It's All About Giving

The rich have to decide if profits or their freedoms are more important. They can keep doing business with China and they too will be controlled by them. If businesses truly want US companies to be competitive with China, we can speed things up and do as they do. Our businesses can belong to the government. We won’t have class warfare because all citizens will be poor. We won’t have arguments about abortions; we’ll do away with plastic surgeons, psychiatrists and the like as there is no need for useless careers that don’t help us compete in the world; and we’ll limit internet access to eliminate home grown terrorists.

Per Chris Rock on the Oprah show, being wealthy isn’t about money, it’s about having options. On another Oprah episode, Tom Shadyac stated that St. Augustine said – determine what God has given you and take from it what you need; the remainder is needed by others. We all know that money buys you bigger and better toys, education, medical care, large houses, exotic food, designer clothes, trips around the world and other things the average person cannot afford. As I said before, some of our wealthy do good things but I wonder how many feel like 22 year old British heiress Petra Ecclestone who’s worth $1 billion. On GMA I heard she bought the Spelling mansion for $85 million cash. When asked if she thought of how much affordable housing she could have bought for 1,000 families she said she helps as much as she can but by doing so it wasn’t going to change the world. She stated that she’s not going to live in a certain way just because there are people less fortunate than her. Petra says she works a 40 hour week and is about to launch a handbag as she likes accessories. Petra suffered from meningitis as a child and does a lot as an ambassador for the Meningitis Trust. She says she’s privileged not spoiled. I guess this is true as Daddy just spent $5 million for her wedding and she did ask guests to give to charities instead of giving to the new couple. But, this still leaves me wondering how many options you need before you feel you’ve had enough.

Winston Churchill said you make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give. One person who understands this is Texas oilman Lester Smith who gives away millions of dollars to hospitals and cancer research. When he was young his father taught him that we all have 3 things we can give away (time, talent and resources) and to give from your heart. His father used to send him to buy tamales (they were 6 for 15 cents or 12 for a quarter); he gave him 25 cents and told him to buy 6 and let the vendor keep the 10 cents because he needed it more than they did. Mr. Smith is currently running the Pink Well Challenge to give away $1 million in grants to small cancer organizations throughout the US. He’s giving another $25,000 in what he calls the Ellen DeGeneres Pink Well Award. On the Ellen show he gave an additional $25,000 to Ellen for the Cure and $25,000 to The Gentle Barn (animal rescue).

Proverbs Chapter 23 Verse 4 says - Labor not to be rich, cease from thine own wisdom. Zechariah Chapter 7, Verse 10 says - Oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. James Chapter 2 talks about Christians being forbidden to regard the rich and despise the poor. In Job Chapter 20, verse 19 - Zophar describes the state and portion of the wicked – Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor, because he hath violently taken away a house which he built not. And, Job Chapter 20 verses 27 & 28 say - The heaven shall reveal his iniquity and the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. To me, all of these verses imply what our Constitution says - that all are created equal and that person is not to ignore others and/or treat them poorly if he/she wants to avoid God’s anger.

We all know you can’t take it with you when you die. If the rich do not want to share their wealth with their fellow Americans the only options left are to spend it, give it to charity or leave it to their children who, as you, need to earn their way. I did hear a joke about a guy who wanted to take it with him and his wife wrote him a check and put it in the casket with a note that said “If you can cash this, it’s all yours”.