, manufacturing, and outsourcing have created opportunities for global citizens over the past 50 years which cannot be understated. USA technology has changed the global financial and environmental baseline, for the good of many at the expense of many. The inequities are becoming more apparent every day.

AREA-A prioritizes building our national infrastructure of employment, education, opportunity, sustainability and domestic tranquility as the foundation of domestic security that will ensure continued success for ourselves and our posterity.

 Those with access to significant resources are called to consider the next seven generations (or 120 years) when making financial, environmental and political decisions. With great opportunity and great resources comes a great responsibility, a burden of domestic sustainability the financial leaders of the USA must shoulder. The act of nurturing something from which you will never receive benefits is the ultimate sacrifice of patriotism, as evidenced by our founding fathers, past patriots and active duty troops who have worked for democracy and personal freedom. All people will benefit from more employment, because people who make money spend money, like the industrial company towns of yesteryear.

They never bragged about the price of something because it was high; instead, they enthusiastically recounted snagging bargains on baby strollers, buying clothes at Target and driving old cars. They critiqued other wealthy people’s expenditures, such as giant McMansions or pricey resort vacations. They worried about how to raise children who would themselves be good people rather than entitled brats.

I believe people really want what’s best for themselves, their families, and the future, as it’s human nature to treat each other as neighbors and build strong communities. This becomes more difficult in high density urban centers where the reality of income inequity is thrown in our faces. We see the humanity of need in the eyes of those who ask for help. Many opportunities exist to adopt a student, to mentor at a school, build a business with the intent of creating opportunity before vast personal gain, cook somebody a meal, give food, invest in a sustainable business or farm, or just invest some time and personality to make a connection and plant some seeds of hope with somebody who is seeking.

Children learn what they live by watching their best teachers, who are their parents and immediate family. What are the life lessons of children enrolled in exclusive schools where the majority of their social life revolves around those with significant wealth? Are they being introduced to ethical financial responsibility? Do they understand the privilege of choice they will have to finance farms, schools, arts and social; networks that can strengthen the communities in which they will live? Do they recognize the risks and false realities of virtual immersion in streaming videos, chat bots, massive multiplayer games and other hand-held diversions? Do they eventually learn to see themselves as entitled? Do they develop a warped sense of deprivation when they consider their vacation at Disney World or Aspen as a failure after learning a classmate flew on a private jet, stayed in expansive accommodations, or came home with a new wardrobe of designer clothing and accessories? What are consumerist parents with access to vast resources doing to instill a systemic sense of civic responsibility, social justice and empathy in their children who live in a nation that leaves so many hungry? The USDA reported over 12.3% of USA households in 2016 lacked enough food to support an active, healthy life for all family members.

My goal as an individual has been to help people understand the process of home ownership and financial stewardship as a real estate agent, to build foundations of strong families through #4015 Days and #Virtual Immersion Drowns Holistic Development and to advocate for job creation, nutritional awareness, reduced food insecurity and the elimination of food deserts through Dream Team Foods Opportunity Accelerator. As an individual, I must make choices to reach out and advocate for stronger communities before I seek to earn excessive wealth, since we all know wealth has many definitions. There comes a time when a sense of redeeming purpose in life becomes necessary, while the lack of it may be very damaging when those who have done little good confront the reality of their existence. Today presents an opportunity to choose community building and empathy over depression, busyness and virtual isolation.

Yet what’s crucial to see is that such judgments distract us from any possibility of thinking about redistribution. When we evaluate people’s moral worth on the basis of where and how they live and work, we reinforce the idea that what matters is what people do, not what they have. Could there be some other moral rubric, that would strive for a society in which such high levels of inequality were morally unacceptable, regardless of how nice or moderate its beneficiaries are?

Redistribution and reallocation of opportunity through job creation and economic opportunity can build a strong, sustainable future. Give a man a fish (opportunity) and he will eat for a while. Teach a man to fish (a trade), loan him equipment, and he will feed himself and others in perpetuity. An ideal society that demonstrates opportunity, integrity, industry and benevolence has been presented over the generations in many religious and social structures which do not require my expansion here. The question is not the need of a new directive, but the choice of each individual of what they can do to make an individual difference, or the personal acknowledgement that they do not care, and are going to live with that decision.

Doing good works makes people feel better, as evidenced in a recent University of Zurich study, where 50 people were given $25 a week for a month. Half spent the money on themselves while half were instructed to give it away. The givers reported feeling happier than the spenders, an experience that was confirmed with MRI imaging. What could be better than feeling better, and teaching your children this through example?

Obviously, from the work of Rachel Sherman’s, What the Rich Won’t Tell You, from which my reflection evolved, there is a need and an awareness among some who have much, that social responsibility weighs heavy on their hearts and souls. Adding my voice to the choir of empathy, connection and life path navigation will help chart a better future. People who choose to actively intervene in the lives of others not only change the experience of those they help, but the giver is often transformed as well by the experience and results of their benevolence and their participation in an extended community. At the end of each day, or in moments of quiet reflection, the smile on somebody’s face, the words of gratitude, the evidence of changed lives, or a note of thanks can provide greater personal satisfaction than couture clothing, designer shoes, or many of the material wealth testaments.

NOTES:

The top 10% of earners made at least $170,500, last year” nearly three times the amount the typical American household earned. The new figures come from the Census Bureau’s annual study of incomes, poverty and health insurance in the U.S. < https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/income-povery.html>

Rachel Sherman, an associate professor of sociology at the New School, wrote the article, What the Rich Won’t Tell You which was published in the New York Times Sept 10, 2017. The bold quotes are excerpts from this article which I have chosen to provide points of reflection.