HOME Tuesday, 15 May 2001

Ah, the distribution of wealth ... Which of us feels we haven't enough of the thing? One at a time please. Which of us thinks we have too much? Anyone ... ?  The trouble with trying to sort this one out, is that our opinions are more likely to be formed by our prejudices rather than the facts as they appear to us. We have to forget about prejudices if we are going to come to any valid conclusion. Yet prejudice is a part of life, much deeper ingrained than we think. So we have to start with prejudice and try to work out whither it can be reconciled with fact.  If I am trying to work out a problem, I have to start with a theory, something that will explain all facets of the problem.  Lets start with some facts. There are people in this country/world, who maintain fine, empty houses throughout a portion of the year, for use as holiday homes. There are people who have to live in the open, because they have no home to go to, because they cannot afford to even rent a flat. There are places/houses where uneaten food is shovelled into the rubbish bin and there are people who are half starved, who never have enough to eat. Put like that, the situations plainly seem wrong. Food is wasted, yet people starve, houses are empty, yet people have nowhere to live.  It all comes down to whither there is enough wealth in the world to sustain everyone. Or does it? I know that the extremely rich and those who aspire to be extremely rich will talk about rights. The right to the wealth they earn. The right to continue to make money for as long as they wish. Do they forget Dunne's No man is an island ... that what affects one, affects all? For instance (and for a conjecture we don't need facts), if there is one hundred percent of wealth in the world (and there is!), and ten percent of the people take ninety percent of it, that leaves only ten percent of it for the remaining ninety percent of the people, no matter how hard they strive or work. You cannot have rich people without poor people. We can't all be rich, no matter how much we desire it. The middle state, where everyone has the same, is what we should be striving for, but, unfortunately greed is the most basic and overpowering of all human emotions. It is so powerful that it has unbalanced the world since time began. It is the seed of war and crime.  The wealth of the earth is not limitless, although many people apparently forget this. Why else would multi-millionaires and, indeed, billionaires continue in their efforts to make more money, when, if they stopped making money now, there would still be enough to enable the next ten generations of their family to live in affluence? Why continue to take, when you already have more than you can spend? The answer can be found in the childish version of greed - I want! I want!  Given that greed is such a dominant factor in human life, what hope is there for the world? Well, I feel that if people really want to change the world, they will start with their children. Teach them to respect all people, to have sympathy for everyone. Teach them that all have equal entitlements. Teach them not to insist on their own rights when they infringe on the rights of others. It seems so beautifully simple, yet, in reality, it is so hard. Because you must not say, Why aren't other people doing it. People may not believe what you believe. Take all that into consideration, and then do what you believe in.