This Thanksgiving, I took a drive from Michigan to North Carolina for a family reunion. Although the scenery was breathtaking, other issues surfaced which became real eye-openers for me. In particular, I spent some time focusing on this part of the South and the ways it reflects some disturbing cultural patterns common to the USA as a whole.
Before I left, several people expressed the view that we are becoming increasingly a nation of haves and have-nots. Statistics show that the majority of wealth is concentrated in a small percentage of the population. It got me wondering where this is headed, and, also, how it all got started.
My destination in North Carolina was a small town called Cashiers, which is nestled in the Smoky Mountains. Originally, this was Indian land (I use the term Indian rather than Native American--less politically correct, but even the Indians don't use the P.C. term). As White Southern culture grew, along with its reliance on slavery, the Indians, including the Creeks and Cherokee, were forced from the area. With the passing of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 - whose strongest supporter was Andrew Jackson - North Carolina and the rest of the southern States marched the Indians westward. Other than the Cherokee reservation near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, only the Indian burial grounds and their names for geographic locations remains. Soon after, slavery was abolished, and the South was mired in the ruins of the Civil War.
Let's move the clock ahead 168 years. Here in Cashiers, as in the rest of the South, progress has erased, or at least obscured, the odious portions of Southern history - at least in the minds of most. What we see now in this particular region is a rash of new development - resorts, country clubs, condos and vacation homes. It is fast becoming a playground for the very wealthy, with houses costing half a million dollars and more. One place, nicknamed the "Ponderosa," is a log home valued at over two million dollars. The owner has two others like it in other parts of the country. It's as impressive as it is opulent. It's the American Dream and all the excesses that come attached.
Now, I don't begrudge anyone the fruits of their labors. There is nothing intrinsically evil about having abundance in life. Fact is, the people I met in Cashiers were gracious and loving souls with strong religious values. The family I stayed with are partners in a development that includes a golf course and new homes built in a turn-of-the-century style and setting, emphasizing community and sharing. They have provided good paying jobs for many in the area. In the process, they have attained prosperity far beyond my current station in life. I am happy for them.
Still, something is nagging me. It's not that I want or even desire this lifestyle. I live humbly, but I have all I need. I think what bothers me is the disparity between the haves and the have-nots and the ever widening gulf between the two. I wonder where it is leading, and I ponder whether this is progress or human nature left unchecked.
On one side, there is a person making minimum wage in some fast food joint. On the other, we have a person who has spent six million bucks for three vacation homes. If we asked them to trade places for a week and then asked them "how much is enough?" - what might they say?
Slavery might have been abolished long ago, but I'm not sure it ever went away. What we have now is a form of economic slavery - only, these days, we rent our slaves for minimum wage. Even those wages are too high for some, so jobs are exported to Mexico or Asia, where labor is even cheaper.
In the midst of all this conspicuous wealth, we still have crime, drug addiction, street gangs, degradation, and poverty. Our government has addressed these issues with little or no success. Throwing a few crumbs to the needy has never been the answer. Building walls and iron gates around mansions is no answer either. There needs to be a change in the consciousness of our society.
The old "might makes right" kind of competition has to give way to the paradigm of Oneness, for we all are reflections of Creation. If we could even adopt the notion that all have a right to the basics of survival, we'd be moving in the right direction. Companies need to start looking at their own communities and finding ways to offer opportunities to more people. Does the CEO really need to make five million dollars a year? Could, say, a million or two be spent to create more jobs and offer existing employees a bigger share of the wealth? Or would that spoil the 'Game?' How much more prosperity for all could be created if a few could agree to a million or two less per year? Maybe a smaller vacation home?
Buckminster Fuller said that there were enough resources on the planet to make every person a millionaire, if they were divided equally. I'm not suggesting we cut up the pie into equal slices - I'm no Marxist. All I am suggesting is that we establish where the minimum "enough" mark is and agree to find a way for everyone to survive at least at that level. It's much saner to try and make our communities a haven of survival for all than to let so many fall into the cracks. Crime and addiction drag everybody down, while prosperity does the reverse. I don't understand how someone can fill a garage with Mercedes and Porches, knowing that others in their community are starving or living far below the poverty line.
The Bible says that God helps those who help themselves, but it also says to love thy neighbor. It never said to enslave your neighbor or place personal gain above matters of the spirit. We are One. What we do to another, we do to ourselves. When we can place a higher value on the spiritual than the material, the world will change. In etymology, the word "good" is derived from "God." So, how good can we make it for everybody?
I was invited to play golf in the mountains. The views were absolutely incredible, but I saw two things that disturbed me. One was a noose hanging from a tree, which was found while building the course. The other was an Indian burial ground left undisturbed in the rough just off the fairway. Both were symbols of harsh and brutal times.
We can't change the past. We can learn from our mistakes and strive to make a better future. If the haves could walk in the shoes of the have-nots, much would be revealed. Were Mr. Ponderosa to live the life of a minimum wage worker for a year, I think he'd want more than $150 a week buys, but less than three mansions. He'd learn what enough really was. Or get so scared that he'd buy a couple more resort homes, just to be on the safe side.
Maybe these are issues I shouldn't concern myself with, but as I begin to see all people as connected and One, observing these things comes with the territory. Sooner or later, mass consciousness must make the shift from selfishness to sharing, from separateness to Oneness. Heart must win out over the almighty bank account. Until then, I may be called a dreamer - but dreams are where it all begins.
Money still won't buy happiness, but the utter lack of it breaks spirits and stifles the potential of human lives. As I think about these things tonight, I don't have any answers except to work to change the mass consciousness one day at a time. Surely, there are many great and small charitable acts occurring every minute on this Earth. God bless these people and the good works they do. All I want is "enough" for every human being: food, shelter, clothing and the wherewithal to reach the highest spiritual stars. I don't think it is too much to ask. It is, to me, a dream worth dreaming.
(Copyright 1998 by Al Carmichael - No reproduction without express permission from the author)