A Challenge to the Wealthy
"I know of no other country where love of money has such a grip on men's hearts or where stronger scorn is expressed for the theory of permanent equality of property."
- Alexis de Tocqueville in "Democracy in America"
"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson."
- U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a letter written Nov. 21, 1933 to Colonel E. Mandell House.
"We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine and other great
publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected the promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world-government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the National autodetermination practiced in past centuries"
--David Rockefeller in an address to a Trilateral Commission meeting in June of 1991
"Corporation, n., An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility."
- Ambrose Bierce
"There is one and only one responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game."
- Milton Friedman
"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."
- John Maynard Keynes
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."
Mahatma Gandhi
The future is calling. Are you listening?
No matter what definition one might one might invoke for the
word "wealth", all wealth originates with and flows from
Mother Earth. Everything that Mother Earth has provided is,
by nature (i.e. naturally) a shared gift for the benefit of
all life.
If you are wealthy, consider this possibility:
On a finite planet - a planet with limited
resources - the more one person has, the less someone else has.
There is nothing wrong with that, per se'; there will always
be people who have more (and less) resources available than
other people.
But I wonder if it makes sense for some people to have more
than they could ever need or want or use, while others have
nothing?
More to the point, I wonder if it is morally justifiable?
But it is a fact that your hard work and creativity were
secondary resources in establishing your wealth. All the
hard work, all the creativity and brains and risk-taking in
the world would be of absolutely no value had you not
started with what nature provided - not for you personally
but for life, for the continuation of the natural world,
which is what Mother Nature is. I refer here to Natural
Resources which are a common heritage owned by all life.
A system which allows for private ownership of natural
resources is operating in violation of nature, is artificial
and thus not sustainable.
Do you believe in God, in creation? (Remember that,
pretty obviously, even evolution is a creative force.)
Do you believe that any creator or nature intended for
you to have incredible wealth while others languish in
poverty and, yes, starvation?
I know wealthy people who say (often defensively) "I worked
hard for every cent I made."
No doubt. But how many others also worked hard for every
cent you made? How many others work hard - work like slaves,
in fact - and have very little to show for it?
You took risks, no doubt. But what about others who had
nothing to risk? What about those who gambled - and lost?
Are you prepared to consider the possibility that you are
in fact your brother's and sister's keeper, that you have a
responsibility to do what you can for those beyond your
immediate circle of family and friends? Are you
prepared to consider that your own morals might call on you to
limit your own wealth at some point?
What if human society agreed that at some point wealth
should stop accumulating? In order to be fair and to
allow considerable room for enterprise, what if we agreed
to, say, a 2 million dollar limit to personal wealth?
After that limit is reached, all wealth in excess of the
limit would have to be dispersed in one of a variety of ways?
What if this goal could be accomplished primarily without
legislation but rather through an exertion of human will
and strength, through (among other non-violent tactics)
cooperation and the practical good will of people like
you, dear reader, if you are wealthy and the example
(provided to us by Mahatma Ghandi) of non-cooperation with
those who are reluctant to cooperate?
Because we are in fact one family. The human race is
nothing more nor less than one very large family...or a
tribe.
And within a family - or a tribe - people don't hoard
more than they could ever need while others go without,
because the tribe can't work that way.
It is called sharing. Most of us teach it to our children,
but many of us don't practice it.
We say "Share".
But our actions say "Grab whatever you can and hold on to
it with your life.
So - if you are wealthy - we propose that you consider ways
to disperse of a portion of your wealth in excess of some
reasonable limit. You decide the limit because this is a
voluntary project. We propose a 2 million dollar ceiling
because that is clearly enough for anyone to take care of
all their personal needs and a good deal of their desires
for the rest of their lives.
SOULUTIONS Now is prepared to assist you in this endeavor.
We will work with you to ensure that wealth dispersed is
used to help create a better world, that it goes to one or
more of many places where it is needed.
This is not a money grab. SOULUTIONS Now is not particularly
interested in money except to the degree that is a tool which can
be used to meet the needs of life by saving the environment, by
eliminating poverty, starvation and illiteracy; by extending
democracy, health care, education. We are not interested in
attaining personal wealth but rather in seeing the needs of life
being met in order to assure the survival of life.
So, if you are wealthy but prepared to take an ethical position
then say so.
Please feel welcome to send us your
comments,
suggestions
ideas
or request
more
information.
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