What Makes Us Poor?

It is certainly not the amount of money we have. There are people that make a simple living that could be considered rich. They are doing the work that fills their souls and gives them a sense of purpose and well being. They may not be able to own a Mercedes but they drive a car that they can afford and gets them from place a to b. Too often we equate being poor with money but I will argue in America no one is poor because of a lack of money but a sense of envy.

Education is the number one quest that can make us rich or poor. Not just education to help us get a better job but the education that helps us discern between material wealth and spiritual wealth. We have generations of individuals that can’t think analytically or at all on matters of great importance. You know them when you meet them not by whether they have a Harvard degree but how they communicate what they are feeling. People that lack education are poor. And again it is not a formal education but a life spent ignoring the lessons that are right in front of us.

Some of the smartest people I have met in my life did not have a great formal education but spent their life learning and growing, reading and listening, and finally applying their common sense. Today in our inner cities and not so inner cities we have seen education plummet to the lowest common denominator which has given us a citizenry that no longer understands the basic elements of human nature, economic literacy, the ability to analyze without bitter emotion, and is focused on the trivial. We have watched our country become poor both economically and spiritually.

Dependence on others for your happiness is a sign of true desperation. Too many people confuse compassion with the shackles of government assistance. It is important to be compassionate to people who need a helping hand, but it is criminal to encourage people to rely on the shackles of government assistance for their existence. There is no greater creator of the poor than government programs. There is no greater thief of individual dreams than government programs. There is no greater threat to freedom than government programs. There is no greater threat to the existence of man than government programs.

Values and morals are the foundation of wealth. People that do not believe there is a creator of man are poor. The thought that man is all powerful is a recipe for the extinction of man. Our country is based on the Judeo/Christian principles with a sensitivity that religion must be balanced carefully with civic governance. That does not mean an exclusion of all things moral and religious. Without morals and religion we are poor in spirit and hope. Our entire system of government falls apart if we do not recognize that we are all “endowed by our creator” equally. We have become poorer by systematically removing religion from our social fabric.

What makes us poor? Trusting others to provide the happiness we desire. Is that not what our politicians are selling today? If we buy what this administration is selling we will all understand what it means to be poor…