Why are we Rich and Poor?

Today our discussion began with an interesting question by Yohannes.  

Yohannes: Rabbi, why are there both rich and poor in our world?  Most of the people suffer without enough food and clothing, though a few people enjoy a very luxurious life. Can't we have a world in which all people have enough food to eat, clothing to wear, and houses to live?

Rabbi: Some people are rich, and others are poor. This is one of the characteristics of our complex life. Thousands of years ago, when there were only a few people in the world, they had a simple, carefree life, and they were not divided into rich and poor. They all lived by eating fruits and meat, drinking water from the streams and ponds, and covering their body by large leaves or animal skins, and by sleeping in caves and in tree shades. They were only a few in number and they had plenty to eat and drink. When they increased in number, there started competition among themselves to obtain their basic necessities because there was less food than they needed.

Later they found a solution. Instead of depending on the free gifts of nature, they started cultivating crops. Thus, they began to produce food, but then, they needed more people to work on their farms. Thus, the number of people increased again. Having many children was considered a blessing of God. The increase in population further increased the demand for food, which in turn increased the competition.

When they began farming, no one claimed the ownership of land. They held beliefs such as all land belongs to God. When the struggle for survival increased, people began to possess land. By various tricky means, some people could possess all cultivable land, making the remaining people landless. The landless people had to sell themselves to the landlords in order to keep themselves alive.  Thus they became slaves, who could be bought or sold by their masters.

Though this system exists widely, there exists a milder form of slavery, in which people are not bought or sold like animals. Landless people work for their landlords, and in turn they get food, clothing and shelter.  

That is the story of how humankind has come to have a very complex way of life. The relation among human beings is so degraded that people treat their fellow beings like animals. What makes us so devilish?  

Each human being has a drive within him/her to exist. This natural drive is common to all living beings. But unlike the other living beings, we are intelligent, and so we try to make our future existence secure. Acquiring as much wealth as possible is a way to safeguard one's future. For example, look at the life of a landlord.  Even if he becomes sick or old, he has his regular supply of food and clothing. But the future of a slave is not secure. If he becomes sick or old, he has no way to get food and clothing. The landless are dissatisfied with their life, which makes them think that they are cursed by God. The landlords are not satisfied, either. They are always chased by a guilty consciousness for enjoying a life of pleasure. Also they are afraid of a revolt from their slaves or tenants. Thus in this kind of societies neither the haves nor the have-not's enjoy life.

Our society is not integrated like the organs in the body of a living being. Blood flows to all organs of the body providing what each organ needs. If there is a deficiency, all organs suffer it equally. If there is an oversupply of blood to any one organ of the body, and an undersupply to the other parts, what will be the result?  It affects health adversely. Ours is a sick society because most of the people are made to work hard though their basic necessities are not adequately satisfied. What we need is an integrated society:  One in which there is a regular supply of basic necessities to all members equally, one in which no one needs to care for his or her own future by storing wealth, and one in which people enjoy life.

Yohannes: Let me summarize what I have learned today. Ideally we are supposed to live together as a fully integrated community. An integrated community is like a body, and its members, the individuals, will be like the organs of the body. In such a community, all of its members will care for one another, and people won’t be rich and poor any more. Even if some people create a lot of wealth, they will be willing to use it for the well-being of their community. However, our community is far from the ideal. We don’t live like a body. Instead of caring for each other, most of us care for ourselves only. We try to secure our future life by storing as much wealth as possible. When some people store more than what they need, the others are deprived of their basic necessities. Thus some people become rich by stealing from others and making them poor.

Rabbi: Thank you very much for this excellent summary. I agree that our real world is far from the ideal. But we have the option to spread this awareness so that our real world can be brought closer to the ideal as much as possible. Once a lot of people become aware of the ideal, they will evolve ways to make it a reality. Let us hope and pray that our dream of such a world will become a reality.

It was quite an informative discussion, which we enjoyed very much.


Back to Contents