The Fever Dream of Generational Wealth
A tragic legacy of American culture, living front and center in our lives today, lies firmly in the aspiration of generational wealth. A notion of ascension not seeded in equity or fairness but rather in achieving immortality through material wealth. A notion, a twisted obfuscation of the Soul’s promise of Healing & Growth, so detrimental to humanity’s well-being that it has begun to topple the intended foundation of a just and compassionate nation.
I am not speaking of a life well-lived passed down spiritually and materially to future generations. I instead speak of its fever dream, driven by fear. A fear, at its core, manifested through the empty superficial world of consumption, dependent on the consciousness of our choices as to its impact on our lives.
“Getting Mine” is the mantra of today’s voting majority with additional caveats. “After I get mine, I want yours as well. And once I have yours, I want enough that my great-grandchildren will be living in entitlement and privilege.”
This is the foundation of the contemporary pursuit of generational wealth. It is not in service to future generations but rather at their cost and peril. It is not, in fact, for the sake of the children’s children’s children. It is the belief that the value of my life lies not in being a conscious, kind and authentic human being. The legacy of the Soul. But rather in the false immortality of greed and power. It is the byproduct of living in the fear of not having enough and insisting, through this unexamined fear, there can never be enough. You may ask, why attribute this form of greed and power to generational wealth? The reasoning lies in how power and greed is expressing itself and the twisted self-serving belief that serving future generations lies in the cruelty of hoarding wealth with no sense of accompanying social responsibility. An all-in grasping for money and power hiding in plain sight under the tentpole of religion and technological advancement. Existing currently under the false flag of efficient government.
This form of expressed generational wealth has been placed on an American Throne and those who have it are worshipped. Alms are given in the hope that the giver will be provided the magic key to join its royal court. It is worshipped to the point where 77 million people believe they too can join its ranks. On whoever’s backs they can climb over. This is the delusion of the Trump worldview. Be cruel, greedy and self-exalting and you will live in the immortality of generational wealth. This is what passes for value judgement in national leadership. Though let's not fool ourselves. There is a neo-liberal version. It's simply candy coated and discussed in the Fever Dream of Generational Wealth Podcast.
The worship of Greed and Power has been around a long time. It has found myriad expressions across many nations spanning millennia. The difference this time is it is being hawked in a free society that has accumulated more wealth than ever before and the predominant response by the citizenry is: this is not enough. We’ve been cheated. We want more. They are, whoever they are, robbing us. Rather than distribute this wealth so all can prosper, the nation has embraced its own destruction. A sycophantic upward redistribution of wealth and power to the very few. This, at a time, when we need all hands on deck to address the consequences of an industrialized world: CLIMATE CHANGE.
Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and all living beings dwelling on earth, created by humanity and now, ironically, exacerbated by an Oligarchic class of Americans. Ironic because these Oligarchs no longer believe in a shared future. They subscribe, in no small measure, to a post-human world where AI runs the show. Sounds crazy til you actually pay attention to what they are doing. They are dismantling the government in a way that tells us that they don’t care about human needs. It is about the power to shift into a future age of existence. This isn’t science fiction. Trump, Musk and their cadre of Oligarchs are in bed with the only group who share their world view of no future. The Christian Nationalists. They all share the belief that we live in the end times. While they deny Climate Change what they are really doing is accelerating our pathway into the worst of ecological futures. A self-fulfilling prophecy. And to ensure this result, they are using fascism to consolidate through greed and power their intended result. For the oligarchs, a safe landing into a post utopian vision of existing mentally outside the body and for the Christian Nationalists, a biblical Rapture. In some odd way, disembodied versions of the same thing.
And in the end, having starved our national soul into a husk of bone and sinew through this aspiration of generational wealth, we will die as a nation at the very pinnacle of wealth and power. The wealthiest nation in human history done in by its own greed near the height of its power. The death certificate offering cause of death as exhaustion and malnourishment from our disconnection to our Soul in both its singular and collective expressions.
And with every end, no matter what happens or how it happens, there is a new beginning. This is where WE enter the moment. First and foremost, right now, it is essential we feed the souls of those in our lives. I speak not of religion but of deep and caring connection in ways that help all of us Heal & Grow. Outside dogma and doctrines, to be consciously aware of our biases. Even more so, to be actively engaged in addressing those biases. To be, as Ibram X Kendi shares, to be Anti-Bias. To do so is to be present to our conditioning, our habitual patterns, so that light may be shed upon our actions. To express authenticity not through our wants and desires but through the depths of our being. To express our unique genius in service to the moment and as a result, authentically for the sake of the children’s children’s children. Not just our own but all of the children. That being the children of all species. A future where diversity, equity and inclusion are celebrated as inherently necessary to live healthily for all living beings.
To bring such a practice into our lives, we need the sustenance of good quality food, a home …, access to capable health care and a well rested body, mind and spirit. As well a connection with nature that acknowledges our role as part of the natural world, not its overseer. To be stewards of a sustainable world.
To allow the wisdom of our Soul its rightful place through cultivation and a willingness to surrender the ego into a warm embrace with the Soul. To do so is to dedicate energy and focus into knowing oneself more deeply and in coming full circle, shed light on addressing the habitual patterns that hold us back from the possibility of being our best selves . A practice with no expectation of perfection. Simply to be and do better as we practice life.
In many ways, I am speaking of the story of redemption and resurrection that sits as the opportunity before us all. A redemption story available to all until the last breath of this life.
I don’t worry, I tell you, I’m a man who believed that I died twenty years ago and I live like a man who is dead already. I have no fear whatsoever of anybody or anything.
Malcolm X on living fearlessly.
To learn more on what a practice in cultivating a more vibrant life looks like, reach out. Lets enter into a conversation about your Healing & Growth. There is no other moment than now to do so.
