A student of human nature, I am always fascinated by the way people behave – and how that behavior is almost universal.
An example of this struck me last night, while watching a show about India by Oprah Winfrey.
The show opened with Oprah spending some time with a family that we, in the USA, would consider poverty-stricken. The family of five, a husband and wife with three daughters, live in a single room measuring about nine feet by nine. While the children and wife seemed happy, the father broke down when Oprah asked him about his aspirations for his children…. He wanted a better life for them.
Oprah later visited a family she loosely described as “on another level”, while holding her hand high to emphasis this difference. In a physical sense, they indeed were on an entirely different plane. However, on a spiritual level, I felt they were somewhat below the poverty struck family. They seemed largely unaware of the straits within which the vast majority of people living all about them are mired, casually brushing off the fact that they had about five men working in their kitchen. When Oprah’s time with them ended, she once again asked the husband of this family what his aspirations for his family were… He wanted for them exactly what they already had.
Though neither father is “wrong”, isn’t that the nature of man – in a nutshell? The wealthy wish to stay wealthy, while choosing to remain oblivious to the plight of the poor. The poor, well they want just a little bit more.
