Last week, while I was on Reverend Al Sharpton’s radio show, I got into a discussion, both on-air and off-air about whether or not there will always be ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ in society/the world. I was discussing why that notion is so ingrained and believed to be just the way it is and what the impact of that belief system is on our lives, our society and the world.
I maintain that the world has more than enough material resources for everyone to be a full participant in life, and that we all have more than enough inner resources for that to be the case. In order for that to happen though, there’d have to be quite a fundamental shift in how we view ourselves, other people and the world. It requires a shift towards cooperation, partnership, inclusion, oneness and operating from a much higher sense of self than just our ego. If we really see that there is no separation between us on a fundamental level of being, we’d truly recognize that if there is even one person in the world who goes without, none of us really have anything.
This doesn’t just go for big ticket issues, such as everyone having access to a certain level of education, or everyone having access to healthcare. The idea of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is pervasive and deeply rooted in our society – look at what’s happening with the current economic crisis and the financial system – and also has a significant impact on our own personal quality of life. For example, consumerism and consumption are based upon trying to get from a perceived state of not having to one of having. If you examine the way in which many of us interact with money (debt in particular), other people, celebrities, and even ourselves you will also see that notion at play.
We can already see the profoundly positive impact of inclusion in some areas of life. The democratization of the media – which used to be dominated by the ‘haves’ who had access to all of the information – has happened for this reason: now more than ever, people have access to the information they need, from a variety of sources, as and when they need it. The sustainability movement is also having us re-examine our attitudes towards the world, so that we are more conscious and create a world that works for all, not just a select few.
How does the notion of ‘have’ and ‘have not’ play out in your own life? What if we could make a shift to cooperation, and partnership both as individuals and as a society? How would that look?
Lola, isn’t that socialism? The very same thing that Obama’s critics say he is? I don’t think we will ever get to a point where there will never be ‘haves and have nots’. And I don’t think it should. Maybe this is an unorthodox view to have, but I’m motivated more in the struggle to survive and fight for equality than if it were made easy for me.
One may say that’s a slave mentality because of the generations of black struggle. I believe in equality, but there’s something about acheiving that equality from where many white people think is from the level of mud. An example would be having an education from a hbcu. Many whites look at an hbcu education as not being equipped for the workforce…also depending on which school that graduate attended. If it’s not Howard, Morehouse, or Spellman you may be looked over. But, if a person makes it there business to graduate from a hbcu as an undergrad and for professional school, possibly start a business and hire other hbcu grads, we can figuritively shape that mud to a beautiful piece of pottery.
I also think if the children of today don’t sense some form of the struggle they will continue to be lazy. That’s what the video game industry has done. Could this have been done purposely by a few of the haves? Not sure yet.
I do believe that those of us who have can assist those who don’t have. Give a little, but teach how to fish instead of giving the fish away all the time. We may forget how to survive if we all had the same.
So if we are going to partner, shift to cooperation as individuald and as a society it has to be with a purpose.
To be honest, most of the people who use the word socialism have no idea what it means. Socialism is a system to do with economics and division of ownership and production in a society that usually looks at government control over private enterprise. I haven’t mentioned anything like that. I am not advocating that the government control everything. I believe that private enterprises and corporations can run profitable businesses in a way that is socially responsible and cooperation/partnership-orientated, using the principle of triple bottom line (people, planet, profit). So what I’m talking about is us all coming from a place where we as individuals and a society exist to cooperate, sustain each other and the world and live together in harmony rather than in competition, social climbing and from a ‘each man for himself’ mentality.
Perhaps you are only motivated by a struggle to survive, and many people also are. However, there are ways to be motivated – much healthier and productive ways – that have nothing to do with struggling to survive. I’m more interested in people thriving than ‘struggling to survive’ – to me the latter is actually quite a low form of living to be honest. I am not motivated by struggling to survive. I’m motivated by expansion of my capabilities and contributing to the world and to my fellow man. There’s nothing wrong with being motivated by struggle nor is it necessarily right that I’m motivated by something else – but those both give very different qualities to life, and they also are very likely to have quite different outcomes as well.
I think it’s relatively easy for you to have the view you have because not only do you live in one of the richest nations in the world, but you clearly are not at the bottom of the pile. I’ve lived in countries where I’ve seen people bathing and defecating in the street, in countries where the extremely rich live next to the extremely poor and think it’s ok because hey, that’s just the way it is. The have nots are apparently ‘lazy’ and too bad for them if they can’t find food to eat. That’s also the view that many people in the US have when it comes to healthcare – if they are ok, then to hell with everyone else. I don’t think that any society or world can function to it full capacity with such a mentality.
We live in a world in which people like you and I can walk around supermarkets stocked with food and throw away food at whim, while millions of people starve every single day even though there’s more than enough food to eat. To me that’s not ok. And there is a mindset that exists that leads to that kind of thing: it’s the mindset of some people should have it all, while others have little or nothing. Even when I go to Newark, I’m shocked to see that there are people living in such a deprived area in such a rich nation. Again, that’s not ok with me.
I don’t say that everyone should have exactly the same things nor that everyone should be the same. What I say is that our current belief systems foster a hugely, massively, unequal world and that the current mindset stacks cards massively against some, while stacking the deck massively in favour of others.
The purpose behind shifting to partnership and cooperation is to live in a sustainable, well functioning and healthy world, society and personal environment. I’d much rather have partnership and cooperation even in my friendships and family life than not. I don’t think the way things have always been done is the way things need to continue to be done. What kind of world do you want to see?
I agree with your first paragragh whole heartedly. I think we all should want to acheive that reality.
On my use of the phrase struggle to survive… yes, I used the phrase but my overall thought is that all races, especially blacks, need to find ways to exist to make the world a better place to live. The point I was trying to make was that black people don’t typically benefit from the good ol’ boy network in educational and workplace environments. These are two of the issues of social injustices that really irk me. This is what motivates me, i.e., the struggle to survive compared to your word thriving. Maybe you understood my comment to say I like the fact of having to struggle to survive. No, that wasn’t what I was trying to convey. Another point I was trying to make was that I like it when a person is recognized for acheiving from what others view from a lower standard. The example I gave was a HBCU graduate vs the Ivy league graduate. People expect a lot more form an Ivy League graduate than a HBCU graduate. That’s ridicious to me.
Although I have only seen extreme poverty on television and know of it in my reading, I agree I haven’t lived it myself.I have lived without, but not as you speak of. When we discuss poverty we have to look at it in perspective. Poverty in America vs poverty of the world. If we’re looking at it from a world view America’s poverty doesn’t compare. I never mentioned that it did. I was only thinking about the American household. When we are discussing laziness we have to look at it also in perspective. I waas thinking of children in America and seem to lack any historical knowledge of the past. How they are overly consumed in techonlogy within four walls. I’m concerned about children who can defeat storylines of video games, but can’t pass in of grade test.
Just for clarity sake, I don’t have the mindset that there should be people that have it all and others that don’t have anything. I’m willing to run with you for that cause. My only concern is to understand why the person/family in Newark is in that level of poverty in the first place. As I always say, you can better serve people if you know what caused them to be in their situation than just putting a bandaid on it for the time being. We have to be able to clean the wound first and then cover it. Then it would be my hope that once the wound is clean and the bandaid is removed, the scar will barely exist, if not at all.
I have a better understand of your thoughts behind the subject. Overall, this country as well as many others have had corrupt and misguided leadership which have hurt the citizens in the long run. People like you and I who want to see equality have to find ways to become an unified voice for these type of causes.
I want to see a world where all leaders can truly work together. I wish there wasn’t a need for affirmative action, but we need it. I think society needs to get to a point of realizing that we must share resources, ideas, and come up with solutions together.