Follow the Money
Author, Jesus Rode a Donkey
About two years ago, I attended a Bible study whose participants were very wealthy women living in a gated community with million-dollar homes. The women obviously had all the money they wanted to create their coordinated wardrobe where the collar of their sweater matched their shoes, and the belt matched the purse, and the pants were color-coordinated with their sweaters. Although I made no judgment about this at first, as the Study went on, I realized that these women had a spiritual problem – they were addicted to shopping. Several women mentioned that they loved to shop, and bought anything that caught their fancy. They justified their spending of money by saying it helped the economy and they had the money, but I noticed spiritual un-ease about this problem – as if they weren’t sure if this were really a problem, or not. The Bible study leader was following a study guide and was impatient that there had been some disruption, and said they needed to get through the questions in the booklet, so the matter was dropped.
I thought about this group of women, and believed there was a reason for their
dis-ease. I also began to think about how money has the potential to prosper and oppress, to keep others in poverty and also to do good.
A few weeks ago, I went to see the film, Blood Diamond, which shows the relationship of the diamond trade in developing countries, to the structures that support violence, war, as well as the kidnapping, training, and abuse of child soldiers. The film mentioned that scarce resources, many used by First World countries, can easily lead to abuse, poverty, and injustice – resources such as oil, rubber, gold, and diamonds. The money we spend leaves us culpable for the unseen damage it can do.
If we follow the money, we can begin to see how many of our purchases, even those of necessity, damages others. Although I can’t see any way that we can be pure users of money, we can try to be conscious of where our money goes. I’d rather my money went to alternative, non-polluting energy resources, than to the profits for the gas companies which keep us dependent on oil from repressive governments. I’d rather see money being used to give people a living wage, rather than used to give to the rich and take from the poor.
On a local level, I’d rather see money being used to prosper local artists than to be
used for goods created by slave labor or child labor. If people feel a tremendous need to be spending money, I’d rather see it used for scholarships, to build homes, perhaps through Habitat for Humanity, to go to creative people who are developing inventions, to help farmers who grow our food rather than those who destroy our scarce resources, and to help educate.
In the movie, All the President’s Money, Deep Throat says, “Follow the money!� See where it leads. I wonder how our new Congress will handle the money. Will they choose to spend it where it does good, or will it continue to benefit the rich and hurt the middle class and poor? We can ask of our money – whether individually or in our government – “Who does this purchase benefit? Who does it harm? Can this make a positive difference for a person, or a country?�
For readers, what have you found out when you follow the money? Do your values influence how you use money, or how you vote for others to use money?
- Linda Seger's blog
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Money
One of the best reads that I have experienced on the relationship our country has to developing countries and how money is used to control is "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins. I always knew there was some hanky panky going on, when we hear that the USA gave "Bojo"(a fictional country )a billion dollars for this or that, but I wasn't sure how they did it.
Perkins does a good job of showing us how control and manipulation of third world countries work. For instance, we hear on MSM that US AID gave "Bojo " a billion dollars for a dam project. Typical reaction to such news from Joe and Jane Average Citizen would be "My aren't we good people, we are always helping everybody". What really happened was a billion dollars of tax payer money was transfered to "US AID" which is a PRIVATE entity, then the money was directly deposited in accounts of construction companies, usually American,that are on the "payola" list, and the construction begins.No one in "Bojo" ever saw that money unless it was some ruthless dictator gettting his kickback. Now "Bojo" owes us a billion dollars and we will extract a pound of flesh if we don't get the dough. Meantime,as for the dam itself, natural resources will often be destroyed, native people will be displaced and end up in some filthy shanty town in a large urbanopolis,and water that used to be free is now privatized and belongs to yet another profit making company, often foreign.Joe and Jane Average Citizen think we are the "Santa Clauses " of the world and can't figure out why so many in the world seem to hate us.
Is it any wonder we are seeing a socialist/populist democratic revolution in places like Latin American and a rejection of US influence?
Affluenza
As a well off hard working Physicians wife who lives a privledged life on ten acres in paradise and firmly believes "to whom much is given, much more is required"
I am thrilled to read this post!
Linda, you reminded me of what Father Matthew Fox said at the first Conference for Spiritual Progressives in Berkeley, July 2005:
“There are two Christianities in our midst. One worships a punitive father and seeks obedience at all costs. It is patriarchal, demonizes woman, the earth, science, gays, lesbians, and deep thought. It builds on fear and it supports empire-builders. Its theology includes a punitive father in the sky and teaches original sin.
"The other Christianity recognizes the original blessing that all beings derive from. We recognize awe, not sin, not guilt, as the starting point of true religion. We recognize a divinity who is source of all things and is as much mother as father, as much female as male. We honor creation and diversity.
"When God created everything, He pronounced it all good. We are here to make love to life.
"Yes, we are here to make love to life. Delight in creation and take your dreams into our politics and institutions.
"We live in the midst of a suicidal economy, motivated by love of money. We have reached a dead end. What we need to turn it around are hearts in love with life.
"How do we do it? We first must move from domination to partnership, and we begin by educating our young in awe and wonder, not how to take tests. Awe leads to reverence, which leads to gratitude, which will reinvent our species. This is the task of our generation: to regain awe. The three Rs need to be balanced by the ten Cs: contemplation, creativity, chaos, compassion, courage, critical consciousness, community, celebration, ceremony, and character.
“In community, people remain united, despite everything that divides them. In capitalist society, people are isolated, separated, despite everything that should hold them together. We are in the midst of an epic struggle between community and capitalistic society. We need a new narrative. It is the economy of materialism; it is the virus of affluenza that has weakened family life.