How Rich is Too Rich?
Posted: Saturday, August 20, 2011
by Steve Radford
How do we know if someone is too rich? Easy… it’s anyone with more than me! That’s my definition. Yours is similar. It’s anyone with more than you. Why is that?
George Carlin once did a comedy bit about drivers. He observed that “anyone who drives slower than me is a moron and anyone who drives faster is an a-hole”.
Anyone who has more education lives in the ivory tower and has no common sense. But anyone with much less education is an ignorant underachiever. Champions are cheaters and losers are lazy. You get the picture.
Politicians recognize that this dynamic provides them with a way to endear all but one person in the universe. It works at every level. If they can get us to envy others and pander to our need to be one of the few enlightened ones, they can get the votes they need to gain or keep power.
I’ve never been the richest or poorest person on the planet. Although recently I feel I’m racing to become the later. Whether we’re talking about money, relationships, education, spiritual awareness, life experience, common sense or physical strength, the truth is that I have more than some people and less than others. And so do you.
Suppose I made it my life’s ambition to share what I have in each of those categories with those who have less. At the same time, what if I looked to people with more for motivation to learn and grow in each of those same areas. How fast could we advance if we set aside envy of those ahead and disdain for those behind.
It wouldn’t require money or a lot of programming. Just a mindset that admires other’s accomplishments and gets excited about the potential of those around us. Politicians would hate it but somehow I think it might solve a lot of our growing problems.
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