This morning I was listening an interesting documentary on BBC World Service -- The reluctant millionaires.
It's about the super-rich people -- mainly in the United States -- who are campaigning against the wealth they themselves possess.
They are mostly people who are born rich, and have remained / grown rich because of the environment in which they have been in.
However, they aren't quite happy with the financial system which allows the rich to get richer, at the cost of others who don't have as much money as they have, making the latter become poorer. They have formed a group - Patriotic Millionaires.
The BBC documentary, which focusses on wealth inequality, is presented by Abigail Disney, filmmaker and multimillionaire heiress to the Disney empire.
Bringing in personal insights, she explores the present skewed distribution of money, the harm it does to the society, and what can be done to improve the situation.
The 50-minute programme is available online.
WEALTH IS IMPORTANT
We need money - for basic necessities like food, clothing, and shelter; and for minimum comforts and good physical and mental wellbeing that make our lives worth living.
We work in order to get money. We change jobs so that we get more money.
How much money is enough money?
No one knows, because it varies from person to person. What is one individual's luxury is another one's necessity.
WHAT WEALTH CAN BUY AND CAN'T
But we know why we need money. We also know that money can't get us many critical things in our lives.
Money can get us material comforts, but not peace of mind and happiness.
Money can buy us food, but not wellbeing and good health.
Money can build relationships, but not affection and love.
(Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay)
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link, will have a listen... Patriotic Millionaires is a group specific to the USA... there is also an international group - Millionaires for Humanity... there is probably 'crossover' among participants. Good to see some level of conscience from the fortunate ones! YAM xx
Hi Yamini - Yes, indeed. It's the greed that is the problem. I am sure there are a number of wealthy individuals who are doing a lot to help those who are less fortunate. I haven't heard about Millionaires for humanity. I will check it out.
DeleteHi Pradeep - I've seen/ heard a couple of these programmes ... but haven't investigated properly. I know my own state of affairs - so relate to where I am, and over the years have always given where and when I can. It is so personal - but it's good to see the very wealthy perhaps thinking of others, and not taking everything for all they can 'grab' ... interesting to read and with the links - thank you. Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteIn other words, aren't they part of limousine liberals?
ReplyDeleteHaven't heard about limousine liberals.
DeleteYa, not all uber-rich people are as bad as we think they are. Some are genuine philanthropists.
I had not heard of this group. Glad to know the rich aren't all terrible hoarders.
ReplyDeleteThe problem as I see it in the US is the rich are not paying enough tax to fund decent social services, rather they prefer to donate to private charities which by the nature are very selective about who they help. Thus you have the deserving poor and the non deserving poor selected often by moral judgements.
ReplyDeleteIt's true. Wealth doesn't trickle down as much as we think it does.
DeleteWhen people are young, they think money is everything. Then they grow up to find it's not.
ReplyDeleteHi Rajesh - That's a very good one!
DeleteHi Pradeep - it's nice to hear that there are wealthy people sharing some of their funds with the rest of humanity. But I agree with Andrew (above) that if the rich paid their taxes fairly and didn't use loopholes to get around it, there would be a much bigger pot for governments to draw on to help the really needy - food, shelter, healthcare - the bare essentials.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful to have enough with a bit left over - but we worked hard and lived frugally for many, many years to reach this point. I'm also don't find the need to own the newest and shiniest toys, so that helps with keeping our budget much smaller.
Hi Leanne - There has to be a better and more equitable distribution of wealth. Probably, the taxation systems have to be tweaked so that the extent of disparity can be reduced.
DeleteI'd love to see these, Pradeep. It sounds as if they are quite enlightened people!
ReplyDeleteHi Vallypee - Glad to know that there are many who are more considerate and philanthropic.
DeleteI had not heard about this documentary. One I watched the other day gave me true hope about humanity. It's called "Cat Daddies", a story based on men and their cats but the tales delve much deeper. Be well!
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