Often times, rich folks make a big splash by making huge donations, that are in fact far less as a percentage of their income or wealth than poorer people give.
A study by Independent Sector, a network of nonprofit groups, measured how much people gave based on what they had and demonstrated that poor household with incomes below $30,000 were giving about 4.2 percent of their wealth away, while richer folks were only giving 2.7 percent.
People who grow up in poor communities where communal life is key, and neighbors are helping neighbors, are more oriented towards others and are more hospitable as well as charitable. Even as soon as these same poor people are thinking hard about making more money, rising in wealth and enjoying materialistic benefits, they gradually become less responsive to the needs of others.
From there it’s easy to see that poor folks tend to value social connections because they are integral to their survival when they can't make it on their own. Studies after studies show that rural communities had strong social networks. But as individuals become wealthier, they seem to need one another less, and as a result, make fewer connections.
In wealthy enclaves, autonomy and freedom are replacing responsibility and obligation. Wealth is therefore poisonous. As America became richer, good things have happened. Diseases have declined, education has improved, women and minorities have obtained more equal treatment.
But it all came at the price of excessive individuality, self-expression, autonomy and freedom, but often a terrible sense of loneliness. This might not always be the case, but it probably means that the connectivity that came naturally to us in our modest, rural and deprived youth, might now need to be carefully and deliberately cultivated.
Jesus was right on that one too!
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