Adam Josh: Brog

Being rich is awesome right?

But what is "rich"?

Middle-class dream of being rich. Homeless people dream of being rich. Business owners dream of being rich. Drug addicts dream of getting $100 for some scrap metal so they can smoke crack. Musicians snort cocaine off the backs of hookers and toilets and dream of never running out of either. Governors dream of becoming President, Presidents dream of being re-elected. There are people born into dynasties and people born into slums who both dream of being richer.

Like it's this far off unattainable thing in the ether that everyone wants but no one can define.

I think it has something to do with power.

As I've talked about before, people pray to power, people want more power. Power being the ability to do what you want. Imagine some person struggling to pay their mortgage bill and throwing up a prayer at night with tears in their eyes, "Oh (Power), please let me pay this bill so I can stay in this home." Maybe that's why so many people spend so much time on the internet, because in a way, it is enabling you to look up anything you want online. The information superhighway at your fingertips. Now that's power, right? 

On and on.

But you have to admit, there are some things that the body you're in needs. Like clothing, food and shelter. And those basic three things could be the beginnings of the definition of being "rich". Because if you're in a body and don't have those things, you're homeless and hungry... and naked. High five?

If you have food, clothing and shelter, you're already ahead of many people on this same Earth. With those three things come a sense of security I suppose. Which leads to another point, security. If you live in a war-torn area and have food, clothing and shelter, but are under imminent threat to your person, or say you live in a war-ravaged area, that's not exactly "rich", is it? Being rich in that case would be better defined as the ability to get the hell out of there and get to some place safer.

There are families like the Windsors, Rockefellars and Rothschilds who have amassed great amounts of wealth through finance and war-profiteering. For families that are afforded the luxury of lending out what amounts to an entire countries GDP in a single loan, "rich" may hold a differnet definition than to you or I. The power of the ability to lend, the power to put people in a position of debt, this seems to be an ear marker of being powerful, or "rich".

Having companies, helicopters, airplanes, many homes, cars and land - these are all indicitave of material riches. The ability to employ others, this too is indicitave of wealth.

The means to have everything and give it all away. The ability to travel off world, to cure sickness and create life. That's more up my alley. We commoners wonder how the super-rich can allow the poor to remain poor when they could play a major role in feeding, clothing, or sheltering the poor. It's not like we don't have enough to go around here on Earth. We've invented ways to kill the entirety of life on Earth, we've spent trillions on phony drug and terrorism wars. We celebrate Christmas instead of pooling our resources together for that one day a year and solving the problems of any Third World country we want. And therein lay the power of riches. The power to change lives, the power to allow people to starve to death. I guess we're still unorganized. You have to concede that the current state of Earth is the way it is because it's being allowed to happen. Not for a lack of ability to change it.

So what we're left with is various levels of what it means to be rich, and what the individuals contentment is at each level. Some may be content with food, clothing, shelter and safety. Some in that same position may strive for more. They may look at the Royal Family in the UK and see that as the acme of riches. Not being content with what they have, they could strive in all diligence to attain status equal to Royalty. Not being born into the family may be an obstacle.

And that brings us to competition. John Rockefellar has been quoted as saying "Competition is a sin." It may be difficult to imagine, but for a family that has amassed the amounts of wealth and power that the Rockefellar's have, in their minds, one of the most deadliest sins is those who compete with them for their wealth, for their slice of the gigantic pie. So if you decide your riches aren't enough and that you want to attain to that particular level of riches, then be prepared for those who will be equally and even more ruthless than you to make sure you never get what you want.

We could also talk about the value of having great riches but being in poor health. Or being single, or being childless. We could address the old saying, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?"

It's been said, "contentment with godliness is great gain", it's also been said, "our goal while in these containers is to learn to live with integrity, and without envy, hate, or greed." The trouble is, we're not all on the same page. The trouble is, even if the entire planet was a commune where we all shared wealth and no one went without the three main necessities, there would still be conflicts of envy, hate and greed. Simply because it's been in our human nature so far back as we can trace.

I've been poorer, I've been homeless, I've slept on floors and on the third seat of a van for a year, and I've also been more well off, although I've never owned a helicopter or a plane or a yacht mind you. And I've always been content in all states. I've found that to be a secret to a well balanced life. But that's me. I guess I think I'm a lot richer than I really am. Probably has something to do with my obsession with getting out of this body once and for all.

My problem is, if I had to list things that I want, there'd only be one thing - everything. So because of this, I sort of have to choose contentment, otherwise I'd be constantly aggravated, jealous and envious. Wait, aren't I already all those things? Hahah.

Truth be told, I wouldn't mind being on a yacht right now though.

But I also wouldn't mind getting an Iron Man suit and holding all those accountable who have the power and riches and allow trillions to be lost on endless phony wars on drugs and terrorism, while we have enough weapons to destroy the entirety of civilization on Earth numerous times over but refuse to allow the entire World to be clothed and fed. Trouble is, they'd probably already have a better Iron Man suit to stop me with by the time I reached them.