I have a problem with the general perception of poverty in the world today. People seem to think it’s all about money. It’s not.
Over the past couple of decades, I have seen the damage caused by the poverty industry, from the unintended consequences of aid programmes.
I have interacted with many charity leaders who are coming from a deep place of inner pain, and I question the effects of that pain upon their work in the world.
I grew up in Africa. All I really remember are the smiling faces and the overwhelming joy. Sure, conditions were harsh, but the love of life was omnipresent. And yet in London, supposedly one of the wealthiest cities on earth, I rarely see a smiling face.
Around 18 months ago, I was in Jaipur India with an organisation called Leaders Quest. I went out there, perhaps arrogantly, thinking I could help in some way and came back not knowing what I could do there, but armed with a whole host of ideas how I could improve my own community.
Interestingly, one person I met on that trip redefined joy as the only true method of wealth creation for me. That in itself was life-changing.
I have to be honest – I don’t understand how to directly solve the problem of global poverty. It requires a deep knowledge of how individual communities work, on the ground.
I prefer to work on problems I understand.
I do have a deep understanding of the opposite of poverty, which is why I spend much of my life focussed on the alleviation of wealth. This is the side of the coin that I can understand, since I have witnessed, first hand, in my own life, the damage that wealth can cause.
Wealth at the cost of joy is not wealth. It is pain.
This may be a controversial statement: I have as much compassion for a billionaire with an unquenchable thirst for money as I have for a person who is thirsty because they have no money . More often than not, the unquenchable thirst of the wealthy results in an inner joylessness. And with that joylessness come things like family and relationship breakdown, severe health problems and the legacy leaving a negative footprint on the world.
That is why I work in a perceived tax haven focusing on lack of joy, rather than working somewhere like Africa, addressing lack of money.
The Dandelion Project will make one of the richest countries on earth re-evaluate the concept of wealth. What lies beneath our current outward ‘success’ is increasing inequality and mental health problems.
To create the best place to live on earth, we need to rebuild our lives in ways that really matter – to us and to our children.
Until we understand what sort of world we are trying to build, we will never understand what wealth and poverty really are.
True wealth is an abundance of joy. True poverty is pain.
I want to see more joy in the world.
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I am rich and happy. Go me!
Being wealthy inside creates what u want
That is quite an amazing point of view and it adds a great new perspective to how I view what’s really going on sometimes with the people who are really in power, , the people who are rich.