I note an interesting comparison concerning social futures one
concept expressed by Ben Compton and one by Michael Erickson.
Ben Compton wrote;
>
>First, I'll address the question: Why is wealth important?
>Personal wealth is usually (clearly not always) a sign of the
>following characteristics:
>
>1) Excellent money management skills
>2) The ability to delay gratification
>3) Personal industry and initiative
>4) A continual reexamination of what it is important
> It is my conclusion (right or wrong?) that the
>accumulation of personal wealth is clearly an ongoing
>application of personal mastery.
>
:::::: Much good stuff clipped here, please read it if you haven't :::::::
> Why is wealth important?
>Because the ethical pursuit of wealth -- at any level --
>requires individuals to grow and constantly develop their
>abilities and their greatness. In the end, according to my
>belief structure, individuals are the most important element
>of an organization -- and it is for their success that an
>organization should exist.
Michael Erickson wrote
>Another piece to the discussiion about "why wealth" includes the
>following:
> I think Wealth=Freedom.
>
>Having experienced severe financial crisis in my youth, I felt very
>strongly the lack of freedom resulting from lack of cash.
::::::::::::::: Some good things snipped here ::::::::::::::::::::
>
>Not having money is equated (maybe subconsiously) with the idea that "you
>must be bad, or lazy or wasteful or something". So now not only are you
>not free to DO, but you are bad as well.
I more agree with Michael than Ben. It could be that our American society is at
the beginning of a Tragedy of the Commons. We measure worth of individuals and
companies in an abstraction called monetary wealth. And it seems that there is
not enough to wealth to go around.
In speaking to a private, church run, school teacher (very low pay scale)
about how economical it was to buy well made clothing that lasted longer
she commented that;
"Some people are too poor to be economical." Some people can't afford to
buy quality goods. This woman, as a single parent raised three children, taught many
more over her 35 year career. She wouldn't have chosen any other life. She
considers herself wealthy.
A week or two ago I visited the Southwestern US and sought out the Anasazi
or Hohokam civilizations. This very advanced civilization existed in peace for at
least 1200 years and then disappeared. They left some, I think, beautiful
examples of community living arrangements. The most reasonable theory (IMHO)
of why the civilization did not persist is that they depleted the fertility
of the farm land on which they depended. This and a long drought caused them to
move out of the large area they occupied. A "Tragedy of the Commons." Yet these
people believed that they must respect the earth, the crops
they grew and the animals they hunted. It seems that the concentration of
people overran the ability of the land.
Are we concentrating wealth to a few and wasting the abilities of major portions
of our society? I think so.
I agree with Michael, wealth is freedom, it permits us to pursue interesting
paths as opposed to having to work at un fulfilling tasks. But is wealth or
the accumulation of it indicative of personal mastery? May I offer that
personal mastery as defined by many philosophies and religions has people
detaching themselves from dependence on wealth or the lack of wealth.
I do not advocate socialism, as a way to the 'Social Futures' of people.
I think that it just does not work. I think that we have to work to
redefine wealth or worth of individuals and redefine the concept of
equal opportunity. A person who contributes to the worth of other's
in their community gains worth, this is a concept that I think is not
understood or rewarded. Having equal opportunity without the capability
to take the opportunity is worthless. Given the opportunity to be a
rocket scientist but not been to rocket science school is no opportunity.
--bhobler@worldnet.att.net Bill Hobler
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>