The best way to receive is to give

Choose being kind over being right and you’ll be right every time. — Richard Carlson

I am not a religious person but I do believe in God. And I believe in the 10 Commandments. I also believe that these rules for life are most often interpreted in the physical sense, conveniently, and that the spiritual embrace is sadly lacking.

Take for example the very clear statement: Thou shalt not steal. We all understand this. If I steal your mobile phone you can report me to the police, and I could go to jail. But if I call you at 3 in the morning and wake you up, selfishly, then I am stealing your rest. I can’t go to prison for that. Someone could rob you of your dignity or they could spread made-up gossip and take from your good name. Again, try call the police and report this.

This is the thing about “religious people” some of the time. They can look holy on the outside, but when it comes to the internal and spiritual they can be stingy and miserable. I know many God fearing folk, across all religions, who come across as good people. Some of them go to pray often, some of them observe religious holy days, etc. But ask them to give to charity, and many of them will give you a lecture. And they will tell you how much they have already given blah blah blah.

A kind person is a religious person. That is my view. To help others is what a good person is about. You can go and pray, and you can follow religious traditions, and dress in a certain way, and eat certain foods, and sing songs in a congregation, but if you are mean and stingy then I really don’t get it.

Greed can be seen as the opposite of kindness. Geed, in my view, is a way bigger disease than the corona virus. What the pandemic is highlighting more than ever before is global inequality, and this is a function of greed. Yes, we can blame capitalism, but I don’t think that is the problem. Capitalism works, in my view. And yes, it is open to abuse, and it does not stop greed. Greed is coming to bite us all in the ass.

I have been told many times that it is not my business to tell people what to do with their money. I don’t disagree. I am simply commenting on a part of society that I happen to know a bit about. I know more stingy people than kind people, sadly.

In the Jewish faith there is an instruction whereby it is expected that 10% of one’s earnings should be given to charity. The reason is because there are always people worse off. Then there is also the question of how it is given, ie, with love and humility or with expecting something in return.

Maimonides, the Jewish philosopher and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages, spoke about the manner in which it is given, and listed the “8 degrees of charity” one should be mindful of. Starting with “when donations are given grudgingly” and moving towards when help is given anonymously, without being asked.

I know I am naive and yes, I don’t understand what it means to control an empire and have power. But I do know that likes of Chuck Feeney are rare.

Wealth brings responsibility,” he [Chuck] often said. “People must define themselves, or feel a responsibility to use some of their assets to improve the lives of their fellow humans, or else create intractable problems for future generations.”

We all know that wise old saying about “Give a man a fish …”. Yes, the word “give” here is a key word. It is a verb — it needs action. Give fish, give education, give support, give love, give whatever you can. Give 10%. Sounds simple enough. I will bet that if everyone who had more than a million dollars, say, gave away 10% of their wealth, to those who needed it more, then the world would far more peaceful. And yes, I know, again, I am naive. But that is what I believe.

It’s harder to be kind than to be clever. — Jeff Bezos