August 17, 2020
Contributing to the Chaos while
Living – Life – Large
Dan Abernathy
In these times of mass confusion we, as a society, are being manipulated and blatantly maneuvered with fear, shame and guilt. We worry about the election process while the toxic rain of political parties drip on our shoulders like the falling feces of the albatross.
What we really need to focus on and perhaps fear is the true oligarch. Money, and the power derived from money, is what is maneuvering the people as, “we the people,” struggle to get by and feel like we are free to stand clear of falling debris.
Since the concept of exchange of value as a currency, money has occupied a very powerful quandary in human beings. Money holds a senseless security and supremacy for you to do what is wanted, whatever that may be.
Money makes the world go round. Perhaps this imbalance is this why the world appears to be spinning wildly out of control, escaping from an orbit in route of a collision with the welfare of humanity.
Rather than to contribute to the plethora of ideas, we may do well to first inquire into the fundamental principles on which money is based and the process by which it has evolved with the development of society.
Some of the most influential figures are billionaires. But many of these overlords, protected behind the guarded gate are not elected so the public has no way of holding them accountable.
According to Forbes Magazine the top ten Billionaire list is as follows.
1, Jeff Bezos, $188.7 billon. Bezos is CEO and founder of Amazon and also owns the Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company developing rockets for commercial use.
2, Bill Gates, $113.7 billon. Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and now only owns 1% of Microsoft. He has however donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft to the Gates Foundation.
3, Bernard Arnault & Family, $110.4 billon. Arnault is chairman and CEO of LVMH, which are the worlds largest “taste-makers.” These are the people who decide or influences what is, or what will become fashionable.
4, Mark Zuckerberg, $96.0 billon. Zuckerberg is cofounder, chairman and CEO of Facebook.
5, Warren Buffet, $79.6 billon. Buffet is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns 60 companies which includes Geico, Duracell and Dairy Queen.
6, Mukesh Ambani, $79.2 billon. Ambani is founder and Chairman of the oil and gas giant Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company.
7, Elon Musk, $76.7 billon. Musk is CEO and Chairman of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and rocket producer, SpaceX -
8, Steve Ballmer, $71.4 billon. Ballmer is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and the former CEO of Microsoft
9, Larry Ellison, $71.2 billon. Ellison is CTO and Cofounder of the software firm Oracle, a customer relationship management database.
10, Larry Page, $67.4 billon. Page is a Cofounder of Alphabet, the parent of Google. He has stepped down as CEO but remains a board member and the controlling shareholder.
This list of people that you have just read and the numbers that are connected to them is not really comprehensible. Most humans, myself included, have difficulty imagining how much one billion of anything actually is.
How long would it take for you to become a billionaire if you saved $100 per day? 1,000,000,000 divided by $100 dollars would take 10,000,000 days. 10,000,000 days divided by 365 days per year would take 27,397.26 years to reach $1 billion You would never get there in your lifetime, nor would your children, grandchildren or great grandchildren. If you and one descendant per generation, saved $100 every day and each of you lived for 90 years, it would take you and 304 generations of your descendants to save up one billion dollars.
Our society is based on the false idea that money is wealth and the false promise that maximizing financial returns to the holders of financial assets will maximize the well being of all.
There is a simple explanation to our current political chaos. The economic system of political corruption is driving us to an environmental collapse of economic hopelessness and financial uncertainty. And it isn’t functioning to benefit the vast majority of people.
The authoritarian uses the power of their financial assets to buy political favor and hold government hostage, avoid taxes and to further increase their financial returns and buy more political power.
This results in a vicious cycle of wealth and power in the hands of those who demonstrate the least regard for the well being of others and for the Earth and environment.
Corporate media has conditioned most of us to believe that the basic fact is we need money to buy the things we need or want. We have accepted the pervasive claims that money is needed to find happiness and improve the lives of all.
Life exists only in living communities that self-organize to create the conditions essential to life’s existence. Money is just a number, an accounting tally we accept in exchange for things of real value because we have been conditioned to do so from birth.
More is not always better and your identity is not dependent on the perception of money. It is okay to live and dream a new dream with less. - dbA