2024 A.D.: An Odd 'Story Problem' Example of Wealth Disparity!
Disparity of wealth is no terrible thing. Not necessarily. Not at all. Because there is terrible disparity in effort, and terrible disparity in circumstance. And many children are born into families where their parents or grandparents accumulated much. As for those who become rich through evil deeds...their case speaks for itself. But most of those we call rich aren't really of that type. Are they to be blamed? And there is disparity of talent, or seemingly so. Perhaps there are just unrecognized keys to the storehouses of talent that we each possess? But then some of us are born with hindrances. So yes, there are disparities of almost everything. It is a shame for a poor person who can work to refuse to work. There are quite a few of those. But I think it is a probably also a shame to be too rich in a world full of the needy because Jesus taught that it was. But, I think it is up to the rich to decide if they have extra, and what they should do with it. For the poor to cry out that what is yours should be mine merely because you have more than me...that is to make a practice of envy. And what poor person cannot find an even poorer person? Yet how many of the poor go around trying to get an even poorer person to take some of the small amount that they do have? And also, maybe you actually have enough, but feel poor because your eyes see someone with more than you have...and that causes envy to flare up in your heart. So, when the poor, but not truly needy, go about trying to get money from those richer than themselves...perhaps they do wrong? Perhaps they are poor because they are lazy and have disastrous habits. And for the rich, perhaps their ambition, their drive, their talents and/or their great inheritances are actually gifts from God. Perhaps they can't take full credit for their skills and talents and desire to work hard, etc. Perhaps that is from God. So perhaps those who have plenty of extra, as a gift from God so to speak, go about ignoring the needy at their own peril? Perhaps a very close track is kept upon their level of generosity by THOSE who will later judge their souls?
But being rich and poor can be like being fat or skinny. We mostly all have a bit of fat more than we need. But when we see a 500 pound person it makes a certain sort of impression upon you. That is way, way out there. Is it OK to be that overweight? We have our opinions. It is hard to keep from it. And if we see a whole family that is skin and bones...or even just one person...don't we wonder if they are in need? And if we suspect they are in need, then are we being a bad person to walk on by or to drive on by when we have a fair amount of 'extra' from which we could give? Our consciences usually tell us that we are. There is usually at least a split second when our conscience tries to get us to care.
So everyone has their opinions about this subject, and we have slightly different places where we draw our lines. We have varying ideas about how to help and how much to help. But below is just a thought about how vast the disparities can be these days. In times of peace when prosperity has time to grow and grow and grow, the differences can become vast. In such a time as ours when the marketplace has become so vast through advances in ways to trade goods, the differences can become vast. Obscenely vast? Perhaps so. Unfairly vast? Well, when there is no crime in the way that wealth is gathered then is it unjust when some are very wealthy? So no, it is not unfair that some are very wealthy if their wealth was gathered in a fair way. Yet, the vastness of the difference in wealth should be considered by those who might have it become a boat anchor for their soul on some terrifying day when they are judged. The same goes for a person of modest means who is stingy with it! Here below is a case to consider if you have become the financial equivalent of the 500 pound man in the eyes of those around you:
A man of bad financial habits but sound mathematical training whose name was Lucky went snow skiing, and while riding up the slope in a nice gondola with just one other person the gondola suddenly lurched to a stop. It had broken. He struck up a conversation with the man he was trapped with, and suddenly it dawned on him that this was Wally Warbucks, one of the world's richest men, that he was broken down and trapped with up in the air. He had recently read that Wally had reached the 150 Billion dollar mark concerning his personal wealth. Wow! Impressive! Ironically, Lucky actually had a net worth of exactly $150.00 at the moment. It was all in his pockets in the form of coins and bills in fact. He was not very careful with his money, though he was usually generous with whatever small amount he did possess. What a contrast in wealth, though! A man with $150.00 to his name trapped in a gondola with a man who had $150 billion dollars to his name.
Wally Warbucks mentioned that he was in a state of embarrassment because he had gotten onto the gondola with a full bladder but he had figured he could just take care of it at a plastic outhouse the ski resort provided at the top of the run. But now he was about out of time! Lucky said, "No problem. I keep a plastic emergency urination bag in my coat pocket just for these sorts of emergencies. You are more than welcome to use it." Wally was a little uncomfortable, but grateful, and availed himself of Lucky's offer. In a much better frame of mind, Wally introduced himself and asked if he could pay him a reward for letting him use the bag. Lucky told him that he had recognized him while they were talking, and said,"I just read that you reached the 150 Billion Mark which is, of course, an amazing accomplishment. So, although I would not mind giving you the bag for nothing since they are not so expensive and you owe it to people to share a thing like that should they find themselves in need of it, I guess I will suggest a possibility to you if that's alright." Slightly wary now, but feeling somewhat grateful to the man, Wally said,"Speak away!"
Lucky spoke. "I happen to live life kind of low on the material belongings scale, and so I am staying in my friends loft bedroom right now and my entire net worth is only $150.00 as chance would have it. That is 1/1,000,000,000th of yours, right? So I would suggest to you that I would be thrilled if you would pay me 1/1,000,000,000th of your wealth, oh, let's say sometime tomorrow or as soon as you figure out the number, if you will allow me, in turn, to pay you 1/1,000,000,000th of my net worth right now, or as close as I can come to that amount. I mean, I'll come as close as I can to giving you 1/1,000,000,000th of my income based on the money increments I presently have in my pocket, and whatever factor I have to use on my 1/1,000,000,000th to get it to the nearest money increment in my possession, then apply that same mathematical factor to the $150.00 you are giving me. Sound fair? Sound sporting?" Amused, Wally thought about it briefly and agreed. Lucky said,"Will you shake on it?" Wally grinned and said, "Oh, you want to lock me down on the deal, huh? You are a tough negotiator." But he leaned forward and shook hands with Lucky. To Wally, a hand shake had always meant something.
Lucky then cheerfully took out a penny and handed it to Wally, who took it with a bemused look on his face. "I owe you less than a penny actually, but of course a penny is the smallest denomination of American coin, so that's the best I can do, right?" Wally nodded, and grinning, he said,"You have kept your end of the bargain, Sir. And I will in return give you the $150.00 times the proper fractional increase so that I have traded a proportionally equal amount of money with my new Friend In Time of Need! I'll contact my accountant and have him figure it out."
"Oh, I happen to be a math whiz of sorts," Lucky said. "In order to pay you 1/1,000,000,000th of my wealth, or .000015th of a penny, I had to multiply what I owed you by a factor of 66,666.66 repeating So, in order to pay me a commensurate proportion of your net worth you would need to multiply $150.00 by 66,666.66 repeating."
Wally choked as he thought about it, and said."How much is that, exactly?" Lucky, feeling rather smug about it all truth be told, diplomatically answered,"Well, your accountant can figure it out, and I know that you are a man of honor and will pay me the exact amount owed, whatever it is. But it will be just about $10,000,000.00 if I am not mistaken. And thank you very much!" And he handed a red faced and choking Wally his contact information just as the ski lift gondola rocked forward and began to move again. An angry Wally took the information and grudgingly pledged to keep his word, then did not speak to Lucky again.
Lucky went home and told everyone in his family about his good fortune, and he could hardly wait until the next day. But the next day the hours began to pass, and Lucky and his wife's concerns and disappointment began to grow, until the business day was almost over. Then he suddenly received a call from a man identifying himself as Wally Warbuck's accountant. "Hello, Lucky!", he said. I just wanted to let you know that we are calculating how much it is, exactly, that we owe you. But I have been authorized to transfer the entirety of the funds to you as soon as we have it calculated."
"What kind of baloney is that?", asked Lucky. "Poke in the numbers and calculate it. Let's get this done! He agreed with me on it! We even shook hands."
"Well, Sir, he did agree. And he admitted as much to me. He told me all about the whole occurrence up there in the broken down ski lift. But the problem is that the factor we must multiply the $150.00 by has one of those ".66666..... repeating forever" kind of values, and we have our most powerful and exacting computer on the job of calculating the precise monetary amount that you are owed to the absolute exact value that you are owed. But as a math enthusiast, you will appreciate that this is going to take a very, very, very, very, very long time. However, we will immediately contact you when our nearly limitless computer completes its calculation. Good day to you sir, and if you plan to be waiting intently by your land line phone for my call you may be pleased to know that Mr. Warbucks also instructed us to order one of those 'emergency urination bags', such as you were kind enough to donate to my employer, and it is being shipped to your address as we speak. Just a small additional show of appreciation on our part."
Let those of us who "have" never forget about those of us who "have not", even if we sometimes have a pretty good idea of how they came to be poor! In many cases it surely is poor decision making. However...that was true in Jesus' day also, and the days of the Apostles. Yet both Jesus and the Apostles He tutored emphasized very few things as much as giving some of what we have to the poor. The poor are made in the image of God, everyone is. So, should we not help a brother even if they are a brother that got themselves into the fix they are in by the way they decided to think and live in many cases? One day we will stand before Jesus as guilty sinners who willingly chose and engaged in the sin that has ultimately shown us to be unworthy of earned Salvation. When Jesus looks at us on that day perhaps He will decide to recall that during our Earthly life when we came upon and considered brother and sister humans who had made bad choices and gotten themselves into a similarly terrible fix, we showed love and mercy and generosity, and the understanding that we were little if any better, all things considered. We may actually be viewed as worse by Jesus. After all, He knows all the details and all of the contributing factors! It's a sobering thought. So the poor and middling income people are obliged to give for the same reasons as the well to do and the rich. Our fellow is in need, and it may very well be that one day we shall be the one our own selves, but if not, perhaps we escaped great need in our lives only by the grace of God.