The Lies of Affluence by Wayne Jacobsen— Part I.

“‘Do you have any conflict enjoying the money you have in a world with so much need?’

I had been invited by a friend to attend an investment seminar and there were some high rollers in the room.  As I looked around, however, I was surprised to see so many facial expressions that seemed confused by the question.  Obviously they didn’t.  I do.  Every day.

When the speaker went on to ask why not, most responded they had worked hard for what they had and never thought twice about enjoying a disproportionate slice of the world’s pie.  The unspoken inference, of course, is poor people don’t work as hard so they are only getting what they deserve.  It’s only one of the lies wealthy people tell themselves so they can ignore the needs of others as they plunge headlong into their own amusements.  But you can only believe this if you don’t actually know people who have very little and not a lot of options to help them move beyond it.  And I don’t mean know about them, but actually know them individually.

I was raised a law-and-order Republican.  I grew up with a high regard for discipline, hard work, and respect for authority.  If you live responsibly and work hard you can get ahead in the world.  Disobey a policeman and you risk getting shot.  Do something illegal and the consequences should be severe.

But that’s before I caught a glimpse of life through the eyes of an African-American mother who not only fears the influences of the neighborhood on her son, but also any interaction he might have with the police and how it might escalate because of misunderstanding and fear.  And I’ve become good friends with a family of undocumented immigrants and see first hand not only the hardships they endure, but also how our culture exploits them for its gain without rewarding them for their hard work.

These relationships have caused me to reassess many of my lifelong conclusions and it’s helped me come to grips with the lies affluent people use to justify their own comfort and suppress their generosity for people in need.  Almost everyone screams unfair when they perceive circumstances have been rigged against them, but almost no one cries foul when they benefit from that rigging.

These are the lies you have to believe if you want to live callously in the world.  To be truthful, I’ve actually benefited from most of them and grabbed for them whenever I needed to suppress my compassion for those in need.  They allowed me for many years to live unaffected by the disproportionate distribution of resources in the world.  Having them exposed has been a great gift to my humanity and has allowed me to discover the joys of generosity.

Lie #1:  We all have the same opportunities; it’s just that some work harder.  This is what lies behind those confused expressions I saw at the investment seminar I mentioned at the beginning of this article.  We love the illusion that a child growing up in south central Los Angeles has the same opportunities as those who grow up in the suburbs or small town America.  Didn’t we solve inequality during the civil rights movements of the 60s?  Can’t every child go to school, apply herself, get a college degree, and find a better life?  We do have enough stories of people who have done it to think it’s true, not admitting that these are still the exceptional stories not the routine ones.

Without hope of a better life, the tools to get there, a support network to encourage them, they will never recognize the opportunities which may be at their disposal or be able to access them.  There’s a reason why there are neighborhoods we wouldn’t chose to live in and schools we send our kids to.”

{Editing and Italics Mine}  To be continued....

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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