Are you already rich?

With the staggering heights to which our national deficit has reached, why is it that America is considered one of the richest, if not the richest country in the world? It is because of the many things that are a part of our daily lives that we just take for granted. We have these things and just naturally forget about what life was like without them.

If you live in the United States, chances are good that you live in a house, apartment or condominium. You have hot and cold running water, electricity and a car. You can shower with hot water, indoors, on a regular basis. Your food can be stored in a refrigerator and quickly heated up in the microwave. You are not limited to working within walking distance of your home. There are airports in every major city.

A quarter of the world's population does not have access to electricity. Close to half do not have water piped into their homes. Worldwide, there are approximately 1 cars for every 6 people. In the US the ratio is almost 1 to 1.

The country as a whole produces far more food each year that it's citizens could ever possibly eat in that time. Food from all over the country is shipped to local grocery stores, providing wondrous variety for each meal, at reasonable prices. This alone is a thing that people in many other countries would consider a great treasure.

The US has a system of government that while not perfect does allow its citizens to live in relative peace and safety. It has a well armed and trained military. The laws and police keep the local streets safe.

And first and foremost we have our freedom, the most valuable thing in the world.
We here in America have things that people in other countries only dream of. Our every day lives are much easier than those in other countries. We do not spend hours every day carrying water from a nearby stream or river so that we can have water to drink or to cook with. We do not need to carry coal or wood for fires. Half our day isn't spent preparing food.

We have systems set in place that let us focus on just one or two things but let us take advantage of the great works of others. We do not have to each create everything of value that we need in our lives.
There is a great deal of difference between the wealthy and the poor in the United States. The rich often live on large estates in elaborate, lavish, homes. But even most of the poor here have access to more and better things than many other people throughout the world that are considered well off. It is a difference in standard and perspective.

Typically, we just expect more here. And that is both good and bad.

Poverty is not divine will...

...It is man's will.

Many people believe that it is divine will that they are poor. I think that belief is ridiculous and here is why.

If the biblical account of the Garden of Eden is any indication, divine will is that man be surrounded by all manner of tasty foods, beautiful sights and sounds, have friendly companionship with the animals and overall massively enjoy life.

There was an abundance of nearly everything man could ever want. It is man taking advantage of free will that screwed that up, not divinity. God had a plan of never ending health, wealth and happiness for mankind. Man made a different choice.

How did we get from there to where we are today with most of the world living in poverty? The simple answer is we chose it.

Even after being kicked out of Eden, Adam had at his disposal nearly limitless resources in terms of all the things needed to make one able to survive in comfort. With only a few people on the planet one could just go where they wanted and take what they needed.

As the populace in a given area began to grow though, it became necessary for rules to be put in place because of man's fear of there not being enough of a given thing. There has always been enough of whatever is needed produced by our planet to keep every single person upon it richly fed and clothed, but fear of going without has caused some to be greedy and many to die as a direct result. Lines were drawn to decide what territory belonged to whom. If a thing was inside your territory it was your right to do as you pleased with it. If it was inside the territory of someone else you had to trade for it.

Money did not really exist yet so the barter system was used. And originally, the beauty of the system was that trading was done on a need for need basis. If I needed wool but had an extra cow, and you needed a cow but had extra wool we could easily trade whatever quantities or portions of each thing as we could agree upon. Nobody needed to starve because people would willingly trade whatever extra they had for the surpluses of another, without needing to worry about whether they were getting a "good" deal.

When currency was finally invented and came into widespread use it really screwed this up. Each thing got assigned a specific value and if you did not have enough wool then nobody would trade you a cow. People who had a surplus of one good but not enough to equal the value of the other had to go without. The  "good" deal became the only one most people were willing to make.

With the invention of money, many communities where all had been fairly equal for generations rapidly became places where there were distinct splits in class based on wealth.

But even so, it is and has always been possible for a man to rise up out of one class and become part of another. We are where we are at any specific moment in our life based on our choices and those whom we let make decisions for us. Depending on environment and circumstance it may be more or less difficult, but any man who decides to can make new choices and with hard work, discipline and the right attitude can go from being one of the poorest men ever to live to one of the richest. If you look at the world around you there are tens of thousands of examples of this happening all the time.

So if you are the one who decides whether you will be wealthy or poor, what do you decide?