Is charity hurting the economy and specifically… what is, “social responsibility?”

Whereby, I find that most Americans will choose to follow 1 of 2 philosophies concerning money and personal finances within America, today. On one hand I think that most Americans adopt the mindset that, "I have a personal relationship with my finances and what is mine is mine and all personal; investments, funds, incomes and finances, are solely an individual conquest combined with a personal belief system."

In God We Trust.

And I tie that philosophy into religion because I find that MOST AMERICANS adopt this philosophy and then they tend to believe that their bank accounts… essentially represent their religious beliefs or lack thereof, quite literally. Furthermore, I find that these types of people whom adopt this philosophy tend to also believe that other people who develop similar spirituality… are going to come about money just like they did. Nevertheless, I also believe that these types of people… often don’t believe in social responsibility nor charity, under the premise that these things actually HURT both the individual and the greater economy.

But then there’s another way of looking at it… through an entirely different lens.

Whereby, on the other hand… I, myself… perceive personal finances in terms of my daily; food, electric, education, media and interactions... which I find bestowed upon myself and others in a communal fashion and I believe that we all have a certain, “social responsibility,” to acknowledge that fact. And I find that this is particularly true for those who make in excess of 10’s and 100’s of millions of dollars and that everyone is essentially in debt to society as a whole.

And along that second line of thinking (my preferred way of thinking), charity is not charity at all but a mindset of giving back to the society which essentially makes you, who you are. Whereby, in this mindset… charity then becomes a, “social responsibility,” that the wealthy have to the poor, in terms of hiring and maintaining a fair amount of workers but also in terms of spreading wealth to the lower class. Whereby, under this premise I believe that everyone, rich or poor, has an innate responsibility to think of the economy in terms of, “social responsibility,” and to acknowledge their own place within that society as a whole.

However, these 2 philosophies are very different… and even contradict one another. Furthermore, these philosophies entirely contradict one another while running a business within America, today. Nevertheless, as I work at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC… I cannot emphasize enough just how much these 2 philosophies impact people’s daily lives and the chasm that exists in terms of greed and people’s value to and of society. But objectively speaking it is somewhat fair to believe in either philosophy, yet, those who adopt the foremost philosophy tend to be more successful financially due to self serving bias.

And this is particularly true because in today’s, “internet age,” hiring large numbers of employees is often un-necessary and as the owner of an Artificial Intelligence startup myself, (*www.ArtificialIntelligenceProject.com), I can attest that from my personal experiences I could run a fairly large tech firm… with very little human resources.

In fact, I would estimate that a really good tech guru… could run a major tech company, like my Artificial Intelligence startup, with 5 – 25 really good employees.

So what should a business do? Drive profits? Or help their fellow man? Which is a scary differentiation to me because we’re living in an era of automation where most companies don’t need as many employees as before. In fact, Microsoft was the only tech firm that even offered me an interview and without harping too much on this or that... I don't think that it's unfair to deny people the chance to work at any company as these are private enterprises. However, with that being said… in today’s economy the US government tends to reward people who take a more selfish approach towards social responsibility, particularly in terms of job creation and pay structures/wealth distribution.

Or in other words… I believe that our society is currently rewarding out-dated business practices through somewhat benevolent pay structures, depending upon the philosophy of individual business owners towards the public at large, most of whom typically operate under 2 entirely different economic pretenses. And this is troubling to me because recent marijuana and gambling legislation is creating further leverage for the afore-mentioned business owners, who tend to be elitists and tend to look down upon society as a whole while continuing to take that selfish approach to personal finances!

So, which is it? Should I be a greedy POS to my employees or not? And which economic philosophy ought a person to adopt… in 2018, especially in terms of, “personal finances,” and building a private enterprise? Should we shun charity and view money as strictly an individual endeavor? And what if that means hiring only 25 employees at a billion dollar tech firm? Or, should we bite the bullet and help those in need? And what if that means helping those who don’t always help themselves? Should we view money as a spiritual conquest or as a civilization, as a whole? Because we’re currently rewarding the less charitable philosophy and quite honestly… I can’t stand the ambiguity. Which then leads me to the topic of today’s article, “charity,” and it's effects on the greater economy. Whereby, GoFundMe.com –the for profit, charitable donations website, is currently valued at 600m dollars… with a business model focused on collecting .30 cents per charitable donation! And where does, “a company like that,” fall into the spectrum of US politics? Or more specifically, is that charity? Or a free market enterprise?

In conclusion,, what type of a business is that? And which approach to business should we take when charity's are now growing rich? Should we side with, “social responsibility,” and hire more workers? Or focus solely on profits and let the government do the rest? Because if there was 1 change that I’d like to see, it would be to have this very conversation… and this is a conversation which I find acutely important when everyone seems to be an; IG model, rapper, or self help coach, today. Which is to say, are those things charity? What is charity? And what do we specifically reward in today’s day and age?

-William Larsen, Civilians News