"How Rich is too Rich"

The question “How rich, is too rich?” was posited by Donald Trump in an interview with a nationally syndicated host, when asked if he wasn’t already rich enough.  In a taunting manner Mr. Trump repeated this question over and over again, throwing out figures like “one million”, “ten million”, come on tell me, a hundred million, finally intimidating the interviewer into an uncomfortable chuckle; I too was uncomfortable watching him.  My first thought was, Mr. Trump, if you feel the need to defend your wealth, you’re already too rich. 

Trump’s question raised a challenge within me; his sarcastic attitude spurred me on to find a satisfactory answer to his forced query.  To focus simply on the dollar amount, as Trump did, is inadequate to qualify an answer to this question, we must look for a more fundamental principle to flesh out a universal answer to this enigma. 

To discover a principal that satisfies this question, I focused on folks whose wealth is publicly evident and I asked if each were too rich.  I’ve already proffered the notion, that if a person is concerned about the size of their wealth their values are mislaid and they’re already to rich; if this type of wealth is the measure of their self worth their personal worth is inflated; in other words, they’re too big for their britches.  When asked a similar question on the notion of distribution of wealth, I’ve heard numerous people who were financially wealthy retort “Why should I be compelled to give away any of my money?  I’ve earned it by myself and I should be able to keep it all.” 

This claim would be fine if they earned their wealth in a vacuum without the participation of anyone else, but we don’t operate in a vacuum, we operate in a society.  In society, especially one that has developed an overarching state with layers of bureaucracy and regulations, citizens give up a measure of their personal sovereignty to create the state and provide the environment were wealth is not just produced, but accumulated.  Without this broad sacrifice of sovereignty by society at large, it would be impossible for anyone to legitimately accumulate vast wealth in relative safety.  In addition, there is a shared largess of ideas, methods and tools that have been accumulated by society over the ages that has contributed to the common wealth of society; this also represents an advantage not individually earned. 

When you contrast this selfish world view held by many with people like Oprah, Magic Johnson, the Newman’s, Jimmy Carter, the Gates and Warren Buffett, along with countless other people who give freely of their time and money we discover a different metrics for determining wealth.  People of this ilk can never be two rich, they will always give according to how blessed they feel about their wealth. 

Giving by the wealthy is not some bleeding heart liberal nonsense; it should be considered an obligation by those who have benefited from societies largess; it should also be regarded as a responsible business strategy.  I’m sure Oprah as a businessperson and philanthropist can attest that the more she gives the greater her popularity; her shows ratings are improved enhancing her wealth, both physical and metaphysical.  Sharing one’s wealth abundantly is synergistic releasing an actualizing power that is infectious and motivates others to contribute their wealth; wealth is actually amplified. Stinginess and amassing wealth is a zero sum game; it shifts the financial wealth to the wealthy and leaves the poor poorer. 

Giving doesn’t need to be a strictly charitable effort to be effective.  There are financial opportunities with charitable attributes which can bestow similar benefits as a charity, while earning a pecuniary benefit.  One idea, known as peer to peer funding, provides low cost financing to micro businesses.  Another strategy is to become part of an investment group in your community and invest in innovative local small businesses that fall outside the credit system.  Join together with others in your church, mosque or synagogue to refinance individual members of the congregation’s credit card debt, with a personal loan in aggregation with others in order to spread the risk, which will provide an economic opportunity to the loan pool, while allowing the recipient to put the savings from the debt reduction towards accumulating productive capital.  Be creative, express your wealth; look around your community to find a need and fill it!

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