Rich vs Poor

            I am old so they say. I’m only 50 and that’s half way. There is a battle raging on these days over rich and poor. It appears the rich have all the money. Duh. Tell me a point in history where the rich did not have all the money? Oh right, you can’t. In the days of Jesus, the rich were amazingly rich. The poor were amazing poor. In the Dirty 30’s the rich lost money but they still were less rich. The poor were more poor. Today we are bleeding hearts wanting the rich to be poor or the poor to be rich, which is it? I have seen this go on and on for 50 years.

            All I’ve heard these days is bla, bla, bla, about feeding the poor and bringing down the rich. Somehow we have it in our minds that if we take out the rich all will be good. As if the rich made you poor. So the rich guy builds a business and you get a job. Somehow he is the bad guy in all this. Let’s say he does not provide you a pension or benefits, but you continue to work there. Is your poverty his fault? This entitled generation think the rich should provide for us. My son told me once “I just wish they weren’t so rich.” Well then quit working for them or buying their crap like an iPhone. Oh right, you poor saps want all that crud, but just not from a rich guy.

            Would it be fair if the poor could go to the theatre? Would it be better if the poor could go a hockey or football game? Would it be better if the poor had everything the rich do? I suppose it would but then would the poor be rich? Should people who work hard to get ahead be punished for being rewarded? Should the poor be rewarded with rich things for being poor? Most rich people don’t give a rat’s ass what the poor do. Most poor people don’t give a rat’s ass what the rich do. Yet, in the middle, someone is giving a rat’s ass. Who are they, I smell a rat.

            What does God have to say about this topic? Let’s think about several things. The first is Jesus statement in Matthew 26 “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” Jesus grew up poor, but he was honored as a King. God is not stupid folks, there will always be poor people. There is a story in church circles of well-meaning missionaries who raised money to build a school in a poor country. Years later they went back and discovered it was now a barn for animals. The moral of the story is the real poor use what they are given for what they need. The rich don’t have a clue what the poor need.

            Becoming rich has many bad endings. Being popular creates targets on your back. There are not people born blessed. You make your own blessings. God may bestow riches or luck upon you but it’s not because your favored. God is just nice more often than we give him credit. As for making our own luck, that’s on us. Work hard and generally your rewarded. Be lazy and generally things go wrong. Feel your entitled and generally your disappointed in life. Rich people die early and poor people live longer. Sometimes it’s the reversed. Blessings and curses belong to those they happen to. One person’s blessings are another person’s curse. We will always have the poor as Jesus stated for many reasons. Why are you rich or poor?

            My older son has been given blessings to get ahead. He also has had to work hard at school and in life to make it. His friends have called him a buffoon at times for his crazy life. Yet, he is now bearing the fruit of blessings, curses, and hard work. He can buy rich things or look poor. It’s his choice. Taylor Swift is rich because she believed in herself. Obama is president for many reasons but one is that he believed in himself.

            History is a bitch. Sorry but it is what it is. The lazy were called sluggards. Carpenters make less than doctors. Popular people make money off the poor that adore them. The entitled want unearned money. The French revolution was the poor rising up to claim what’s theirs: France. In the end, different people became rich and powerful and the poor remained poor. Russians invited communism to eradicate the rich. There are now rich communists and gang leaders and we still have the poor in Russia. Jesus was not an idiot.

            It comes down to this, kiddies. The unfortunate poor need our help. Being rich is an opportunity to help those in need. The lazy poor certainly don’t need our help. The lazy rich need a swift kick but there are not many of them. Revolution is a fluffy nice idea but it always paves the way for someone else to become powerful and rich. The poor never win.

OK, so we build arenas for the poor and rich. We build theaters for the poor and rich. It might be the only way these two vastly different groups can get along. Supporting common things like sports teams and theater creates a common agreement. Spending money on the poor is noble but spending money on the common area of a community is better. We are only united through the common. We will always have the rich and poor because we always have and always will.

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