Each person on planet Earth has a sacred duty to him or herself. And that is to learn more and more about almost everything until we cannot be hoodwinked out of a chance to live a life that has as much meaning, purpose, and goodwill as we can assimilate. Only then can we give back to humanity all the wisdom and goodwill that we have accumulated so that others can find as much enlightenment as they can embrace. All other drives and motivations are subordinate to that fundamental pursuit. It is our way of finding our ultimate purpose and the good that we can do. In that sense, life is a testing ground in which we follow our star, contribute what we can, while also doing as little harm to others and to ourselves, within our abilities and proclivities to do so.

Look around and you will see, hear, and otherwise apprehend that we are a long way from achieving our goal. Impediments and barriers are everywhere. Some are in-place to set limits on ourselves so that others have more freedom to seek out their own paths toward purpose and enlightenment. Some barriers are dishonest in their intents and designs. Thus, life is a continuous battle between good and evil, what could be versus what is. But let us push onward.

In our hazy concepts of a perfect world, our abilities to learn and to find our way toward higher goals are not equally distributed. We know they are not. But that only suggests that those with greater skills and abilities need to be teachers as well as doers, leading by example, rather than by becoming purveyors of turmoil. Unfortunately, there are as many obstructionists as there are doers; more critics than achievers; and fewer still are those who can keep their wits when many others around them are losing theirs.

Greed is a huge obstruction to enlightenment and to the good that we can do. It is so easy to accept, yet so harmful to self and to others once accepted. It has also forged to the front of nearly all other pursuits, mainly because it can be rationalized as a necessary condition for progress. As we will see, it is neither rational nor necessary.

Let’s now fast forward in time and space from purpose and enlightenment to the present state of affairs—to what is. In the teaching profession, this technique assumes a lofty perch known as “comparing and contrasting.” It also lets us move away from the harsh world of preaching to the saintly world of teaching.

An Intermediate Step. Greed manifests itself by collecting lots more than we need—whether in land, real estate, certificates of ownership, or money. It is accompanied by feelings of power, and it is addictive: The more we have, the more we want. Ultimately, it becomes insatiable. And so, the ultra-wealthy erect new barriers that favor them. They soon learn that in order to keep all that they have gathered, they must lock in-place permanent barriers that separate “them” from “us,” also known as the “haves,” and the “have-nots.”

Wealth accumulation begins with an air of innocence. Those who chase it amass what they can while they are alive, then they pass on to their children what they have accumulated. That is known collectively as inheritances. That seems innocent enough. They merely give their offspring a ‘head start” in life because of their ingenuity, hard work, or grand theft. (Wealth has no memory about its origins). Their children, in turn, add to their wealth by using it to accumulate more. Soon the additional wealth compounds rapidly. Then they protect it with laws that are binding on everyone. That is how family dynasties are built. The mathematics behind it look innocent: Wealth raised to the power at which it compounds, is equal to the new accumulation: Old wealth X 10nth = New wealth.

The Clincher. With wealth comes power. Excessive wealth carries excessive power. Put another way, billionaires have a lot of political power; those in poverty have virtually none. Today, US billionaires can and do fund the political campaigns of those who become beholden to them to pass legislation that the ultra-wealthy want. They want tax-free inheritances, and tax-free wealth accumulations with in-flows of dividends, interest payments, rents, and capital gains such that their wealth holdings double in value rapidly. Thus, an inheritance of $100 million dollars can, and typically does, become $800 million in just 30 years. Moreover, the ultra-wealthy do nothing to inherit it, nor make it grow, nor do they pay a penny in taxes on their new heap of holdings. All the while they live in surroundings replete with mansions, and yachts, and private jets, and all the comforts of life that most of the rest of humanity never see, hear, taste, smell, or touch.

Could there be more? Answer: yes. They must take more and more from the rest of humanity in order to sustain their lifestyles. That means that the poor must get poorer as the rich get richer. To add to this tale of riches v. poverty, propagandists for the ultra-wealthy are paid to blame the poor for their poverty, while they accentuate positive motivations whenever the ultra-wealthy make a donation to their favorite charities (an art museum, a symphony orchestra, or to a park or university with their name on it).

Are there other costs to this tale? Yes.

The Other Costs of Excessive Wealth. Poverty is not an isolated disease. It has tentacles. Today, there are zero net chances of those living in poverty to find new lives among the ultra-wealthy. For every person who moves out of poverty, one or more new persons take their place among the wretchedly poor. While there are tales of “rags to riches,” there are more tales of “rags to rags.” The math and the reality are as irrefutable as are the human replacement numbers. Today, 13.8 percent of US residents live in poverty, while another 40 percent need government assistance with food, fuel, housing, education, and health care. These data persist despite the fact that we are the richest country per capita in the world. Moreover, the power of compounding also tell us that the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing wider by the same compounding. In the next 50 years it will be 32 times wider than it is today. 1.072 X 10^50 = 32.34. (Federal Reserve data projected by the same growth rate realized during the past 74 years).

The Politics of Wealth and Poverty. More proof that we live in an imperfect world can be seen in how easy it is to pollute the minds of the innocent poor and the impoverished. Ignorance raises its head among the impoverished much faster than does among the enlightened. Proof of that statement can be seen in how easily the impoverished can be manipulated via lies and propaganda. I will not recount here the vast pool of evidence in support of that statement. Access to any television set is all that is needed.

It has been said that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" (attributed to John Philpot Curran, 1790). That statement is well-supported by facts. To the chagrin of freedom lovers everywhere, the US is sinking into the abyss of dictatorial rule. This state of affairs is supported by the right-wing of the Republican Party, the majority of the ultra-wealthy, and by dictators from around the world. What is worse is that the poor and impoverished are easy targets for this movement mainly because they cannot see a way out of their circumstances, so why not join the ultra-wealth in their political maneurving and pronouncements?

Concluding. I cannot end this essay on such a dismal and foreboding note as the prospect that we are sinking into a black hole that portends a protracted period of dictatorial despair. On the contrary, I will seek as much inspiration as my body, mind, and soul can project.

The United States was founded on the idea of freedom. Tens of thousands of our forebears carried that torch; they fought with every ounce of strength in their hearts, minds, and souls; they gave up blood, sweat and tears to keep that flame aglow and burning. I would gladly lead the charge against any dictator or tyrant who  dared to take us down the path of greed or despair. I regret that I am too old to be of any real value in such and effort. Still...

 “The pen is mightier than the sword” was first written by the English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839.  He used this expression in his historical play “Cardinal Richelieu.” The play revolves around Cardinal Richelieu, and in Act II, scene II, the Cardinal’s line is more fully expressed as:

“Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword. Behold the arch-enchanters wand!--itself a nothing, But taking sorcery from the hanster-hand to paralyse the Ceasars—and to strike the loud earth breathless!--Take away the sword—states can be saved without it.”