invites you to ask and answer questions covering social themes of global significance. When you ask in order to understand, when you answer in order to share, this is what we mean by dropping knowledge.
|
This video is copyleft.
We recommend the latest Apple Quicktime Player.
Jonathan Stack's
biography
|
QuestionWhy is it socially acceptable to hoard wealth while so many go without basic needs? K2toUAnswer
Jonathan Stack: I don't think it is considered socially acceptable to hoard wealth. I think the word hoard is by definition something negative. We don't believe that it is a good thing. What it is, is that it is a big part of the human beings just trying to pursue their own wealth. Now, I think the question is what is socially acceptable is abundance and I think that may be what you are talking about. This idea that a life lived successful is blessed with material success. And in a way, we have to figure out how to be able to accept that. I mean I have friends who are extremely rich, they've made good choices in their life, I don't judge their wealth and many of these people who are wealthy are extraordinarily generous and dedicate a lot of their time and resources and energy to helping others because they can. And I don't judge them for that; I don't necessarily do or could have done -- would even necessarily like to do the things that they have done. But, the result of what they've done has resulted in -- the result of what they've done is the accumulation of wealth. The result of what I have done is the accumulation of knowledge. Is knowledge wealth? Not in material grounds, so what I had to do is to live a life much more reduced in terms of my ability to consume, which comes very naturally to me and relieves a lot of the pressures that I think I would have if I work constantly pursuing financial wealth. That said, I have gotten children and they live in New York City and I can assure you, it's not an inexpensive livelihood to do, so I have had to figure out a way to consume according to the needs created by the conditions I have created in my life, the responsibilities by the choices I made. I think and I try not to judge what other people do, but maybe it's just as I said it. That said, in my 50, I need to figure out how to take better care of that aspect of my life.
|