The Rich Are Not Interested In Creating Jobs

Subject to edits/revision:

The rich are NOT interested in creating jobs, they're interested in making money.

The rich make money in two ways:
1. Raise prices.
2. Cut costs (labour is a big part of costs, so are taxes).

In the United States of America (USA), rich land owners used African slaves (free labour) to make money. Then came emancipation (the end of slavery). Costs went up and profits went down.

The rich then exploited workers, offering poor wages, few benefits and deplorable working conditions. Then came unions. Costs went up and profits went down.

The rich then moved production overseas to exploit cheap labour there, offering poor wages, few benefits and deplorable working conditions. The American worker at home was left without a job.

The rich aren't interested in creating jobs, they're interested in making money.

The Reason Why The Rich Exist

The rich exist by design and for a number of reasons:

1. Tells A Story:
• The discrepancy between the rich and others tells a story, where the rich represent the head of a body and the rest of the people represent the rest of the body.
• This doesn't mean that the rich are our leaders, or that they're the head of society, not at all. It simply means that a story needs to be told, and the discrepancy between the rich and others tells that story.
• Eventually, this discrepancy will disappear and we'll all be united as one.
2. A Learning Opportunity:
• Experience is a big part of learning, there's none so wise as the experienced.
• In selfishness, we're given an example of what doesn't work - how the rich (the head), even though they're in a position of bestowal to help others (the rest of the body), they don't because they're selfishly seeking to benefit themselves. (We're all immersed in selfishness, selfishly seeking to benefit ourselves and we all have to change from selfishness to bestowal.) 
• By contrast (and because we learn from opposites), in bestowal, we'll be given an example of what does work - how the head, in a position of bestowal, seeks only to benefit the rest of the body.

Copyright © 2015, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

The Poor Are The Most Vulnerable In Society

The poor, who have very little, feel left out and vulnerable, especially compared to the rich, who have all the means and resources to take care of themselves. Here's a comparison:

1. The Rich:
• If the rich get into trouble, they can afford expensive lawyers to defend them.
• If the rich are oppressed, they have the means to fight back.
• The rich have friends in high places and important contacts in society.
• The rich have the ability to influence others through their 'high' status in society.
• The rich feel secure and confident because they have the means and resources to take care of themselves.
2. The Poor:
• If the poor get into trouble, they can't afford expensive lawyers to defend them.
• If the poor are oppressed, they don't have the means to fight back.
• The poor often don't have friends in high places or important contacts in society.
• The poor don't have the ability to influence others because of their 'low' status in society.
• The poor feel left out and vulnerable because they don't have the means and resources to take care of themselves.
• Yet God Himself is the protector of the poor and weak. God protects everyone, but especially the poor and weak because they are the most vulnerable in society. With God (The God Of Israel), you have everything you need. Ask Him to help you and He will.
• If you're poor, weak and/or vulnerable, don't feel left out. You belong and are very much a part of God's plan.

We all have to change from selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves) to bestowal (seeking to benefit others and all of Nature.) 

We have to build a new society that's based on bestowal. If we connect in mutual bestowal, we'll transform society for the better. All we need is each other.

The true measure of a society isn't how it treats its rich, but how it treats its most vulnerable members.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2015, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

One Million Dollars And The Loss Of Wealth

Is one million dollars a lot of money? It depends:

• If you have $1 billion and end up with $1 million, then no, it's not a lot of money.
• If you have $2 million and end up with $1 million, then no, it's not a lot of money.
• If you have $10,000 and end up with $1 million, then yes, it's a lot of money.

When it comes to the loss of wealth, who suffers the most, who's the most affected? The rich. Even though they end up with $1 million, they experienced a greater sense of loss.

This sense of loss happens because we define ourselves by our money and material possessions. The more we have, the greater we think we are.

Also, we're emotionally attached to our money and material possessions, so when we lose them, we feel hurt, upset and distraught.

Yet we're not our money or material possessions and our emotional attachment to them is misplaced. Money and material possessions should not define who we are.

The loss of wealth can be a hard thing to accept. When it happens, stay calm and focus on meeting your basic needs - food, water, clothing, shelter and healthcare.

The loss of wealth is not the end of the world. It's only money, so don't worry about it. Let it go. Suicide is never an option. Don't ever kill yourself. Never! Don't ever kill yourself over the loss of wealth. Never! 

With respect to wealth, ask yourself, what's the worst thing that can happen? You lose all your wealth. So what? Does that mean you lose yourself? No. It means you find a new simple way to live.

Remember, we're all in this together. Do not be afraid. God is with us.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Both The Rich And The Poor Have To Change

Both the rich and the poor have to change their attitude towards money and focus on connection instead. The expectation is not just for the rich to change, but everyone has to change.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Feeling Good When Others Don't Have

If you have $10 and another person has $10, you don't feel special.
If you have $10 billion and another person has $10 billion, you don't feel special.

But if you have $10 and another person has $1, then you feel good. Ahh!
If you have $10 billion and another person has $1 million, then you feel good.

It's not THAT you have that makes you feel good, it's that another person doesn't have that makes you feel good. This is the quality of selfishness:
         - You want to feel greater than others,
         - You want others to think that you're greater than them,
         - You want others to envy you, to want what you have,
         - Or worse, you enjoy that others suffer while you don't.

Instead of feeling good when others don't have, in everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Even The Rich Are Poor

A poor person who earns $10,000 a year, needs an extra $1,000 to pay the bills.
A rich person who earns $10,000,000 a year, needs an extra $1,000,000 to pay the bills.

Who needs more money? The rich person. Who feels more poor? The rich person, because their unnecessarily lavish lifestyle costs more to maintain.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Everybody Has To Change

Each and every person has to change from the quality of selfishness to the quality of bestowal/love of others/altruism. We have to seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

People Have To Change

Our very nature, our internal programming has to change. We're running on a program called selfishness, where everyone is seeking to benefit themselves.

We need to change our internal programming from selfishness to concern for others, where we seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

The quality of selfishness has created the society we currently live in - crime, corruption, inequality, depression, loneliness, unhappiness etc.

If we focus our attention on changing society, then we'll be focusing on the symptoms instead of the root problem. The root problem is the quality of selfishness.

If our internal qualities change from selfishness to concern for others, then all the symptoms and problems in society will disappear.

Society is governed by people and it can't change unless we change. Once we change, then society will change because the way we govern it will change.

Everybody Has To Change

Everybody has to change - rich, poor, blacks, whites, tall, short, men, women, adults, children, everyone has to change. We all have to return to the quality of bestowal and seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

As it is written, "... for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them ..." (Jeremiah 31:34, NKJV). It is also written, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD (YHVH) ..." (Habakkuk 2:14. NKJV)

Today there's a major discrepancy between the rich and the poor, and there's an expectation that rich people should do more to help poor people. And rightfully so.

However, we're all immersed in selfishness, rich people and poor people, everyone's seeking to benefit themselves. Internal qualities don't change once you become rich. People get rich by being selfish and they stay rich by being selfish.

The selfish behaviour that you see in rich people today exists in all of society. It's just more apparent in rich people because it's so obvious that they have the means to give.

However, even poor people are selfish because they wont' share a piece of bread with their neighbour.

We can't expect rich people to be in the quality of bestowal while the rest of us remain in the quality of selfishness. We all have to change our internal qualities and seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Once our internal qualities change from selfishness to concern for others, and we seek to benefit others instead of ourselves, then we'll become a part of a single family that's based on mutually responsibility. In this way, society will change.

Governments, businesses, organizations, schools and families don't run themselves, they're run by people. If people change, then these systems will change.

No Coercion

This change is about our internal qualities and nobody can force you to change. You have to want to change. There is no coercion.

Communism

Communism failed for a number of reasons.

First, the system (though altruistic), was imposed on the people. People have to be willing participants in any system.

Second, the people themselves didn't change, they remained in the quality of selfishness. So there was a disconnect between the quality of the system and the internal quality of the people.

Lastly, the people who implemented and ran the system were rooted in the quality of selfishness and the consequences of selfishness manifested in the system - greed, corruption, unfairness, inequality, etc.

Capitalism

Capitalism is based on people's free willing participation in the system. However, capitalism doesn't work for a number of reasons.

First, people are motivated by money and because they're entrenched in the quality of selfishness, they seek personal profit and gain at any cost, even if it means engaging in unethical and immoral behaviour that harms others.

Second, capitalism benefits the people who have the traits necessary to succeed in an environment that's motivated by money. The people who don't have those right traits live in poverty, which is why you see a huge discrepancy between the rich and the poor.

Lastly, capitalism reinforces individualism, which makes people feel isolated and alone and leads to unhappiness and depression. We're social creatures and we need to feel that we're a part of a family and a community.

Summary

We all have to change, each and every one of us. We have to change our internal qualities from selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves) to bestowal (seeking to benefit others).

In this way we'll connect with each other in mutual concern and responsibility. This will make us feel like a cohesive family because we'll look after each other.

We're social creatures and connection makes us happy. We thrive in a safe, trusting environment. Let's create this new society for each other so we can all live in harmony.

Copyright © 2013, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.