Wal-Mart and Getting Beyond Money in Economics

I don't wish to trade numbers on Wal-Mart. In my head, I believe Wal-Mart has too much money, and it is also in my head that it is important to redistribute that money. What we have here is an issue of money plumbing. The pipe leading from Wal-Mart executives out to the real world is clogged. It is time to get the plumber. Believing that money isn’t always in the right hands should be no more difficult than the unfortunate occurrence of a drain clogging.

The issue of unclogging the money drain is to make the economy fit reality. In reality, Wal-Mart has more than its fair share of money, and consequently Wal-Mart executives are not permitted to spend their money by Hashem. Sure they can admire their bank accounts, but Hashem forbids that they spend.

Some suggest that the reason executives don’t spend is due to confidence. They suggest that nervousness or uncertainty is the monkey wrench in the economic machine – imagine that billionaires more uncertain that folks making minimum wage - but their ability to spend has very little to do with confidence, especially in comparison to karma. If Wal-Mart had better karma, then they would be able to spend more of their money.

We need to take the money out of Wal-Mart's hands and do something constructive with it rather than waiting the rest of our lives for Wal-Mart to get some "confidence." Perhaps, the most important thing that we could do with this money is tackle the debt and deficit. We could also use the money to build infrastructure. Therefore, I do not suggest just handing it out to the poor at random though there should likely be some of that too.

Economics and money are 2 separate things. I looked it up in my Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and found that money was nowhere to be found in the definition of economics.

To believe that one will die without money is a popular lie. It is true that some people may die without money, but it is important to know that money isn’t life sustaining in the way that Gd creates this universe to be sustaining. You could live a wonderful life and have no money because money isn’t always the way of acquiring more stuff. It is only true that if money is demanded by you, then your experience will reciprocate that. If you demand money from others, especially those deserving and who do not have money, then money will be demanded of you at a time when you don’t have the benefit of money.

Belief that money is the solution, and that money is more important than hard work, is as the snake in the Garden of Eden telling us that if we only believe provision comes from money (and not Gd), then we will surly die for lack of money. The snake tries to trick us into selling our labor at a cost. However, I suggest working hard, and hoping in Hashem that everything will take care of itself and goodness will arise from this hard work.

I am not saying that all money is a bad thing. Money may certainly be a powerful and useful tool for good, especially in trade. However, I don't equate increasing money to increasing gain. For instance, I do believe wellness and hard work go together. I don't believe hard work, or even any work results in increased cash flow or that money equates to personal wellness. For me it is all about being well.

Historically, since capitalism has become prominent, the state of the world has drastically improved. This has led many to attribute capitalism to wellness. However, it is not just money that has improved. The world is radically different now from how it used to be, and that may be attributed to various forms of technology as well. However, money is as the training wheels of a bicycle. Sooner or later, the training wheels should come off. And then, once they do it is my hope that it doesn’t result in poverty or increased laziness. On the contrary my goal is that people work hard because working hard is rewarding.

Philanthropy - Should We Give Money to Charity? – Yes! - Every One of Us!

Even a pauper should give to charity.  The eminent capitalist philosopher Adam Smith believed that monetary systems would somehow be guided by an “invisible hand.”  According to Adam Smith, free market existence would essentially provide the same goodness for us that Gd provides.  He might as well have said that money is like God because the invisible hand, god which is money, has done away with the basic principle of religion; that it is necessary to give to charity.  Thus, Adam Smith believed that just given laissez faire capitalism, then charity would not be necessary.

From - http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/invisiblehand.asp - quoting from Adam Smith’s book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations"

"Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it ... He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for society that it was no part of his intention. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good."

Adam Smith was wrong.  The monetary system of the world can be likened to the plumbing system of a vast building.  The belief that an invisible hand fixes all the plumbing isn’t true.  Real hands and active participation are required to fix both plumbing and monetary problems.  In order for the system to run, maintenance is often required.  The belief that laissez faire capitalism will take care of problems is akin to believing drains never clog.  We all know that in a given plumbing system, the drains can clog, so why would anyone conclude that the world’s monetary system isn’t similar?

Torah takes charity even further, suggesting that not only is His justice a part of this world, but that we are an extension of the hand of justice.  Ethics of Our Father's 3:13 (courtesy of www.chabad.org)

Rabbi Akiva would say: Jesting and frivolity accustom a person to promiscuity. Tradition is a safety fence to Torah, tithing a safety fence to wealth, vows a safety fence for abstinence; a safety fence for wisdom is silence.

To one whom has been given wealth, charity is paramount to keeping it!  Hashem commands us to participate in justice, such as charity because He likes it when we imitate His just and upright ways (Deuteronomy 28:9).  God sees to it that justice occurs, but we should hope for betterment greater than that through participation in religious activities, such as charity.  It is 

Hashem’s will that we give to charity, and this is what is promised in return (from Ethics of Our Fathers 4:9):

“Rabbi Jonathan would say: Whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty, will ultimately fulfill it in wealth; and whoever neglects the Torah in wealth, will ultimately neglect it in poverty.”

On Premature Death & Muscle Building Products

I am highly suspicious of muscle building products that work. I won’t deny their power to morph regular peoples’ bodies into mega-muscle machines. However, I am skeptical about the long term effects. These products aren’t creating natural looking bodies. Granted, there is an obesity epidemic in 1st world nations. However, I must question if men are really intended to look like this.
If having one of these supposed ideal bodies is healthy, how do we explain this website's profound observation:

"One-Third Of WrestleMania VI Competitors Now Dead"

That's 1 in every 3 wrestlers dead in only 14 years!!!  That should be enough to scare almost anyone away.

My opinion is that bulking up is anything but healthy, and that it is more dangerous than smoking cigarettes.

This website relates that smokers are only expected to live 10 fewer years than those that don't mix.

http://patient.info/health/smoking-the-facts

Facebook Complaint Causes Need for Major Overhaul

Good grief! When will Facebook allow multiple channels so we don't have to miss out on what we like? I want to be able to toggle between animals, music, politics, etc.  Sometimes I might want to shuffle or randomize my channels.  This is not new technology.  Randomization has been a part of music players since the shuffle button was invented, and then they probably borrowed that idea from something earlier, like the lottery.

Facebook SHOULD STOP TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A SINGLE INTEREST FOR ME, and recognize that its customers', such as yours truly, likely have many interests, especially interests that are not being catered to!

We are frustrated with Facebook!

The solution is to make Facebook.com similar to Pandora.com, asking customers how we want our feeds grouped.  Let us switch between user tailored preferences.  For each like I have in a particular group, ask me if I favor this sort of material in my feed, not whether I "like" it or not.

I don't like horrors, yet I feel some things in the news should be reported on that I don't like.  It is a problem for honest people if we don't like horrors, because when Facebook.com sees us not liking it, not matter how horrible it is, they jump to the conclusion that we don't want it in our feeds.  Rubbish! 

This is a complaint that people have had about Facebook since the beginning, and that is Facebook is telling its users what they like according to Facebook's idealistic grouping, and not serving its customers.

Dear Facebook, please put me in control of my feed!