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BS ‘n’ About…
Riches vs. Wealth
It is SO about the money these days that we’ve deluded ourselves into thinking that it has always been about the money. But really it hasn’t. When our parents dragged themselves home from the mines, mills, and factories, they didn’t do it to get rich. They did it for us, so we could get an education and wouldn’t have to work as hard as they did. For them it was about work. It is for us that it’s about the money.
America no longer fosters, nor even respects, the kind of patient, nose-to-the-grindstone, gold watch work ethic shown by our parents. Long years of hard work for steady return no longer define success and usually end up getting downsized or shipped overseas. Families are weak and transient. Banks hold the note on our homes. Jobs are mercenary affairs. Everyone for themselves.
TV started the ball rolling. Few from the radio generation or any of those that preceded it had dreams extending beyond the physical horizons of their birthplace. Our values were defined by those horizons. When TV plopped the world down into our living rooms, is it any wonder we went out in search of it? Is it any wonder we’ve been met with mostly disappointment?
TV and the mass media which bombards us our every waking second have turned us into beings of envy, full of never-ending desire. Our homes aren’t fancy enough. Our cars aren’t fast enough. Our TV’s aren’t big enough. Our retirement’s not secure enough. We’re not skinny enough. But money can fix all that.
But it wasn’t all that long ago that we didn’t need much money. We lived with our parents until we’d saved enough for our own home. When the car broke down, we pulled out grandpa’s tools and fixed it. TV was rabbit ears free. Healthcare and social security were part of the deal. We didn’t need some guys name splashed all over our underwear and we weren’t spending three-fourths of our food dollar on packaging, convenience, and preservatives. Raising a kid cost a couple balls, a couple dolls, a game or two, some sturdy shoes, and lots of home cooking.
Within a few generations we’ve become a predatory, get-rich-quick, infomercial of a society with shallow, transitory values. We revere bling and drool over Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, while doing nothing about our own declining education, health, and social security situation. Life is a constant barrage of advertising. Everything is disposable. Every day technology gives us more and more reason to spend time alone, plugged into some media device. And all that costs money.
Pearl Bailey once said, “I been rich and I been poor. Rich is better.” And most of us, no matter how we define rich and poor, would agree. Unfortunately, getting rich is all America seems to be about anymore. But in our pursuit of riches, we seem to be squandering our wealth, losing sight of our vision.
Riches is driving $500 worth of leased SUV. Wealth is holding a car’s title. Riches holds a nice retirement stock portfolio. Wealth is a stable social security system. Riches is having enough military might to have our way with the world. Wealth is living in peace with that world. Riches keep Wall Street booming. Wealth keeps Main Street booming. Riches is all about the money. Wealth makes money irrelevant.
It wasn’t all that long ago that we lived in stable families, held stable jobs, owned our own homes, and had health and retirement security. We had money in the bank and plans to send the kids to college. These days we live paycheck-to-paycheck, credit cards maxxed out, houses second mortgaged, never having enough money for the latest upgrades, wonder drugs, or insurance premiums.
America is the richest she has ever been, but we seem to have frittered away our wealth, frittered away the strong foundation upon which we’ve built American families, American communities, and the American economy. We rose to ascendancy in the 20th Century behind a strong, unionized working class that felt enfranchised, that had a Voice. …a working class that had money in the bank.
We felt secure in our families, jobs, communities, cause, and values. We needed job security, healthcare, good schools, and retirement security to thrive. We got them and we did. We raised strong families, educated our kids, kept them healthy, and had enough left over to take care of ourselves when we got older. We turned America into the Superpower she is today.
The greatest investment America can make is in her people. Unfortunately, these aren’t the kind of investments that increase next year’s bottom line or please last year’s political action committee. Investments in education, healthcare, and peace of mind run their course over generations, planting deep roots, bearing fruit for years to come. They require vision, sacrifice, and patience. They require foregoing a little of today’s riches to reap the wealth of tomorrow’s promise.
For more than 200 years America did its best to re-invest its riches in the wealth of the nation. We grew strong as a people, as a nation, and as a culture. Ronald Reagan swept into office and told us that if we gave the rich people our money, it would eventually “trickle-down” and improve the wealth of our nation. It has been 25 years and it still hasn’t “trickled-down”. The working middle class in America has been decimated. It’s every Voice and avenue of expression has been distorted, manipulated, or silenced.
America might seem fat, dumb, and happy in a Dow Jones, MustSeeTV kind of way. But the truth of the matter is that the working man and the American family has been savaged in America of late. Our politicians, pastors, financiers, and generals grow fat off of us, grow fat off of the seed corn. Once the seed corn is gone…
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