Sheikh Sulaiman bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Rajhi Born 1920 Residence Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Nationality Saudi Arabia Education

Elementary School Occupation - Chairman of Al Rajhi Bank - Chairman of National Agricultural Development Company (NADEC) Net worth $7.7 billion (2011) Religion Islam A Muslim billionaire businessman who has given away all his wealth willingly, ha lf to his children and the other...chose last year to become a poor man at his o wn will without having any cash or real estates or stocks that he owned earlier. He became penniless after transferring all his assets among his children and se t aside the rest for endowments. In recognition of his outstanding work to serve Islam, including his role in establishing the world s largest Islamic bank and hi s regular contribution toward humanitarian efforts to fight poverty, Al-Rajhi wa s chosen for this year s prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Service t o Islam. The freedom of being poor by choice Arab News published a news story on philanthropist Sulaiman Al-Rajhi who is one of the richest Muslims in the world. Last year he transferred part of his assets among his children and set aside major share for charity endowments, thus keepi ng nothing for himself. He tells in his interview that he had experience of being penniless before but t his was the first time he had experience of being penniless by choice and it was very liberating. He said in his interview, As far as I am concerned, this situat ion was not a strange one. My financial condition reached zero point two times i n my life, and therefore I have had the feeling and understanding (about poverty ) well. But now the feeling is accompanied by happiness, relaxation and the peac e of mind. The zero phase in life this time is purely because of my own decision and choice. Allah has given enough wealth in the world that its fair distribution should end all hunger and poverty. The following hadith encourages the rich to spend in ch arity wherever they see an opportunity. Narrated Abu Dhar: While I was walking with the Prophet in the Harra of Medina, uhud came in sight. The Prophet said, "O Abu Dhar!" I said, "Labbaik, O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "I would not like to have gold equal to this mountain of uhud , unless nothing of it, not even a single Dinar of it remains with me for more t han three days, except something which I will keep for repaying debts. I would h ave spent all of it (distributed it) amongst Allah's Slaves like this, and like this, and like this." The Prophet pointed out with his hand towards his right, h is left and his back (while illustrating it). He proceeded with his walk and sai d, "The rich are in fact the poor (little rewarded) on the Day of Resurrection e xcept those who spend their wealth like this, and like this, and like this, to t heir right, left and back, but such people are few in number." Then he said to m e, "Stay at your place and do not leave it till I come back." Then he proceeded in the darkness of the night till he went out of sight, and then I heard a loud voice, and was afraid that something might have happened to the Prophet .1 inten ded to go to him, but I remembered what he had said to me, i.e. 'Don't leave you r place till I come back to you,' so I remained at my place till he came back to me. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I heard a voice and I was afraid." So I mention ed the whole story to him. He said, "Did you hear it?" I replied, "Yes." He said , "It was Gabriel who came to me and said, 'Whoever died without joining others in worship with Allah, will enter Paradise.' I asked (Gabriel), 'Even if he had committed theft or committed illegal sexual intercourse? Gabriel said, 'Yes, eve

n if he had committed theft or committed illegal sexual intercourse." (Book #76 , Hadith #451) The Prophet (peace be upon him) took loan to give money to the person who sought help. He left no inheritance for his family, as leaving inheritance was denied for Prophet, and when he died his family did not have even sufficient food. We l earn from the following hadith that the Prophet (pbuh) spent many days in povert y. Sahih Bukhari: Volume 8, Book 76, Number 465: Narrated 'Aisha: A complete mont h would pass by during which we would not make a fire (for cooking), and our foo d used to be only dates and water unless we were given a present of some meat. Sheikh Sulaiman bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Rajhi (born 1920) is a Saudi Arabian corporate figure and billionaire. He is the chairman of Al Rajhi Bank, one of the largest companies in Saudi Arabia and the largest Islamic bank in the world. As of 2011 , his wealth was estimated by Forbes to be $7.7 billion, making him the 120th ri chest person in the world. Biography Sulaiman Al-Rajhi grew up in the Nejd desert where he and his brother Saleh bega n their business by changing money for pilgrims taking camel caravans across the desert to the cities of Mecca and Medina. Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi holds the largest individual stake in his family's Al Rajhi Bank, which has consistently reported the most profitable operations am ongst all of Saudi Arabia's banking groups. A co-founder of the bank, with older brother, Saleh, he is currently the chairman of what is nationally recognized a s the Tadawul's most venerable institution. The Al Rajhi brothers business growth and expansion was fed by the flood of migra nt workers to Saudi Arabia during the 1970s oil boom. The Al Rajhis helped them send their earnings home to places like Indonesia and Pakistan. In 1983, the bro thers won permission to open Saudi Arabia s first Islamic bank, one that would obs erve religious tenets such as a ban on interest. The Al Rajhi family continue to be Al Rajhi Bank's majority share holders though Sulaiman and his brothers have diversified family investments into gypsum, agri culture, steel, and other industrial sectors. His higher educational degree was elementary degree. He lives in Saudi Arabia an d has at least 23 children.[1] Philanthropy The Al Rajhi family is considered, by most in Saudi Arabia, as the country's wea lthiest non-royals, and among the world's leading philanthropists. His flagship SAAR Foundation (fronting a network of charities, think tanks, and supporting bu siness entities) achieved prominence as the key subject of a March 20, 2002 raid by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as a part of Operation Green Quest. T he Operation Green Quest raids led to the convictions of two people, including A bdurahman Alamoudi, who worked for the SAAR Foundation. Alamoudi admitted that h e plotted with Libya to assassinate the Saudi ruler and was sentenced to 23 year s in jail.[2][3][4] He established the Sulaiman Alrajhi University in his hometown, a non profit uni versity. The university's main focus is on health and Islamic banking, but conta ins other faculties as well. In May 2011, he announced he was donating most of his $7.7 billion fortune to ch arity.[5] Saudi Arabia s rags-to-riches billionaire Sulaiman Al-Rajhi is the founder of Al-R ajhi Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the world, and one of the largest compani es in Saudi Arabia. As of 2011, his wealth was estimated by Forbes to be $7.7 billion, making him th e 120th richest person in the world. His flagship SAAR Foundation is a leading c harity organization in the Kingdom. The Al-Rajhi family is considered as one of the Kingdom s wealthiest non-royals, and among the world s leading philanthropists.

Al-Rajhi is a billionaire who chose last year to become a poor man at his own wi ll without having any cash or real estates or stocks that he owned earlier. He b ecame penniless after transferring all his assets among his children and set asi de the rest for endowments. In recognition of his outstanding work to serve Isla m, including his role in establishing the world s largest Islamic bank and his reg ular contribution toward humanitarian efforts to fight poverty, Al-Rajhi was cho sen for this year s prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Service to Isl am. In an interview with Muhammad Al-Harbi of Al-Eqtisadiah business daily, Al-Rajhi speaks about how he was able to succeed in convincing chiefs of the leading cen tral banks in the world, including that of the Bank of England, nearly 30 years ago that interest is forbidden in both Islam and Christianity, and that the Isla mic banking is the most effective solution to activate Islamic financing in the world and make it a real boost to the global economy. The story of Al-Rajhi is that of a man who made his fortunes from scratch, relyi ng on grit and determination. Al-Rajhi threw away his huge wealth through two wi ndows distributed a major part of his inheritance among his children and transfe rred another portion to endowments, which are regarded as the largest endowment in the history of the Islamic world. He had to fight poverty and suffering durin g his childhood before becoming a billionaire through hard work and relentless e fforts, and then leaving all his fortunes to become penniless again. Al-Rajhi is still very active and hardworking even in his 80s with youthful spir its. He begins his work daily after morning prayers and is active until Isha pra yers before going to bed early. He is now fully concentrated on running the endo wment project under his SAAR Foundation, and traveling various regions of the Ki ngdom managing activities related with it. He always carries a pocket diary cont aining his daily programs and activities and he is accustomed to stick on to the schedule he had prepared well in advance. Al-Rajhi scored excellent performance results in almost all businesses in which he carved out a niche for himself. In addition to establishing the world s largest Islamic bank, he founded the largest poultry farm in the Middle East. The credi t of activating the organic farming experiment in the Kingdom mainly goes to him through launching a number of farming projects, including Al-Laith shrimp farmi ng. He also established real estate and other investment projects. Excerpts: Sheikh Suleiman, have you become a poor man again? Yes. Now I own only my dresses. I distributed my wealth among my children and se t aside a portion for endowment to run charity projects. As far as I am concerne d, this situation was not a strange one. My financial condition reached zero poi nt two times in my life, and therefore I have had the feeling and understanding (about poverty) well. But now the feeling is accompanied by happiness, relaxatio n and the peace of mind. The zero phase in life this time is purely because of m y own decision and choice. Why did you choose this path? All wealth belongs to Allah, and we are only those who are entrusted (by God) to take care of them. There were several reasons that prompted me to distribute th e wealth and that resulted in performing this virtue. Most important among them is to foster brotherhood and love among my children and safeguard their harmonio us relationship. This is more significant than any wealth in this life. I was al so keen not to be instrumental in wasting the precious time of courts in case of any differences of opinion among them with regard to partition of inheritance. There are several examples that everybody could see when children entered in dis pute over wealth and that led to the collapse of companies. Nation has lost many large companies and their wealth that we could have been sa ved if we tackled the matter in a right manner. Apart from this, every Muslim sh ould work on some endowments that could benefit him in the life after death. Lik ewise, I prefer my children to work on developing wealth, which they inherit aft er my death, during my lifetime itself rather than I continue working to increas e them. Are you getting enough free time after the distribution of wealth?

As earlier I am still working on developing endowments. I will donate and give a lms from it until Allah takes over this trusted deposit. I have worked out a met iculous scheme for this endowment and developed it with the support of specialis t consultants and agencies. This idea struck me long before. Usually people in the Islamic world set aside one-third or one-fourth of their w ealth for endowment and that will be effective only after their death. But in my case, I decided to implement this decision in my lifetime itself. So I invited my children to Makkah during the end of Ramadan and presented the idea in front of them. They readily agreed it and then I distributed my wealth among my childr en in addition to setting aside a part of it for endowment. I sought the help of consultants to facilitate the procedures for the distribution of all my assets including properties, real estates and stocks, and that was completed in a cordi al atmosphere. All my children are now fully satisfied with my initiative and th ey are now working on these properties in my lifetime. How much wealth you distributed among children and set aside for endowment? He laughed without giving an answer. How do you feel now about your projects? I would like to point out that there were some factors that prompted me to make investments in certain specific areas. My experiment in money exchange was the t emptation to set up a bank. The absence of any Islamic banking was also another factor in establishing Al-Rajhi Bank, which is now the world s biggest Islamic len der by market value. I began the experiment with opening an office in Britain where we introduced Isl amic banking system at a greater level. The experiment was a success and it had received total backing of the Saudi Islamic scholars at that time. I still recal l the application made for getting license for the bank was turned down in the b eginning. This was because the concerned British officials did not have any idea about Islamic banking. Therefore, I went to London and met with the manager of the Bank of England and two of his deputies. I told them that Muslims and Christians see interest as for bidden (haram), and the Muslim and Christian religious people are unwilling to m ake transactions with banks based on interest and instead prefer to keep their c ash and other valuables in boxes at their homes. I tried to convince them that ( if we establish Islamic banks) this money would be helpful to strengthen the wor ld economy. These talks were helpful in convincing them and they agreed to open Islamic banks. Then I traveled widely throughout the world in the West and East, and met with the chiefs of central banks in various countries and explained to them about the salient features of the Islamic economy. We started working and a chieved success through launching it in the Kingdom and implementing it in Londo n. When I returned to the Kingdom from London, I met the late Grand Mufti Sheikh Ab dul Aziz bin Baz and Sheikh Abdullah bin Humaid, and informed them about the pla n saying: We would reach, by the grace of Allah, the Islamic banking within a sti pulated period of time. They praised me for the initiative. We started aggressive ly implementing the project and that is in the form of Al-Rajhi Bank as you see now. Regarding Al-Watania Poultry, the idea of establishing such a venture struck me after my visit to a poultry project abroad. I saw that the way of slaughtering c hicken was not proper. Then I decided to make investments in the field of poultr y after considering it as a duty to my religion and nation. I started the projec t even though making investments in poultry involved high risks in those days. N ow Al-Watania has become a mega Saudi project that is instrumental in achieving food security in many respects. The company enjoys a 40 percent market share in the Kingdom, and Al-Watania chickens are naturally fed and halal slaughtered in accordance with the Shariah principles. What about your insistence on introducing organic farming through Al-Watania agr icultural projects? As you see, now I am 85 and still enjoy good health. If we pursue organic farmin g as our healthy food style, we can bring down cost of treatment to a great exte nt. We made several experiments in the field of organic farming. Our numerous ex

periments met with setbacks in the beginning. This prompted many engineers and w orkers to reach a conclusion that it is impossible to have organic farming and p rofit together. In the beginning, they were firm in their view that this would n ot at all be successful. But I insisted that it would work and continued compell ing them to proceed with the venture. At one time, I took a firm position and to ld them either to do organic farming or quit. Now we are reaping the fruits of this lucrative business in line with my vision to provide only the healthiest, safest and most trustworthy food to consumers. A l-Watania Agricultural Company stopped using chemicals and artificial fertilizer s and focused exclusively on organic methods such as the use of pest insect repe llants and animal manure. Your austerity and thriftiness on spending are well known. Please comment? I am not a miser. But I am always vigilant against extravagance. I always try to impart this lesson to all those working with me whether it is in banking or pou ltry or other projects, and I am more concerned about it when it is coming to th e case of my children. In the past, I never gave money to my children when they were young in return fo r nothing. When any one of them approached me to give them cash, I asked them to do some work in exchange for it. In our life, we practice some extravagance wit hout being aware of it. But it affects our whole life, exhausting us and putting a burden on our country. For example, there is no logic in putting heavy curtai n on our windows and then lighting lamps in daytime when we get sunlight free of cost while electric lamps are costly. Despite all your wealth, why don t you still have a private aircraft? Let me tell you that I have many planes but they belong to various airlines. I h ave ownership in all of them to the tune of the ticket fare that I pay for each travel. I always travel in economy class with the conviction that Allah bestowed us wealth not for showing arrogance or spend extravagantly but to deal with wea lth as a trusted property. What about the recreation and hobbies of Sheikh Al-Rajhi? How do you spend free time? I have not any special recreations. However, I find happiness and enjoyment whil e making a trip to the desert. I never went out of the Kingdom on a tourism trip . What about your will? What are its salient features? Regarding my will related with wealth, I have already implemented it in my lifet ime. As for the remaining aspect of my will, it is a public matter and also invo lves certain private matters, besides encouraging my children to maintain their kinship and always reminding them about the life after death. How do you see your children s private investments? Are there any directives to th em? A number of them are doing an excellent work in accordance with their knowledge and experience. Most often, I try to guide them when I noticed anything undesira ble even if it is in their private investments. Regarding my younger children, I always guide them, especially in the case of their investments. This is purely out of my keenness that they should be honest in their work as well as in spendi ng wealth given by God as a trusted property. I am also eager to hear about my c hildren that they are interacting with the society in the best possible manner, and that they are serving their religion and nation. In what way you like to spend your time? What are the places that you like most? I used to travel between Riyadh, Qassim, Al-Jouf, and Al-Laith to oversee my pro jects there. I always prefer to visit the farms in Qassim and Al-Jouf. How could you preserve many old and precious things and antiques at Suleiman AlRajhi Museum? A long time ago when I was in Jeddah, I was keen on preserving heritage pieces a nd gathered them together, especially those related with money exchange. There w ould be a history with every human being. The museum tells the story of money ex change. I particularly kept registers and cash boxes that were used when I start ed the money exchange business. The first cash box was made of wood, and there was a huge treasure box in which

we kept our gold and silver. The artifacts kept at the museum tells the evolutio n of currency in the Kingdom through issuance of bank notes, as well as some cur rencies and coins that were in circulation among the Haj pilgrims. A major facto r that prompted me to set up the museum was the visits made by a large number of officials from various countries to know more about these old coins and currenc ies. We have had to exhibit these rare collections in front of them to explain about our history and heritage, especially those related with money. I was keen to fur nish the museum with historic and heritage pieces, especially with the same mate rials used for construction in the past. Hence, the roof of the museum was made of palm branches, and that was the case with the seating arrangements at the mus eum. Al-Rajhi s punctuality The interview also sheds light on many qualities of Al-Rajhi, including his punc tuality. In the beginning of my business career, I had appointments with several top European company executives and officials. I still remember that I reached l ate for such an appointment due to an unavoidable reason. My delay was only a fe w minutes but the official excused himself for the interview. Later, after expan sion of the projects, the same official came late for an interview with me so I excused myself for the interview. I always carry a paper to note down the schedu le of meetings and stick to the schedule at any cost. Al-Rajhi continued: I am always keen to strictly adhere to the Islamic principle s throughout my life. Once I received an invitation from an Arab government to a ttend an investment conference there. On the sidelines of the conference, I was invited to take part in a dinner reception. When I reached there, I found a recr eational program, which is contrary to our religious customs and traditions, tak ing place. So I quit the place immediately and, Abdul Aziz Al-Ghorair from the U AE also joined me. Soon minister plenipotentiary rushed to us, and we explained to him that the function is against our Islamic tradition. So he informed us tha t the recreational party would be cancelled. When they canceled that party, we p articipated in the dinner. Tackling crises Al-Rajhi said: There was a huge fire that gutted down one of my factories manage d by my son. When he came to inform me about it, I told him: Say praise be to Go d. I asked him not to submit any report about the losses to the authorities seek ing compensation. In fact, the compensation is from Allah and it is essential for us to be satisfi ed with What Allah destined for us. Assam Al-Hodaithy, financial director of AlWatania Poultry, said: When the fire broke out at the factory, we decided not to hurt Sheikh Al-Rajhi by informing about it at that moment. Later, when we met hi m next morning, he told us to shift the factory to another place and remove the debris until completion of reconstruction. There was a similar fire at Al-Watania Poultry project in Egypt. The company inc urred losses worth SR 10 million Egyptian pounds. When the concerned factory off icial contacted Al-Rajhi to inform about the fire, he was surprised to hear an i nstant reply from him: AlHamdulillah. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243493 15 November 2012 Jose Mujica: The world's 'poorest' president By Vladimir Hernandez BBC Mundo, Montevideo It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramsha ckle farm and gives away most of his pay. Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, over grown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside.

This is the residence of the president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, whose lifestyle clearly differs sharply from that of most other world leaders. President Mujica has shunned the luxurious house that the Uruguayan state provid es for its leaders and opted to stay at his wife's farmhouse, off a dirt road ou tside the capital, Montevideo. The president and his wife work the land themselves, growing flowers. This austere lifestyle - and the fact that Mujica donates about 90% of his month ly salary, equivalent to $12,000 (7,500), to charity - has led him to be labelled the poorest president in the world. "I can live well with what I have." - His charitable donations - which benefit poor people and small entrepr eneurs - mean his salary is roughly in line with the average Uruguayan income of $775 (485) a month. - All the president's wealth - a 1987 VW Beetle In 2010, his annual personal wealth declaration - mandatory for officials in Uru guay - was $1,800 (1,100), the value of his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle. This year, he added half of his wife's assets - land, tractors and a house - rea ching $215,000 (135,000). That's still only about two-thirds of Vice-President Danilo Astori's declared we alth, and a third of the figure declared by Mujica's predecessor as president, T abare Vasquez. Elected in 2009, Mujica spent the 1960s and 1970s as part of the Uruguayan guerr illa Tupamaros, a leftist armed group inspired by the Cuban revolution. He was shot six times and spent 14 years in jail. Most of his detention was spen t in harsh conditions and isolation, until he was freed in 1985 when Uruguay ret urned to democracy. Those years in jail, Mujica says, helped shape his outlook on life. "I'm called 'the poorest president', but I don't feel poor. Poor people are thos e who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more," he says. "This is a matter of freedom. If you don't have many possessions then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time for yourself," he says. "I may appear to be an eccentric old man... But this is a free choice." The Uruguayan leader made a similar point when he addressed the Rio+20 summit in June this year: "We've been talking all afternoon about sustainable development . To get the masses out of poverty. "But what are we thinking? Do we want the model of development and consumption o f the rich countries? I ask you now: what would happen to this planet if Indians would have the same proportion of cars per household than Germans? How much oxy gen would we have left? "Does this planet have enough resources so seven or eight billion can have the s ame level of consumption and waste that today is seen in rich societies? It is t his level of hyper-consumption that is harming our planet." Mujica accuses most world leaders of having a "blind obsession to achieve growth with consumption, as if the contrary would mean the end of the world". But however large the gulf between the vegetarian Mujica and these other leaders , he is no more immune than they are to the ups and downs of political life. "Many sympathise with President Mujica because of how he lives. But this does no t stop him for being criticised for how the government is doing," says Ignacio Z uasnabar, a Uruguayan pollster. The Uruguayan opposition says the country's recent economic prosperity has not r esulted in better public services in health and education, and for the first tim e since Mujica's election in 2009 his popularity has fallen below 50%. This year he has also been under fire because of two controversial moves. Urugua y's Congress recently passed a bill which legalised abortions for pregnancies up to 12 weeks. Unlike his predecessor, Mujica did not veto it. He is also supporting a debate on the legalisation of the consumption of cannabi s, in a bill that would also give the state the monopoly over its trade. "Consumption of cannabis is not the most worrying thing, drug-dealing is the rea

l problem," he says. However, he doesn't have to worry too much about his popularity rating - Uruguay an law means he is not allowed to seek re-election in 2014. Also, at 77, he is l ikely to retire from politics altogether before long. When he does, he will be eligible for a state pension - and unlike some other fo rmer presidents, he may not find the drop in income too hard to get used to. He is also supporting a debate on the legalisation of the consumption of cannabi s, in a bill that would also give the state the monopoly over its trade. "Consumption of cannabis is not the most worrying thing, drug-dealing is the rea l problem," he says. However, he doesn't have to worry too much about his popularity rating - Uruguay an law means he is not allowed to seek re-election in 2014. Also, at 77, he is l ikely to retire from politics altogether before long. When he does, he will be eligible for a state pension - and unlike some other fo rmer presidents, he may not find the drop in income too hard to get used to. Tupamaros: Guerrillas to government Left-wing guerrilla group formed initially from poor sugar cane workers and stu dents Named after Inca king Tupac Amaru Key tactic was political kidnapping - UK ambassador Geoffrey Jackson held for e ight months in 1971 Crushed after 1973 coup led by President Juan Maria Bordaberry Mujica was one of many rebels jailed, spending 14 years behind bars - until con stitutional government returned in 1985 He played key role in transforming Tupamaros into a legitimate political party, which joined the Frente Amplio (broad front) coalition Nama : Jose Pekerjaan Tempat tinggal ideo) Kekayaan Gaji il) Asal-usul ra, bebas 1985 Mujica : Presiden Uruguay : Ladang milik istri (meninggalkan istana kepresidenan di Montev : sebuah VW Beetle keluaran 1987 : $12,000 (tapi, 90% disumbangkan ke rakyat miskin dan usaha kec : Gerilyawan Tupamaros, kena tembak enam kali, 14 tahun di penja saat Uruguay jadi demokrasi

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0404/Do-you-think-the-poor-arelazy Opinion By Anat Shenker-Osorio / April 4, 2011 Do you think the poor are lazy? Even if you said 'No,' the way we talk about wealth assigns moral superiority to the rich. Terms like 'the wealth gap' obscure basic truths about inequality, ca sting it as a natural economic function. Inequality is really a barrier made to keep others out. We can dismantle it, starting with our words. Americans are in deep denial about our wealth inequality. In the US, the richest fifth have 84 percent of the wealth and most of us don t consider this to be a pr oblem. In fact, we don t even guess at the distribution close to correctly. In a r ecent poll by Duke s Dan Ariely and Harvard s Michael Norton, respondents thought th at lucky fifth has more like 59 percent of all US wealth and favor them owning j ust 32 percent of it. But our blindness to the amount of inequality and its effects on our society isn t pure ignorance or apathy. It s at least partly a function of how we talk about th

e issue. We say things like the wealth gap and bridge the gulf phrases that obscure some basic truths about inequality. It s automatic and necessary to explain the world in metaphors to describe abstrac tions by comparing them to concrete things. In the case of inequality, we re chara cterizing the differences between the rich and the poor as though they re objects affixed on opposite sides of a chasm. But viewing inequality as an economic cany on makes it hard to argue for policies that might actually diminish it. A canyon , after all, is a natural formation. Gap isn t a stirring call to action; it s a clothing store. It may provide a ready ima ge of where we are, but it says nothing about how we got here. Studies of cognit ion and decades of experience tell us that when we don t provide an explanation, o ur audiences will fill one in themselves. Poor is "bad," wealthy is "good" In this case, the cause-effect narrative for our gap seems to go like this: Those who are poor have chosen this condition. Whether it s character flaw (lazy bum), m oral failure (welfare queen), inherent defect (the bell curve), or all of the ab ove, this story tells us what have-nots have not is ambition or intelligence. It s no accident that we routinely refer to the wealthiest as the top and the rest a s the bottom. In English, good is up and bad is down. That s why we say, things are l ooking up and she s down in the dumps. No wonder we pull ourselves up (not forward or along) by our bootstraps. Calling certain folks upper class implies they are wo rth more not just materially but also morally. Inequality isn't an individual choice If being rich or poor is understood as the result of differential effort, then w e can conclude each category is simply a lifestyle choice. Inequality is then a sign that our economy is doing exactly what it should rewarding the deserving an d motivating the lazy. And the line of reasoning continues: Since there s nothing wrong with this, there's nothing anybody should do about it. We use this gap language all the time. And then we wonder why the statistics we ci te, the graphs we generate, and the examples we offer of widening inequality don t raise the eyebrows, let alone the ire, of many in our audiences. Using this lan guage tacitly degrades individuals and makes current conditions seem natural. By employing it, we blind the public to the fact that inequality isn't an individu al choice. Rather, it s the direct result of the rules financial and political eli tes have crafted for their own enrichment. In one economy, inequality hurts all A wealth divide further implies we have two separate economies, with the rich on one side of the gap and everyone else on the other. If we believe the wealth of a few has absolutely no relationship to the deprivation of others, then there i s no solution for inequality. Because there s no problem.This is not just a false assumption but also a dangerous one. All of us engage with one another, producin g, consuming, saving, and investing in our one economy. But the wealthy have man aged to make off with the lion s share. When wealth connotes moral goodness, it s ea sy to believe that these riches are just deserts. As Dan Quayle argued against p rogressive taxation, Why should the best people be punished? Yet history shows tha t some people are unfathomably rich because others are inexcusably poor. So how do we get the word out about economic inequality? Not just how much of it exists, but also where it comes from, and why it s destroying the long-term stabi lity of American society and the proper functioning of our economy? Make no mistake: Impoverishing certain populations is, in fact, derailing our en tire economy. As we suppress real wages for the majority, we shrink purchasing p ower and with it consumption and then available employment. Without money to mai ntain our homes and care for our families, we have less and less reason to follo w the tacit agreements of civil society. Not a 'gap,' but a 'barrier' Instead of a gap between rich and poor, we re far better served calling it a barrier. A barrier connotes a big, imposing wall behind which a few can hoard the goodies , while those on the other side are left wanting. When you barricade yourself in , you keep others out. Instead of asking to bridge the divide, let s insist on disma ntling the obstacles that keep too many from the gains produced of their own har

d work. The metaphor of inequality as a barrier, wall, or other obstruction highlights s everal critical truths about our economy. It tells us these objects are man-made . This conveys that inequality is not some God-given, inevitable, natural wonder . We have built these barriers, and we can bring them down. In other words, ther e s another way our economy can be structured if we elect and work for it. Deconstructing barriers We can start by deconstructing the foundations of these barriers spotty prenatal care, no universal preschool, lead-painted walls, and cheap, accessible junk fo od. We can continue by combating overcrowded classrooms managed by a revolving c ast of untrained teachers. We can improve the recreational and after-school choi ces for children. And we can work to eliminate the neighborhood violence, dirty air, and contaminated water that form the perfect blockade to adult success. Crafting our inequality narrative from this metaphor, we would use phrases like this: Inequality holds people back from contributing to our nation. It sets in p lace obstacles not only to success, but survival. Trapping some Americans in pov erty, policies that promote inequality exclude certain groups from making a livi ng, no matter how much they work. The rules we ve crafted block access to resource s and opportunities, and prevent huge numbers of us from participating meaningfu lly in our economy. Let s have our language lay the blame where it belongs on the obstructions erected by decades of greed and concentrated wealth and power, not on the people who fi nd themselves trapped on the wrong side of them. This is America. Don t fence me i n. Anat Shenker-Osorio, founder and principal of ASO Communications, is a communica tions consultant.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/165454/kai-wright-poverty-not-personal-choice The idea of poverty being a cultural issue the poor are poor because they are lazy r ather than a policy issue has become dominant in this country in the past few de cades. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich s recent remark about child ren in poor neighborhoods lacking work ethics highlighted how right-wing politic ians both feed and capitalize on this understanding of poverty to divert public attention from the real issue of growing economic inequality as a result of deca des of policy-making that benefits the rich and punishes the poor. In this interview on WNYC s Brian Lehrer Show, Nation contributor and editorial di rector of Colorlines Kai Wright talks about how the particularly grinding povert y in the Bronx results from public policy rather than from personal choices. Poi nting out the absurdity of laziness as a unique culture of the poor, Wright reminds us of the resilience of one community in the South Bronx to pull itself out of p overty. Building off his recent article in the January 2, 2012, issue of The Nat ion, Hard Knocks in the Bronx, Wright argues that policies should be made to prote ct and support these people. http://www.rationalchoicetheory.net/2012/05/what-makes-countries-rich-or-poor.ht ml What Makes Countries Rich or Poor? by Jared Diamond New York Review of Books June 7, 2012 The fence that divides the city of Nogales is part of a natural experiment in or ganizing human societies. North of the fence lies the American city of Nogales, Arizona; south of it lies the Mexican city of Nogales, Sonora. On the American s ide, average income and life expectancy are higher, crime and corruption are low er, health and roads are better, and elections are more democratic. Yet the geog raphic environment is identical on both sides of the fence, and the ethnic makeu p of the human population is similar. The reasons for those differences between

the two Nogaleses are the differences between the current political and economic institutions of the US and Mexico. This example, which introduces Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robi nson, illustrates on a small scale the book s subject.* Power, prosperity, and pov erty vary greatly around the world. Norway, the world s richest country, is 496 ti mes richer than Burundi, the world s poorest country (average per capita incomes $ 84,290 and $170 respectively, according to the World Bank). Why? That s a central question of economics. Different economists have different views about the relative importance of the c onditions and factors that make countries richer or poorer. The factors they mos t discuss are so-called good institutions, which may be defined as laws and practi ces that motivate people to work hard, become economically productive, and there by enrich both themselves and their countries. They are the basis of the Nogales anecdote, and the focus of Why Nations Fail. In the authors words: The reason that Nogales, Arizona, is much richer than Nogales, Sonora, is simple : it is because of the very different institutions on the two sides of the borde r, which create very different incentives for the inhabitants of Nogales, Arizon a, versus Nogales, Sonora. Among the good economic institutions that motivate people to become productive a re the protection of their private property rights, predictable enforcement of t heir contracts, opportunities to invest and retain control of their money, contr ol of inflation, and open exchange of currency. For instance, people are motivat ed to work hard if they have opportunities to invest their earnings profitably, but not if they have few such opportunities or if their earnings or profits are likely to be confiscated. The strongest evidence supporting this view comes from natural experiments invol ving borders: i.e., division of a uniform environment and initially uniform huma n population by a political border that eventually comes to separate different e conomic and political institutions, which create differences in wealth. Besides Nogales, examples include the contrasts between North and South Korea and betwee n the former East and West Germany. Many or most economists, including Acemoglu and Robinson, generalize from these examples of bordering countries and deduce t hat good institutions also explain the differences in wealth between nations tha t aren t neighbors and that differ greatly in their geographic environments and hu man populations. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57476855/tavis-smiley-poverty-is-the-new-sl avery/ Tavis Smiley: Poverty is the new slavery CBS News) According to a new report out this past week, poverty in America has r eached its highest level since 1965. That so many Americans remain poor is a sou rce of concern for our contributor Tavis Smiley: Throughout American history there have been proud moments of revolution that for ced the elite to remove their blinders of greed, tyranny and domination. America has, of course, made great strides for freedom in regard to all of its c itizens. But now America has regressed, and poverty is the new slavery. The blinders are once again firmly affixed, and the necessary checks and balance s have disappeared, making way for policies that coddle the wealthy, while the p ersistent poor, the working poor and the "new poor" are ignored and rendered inv isible. The fact that one percent of the nation's richest individuals control 42 percent of the nation's wealth is, to me, a stunning revelation in the wake of a recess ion. The 400 richest people in America, according to Forbes, have more than one trill ion dollars' of wealth. They each average $3.5 billion of net worth. And, no, this is not the politics of envy, but rather a cautionary tale about wh at happens to a country that drifts so far away from any notion of fundamental f airness for its citizenry, that we end up a nation of the rich - and the rest of us.

Poverty threatens our democracy, a democracy with a deficit dilemma that the poo r are not responsible for, yet they pay the price. There are nearly 150 million poor and near-poor people in America who are not re sponsible for the damage done by the Great Recession. Nearly one-third of the Am erican middle class - mostly families with children - have now fallen into pover ty. The magnitude of the Great Recession confirms that poverty is no longer a person al calamity; it is, rather, a societal crisis. The time is now to once again reawaken American democracy. It is time for righte ous indignation against the fleecing of America's poor, given the indifference t oward the poor that has infected our social, political and economic discourse. I n short, it's time to make poverty a priority. Where there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present.