I
spent most of Monday sick, so that left lots of time to peruse
Netflix for some afternoon rest/infotainment. I love documentaries-
they're my favorite genre! So, I loaded up my instant queue with some
financial themed films and watched 4+ hours of insight into the
American economy.
I'll focus this post on The One Percent
– a film by Johnson & Johnson heir Jamie Johnson – about the
top 1% income earners in our country and the huge wealth disparity
between them and the rest of us. We all know the Bible says a lot
about finances and the rich/poor divide, and I won't get into all of
those things here. However, the Psalm from evening prayer on Tuesday
in the Liturgy of the Hours was Psalm 49, which I found to be an
interesting commentary on wealth; I'll reference that later.
The
main question Jamie Johnson asks in his film is: why is there such a
large gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else? He
interviews people from both sides of the gap: the 1%- Steve Forbes
and Kinko's founder, Paul Orfalea; the 99%- a Louisiana cab driver
and several tenants from Chicago's South Side projects. I think the
question is worthy of being asked especially in light of the current
“Occupy” movement and other economic issues our country is
facing. Jamie even tries to get his father to participate in the
project and answer questions about his feelings on family wealth and
the economic divide (his father reluctantly answers one question at
the end, albeit vaguely). The overall sentiment from the wealthy is
that they worked hard to build up their businesses and are reaping
the rewards of that labor. The sentiment from the poor and middle
class is that the wealthy are hoarding money that could help the poor
achieve a better standard of living.
In
answer to the question, “do you want to make hundreds of millions
of dollars on top of what you already have,” Paul Orfalea replies
enthusiastically, “hell yes! … One day I'd like to go the the
moon and look at Earth and say, 'that's part of my portfolio.” I'm
all for dreaming big and being rewarded for hard work, but that
response irritated me when coupled with Orfalea's later dismissal of
a homeless man who interrupts the interview. The man asks for a
dollar so he can get some food, and Orfalea “generously” (with a
pained look on his face) gives the man a dollar and follows up his
“charitable act” by saying, “I normally don't give the homeless
money... but I thought maybe that was the best way to get him to go
away.” There sat a man who is “worth” hundreds of millions of
dollars agonizing about giving one of those dollars to a man who is
“worth” nothing.
It was
during Johnson's interview with a Louisiana cab driver that I think
the point about “worth” was driven home. The driver says, “you
might think I'm an idiot, but my family's one of the richest families
in the world. But not with money. With love, kindness, tolerance, and
patience.” Ouch! The contrast in that scene of a “poor” cab
driver and one of the “wealthiest” heirs in America trading
places on the “who's rich” scale was powerful!
The One Percent
did what all good documentaries should do- get us to question our
views on a particular issue. I've been thinking about wealth,
poverty, the economy, and a lot of financial things lately. I don't
have any good answers to all the issues, but I'm starting to look at
things more personally and less corporately (as in everyone together-
not a company!). I've always been sensitive to the divide between
rich and poor, and I am especially sensitive to the needs of those
less fortunate than me. I grew up poor, but I've always known my
situation pales compared to other people in our cities across the
country. My financial situation is steadily improving, and I can
honestly say I would love to be a multi-millionaire someday. But, I
don't want the world to be part of my “portfolio!” I want to be
able to live comfortably and use as much of my financial resources to
help others as I can. You might think I'm an idiot, but I want to
help the homeless in a way that will help them reclaim their self
worth and their “net worth.”
Why
the hell would I want to do that?! Because, when praying Psalm 49 the
other night, I sort of chuckled (okay, I laughed) when reading the
strophe, “Then do not fear when a man grows rich, when the glory of
his house increases. He takes nothing with him when he dies, his
glory does not follow him below” (cf. Ps. 49:17-18). So, what good
would it do me to grow rich? I can't take it with me. Glory ceases at
the grave. Well, maybe that's the point of the Psalmist's words.
Maybe the idea is that instead of hoarding wealth we use it for good
instead. I am NOT advocating re-distributionism! I am advocating
helping others by providing opportunities for them to better
themselves. I've always said the old maxim, “give a man a fish and
you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for
life” was incomplete. My revised version is clunky and not so easy
to put on a poster or t-shirt, but just adds the following qualifying
statement: “give the man a fish while you teach him how to fish and
you feed him today and for the rest of his life.”
Let me
elaborate on another thought(s) I've had about the rich/poor divide
since watching The One Percent
and praying Psalm 49 the other night. We can get mad at the rich all
we want for being rich, but that envy won't do us any good! Warren
Buffett is the second richest man in America, but he wasn't born
wealthy. He worked hard at investing and buying businesses and was
able to amass a large portfolio. He didn't gain all he has by saying,
“I'm an investor!” He gained what he has by getting off his ass
and investing! So, I started looking at my own situation. I am trying
to make a living doing what I love- photography and writing. For far
too long, I've been saying, “I'm a photographer and writer!” and
waiting for the checks to come in. Now, I realize that it's not
enough to say, I have to get off my ass and photograph and write! If
I truly want to generate the bulk of my income and wealth from
photography and writing, I need to get up every day and photograph
and write! Sure the initial investment on my part will cost something
(mostly time) and will probably not yield high returns in the
immediate future. But, over the long haul, if I continue to get up
and write and photograph, market my products, and gain a following,
my goals will be attainable.
I
think our society places far too much emphasis on wealth and the
“lifestyles” of the wealthiest citizens of our country. We are
inundated every day with images of some “star” living it up on
the French Riviera or a private island. Cribs
took us inside homes bigger than my 8 unit apartment building that
only house 2 people. “You want to be rich” was the mantra our
high school guidance counselor tried to get us to believe when we
were selecting our colleges and majors. It's so easy to buy into that
materialism. Of course, “I want to be rich!” No one says, “I
want to be poor” (except monks and nuns!). What I really want is to
be happy! I am happy when I am taking photographs; when I am writing;
and when I am helping people. So, in financial terms, “I want to be
comfortable!” My wife and I have found a way to live on our current
combined income quite well. It's not even close to six digits, let
alone seven or more! So, if we ever do get into a situation where our
income level is six or seven digits, should we start living “better”?
The thing is, we already are living “better” than we were when we
first married. The key to better living is being happy with what you
have and not spending more than you need to (let alone spending more
than you make!). There's a reason most of us are in the “99%”- we
buy all the things the “1%” tells us we “need” to make our
lives “better.”
Lent
starts on Wednesday. I know most of my readers aren't Catholic and
some aren't even religious, but I wonder if we can all think of some
things over the next 40 days that we can live without and see if our
lives aren't better for it! I'll tell you what I'm giving up in next
week's post!
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