Live your dream
There is a man, mid 50’ies, living on an Caribbean island. He hasn’t much, but that which he has is valuable to him. He goes up every morning to clean his car, the tool he needs to have an income. Without the car, he would not manage in life. After that he drinks some coffee and starts with his day, where a lot of it is waiting - for people to want a ride in his car. What he owns would fit in a larger suitcase, but the clothes, shoes etc. is something he value.
Then there is another man, mid 60’ies, who has a completely other life. He has too much of everything. Houses, cars, millions. He come every year to this particular island, to relax and have fun, and when he does he hires the first man as a private driver.
So for 4-12 weeks they spend time together every day. The first man takes the other man to the cafés, the bars, the markets etc. This they have done for 15 years. So you could say they know each other quite well. You could even say they are friends. They would both describe the relation as friendship.
But even though you know that the other man is quite generous with his compensation, it is nearly not enough for the first man to be able to go forward with his life. For instance buy a house and not have to rent. Or maybe buy a much more expensive car.
But is it really the rich man’s responsibility to provide that much for the poor man? It is hardly his fault that his friend doesn’t have money…?
Well, no, of course not. We live in a system that has created these differences, which benefits the small group of approximately one percent of the world’s population who owns almost half of world wealth.
But if we want to brake this system, if we want to change the world, it could be up to us “in the middle” - we who maybe could be considered everything from middle class to upper class - to actually transform and change?
What could we do…? Well, I think that is up to each and one of us to think about this and then act. Have you given this a thought?
Frank McKenna Unsplash