Great question (at 23 min) about how to connect enterprises and livelihoods to exchange goods, services, and information - is money the best medium of exchange? Do we need a banks and a currency? Multiple media? Unfortunately, Korten does not give an adequate answer, but does have some other interesting things to say about money.
Rich people hoard 99% of their wealth just to siphon off 3-5% interest. How much do they need?! How much is enough?! Instead of income tax, or sales tax, how about a 50% hoard tax, or holding tax, over $100,000.00, If you invest your wealth in stocks, bonds, land, art, gold, etc..., you get taxed annually, on your wealth. Every one would be exempt from paying on one home, car, and cash under $100,000.00 the ultra rich would soon give away much of their wealth, rather than pay 50% tax on millions of invested dollars, and then they would stop chasing after more. There is plenty of wealth for everyone on our planet, when the top 5% stop hoarding it. How much is enough? When does a rich man stop chasing more riches? When does that hole in the soul finally get filled? Not by any amount of worldly wealth and power. Only by the love of our Lord God, King and Saviour; Christ Jesus. Peace and Maranatha. James 5 "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain."
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Yes only Jesus can judge the motives and intents of the heart. We are told to wait and let him do that when he returns. He is the righteous judge. Jesus said each will be judged by Christ (not us here and now) when he returns, based on what they did with what was entrusted to them. The poor will be judged for doing nothing with what little opportunity or skills they had, if all they can do is blame and condemn rich people. I believe God gave very good instructions in the Bible, as how all should govern their finances. The old testament would be a secular law that applies to all mankind. The new testament doctrines are for only followers of Christ who have been born again. You can not expect the secular world to want or even be able to pretend they have any ability to perform or understand the sacrificial giving of their lives first to God, then for their neighbor. Only those who have received God's ultimate sacrifice of the death of Jesus Christ for their own sins, understand sacrificial giving. The law given to all men as God's moral standard for all, only asks for 10% of the increase in wealth from all, both poor and rich. And God promises if they do this, God will protect and bless them. Weeping and gnashing of teeth that Jesus describes when he returns will not be singled out for only rich people. The point of the rich man poor man comparisons in the Bible, is one trusts in God, in fact is forced to. The other trust in his riches, not God. It is just as possible to trust in wealth redistribution, socialism, corrupt politicians, etc..... Judgement by Christ is promised for all who put trust for their needs in something besides God, whether poor or rich. Getting into heaven is not for poor people, but for those who realize their sinful, spiritual poverty apart from Christ. The glory in being poor is possibly realizing your soul is the only thing of value you posses. Hard for a rich man to look ahead to eternity. And yes there is enough wealth and recourses to care for all on this planet. But the very ones who control the wealth (both private and government), will never allow that to happen. Politicians stay in power over us and our wealth, by creating poverty, and then promising to end poverty. It is a con game. People are more giving in the private sector, giving there own money as apposed to a corrupt government stealing all the money, with the promise they will disperse to all with out keeping a portion for their own corrupt greedy desires. This is why all in congress are the 1% at the very top over the people they say they want to equally to distribute this wealth to all. This is a blatant provable lie. But as they say, "there is a sucker born every minute." Trusting corrupt government to spend the wealth of others is wrong. And the only problem with Corporations paying Union workers, or CEO's more then what they are worth, or the company can afford to operate without being destroyed, is when corrupt politicians then bail these corrupt Corporations and Unions out with our tax dollars. Then these Corporations and Unions give large amounts of money back to corrupt politicians at election time. If we cut Corporations and Unions from tax payer bailouts, both Corporations as we know them, and Unions would have ceased to exist 100 years ago.
