Wealth concentrated

RECENT statistics show that wealth is becoming more concentrated.

In 2019, just 26 of the world’s richest people owned the same as the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity.

That’s a staggering figure. The gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” continues to widen.

Given that we come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing, is there any point in amassing vast sums of money over and above our own needs?

In his book entitled Hope, Tim Costello tells of his visit to some villages in Nagaland in North East India.

Perched high in the mountains, the climate in Nagaland is very cold and the people wear full length coats and shawls for most of the year.

In one village Tim visited, the colours of the people’s cloaks represent their roles in the community, teachers wear blue cloaks, elders and lawgivers wear red.

Early one morning when Tim was to address the villagers, he spotted a man in the crowd who really stood out from the others – he was wearing a cloak of gold.

When Tim asked what this colour represented, he was told that the gold coat indicated that this man had given a “Feast of Merit”. Surely they had a similar custom back where Tim came from?

His host went on to explain that when a villager in Nagaland becomes wealthy (that is, he has lots of pigs and many bags of rice) he can choose to throw a party for the whole village, particularly for the poor.

This party might last for a fortnight or even a month before all the person’s wealth has been liquidated.

Then a ceremony takes place where a magnificent cloak of gold is tied around the person’s neck.

He starts over again with nothing, except his cloak of gold and the honour and respect of his community.

What a contrast to our society. “Going for gold” means something quite different here.

Andrew Carnegie once said, “He who dies rich dies disgraced”. Now is the time to help others less fortunate than ourselves. There will be no pockets in our shrouds. ELIZABETH BRAY, Toowoomba