In his 1996 book The Saints Among Us, George Gallup, Jr., the famous poll-taker, said this:
In other studies we have done, such as financial giving, we found that the poor give a larger proportion of their invome to charity than the rich. Being surrounded by misery, they see opportunities to help on every side. The rich, especially now, with the widening gap between rich and poor, have a tendency to cordon themselves off and therefore don't see much of the grimness of life.
The key to his comments, I think, is the isolation the rich maintain. Nobody quite understands why New Frontier Consulting does what it does, focusing business in areas where the profits are not as healthy as bigger cities. One reason (among many) for our decision comes out in Gallup's comments here.
We talk about the widening gap between the rich and poor. And that is not just a China trend, of course, but rather a reality around the world. In one sense, the poor-rich gap issue is as simple restating the old phrase, "it takes money to make money," as we have talked about on this weblog before.
But what of Gallup's comments? What of this "cordoning off" he speaks of? Of course it is totally true, though we do not like to accept it. Most of us reading this blog are actually quite rich, though we may not define ourselves as such. We most certainly have more opportunities, assets, and comfort than the vast majority of this world's population.
This is not some starving-kid-on-TV kind of guilt trip. Do not worry, this is not leading up to some "for just $25 a month" deal at the end. You can read this completely free, of course!
What we are talking about here is reality, though, and many times it comes about quite naturally. Almost accidentally, sometimes, we isolate our life from suffering. Simply by living in the middle of developed countries (most of us, at least), which we cannot help, we are cut off from a large amount of the "grimness" to be seen out there. We get used to our central heat and air, the daily commute in our cars, and the cushy chair at the office. It is easy to never even think about anything outside of that environment.
And before we know it, we are isolated from those that do not have the same comforts of home and work. Before we know it, we are the rich, cordoning ourselves off from the less privaleged world.
"What can be done?", you might ask. And if you do ask such a question, even if only for a moment, you are stepping across those dividing lines and opening yourself to the common plight of man. We do not have to be Mother Teresa, live in the slums of India, and spend our life for the poor and needy. That works, but for most of us, there are much more simple ways to open ourselves to our fellow man.
Those actions are not as important as the attitude behind them. If we simple think of their plight every now and then, action will follow. We will know what needs to be done. There are a million possible actions, mostly insignificant, that keep us from cushioning ourselves from the harsh reality many face. The decision of the heart will naturally turn to action.
