Of late, I’ve decided to make giving to others an important part of my life. Growing up, I always thought it was better to receive than to give; now that I am at this stage in my life, it seems it truly is better to give than to receive. I feel better when I give to others, whatever form the giving takes (time, money, items). This is not schaudenfreude, but rather a shift in mindset towards caring about someone else and wanting to see their life bettered.
As Jimmy Buffett sings in “Knee Deep”, “When you lose yourself, you find the key to paradise.” Giving makes you think about someone besides yourself, which is an antidote to the narcissistic culture we have created here. There simply isn’t much else worthwhile besides giving in this life. (Yet another reason we should abolish money). We are given life and a planet to share. As G-d gives, we should also.
Giving, the preeminent Christian ethic.
Within Christianity, giving is undoubtedly prominent. The most celebrated “Christian” holiday is Christmas, an annual wintertide celebration where gifts are exchanged, often around a conifer. While it is arguable the modern conception of Christmas as a commercialized event is decidedly not Christian, the concept of giving to others is very Christian indeed. Much more so than the so-called prosperity gospel or Protestant work ethic.
Giving was the entire way Jesus lived his life and can be found throughout his teachings. He always instructed people to give increasingly more to others. He gave sight to the blind, gave health to the sick, and gave Torah to the marginalized and outcast. Jesus instructed a rich young ruler to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. It seems most churchgoers today only see that last instruction as a one-time deal, too costly to implement on a mass scale. Instead, we have set up and tolerate an economic system that gives lavishly to the rich. I’m sure Jesus would be proud.
Wiser to give than to acquire
For most of my life, I have been in an accumulation phase, acquiring material goods. Considering inflation, that may have been wiser to do than acquiring money, but I have found it also to be unwise. I spent too much time and money on things for myself, when I should have spent more time and money on people I cared about, some of whom are no longer around. As Hillel said, “If I’m only for myself, then what am I?” It seems the answer to his question is, “not very good.”
We don’t have much time, thus we must not accumulate
A common line in action movies is, “We don’t have much time”, usually used to motivate the hero(es) to immediate action regarding something important. As it should be with living.
Since completing my studies at university, and entering the full-time workforce, with an hour commute, I have become acutely aware my time is highly constrained by work and other mundane tasks necessary in order to live. This drastic reduction in the amount of “free time” I have, has caused me to consider that I lack the time to use most of what I have purchased or, indeed, may purchase. While this is emblematic of a system that is clearly flawed by design, in which people in the richest country in the world (USA) have less free time than hunter-gatherers, it is nevertheless the world in which I find myself.
Identifying what is necessary and what will/won’t be used
Consequently, lately, I have mainly purchased things I use regularly. I have noticed many things I own mostly sit unused, though they don’t collect as much dust here. I have spent money on utilitarian goods like air conditioners and yard equipment, neither of which I found attractive to purchase, but which were necessary to live out here. I now can pretty much only justify having things I use regularly. As I live rurally and work a rather dirty job, for example, I have a fairly uniform wardrobe. Fortunately, that fits in well socially in the rural Midwest.
Cost of ownership, is it all worth it?
As I continue paying monthly to store many things which were too large to fit in my car when I came here, I have increasingly become convinced I simply have too much, and this detracts from my life. When I consider the cost of moving my belongings nearly 2,000 miles out here, which will be substantial, I know I have too much. However, I will probably still move it all out here, if only in order to take the time to go through it and sell or give away much of it. At least for now, it is relatively safe where it is.
The more you have, the more you pay
I have also learned the more you have, the more you pay. Whether that is in the form of recurring property taxes, where you don’t truly own but merely rent your home from the local school district, or insurance contracts, our system is set up to motivate you to acquire more in order to force you to pay more on an ongoing basis. Therefore, it is better not to acquire more, or to give it away in order to reduce your obligation. The aforementioned public school system is also structured to teach students a way of life that is destructive, not just the “three R’s” as they used to be called (Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic – evidently not too much orthography was included). Give, in order to reduce your obligations to questionable institutions and the way of life they promote.
Giving to reduce anxiety and responsibility
As Hillel said, in Pirkei Avot 2:8, “The more property, the more anxiety…” Having more things to deal with adds stress and responsibility. As Jesus taught in Luke 12:48, (paraphrased) to whom much is given much is therefore expected, it is perhaps wiser to minimize how much you have. I’m personally not looking forward to the additional time and stress required to take care of more property in the near future, nor am I looking forward to the high cost of moving my stuff out here where it can be destroyed by weather. Giving is a good way to reduce what you have and thus your responsibilities.
(Midwest) Weather makes the greedy man a fool
Unlike the place I used to live, we experience extreme weather here. It’s not an understatement to say the atmosphere regularly tries to kill us. Tornadoes, derechos (straight-line severe windstorms, sometimes referred to as “inland hurricanes”), flooding, freezing cold, and high humidity make this place rather inhospitable for either people, or their stuff. (I’m sure that contributes to the depopulation of the region). Things just don’t store well here, and a lifetime of acquisitions can be destroyed in an instant. As the Kotzker Rebbe taught, “Something that can be acquired in a single hour can be lost in half an hour.” In contrast, where I used to live, we didn’t have regularly scheduled natural disasters, though there was more crime. Because everything you have stored up can we wiped out in an instant out here, Jesus’ advice to “not store up treasures on earth” (Matthew 6:19) is very wise and prescient. At least where I live, it seems people have applied this advice.
Iowa man lives with almost nothing, then gives it all away
In recent years, there was a national news story about Dale Schroeder, an Iowa carpenter who clearly understood the value of giving. He lived with almost nothing, owning two outfits and his truck. On his death, he gave away his fortune of three million dollars, sending 33 people to college. While this is a heartwarming story, it should not be unusual, and if we were the Christian country people say America is, such generosity would be normalized.
Charity is a universal value, found in other religions also
The Hebrew word for charity is Tzedakah, which literally means “justice” or “righteousness”. Jews understand giving is an important practice of managing money, which comes from G-d. As they see it, they are trustees of it, rather than free to dispose of it in any manner they wish.
Islam also teaches the value of charity, sadaqah. Several hadith teach charity does not decrease wealth, it extinguishes sin, and it provides shade and relief on the Days of Resurrection and Judgment respectively.
Prepperism is foolish
Prepperism, the idea of preparing for natural and human-precipitated disasters highlighted on the National Geographic TV show “Doomsday Preppers”, is foolish. Most of the “preps” involve stockpiling large quantities of goods, even a lifetime supply of items. (Thus, prepperism is very American.) However, many items simply cannot be stored over time, and obtaining and protecting them (especially during scenarios preppers are motivated to prepare for) is not trivial. Much work is involved in acquiring, storing, and maintaining the items; this can definitely add stress, which ironically can kill you, considering avoiding early death is the goal of the whole exercise. For example, to store food over a long period of time requires advanced equipment like freeze dryers and mylar bags. But both of these can be destroyed rather handily by rodents, which are never in short supply. Moreover, the prepping lifestyle encourages concern over events that are largely out of our control, such as nuclear war, which I doubt most civilians think about. It is material reassurance as a way of life, and I just doubt that such reassurance is indeed possible.
Depending on G-d
Wealth in physical form does not last, nor does it necessarily preserve life. Indeed, it may threaten it. As the United States collapses into AI dictatorship and the economic system on which our society is based becomes more precarious, holding visible, physical wealth becomes increasingly unadvisable. Rather, it is better to not put much stock in this life, which you can’t control anyway. And this is exactly what Jesus advised, allowing G-d to provide (Matthew 6:26-34).
The coercivity of the money system
There is no doubt the money system is coercive. In fact, the US routinely weaponizes the SWIFT banking system they control as an act of war against foreigners. Of course, the establishment press and government call it “sanctions” rather than “economic war” so as to make it more palatable. US “sanctions” have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians around the world. Money determines everything about our lives, and we require people to work in exchange for money in order to have a place to live, food and water. We criminalize people for the effects of being poor, such as being homeless or stealing. One’s social value in America is closely tied to net worth, and this is much more so for men, though that is changing due to feminism – our overlords are happy to exploit anyone.
The money system creates a system of giving that is coerced, while falsely being described as a “free market”. The only free market is one in which goods and services can be withheld or provided voluntarily. We do not have such a market. For proof, just see how long you are allowed to exist as a free, non-incarcerated, non-starving person without any money. The government even charges you to use publicly owned lands and hunt wild animals! Money operates as a “social credit score”; it is, after all, a system to tabulate social points. We are coerced to take a job, any job, in order to survive because everything operates on money. And this demand for money comes at a base level from the government which levies taxes on land, the basis for all wealth, as everything comes from the land (food, mining, etc.). If we didn’t have to pay them to live upon the land, we would not need money.
If we value freedom and human rights, it is an ethical imperative for the money system to be abolished and replaced with an economy of giving.
Early Christians lived communally. They did not have private property and shared what they had. Living without an ownership structure is not unique to the Christians, either; other cultures throughout history, including some indigenous people of what is now the US, did not believe in private ownership of land the way we do today.
Giving, and shared ownership can be a more efficient mechanism for the management of material resources. Many items are not used continuously but our economic system incentivizes individual ownership. Why does everyone need a mower to use once a week? We don’t all mow at the same time. (Irrigated lawns are also a waste of resources, but that’s a topic for another time). Yet, the profit motive incentivizes overcharging, even for things that don’t take much human labor. As an example, I spent much more at the laundromat over a few months to wash my clothes than it would cost to buy and operate the equipment to do laundry at home. (Another way it is more expensive, relatively speaking, to be poor). And the laundromat was self-service! If it wasn’t somehow more efficient to have a centralized place to do laundry, the laundromat would be out of business.
Positive change occurs through giving
Christian organizations such as the Red Cross have made positive change in the world through giving. A variety of charitable organizations conduct work which is not “profitable” in economic terms but has immense social value, so that people give money and volunteer to help. This has certainly improved the world.
If we want a better world, we should abolish the coercive money system and make Christmas giving every day. Jesus lives on as we do as he instructed, and the primary instruction was to give (itself a form of love). Giving is a language of love everyone can understand. Are we as Americans going to have a religion of giving as Jesus taught us, or a religion of greed and money?
As Hillel said, “If not now, when?” Smash the idol of money today by giving. Give now; don’t withhold good from the deserving when it is in your power to do it (Proverbs 3:27).
A friend who gave
It’s not been completely easy living out here. As I wait to get enough funds to build my home, I have been the beneficiary of giving from several of my neighbors, who helped me with various household tasks since I lacked the equipment. One neighbor in particular spent a lot of time with me, which I cherished. She helped me out so much with things while I’ve been here, and she was a font of encouragement to me about life. I wish she had not passed away recently, but I’m sure she is in a better place. As Rabbi Nachman teaches, in life, we have three friends: our money, our family, and our good deeds. Our money doesn’t go with us at all, our family goes with us as far as the cemetery, but our good deeds go with us all the way and answer for us to G-d. I’m sure my friend’s good deeds do not go unnoticed by G-d.
What I’ve done
I’ve added giving to my list of planned expenses each month, starting next month, and identified an amount I can give regularly as a base minimum. Because there are many deserving entities, the beneficiaries will change regularly. I may give US dollars directly, or the gift may be in the form of something I paid for, such as taking someone out to eat. I also will make it a point to spend time with people, not just money.