How Can We Overcome Poverty In The World?

“There is no such thing as getting something for nothing. Apart from the air to breathe, you must develop and manifest something of value to get whatever you need from other people in a society, whether it is their wealth, ideas, service, respect or support.”

The parable of the prodigal son is a Christian bible story, which Jesus used to demonstrate the fatherly love and forgiveness that God has for human beings. This same story can also be used to demonstrate the meaning and purpose of freedom in the lifetime of every individual. 

The parable is that of a wealthy man who had two sons. And when the two sons had grown, the younger son requested that his father should give him his own inheritance as a share of the father’s wealth. His wealthy father pleaded with him to stay on to join them in the family business, but the younger son insisted on moving out with his inheritance in order to express his freedom. Hence, when the father gave him his share of the inheritance, the younger son sold off all his inheritance, and left with the money to a distant city. There in the city, he made lots of friends with whom he enjoyed his vast wealth of different luxuries. He also enjoyed the company and services of beautiful women since he inherited a lot of wealth and was eager to share it in expressing his freedom. After some years of lavish spending, his inherited wealth got exhausted, and his friends and beautiful women disappeared. He became so poor that he could not feed nor house himself. Since he had wasted all his money on quick pleasures, he became too ashamed to go back home. Therefore, he went to a pig farmer, to whom he offered his service of staying and attending to the pigs in exchange for some of the pig feed. 

Just like this prodigal son, some people fall from a life of riches, luxury and plenty into a life of poverty, lack and misery. This fall mostly happens when people miss the opportunity of using their time and resources to discover, develop and properly manifest their different capacities to steadily participate in building or contributing in a system or network of mutual growth with other members in a society. This system, network or relationship of mutual growth is one in which its various members are driven and enabled to develop their ability to render useful products or services that can support the other people in their various efforts to develop their own abilities. And it is by focusing on developing and using their products and services to support the others in a free or mutually growing system that people obtain wealth, respect and influence from the other people in the society. 

The prodigal son fell into poverty and misery because he did not use his available time and resources to develop the mentality, skills and products to steadily contribute to the reciprocal/mutually growing network of the new city to which he had relocated to express his personal freedom.