How Can The Very Rich Best Help Their Communities As Well As Themselves?

The 1% as we’ve come to call those that hold the majority of our country’s wealth, are largely oblivious to the plight of the average American, but what if they weren’t?  What if they recognized that with 50% of American households living in poverty, they are at risk of losing half their wealth due to their assets becoming devalued?  Are the very rich aware that most Americans want a job, not a handout?  And that these same people, once gainfully employed, are the very reason the 1% ARE the 1% in the first place?  Really, the Average Jane and Joe want jobs, and safe and decent housing.  But who is interested in making that happen?

Today I passed a Missouri Lottery billboard, and both forms of the lottery, Powerball and whatever else we have here, had jackpots of over $100 million.  Of course, I see those numbers and start to wonder, “What would I do if I had that much money?”  I start listing all of the people in my family and in my community that would welcome a payout.  Then I imagine all the trouble money like that supposedly brings.  Most lottery winners file bankruptcy within 5 years of winning, if I remember correctly.  Why is that?  Just yesterday I was speaking with my friend Alan Shelton about that very thing.  I’d mentioned my disgust with the Kardashians and their vast money-making machines for doing absolutely nothing of value in our society, while everywhere I turn there are stories of real people with heart and abilities and good manners to boot, who are homeless and hungry or very nearly so.  The injustice of it all makes me ill. 

Alan’s response was thoughtful and measured as always, something to the effect of, “When you get to the level of money that the Kardashians are throwing around, Hollywood money, that money is just exchanged between people at that level.  It’s expected, it’s part of the dance.”  I hate that dance, then, but I get it.  If that’s the case, then this is why lottery winners often go broke:  There is a whole world of very wealthy people who know how very large sums of money are exchanged and moved around amongst themselves.  If you have the money but not the know-how, you’re going to spend and not invest, or give it to the people who will take it but not include you in the next round of exchange.  When you spend, that which goes out does not come back.  When you invest, you’re money not only comes back to you, it brings friends.

If this were true, then if I won the lottery and I wanted to make a difference with my winnings, I should invest in something that would create jobs and opportunities for people in my community, as well as brings me a return on my investment.  If my money keeps going out but coming back multiplied, even by a small margin, then I can continue to create opportunities for people, right?  This then begs a new set of questions:  What kind of company would I create?  I still don’t know the answer to that one.  Where would I create this company?  I don’t know that one, either, but it would probably be dependent on the answer to my first question.  My thoughts on this are to sit down with people who are smarter than I am in these areas, let them talk, ask tons of questions, listen to their answers, and then ask some more and so on until I feel I have an idea and a grasp of how to make it work.  Does anyone think Warren Buffett would throw in his two cents?  He would be the perfect go-to guy for this sort of brainstorming session.

Here are solutions I DID think of in the course of my musings:  I would build a community that lives and works in the same area.  The company must be ecologically responsible because it will be situated near the residential community where the employees will have the option of buying into at really low prices.  To accomplish the goal of a concentrated area of affordable housing near the company, I would sit down with developers and look for an area with a high number of foreclosures so that we can get a deal on enough homes at low enough prices, say an entire neighborhood in a bank’s foreclosure inventory.  Banks want to get these properties off their books which might make them more willing to deal, especially for a large cash offer.   This would make it possible to turn around and sell them to employees for a reasonable price.  A division of the company could hold the loan so that employees wouldn’t have to go through the hoops of being approved by a bank after they’ve been underemployed or unemployed for a time, etc.  The loans would be very low interest, taking the stress of paying the mortgage off of their shoulders, making it reasonable and manageable, and in theory it might make employees happier and more loyal to the company.

To increase the sense of community, part of the company’s mission statement would be “to give back or to take care of” in some way, each person at every level of the company.  Donations, volunteering, or just helping each other out as needed would be encouraged.  Ten percent of the company’s profits will be donated to causes deemed worthy, whether they are college scholarships for the employees’ kids, help in paying off catastrophic medical bills, or donating food to the local food bank, the money will be used in the most impactful and meaningful ways we can find at the time.

Community gardens, backyard gardens, local grocery store and gas station, coffee shop and bakery, movie theater, bookstore, walking paths and bike paths, efficient public transit, a library, everything a community needs in order to survive and thrive would be part of the development plan.  Once that smaller area is being developed and revitalized, and people flock there for jobs and housing, the shops will follow and the surrounding areas will also naturally transform, though perhaps more slowly, unless of course, the idea catches on.  It would need to remain open to the flow from outside of the community in order to remain relevant and healthy, and not become too insular.  Self-sufficiency is to be lauded and encouraged, but not to the exclusion of others.  Instead, the company and the community would more likely thrive if the idea of interdependency were illuminated alongside self-sufficiency.  To not be a burden is a wonderful thing, but to give and accept help as needed is to bring balance and fullness to one’s life.

Doesn’t it seem that if I can think of how I would use my imaginary lottery winnings to both benefit my community and profit personally, that those who already have that kind of money and know how to use it should be able to think of something similar? 

I can’t be alone in this line of thinking, but perhaps those of us who think this way are only be found in the 99% majority.  I hope not. 

I’m off to buy a lottery ticket.

How can the very rich help their communities as well as themselves?