Is it OK to intentionally want to be relatively poor?

[timothyu]

Just occurred to me. Who might it NOT be ok with? Who would it upset? The system?

 

[timewerx]

Just occurred to me. Who might it NOT be ok with? Who would it upset? The system?

A free market system actually likes the poor. To a free market, they are an exploitable resource (an abundant source of cheap labor).

The fact is it is "easier" to become a billionaire or a multimillionaire (in US dollars) in a country with large income gap between the rich and poor especially a country with large percent of low income working class or poor citizens.

The poor feed the rich in a sense, it's not the other way around. Despite many big companies supporting and funding humanitarian causes for the poor, these companies still benefit more from the poor (directly or indirectly) simply by the poor's cheap and expendable labor either locally or in other countries (usually in poor / corrupt countries).

We think the rich feed the poor because that's what the mass media shows us, that's what many preachers tells us in churches because preachers obviously know very little about economics and just parroting what everyone else knows, it's what many people talk about. But if you look deeply at the flow of money, it's the other way around.

Automation, AI (Artificial Intelligence) seems to change everything however and it maybe a positive thing that many large companies are embracing it but we'll see in the near future.

 

[timothyu]

To a free market, they are an exploitable resource (an abundant source of cheap labor).

Perhaps that is why the news is full of stories of no one wanting to work for little reimbursement any more. Makes an open southern border look more acceptable

 

[stevevw]

I post this topic in this forum because I want to hear opinions from both Christians and non-Christians.

I have been relatively poor almost all my life. I am now 32 years old. However, for 2 years in my life (20-22) I managed to earn more money than the average people in my home country (Bulgaria) by playing poker on the internet. I was obsessed with making money, 24/7 I was thinking about how to make money. I did not think of anything else. I became a very greedy and bad person. I was thinking about making money by fraud and theft. Thank God I did not do that because God cured me of this greed.

Now I work as a gardener full-time and as a graphic designer part-time and I like my jobs. I manage to live well in my own eyes. I consider myself a relatively poor person - I live with my mother in a nice and big flat, I don't have a car, but I have a nice bike, computer, tablet for my work, nice sports equipment because I play a lot of sports in my free time. I live in a nice location, I have big grocery stores near me, a forest for walks, places I can play sports, pools, spa centers, everything I want.

Most of all - I want to be healthy - there is no fortune bigger than that. And I think I am in a good health - I just have some very minor issues. I get well with my colleagues and my supervisors in my workplaces. I get well with my relatives and friends. The only thing I lack is more money.

There are a lot of scriptures in the bible that warns us against wanting to become rich (you can search them). It is considered vanity. God warns us that He will never forget nor forsake us (The Christians).

That's why I intentionally want to keep myself relatively poor for the following reasons:

- being rich makes me arrogant and proud. I don't like that.
- having a lot of money means there will be a lot of people wanting to steal them. This thought makes me nervous. I won't be able to sleep well. I don't like to have expensive possessions - I will get very angry if someone steals them.
- having a lot of money does not guarantee you happiness. I could get ill or something bad may happen in my life and no money is gonna change that.
- making a lot of money means I have to work more and have great success. However, there are so many people that will get jealous of it. I find it very hard to resist the envy and jealousy of others.
- I may die tomorrow or after 70 more years, and the thought I would leave a lot of money behind me drives me angry. I don't want anyone else to get the money I have worked so hard for free.
- Also, I just go through this life in the hope of the eternal one. I want once I die to say to myself 'Finally I get rid of the hard life, here comes the eternal life of happiness.' I see no need for any possessions more than I need for my very basic needs.
- by being poor very few people respect me. But now I know - whoever respects me now is because of my personality, not because they can get something out of me because I am rich.

I live in a society where almost everyone wants to be rich. Does someone else share the same thoughts as me? Please share your opinion.

I also went through a period of wanting to make money more than anything else. My wife and I had businesses and everything was about profits even to the point of not caring what the implications were for others.

But the stress was too much and I had to back off. In doing so I realized the power money had over me. Now I like to live a simple and what could be said to be a frugal life. I also have all my needs met with a decent home near the water and shops. I hestiate to buy new things even cloths which I buy from charity shops. My car is old but gets me around but everything is near so I walk.

I was only thinking about this the other day when I saw how some churches have all the trimmings and pastors are dressed in expensive cloths to impress like movie stars. What happened to the sack cloths and sandels lol.

 

[IWalkAlone]

Proverbs 30:7-9