Category: Giving

How Can We Spread Goodwill From The Holidays To The Rest Of The Year?

Around the holidays, there is an increased interest in kindness, love, and generosity. Why should this be limited to just part of the year?

There are many examples of the spirit of the holidays being a positive one.

Thanksgiving itself exists as a holiday to be thankful for what you have. In many families, a tradition of taking turns talking about things you are grateful for exists. The number of people volunteering at soup kitchens skyrockets.

Immediately after Thanksgiving are the commercial-centric Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, but that is followed up with Giving Tuesday, a day specifically designated for charitable giving.

And, of course, the Christmas holiday itself is centered around giving. Some people leave a little something for their postal carrier. Parents will give gift cards to their children’s teachers, tutors, or coaches. Hair stylists, house cleaners, neighbors, friends, family members might all be on the receiving end of gifts of one kind or another.

More cookies are baked in December than at any other time of year. And most of those are given away, or taken to parties.

This is all wonderful, of course. It is part of the reason why so many people find this time of year magical. However, wouldn’t it be nice if people behaved this way all year long?

All this gift giving is expensive, and most people can’t afford to maintain that for 12 months. In fact, some can’t even afford to do it for one month, and go into debt.

But the spirit of giving thanks, showing your affection, and communicating with loved ones could happen all year long. How can we make that happen in our own lives?

Related questions: Why do we give gifts? What does it mean to be thankful? How can we maintain wonder?

Should A Healthy Society Have Billionaires?

As of September 2024, there were 801 billionaires based in the United States with a combined wealth totaling $6.22 trillion. For comparison, in 2020, the U.S. had 614 billionaires with a combined wealth of $2.947 trillion. As a result, today’s billionaires control significantly more wealth than the bottom half of American families. And wealth disparities are only increasing. 

Is this okay? Should a healthy society have such a thing as billionaires? Should wealth be capped — or, at least, should those making more than a billion dollars be taxed at much higher levels?

Defenders of a billionaires’ class assert that the wealthy — as innovators, risk-takers, and job creators — help drive a healthy American economy. While making money off their money, billionaires often retain only a fraction of the social benefits that accrue from their investments. Proponents of unchecked wealth say that any effort to impose income and wealth limits will dampen the desires of richest amongst us to contribute to the growth of our economy.

Another argument posits that billionaires donate significantly to charities — from homelessness programs to environmental causes to the arts — which benefit from individual gifts and foundations that support such causes.

However, not everyone agrees that unbridled income and wealth are good things. This camp believes that extreme wealth and income inequality are dangerous to democracy. For example, billionaires — like Elon Musk — have much greater access to political leaders and often contribute to candidates and causes that will help them become even more prosperous.

Another line of reasoning for limiting wealth maintains that billionaires invest heavily in financial interests that hurt the rest of society, from environmental damage to food insecurity to unfair market advantages.

Or, did you know that billionaires live, on average, a decade longer than the average person, and their older years also have nearly a decade more disability-free time than the rest of us? Of course, it must be noted that in general those who live in poverty and less prosperous communities live much shorter lives than those higher up the income scale. (This is known by some as “death by zip code.”) Supporters of greater income and wealth equality may ask if a “Billionaires’ Tax” could be used to help others enjoy the life- and comfort-span of the wealthy.

Of course, this post lists only a few reasons for each side of this debate. Do you have more to offer? Or how do you feel about the wealth and income divide? Should a healthy society have such things as billionaires?

Related questions: How much is enough? What is the purpose of money? Who has power? Does Universal Basic Income make sense?

Declutter Or Accumulate?

Which are you more likely to do, declutter or accumulate? Which feels more natural for you? Has it changed over time?

Share why if you wish.

Declutter Or Accumulate?
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What Are The Benefits Of Expressing Gratitude?

There are many self-help outlets — books, blogs, podcasts, and so on — that advocate regular expressions of gratitude. Why?

Expressions of gratitude can come in many different forms. They can be private expressions, in your head while you are meditating, for example. Or they can be public, directly to the person or object being thanked, or even to an entire audience of people.

You may have practiced these displays yourself. (If not, surely your imagination will suffice.) When you think, write, or speak your affirmations, what happens? What changes might take place, both within you, in the subject of your gratitude, and within society at large?

There are surely some benefits for this behavior, or else it would not be recommended by so many people in so many outlets. In your experience, what benefits come from expressing gratitude?

Related questions: What are you grateful for? What does it mean to be thankful? How could you show your appreciation for others more? What are our responsibilities to others?

If You Were To Do Something To Honor Someone, Who Would It Be And What Would You Do?

If you were to choose a person to honor, and a method by which to honor them, who would you choose and what would you do?

There are times in your life when one person has a significant impact on your growth or development. You may wish, at some point, to honor that person, and the way in which they influenced you.

Which raises a couple of related questions.

The first question is: how do you decide? What metric should you use, when evaluating the influence someone has had on you, if that person merits an honor?

Listen to a podcast where Michael and Lee discuss a related question: ‘What gives a person value?’ We also discuss a bonus question: ‘What makes you you?’

A second question is: what do you do? In what way can you convey, to yourself and others, that an honor of some sort is being bestowed?

The exact nature of the honor can vary quite drastically, based on a number of different variables. For instance, it may depend on the person being honored, if they are alive or dead, and what the relationship was between you.

Or it might depend on the nature of the influence. You may choose, for instance, to honor the role your parents played in your upbringing by visiting them, or calling them regularly.

It may also depend on the resources available to the person doing the honoring. It can be as simple as a card in the mail, or as elaborate as a dedicated building.

Have you ever honored someone, and if so, how? If not, can you think of a person and a way in which you might do the honoring?

Related questions: Who is the most important person in your life? How could you show your appreciation for others more? Who would serve on your personal board of directors? Who was your best teacher? Do you give to charitable or social causes?