Success vs. Success

We pray that God will lead us to influence someone's life, and in reality, we all affect those around us without even knowing it.  The roll of peers in each others' lives has increased profoundly; our mentality success is no longer tabulated against the standards of one's own personal best, but has shifted to the values of those around us.  When Veblen says we want to result "in a more creditable showing of accumulated wealth," he is cutting to the chase on the inner most desires that each individual will face, and then will choose whether to follow or take another path.  Success is now known as a destination, not the journey.  There are many individuals who would immediately back away from their hard work and effort if they were informed that all the "creditable showing" waiting at the end would not be there.  No matter how nice or naive a person may seem, everyone has that streak within them to desire acknowledgment or recognition for something.  

One of the consequences I thought of from Veblen's definition of success can be found today.  We are already seeing the effects of this mentality: people are losing trust within one another.  Technology, knowledge, and more avenues of ranking has catapulted our society into a "competitive war."  From advertisements to slogans, all have the same underlying theme that bigger/more is better!  We will begin to lose the significant value in the individual if we keep trying to compare the individual to the community.  Everything starts to be labeled black and white, yours or mine, and the spirit of unity and teamwork so prevalently displayed in history's stories will begin to fade until our society becomes "every-man-for-himself."  

Personally, I don't think it is bad to aim for success even when one knows the "creditable showings" that will come out of it; I feel that what brings the sense of nobility is if an individual would be willing to put another individual above himself, if it means otherwise having to "step on him."  Moral tests for cases like this don't come around too often, but when they do, it is so easy to see different individuals mentality on their approach to success.

P O V E R T Y

PRESENT:  

In this world, poverty is the dilemma pushed way back into the furthest corner, but not eradicated simply because we wouldn't be able to cope with the guilt.  In America alone, we generate enough food waste per year to weigh the equivalent of 74 Golden Gate Bridges! And yet there are those we know who don't have a meal for the next few days right down a few blocks.  Why are there still poor people in this world when statistics have been spewed over and over to our faces over the past years?   The answer is simple: selfishness.  It is said that the past is our biggest asset, revealing to us what we should and shouldn't do again; however, when I look at myself and this generation, I can't help but feel we haven't made that large of a difference.  The problem first boils down to individuals pointing their finger at themselves and asking, "Who? Me?!"  Today, I feel as if individuals are beginning to lose the realization and inspiration to actually believe they can make a difference.  Being the change has been rung so many times, for many it is just a cliche phrase; and when faced with the topic of poverty, I find myself thinking in the back of my head, "Ok, I'll go more to soup kitchen opportunities and let the government take care of the big picture."  It is this apathy that allows us to accomplish hardly anything.  Many people have found satisfaction in dumping problems onto the government, but even the government isn't doing much for poverty.  Surprisingly, and maybe not, we are not too different from the government.  As I read through one of my bookmarked articles on the government's role in poverty, I sensed that the government may not actually care about the poor on a personal level.  To them, solving poverty would simply take off the pressure and guilt from their shoulders, as well as benefitting the country monetarily and environmentally.  

FUTURE:  

Will poverty be eliminated in the future? No. I believe that no matter what, poverty will always be there looking at us.  Realistically, it is not possible to rally the entire world and end poverty.  I do believe that there are enough resources, money, and food for the world to all comfortably get through life, but then that would involve sharing and major sacrifices from a LOT of people.  The statistics predict that poverty numbers will in fact rise due to the link of higher populations and increase in monopolies.  Sachs said that "the poverty trap is self-reinforcing, not self-correcting" (31).  Poverty will not be eliminated, but that does not give us permission to fully sit back and relax.  It is rather all the more challenge to defy the numbers and do the best we can to make this world just perhaps a little better of a place than it is now for a lot of people. 

180° Life Turns

Everyone secretly struggles with something in their lives.  For some, it may be an addiction to drugs, to others, perhaps a problem with controlling a hot temper.  I will make myself vulnerable by saying this, but I often find myself hyping up a person's "180° life change" when it is someone with fame or wealth up on a fancy podium speaking to congregations of millions.  I tagged a youtube clip that I was introduced to a while back for a Friday night's vesper.  A small church had created what is now known as "cardboard testimonies," where individuals go up and reveal his/her secret struggle, and then later show what God has done for them on the opposite side of the cardboard.   These people have had uncontrollable addictions, the dirtiest habits, and secrets that some would deem not appropriate for even testimonial times.  It is so easy to dismiss these individuals and not truly appreciate and applaud their changed life, just because we don't know them or view them as unimpressive, compared to those who are in the spotlights in front of crowds.  Some individual's life may change 40°, someone else's maybe 180°; regardless, who are we to overlook and focus on an elite few with dramatic life changes?  It all boils down to realizing that lives are changing right around us.  The individuals behind this clip could quite possibly be a man you see at the grocery store or the lady you pass by in the mall.  Every life is a wondrous miracle and blessing; a life changed for the better, is simply the outward evidence of the miracle that was always within them.

The usual life changing story is of an individual being completely immersed in darkness, and then stepping out and remaining in the light for the rest of his/her life; however, Bernie Anderson's story was quite unique from the rest.  Bernie Anderson was a full-time Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, husband, father, and mentor.  What no one knew was that he was struggling with a deep addiction to pornography.  Here was a man, living two lives, who tried to make light and darkness coincide.  As I have yet to read the entire book, it is evident that by God's amazing grace and power, Pastor Anderson found the strength to break his bonds of addiction, and step forward with his testimony, trying to prevent others who may perhaps be struggling with the same issue.  I love Bernie Anderson's story in that it is uniquely refreshing and encouraging.  A 180° life change doesn't mean a person must be perfect from that point out.  Bernie Anderson, a pastor, had a major slip-up; yet, he was still able to find peace and refuge in Christ.  Some may think that Bernie had left God during those times of his life; however, I think God was right there next to him, and for him, when he was both struggling with his addiction and up on the pulpit.  With God, there are no second-chances because he will always give you another try.  All you have to do is believe and accept.


                                                       [ Kristin Chung ]