Born On Third Base Thoughts
Part Five of Born On Third Base starts with the author outlining two problems he sees in society: climate change and the growth of wealth inequality. The author sees the climate change issue as one that can only be solved by an effort from the wealthy or the "1 percent", this is because the grassroots efforts frequently rising up will hit a ceiling, remaining stagnant and blocked from real change. On the other hand, the author lays out three societal changes to solve the growing gap of wealth equality–raising the floor, leveling the playing field, and reducing the concentration of wealth. As a pessimist, I, at first, found the author's outline extremely conceptual and lacking any real action. I think many of these concepts are ideal but not realistic because of the complexity of the current world and the lack of inequality of effort.
As I read on though, I was persuaded with his thoughtful solutions and examples... making the macro idea of "wealth inequality" much more tangible to the average American. Collins describes the importance of accompaniment, stakeholding, and opting-in to truly understanding the problem. Without "living in someone else's shoes" the problem may never be solved by those wealthy enough to make a change. Collin's then highlights the importance of "Community Resilience" first at a micro level and further applied to a macro level. He grapples with how the feeling created in his "Resilience Circles" could be applied to the larger society, for example, the creation of self-reliant cities like JP Net.
Part Five closes out the book with an array of stories from people the author describes as being "open-minded to the predicament of having more than they need". The story of Dariel Garner, or "The Billionaire Buddha", struck a cord with me because of his ability to be openhearted with his wealth while being a self-made man. His story made me question the psychological impact of money when it is thoroughly earned by work (rags to riches) opposed to gaining it through inheritance. Garner exemplifies the recent research I've found that states that the happiest people are those that are grateful and show gratitude. I enjoyed reading the stories from the "openhearted wealth" as they made me evaluate how I view money in my life under this capitalistic society.
Hi Allegra,
ReplyDeleteI totally connected with your finding the Writing to be conceptual at first. However, as I continued reading was surprised at his ability to incorpereate solutions into the story. I thought that his advocation for opting-in was smart to emphasize as well. Thanks!
Dan
I think there's a huge difference between developing your own wealth vs. inheriting it, especially in the impact that person is going to have on social justice and the environment. This impact of the way in which wealth is obtained, really does make me think about how it affects a person psychologically.
ReplyDelete-Ethan
I also quite enjoyed the story of the "Billionaire Buddha." Doesn't
ReplyDeleteDoesn't this part seem like he's hopping from one idea to the next because it seems like he's running out of time, kind of the like the rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland"?
Hi Allegra, thanks for sharing! It was interesting hearing about the stances Collins took on these issues, specific climate change. I believe the 1% has to make significant changes in order to solve climate change, however I think it is a problem everyone as a whole needs to address together. I enjoyed the story about the "Billionaire Buddha" as well.
ReplyDelete- Davis
Climate change is a real problem that we have to come together to resolve. If the wealthy does not help resolve it, we will eventually both live in a society where we do not want. We do not want to have bad air quality, trash, dirty waters, and etc. Therefore, the time to come together and work against climate change is now.
ReplyDelete- James Yun
I think that you bring up a good point: money when it's inherited vs when it's self made. In part 3 Collins actually discusses how a lot of people who inherited money that they used to start their own businesses fail to realize how much that helped with their success. Having an inheritance is already a foot in the door which gives one a great advantage in the business world.
ReplyDeleteThis post reminds me of a movie I saw called "Born Rich" by one of the Johnson and Johnson heirs. He speaks about the effects of wealth on those who have grown up with money. He debates the purpose of people who don't have to work to survive or find passion. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDelete-Garrett
Allegra,
ReplyDelete"As a pessimist, I, at first, found the author's outline extremely conceptual and lacking any real action. I think many of these concepts are ideal but not realistic because of the complexity of the current world and the lack of inequality of effort".
This! I completely feel this and want to echo it! While reading Collins' book, I felt that his concepts were great ideas but were unrealistic. However, after reading further, I believe that Collins has a lot of planning and structure to his ideas which will gives his plans a lot of potential to actualize. I wish I could hear more about the Billionaire Buddha, especially after reading about the Death Tax. Thanks for the informative post Allegra.
-Clifton