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The pursuit of power or wealth is an insider's joke, and many people don't seem to understand the punch line, or even realize that one exists.
The 'common man' and the 'elite': how do most view the widening gap between these two groups? One way (an oddly popular way for the less privileged) is to say, "More power to those in power, I'd like a piece of that pie myself." Another way to view the situation is to recognize injustice at the way the poor and middle class are manipulated and used to generate never-ending wealth for the rich. For a poor or middle class individual to doggedly embrace the same obsession with acquisition that the wealthy have devoted their lives to, is an equally amusing and sad state of affairs. Amusing because the strings of manipulation are obviously invisible to them, and sad because they are blind to the detrimental results. What strings of manipulation am I referring to? I believe it was a Chinese proverb I read years ago that said it best: that which the eye does not see, the heart does not bleed for. This line was originally written in recognition of the human weakness of envy. In most cases, it is not until we know something exists, and that others apparently enjoy it or value it highly, do we begin to strongly desire it for ourselves. It is this proclivity of human nature that is exploited relentlessly by the wealthy, in order to produce more wealth for themselves. How so, you ask? Envy is how the phenomenon of advertising has gone from clever street-corner hawking to a trillion-dollar industry. We humans are pathetically predictable when it comes to wanting what we see. Unfortunately, this emotional transaction does not stop at television, magazines and billboards. Long before there were televisions, magazines, billboards and other forms of mass communication, there was the simple act of flaunting one's good fortune. Although not as many people would be affected by each individual act of ostentation, the results were the same for those exposed. I mention this because advertising is not the only generator of envy. Anyone who has attained the vaunted status of material 'success' spreads envy like a virus. Every time an entertainer is photographed sporting the trappings of wealth, every time an overpaid athlete is in the news for an indiscretion, every time a CEO or politician is exposed for malfeasance, an entire generation of viewers and listeners are served up a huge portion of envy. We don't envy the negative results of their overindulgence; we oddly ignore those and lust after the assets that made them possible. On a daily basis, we are given concrete examples of not only how money does not provide happiness, but that it often does quite the opposite. Yet still, the carrot is dangled, and we predictably stretch for it, over and over again, day after day, year after year... never seeming to appreciate the fact that we are allowing ourselves to be manipulated by those who ultimately are using us to produce more wealth for themselves. Human beings are a proud bunch. We're infinitely confident, as individuals with our own minds, that we're not able to be manipulated by others. Most of you reading these words would instantly scoff at the idea that you could ever be manipulated by someone else without your knowledge. Well, I'm giving you that knowledge right now. Every time you buy the latest gadget or accessory, every time you schedule another expensive vacation, every time you spend your time and money at a bar or casino, every time you buy a lottery ticket, every time you insist on the best of something, every time you get yourself further in debt by buying things that aren't necessary to live, every time you buy something that your favorite public personality wears, eats, drives, owns, lives in, sails on, etc. etc., every time you think you're not getting laid enough, every time you think you're not getting paid enough, every time you think life's unfair because you don't have that particular thing you really think you deserve... well, hopefully you get the idea. You are being manipulated during these situations because the end result is a corporate mogul's dream: you do whatever you can to acquire whatever it is you think you need. Extra hours at work, maxed-out credit cards, lying, cheating, stealing, selling drugs, murder. While some of those activities are a bit extreme for most people, be aware that they are not limits for the richest people on earth. That's how they became rich and stay that way; don't let anyone convince you differently if you wish to remain honest. The Bible compares a rich man entering heaven to a camel going through the eye of a needle. It doesn't make any difference which way you interpret the phrase; either a camel and a sewing implement, or a camel and the special gate that lets people in and out but keeps larger animals in. The point is that in both cases, it is impossible. A bit of a harsh judgement, you say? Sure, and since there's no way to prove there's life after death, and since I'm no one to claim I have those kinds of answers, I'm not qualified to tell you for certain if the saying is accurate or not. What I am in a position to tell you is that it doesn't take an exceptional dose of common sense to understand that wealth is never acquired and maintained without an equal loss to others. Simple math. The assets of the wealthy were not materialized out of thin air. They actually came from somewhere, and that somewhere is your pocket. While some of this loss is agreeable and acceptable, such as paying one dollar for a McDouble hamburger, most other loss is not. Even those who claim earth's natural resources for their own, an apparently 'victimless' way of producing wealth, will not give it away for free. Thus your pocket, or the sweat of your brow, is still the real source of the elite's wealth. Most items (and services!) available for purchase are priced astronomically higher than they need to be. Look at the brazenly exorbitant pricing for services provided by doctors and lawyers. There has been (and still is) much marketing research devoted to figuring out just how much you can charge someone for a particular object or service before that potential customer tells you to shove it because it's too expensive. In addition to unreasonable pricing, there's a gargantuan mass of cleverly marketed crap that is entirely unnecessary to life and the enjoyment of it. Inexplicably, the utter complicity of the consumer seals the deal. All these poor and middle class people, who make personal sacrifices of time (and often integrity) simply to feel as though they've achieved some important level of status in their own eyes (and in the eyes of others), don't even realize that their indulgence in this cycle of wealth production assigns them the mere status of revenue generating sheep. They not only dance vigorously to the tune of the elite puppeteers' whims, they help strengthen the connection of the strings by accepting and promoting the lie that captured them in the first place. "Aw, come on! These guys are just getting paid, what's your problem?" If in fact, your opinion is similar to the previous line, then this essay is a waste of your time. You have no conception of the pathological absurdity of pursuing status, and you will likely live the rest of your days saddled with Pavlovian desires that leave you feeling empty despite the efforts you make to satisfy them. You participate enthusiastically because you'd like to be the one pulling the strings? Shame on you. If instead you see and understand the picture I'm drawing, then know this... if there's a God, and if our actions matter, then there's something you can have high confidence in: The endless injustices in life that are originated by the 'love of money' have not gone unnoticed, and they will bring to fruition the prophecy, "But many that are first shall be last; and the last first." |