Anyone knows that material wealth is measured in goods:
apples, cars, shoes, sheep, etc. When the number and the
quality of these things increases, wealth increases.
But economists disagree. They say they can make wealth by
destroying goods or by producing fewer goods of poorer
quality.
If we would use the technology, labour, and resources that
are now available to us, the entire planet could enjoy an
amazingly high standard of living. But the experts say it
wouldn’t be good for the economy. Why?
Because the economists work for the rich and not for the
poor. They are only interested in higher profits for the
sellers… even if it means fewer sales at a higher price.
Businessmen may make more money by destroying half
their crop and tripling their prices. Half the population may
go hungry, but economists will say they have increased the
wealth of the country. Do you see a flaw in their thinking?
The flaw is that they have confused money with wealth. And
hardly anyone in the world dares to correct that error. But
think about it: You can’t eat money. It will not keep you warm.
It is only useful if you can trade it for something else.
But if we continue with our present economic policies, there
will be less and less to trade it for.
WHAT IS MONEY?
Before money existed, people were still greedy. But there
were limits to their greed. When you traded chickens for
sacks of wheat, there were limits to how many chickens you
could carry home, house, and maintain.
True, some had more than others, but it was unthinkable
that any one person could have a million (much less, a
billion) chickens in their back yard. And, if others in your
village were starving while you had even a thousand
chickens, it was hard to convince the others that you were
entitled to a thousand times more than they had.
Then someone invented money. It was easier to carry, store,
maintain, and especially easier to hide. With enough
money, you could own the world, without actually putting it in
your back yard.
Poor people could work in your factories, shop in your
supermarkets, do business in your skyscrapers, even drive
on your roads in cars financed by your banks, and never feel
angry about how unfair this is.
Now the rich control the media, education, religion, even the
government. They have brainwashed us into believing that
they have a right to destroy the world in order to increase
their wealth. We now think that whatever is good for BHP is
good for all of us.
Worse still, we have all been tricked into playing their game.
We now believe that money is the key to happiness. The
entire human race has lost touch with reality in our
obsession with money as an end in itself. This is madness!
WORK VS. PLAY
The struggle for more money does not only hurt the losers –
the poor. It also hurts the winners, by making their work life
a miserable existence… a rat race!
Musicians, actors, athletes, and kids play. Others work. But
what is the difference? The general rule is that “players” do
not receive wages for what they freely choose to do, and
“workers” do. And with increased leisure, people are
learning to make “play” out of many activities.
Prisoners study law; grandmothers take up flying; uni
students enter campus politics; businessmen start hobby
farms. And they do this with no promise of pay for their
efforts. Are they working or are they playing?
They are “plorking” (pronounced plurking). Plorking is a
combination of playing and working. It means being
creative, productive, or useful without being concerned
about receiving money for it.
Some people enjoy their jobs and would not trade them for
anything. These lucky plorkers (who just happen to be paid
for it) are more reliable, more dedicated, and more
contented than their workmates.
If everyone did the things they wanted to do, everyone would
be more productive, and society would be richer for it.
But the money myth has convinced people that they must
spend their lives making money rather than being happy
and productive.
People who cannot find a way to make money (or who aren’t
interested in making money) are made to feel they are
useless. Worse than that, they are told that they have sinned
against the world that feeds them until they begin to make
money again. No thought at all is given to how creative,
useful, or productive the non-wage earners may be.
If players are the best workers, then more effort should be
made to encourage people to play, instead of condemning
the few who do.
WHERE DO WARS COME FROM?
To most people, we fight wars because people in another
country are evil and we (the good people) must stop them.
But it isn’t really that simple.
Remember that people in the other country are being told
the same things about us!
Greed is the great weakness of capitalism; but it is also the
great weakness of socialism. Both sides are trying to
destroy the other for the same reason… greed. Wars are just
an extension of the greed that operates within every strata of
society. But it is easier to see the utter foolishness of such
motivation when we look at the devastation of war.
Tragically, the rich on both sides do not fight their own wars.
Instead, they sacrifice the lives of the poor in their quest for
more power.
The same conflicts go on within our country, in the form of
running battles between employers and employees. And it
even operates on the family and individual level in the form
of almost constant arguing and malice.
Hatred between the sexes, racism, generation gaps, are all
self-destructive. And they all come from a desire to explain
the emptiness greed has left in our own spirits, by blaming
someone else.
For your own sanity, for unity in your family, for prosperity in
your country, and for the survival of the human race,
someone must begin to declare war on greed… before we
all destroy ourselves!
A NEW MOTIVATION
Although there was a lot of criticism of the space race during
the 1960’s and the 1970’s, it was fulfilling a human need in
a much more positive way than Vietnam. Kennedy’s Peace
Corps offered hopes of being an even better alternative to
war. (Of course, these programs were only as successful
as the zeal of the masses allowed. Personal inventiveness,
adventure, and love do not depend on support from the
government.)
The human spirit enjoys a challenge. If we are not actively
building, we are actively destroying. Too often we think the
way to build ourselves up is to tear someone else down.
What is needed is a vision and a commitment that are both
positive and complete. We believe the goal must be total
love… for all mankind. Our aggression must be directed
against the lies and deceptions that are destroying the
world (but not against the people who tell and believe the
lies).
We are talking about more than nice words for a political
platform or a new religion. We are talking about a
community of people who refuse to let money be a
motivation for their daily living… people who actively seek
every day to use all of their skills, energy, and resources to
express love for others.
In time we hope to see this spirit of love spread and affect
others. Real love is much more than emotional thrills; it is
capable of ushering in a whole new world order. In fact,
we’ve found it is more powerful than life itself.
A few of us have begun to work for love rather than for
money. We have given up everything we own and we are
prepared to die for love.
We have already found that such commitment pays
dividends in terms of inner fulfilment, increased awareness,
and a zest for life. We believe we’ve hit on the answer to the
world’s problems.
THE SOURCE
This is always the hardest part to get across: The things in
this booklet really came from the teachings of Jesus Christ.
That’s right; we’re Christians.
Please don’t confuse us with all that passes for Christianity
today. Jesus said some amazing things, if people would
just take him seriously. He called this new economic police
the “good news of the kingdom of God.”
It’s important to bring God into it for a couple of reasons.
For one thing, if we’re not careful, we can end up letting go of
money and then fighting over the things it can buy. Just as
goods are more important than money, so God is more
important than the goods. He’s the source of all true wealth.
The obvious argument, “If we don’t look after ourselves, who
will?” has an answer when you bring God into it. If you’re
working for love, you’re working for God. It becomes his
responsibility to look after your material needs. And we’ve
found that he does!
Also, God comes into it when you try to decide the best way
to go about loving others. Only he knows the future, and he
explains a lot about the overall plan in the Bible.
Some good places to start if you want to study the source of
our theory and the source of real wealth, are the 6th chapter
of Matthew (2nd half mostly) and the 4th and 5th chapters of
James (first couple verses of each especially). We have a
lot of other study material too if you are interested.
THE COST
It’s not realistic to expect that the rest of the world will quickly
accept our new economic policy. People have been
conditioned against it for too long.
To really change the world, you have to change the hearts of
people, and that’s a very tall order. But never underestimate
the power of one life. People like Gandhi, Socrates, and
Jesus Christ have had a mighty influence on history
because they believed some things were more important
than even life itself.
Just one such individual in the world today could make a big
difference; and two or three… or even a dozen might be
enough to start a spiritual revolution that could change the
entire world.
There have been armies of people who were willing to kill
for what they believed in. Why not an army of people who are
willing to die for what they believe in?
We can give our lives by dying quickly for this new world
order, or we can give our lives a day at a time by labouring
patiently and faithfully to bring a little light to a dark world.
Remember that if you change even one small part of the
world, you have still changed the world. Much change is very
slow and gradual.
We have learned that the message we preach often causes
people to act in irrational anger. Sometimes they
themselves do not know why they are reacting in the way
they are. But if we are sure that our motives have only been
to show love, then even a hateful response should be
encouraging; it proves that we are getting through.
When they have done all they can to stop us, and we still
continue to love, they will know then that love is stronger
than hate.
Dave McKay and his wife, Cherry, are co-founders of a string
of religious communities located in Kenya, England,
Australia, and the United States. He is the author of a novel
“Survivors” which has recently sold one million copies.
Write to him at
